Topical Studies
Resurrection
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Genesis 3:4 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Satan's heresy that "You shall not surely die," when expanded, claims that we are already immortal, so death has no real hold over us. This idea, proposed at the very beginning, has thrived throughout history. Mainstream Christianity calls it the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, while various Eastern religions contain it in beliefs such as reincarnation. Whatever its moniker, the belief that human beings possess a spiritual, eternally conscious, imperishable component is a major tenet of nearly every religion throughout man's history. In our modern culture, books and movies abound with examples of the spirits of the dead hovering around the living characters, giving them comfort, aid, and encouragement. It is taken as given that death is not the end; somehow, one's conscious spirit will live on when the physical body perishes. The Gnostic belief in the dualism of flesh and spirit—with the flesh being evil and something to be freed from, while the eternal spirit was good—also originated in the lie Satan told Eve. Gnostics, in general, believed that the purpose of human existence was to return to the spiritual realm from whence all originated. Death, then, was seen as liberation of the spirit. First, consider how this belief affects a person's attitude and way of life. When Satan undermined the death penalty for disobedience, in addition to sowing further distrust in what God says, he also blunted one of the keenest elements of human motivation, continued self-preservation. If life