To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, right? Based on 1 Corinthians 5:1-10, many believe that we will go to heaven immediately upon death. While this is a pleasant thought, I think it represents a sort of gnosticism. Let's base our hope on the promises of God.
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (being).” (Gen 2:7)- Heb. "nephesh chey." Its primary meaning is "that which breathes." We do not have a soul; we are souls or beings with life in the blood. The same words are also used for animals (Gen 1:20, 21, 24; 2:19; 9:4), but interpreted "living creature" in the same KJV. In the NT, the word "soul" is translated from the Greek word "psyche." In "Search for the Immortal Soul", Daniel Knauf explains that the primary meaning is “physical life,” but it can also refer to "functions of one’s personhood such as emotions, inner feelings and heart loyalties." It is not an immortal part of man.
Luther posted his 95 theses to the door at Wittenberg. He later published a defense of 41 points. The 27th calls the doctrine of the immortal soul- one of "all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals..." It leavens the whole loaf. “Luther, with a greater emphasis on the resurrection, preferred to concentrate on the scriptural metaphor of sleep. For just as one who falls asleep and reaches morning unexpectedly when he awakes, without knowing what has happened to him, so we shall suddenly rise on the last day without knowing how we have come into death and through death. 'We shall sleep, until He comes and knocks on the little grave and says, Doctor Martin, get up! Then I shall rise in a moment and be happy with Him forever.’”
(“Our Christian Hope” by T. A. Kantone)
“There is much riding on the authenticity of the immortal soul doctrine. Teachings such as conscious life after death, prayers to saints, purgatory, the mediation of the virgin Mary and eternal torment in hell—each one is based on the concept that the unending soul exists in a conscience, active state upon the death of the body.” (Search for the Immortal Soul by Daniel Knauft) For example, unscriptural comfort makes an entrance for apostasy. The dead are in the grave waiting on the resurrection. But since some belief that their loved ones have gone to heaven before them, they wonder if they can see us. They even go so far as to utter prayers to them. Some take an even darker path going to spiritualist for guidance. The LORD God commanded Israel: "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:31) He said that He would set His face against the person who seeks after them... and "cut him off from his people." (Lev 20:6)
At first, King Saul ran those who practice such things from the land; but when "the LORD did not answer him" (1 Sam 28:6-9), he sought out a spiritualist to help him correspond with Samuel the prophet, who had died. I believe that she brought up an evil spirit. Saul had returned as dust to the earth. An outlawed witch has no power over the grave. As a result of this defiance of the the prohibited practice: "Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD… because he consulted a medium for guidance… therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse." (1 Chr10:14)
It is philosophy, not the Bible, which attributes to man an indestructible nature independent of the body. “Let it… be understood that our inquiry is not concerning the body of man, nor the soul of man, nor spirit of man, nor of any one of his actual or supposable component parts, but concerning the whole man- the man whom God created; the man who sinned; the man to whom God said, ‘Thou shalt die;’ the man who actually does die according to this sentence; the man whom Christ redeemed by His own death; the man who will be raised at the second coming of our Lord, and judged- what is his destiny? Has he the assurance of length of days for ever and ever? and if so, on what grounds? and if not, why not?” (The Life Everlasting by J H Pettingell)
"Our Lord Jesus has sent His Son that men may be cured of mortality, from an opened grave having the dew of eternal youth, imperishable health and incorruptible existence. His golden text is, that ‘God sent His Son into the world that we might live through Him.’ So, instead of preaching, up to men their imperishable nature, and making them vain in fancied native glory and power, he, placing the crown upon the brow of the illustrious Jesus, proclaims him The Prince of Life, The Author and Giver of Life, The Resurrection and the Life, and demands homage and gratitude to be given Him for the renewal and endless perpetuation of life in the world to come. To believers only, obedient to the Lord Jesus and with affection for the Heavenly Father, does he promise the boon of length of days for ever and ever—existence on earth long as the existence of God in heaven; as for the residue of men, holding that they are of fading nature even as the leaf, are destructible like as stubble, and believing God’s penal fire to be a destroying element, he teaches they will be consumed soul and body, cut off from life, inherit a curse and come to a final end in death and oblivion.” (Duration and Nature of Future Punishment by Henry Constable)
Besides the biblical texts that seemed to teach that the unredeemed are punished forever and therefore must be immortal creatures, 2 Corinthians 5:1–10 is a key text used to support the innate immortality of every person. Let’s study this text to see if it supports the philosophy.
“Paul begins by restating his confidence (built on the experience of Christ) in the reality of the resurrection….” (The Baker’s Illustrated Bible Comm) “The Apostle’s desire was to gain the resurrection life without dying (as typified by the translation of Enoch and Elijah to heaven). He looked on Christ’s coming as comparatively near at hand: cp. 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:15.” (Dummelow) But, if not, he would die and would be subjected to decay, returning to dust. “As a tentmaker, Paul compared the human body to a tent. Jesus referred to His body as a temple, and He predicted that God would raise it up (Mark 14:58; John 2:19-22). Since God had raised up Jesus’ ‘temple,’ Paul believed that He would also raise our ‘tents.’ In ancient times a tent was a familiar symbol of what was transitory. [Note: Hughes, p. 162.] Our physical bodies are only temporary structures, but God is preparing new bodies for us that are superior to anything that human hands can produce and maintain.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)
“‘For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed,"- if death comes first- "we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Cor 5:1b)— which some in all ages have understood of the "the glorified body upon its resurrection, as opposed to its frail, mortal, earthly frame in its present situation.” (John Gill) “Our hope is built upon the promise of God (bodily resurrection): on this hope Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones, and Abraham sought a better country.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
“There is here a deliberate contrast between what is temporary, a tent on the one hand and what is permanent, a building on the other… In Paul’s mind the use of ‘earthly’ must be seen as reminding us that man was made of ‘the dust of the ground’ (Gen 2:7), of that which was earthy and corruptible, of that which lived, and struggled, and died. But once we rise again we leave all that is earthy behind, for our bodies are renewed as a spiritual body, permanent, indestructible, and heavenly… The ‘THAT IF’ refers to the fact that many will not die but will be caught up in the Parousia… They escape ‘destruction’ of the body.” (Peter Pett) They will be instantly changed. (1 Cor 15:52) “All the limitations and weaknesses which are necessarily associated with the perishableness of the present abode are at an end for ever. No more fatigue, no more working beyond the measure of power, no more need for recuperation and repose; no more dread of sickness and weakness; no more possibility of decay.” (Alexander MacLaren)
“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.’ (2 Cor 5:2-3) Scholars debate “whether St. Paul spoke of the ‘spiritual body’ to be received at the resurrection (cp. 1 Cor 15:42-49), or of some intermediate stage of being [as moderns suppose]… The answer to that question is found in the manifest fact that the intermediate state occupied but a subordinate position in St. Paul’s thoughts.” (C. J. Ellicott) He focused on the bodily resurrection.
“The nakedness which Paul expects to avoid when he puts on the heavenly dwelling is the nakedness of a disembodied soul. Paul, as a Jew, would regard existence as a disembodied soul as something to be eschewed. The promised heavenly body will save him from that. It may be that in emphasizing the future embodied state he is countering any Gnostic ideas of salvation (the release of the soul from the prison of the body) which may have been of some influence in Corinth…. Although the apostle groans, being burdened by sufferings and persecutions which afflict the body, he does not therefore seek escape into a permanent disembodied state. He longs for a new and better embodiment.” (Tyndale New Testament Commentary)
If Jesus didn’t come in his lifetime, Paul expected to die and his body would decompose to dust. In metaphor only, he would sleep until the Second Coming, when he would be resurrected or awaken from the grave. “For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.” (2 Cor 5:4) Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- "a just God and a Savior." (Isaiah 45:21) He will save His people from the power of the grave. "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes." (Hosea 13:14)
“Paul said this transition occurs when ‘mortality’ is ‘swallowed up by life’… When is that? If we back up… to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the answer is obvious. Notice carefully: Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMP: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ (1 Cor 15:51-55)” [The Truth About Death - By Steve Wohlberg]
“Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” (2 Cor 5:5) “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11) The same Spirit encourages /renews us daily.
“So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.” (2 Cor 5:6) “Paul desired the two things conjoined, namely, ‘To be absent from the body AND to be present with the Lord’: he is now realizing the former, but not the latter: he has no knowledge of anything, and, therefore, is unconscious of the lapse of time. When he awakes from his sleep of death, it will be to him as though he had but recently fallen asleep.” [The Christadelphian Shield: Papers Explanatory of Wrested Scriptures]
“‘For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.’ ( 2 Cor 5:7-8) “ ‘We are content,’ he says, ‘if death comes before the Coming of the Lord, to accept death; for even though it does not bring with it the glory of the resurrection body, it does make us at home with Christ among the souls who wait for the resurrection.’” (C. J. Ellicott) Lazarus, likewise, was held in high esteemed and, at death, was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. (Luke 16:22) “The figurative meaning of being in one's bosom is to be in a position of closeness, to be highly regarded. This symbolism is indicated by the ancient practice of having guests at a feast recline on the chest of their neighbors. The place of highest honor would therefore belong to the one seated next to the host, calling to mind the example of John at the Last Supper.” (Bryan T. Huei)
“’Therefore we make it our aim, whether present (with Him in the world to come) or absent (bodily, in this world), to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor 5:9-10)
Jesus is the firstfruits of those who sleep. Paul teaches in another place: "Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain— perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body." (1 Cor 15:36-38) Paul describes different kinds of flesh— "there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds." He also compares heavenly bodies with celestial bodies contrasting their glories. He then concludes: "So also is the resurrection of the dead." (1 Corinthians 15:39-42a) Here is what is revealed concerning the change from the earthly to the heavenly bodies:
(The Earthly House)...............(The Heavenly House)
It is sown in corruption......... It is raised in incorruption
It is sown in dishonor............. It is raised in glory
It is sown in weakness........... It is raised in power
It is sown a natural body........ It is raised a spiritual body. (1 Cor 15:42b-44)
At Christ’s coming, believers will be resurrected and receive new bodies that are incorruptible, glorious, powerful and spiritual. "Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." (Rev 20:6) The wicked will also be resurrected at the end of the millennium, receiving new (but still perishable) bodies. They will be judged and condemned to eternal death with "shame and everlasting contempt." (Dan 12:2)
According to traditionalist: “Daniel teaches that whereas the godly will be raised to never-ending life, the wicked will be raised to never-ending disgrace (Dan 12:2).”(Robert A. Peterson) “The Hebrew term deraon translated ‘contempt’ also appears in Isaiah 66:24 in which it is translated ‘loathsome’ and describes the unburied corpses. In his commentary on The Book of Daniel, André Lacocque notes that the meaning of deraon both ‘here [Dan 12:2] and in Isaiah 66:24 is the decomposition of the wicked.’ This means that the ‘contempt’ is caused by the disgust over the decomposition of their bodies, and not by the never-ending suffering of the wicked. As Emmanuel Petavel puts it: ‘The sentiment of the survivors is disgust, not pity.’ (Immortality or Resurrection?: A Biblical Study on Human Nature and Destiny by Samuel Bacchiocchi) In other words: “Contempt, or disregard and disdain, is felt towards, not by, the person in contempt. Hitler is held in everlasting contempt.” (Wholly Smoke! The Myth of Endless Torment by Bro Bird)
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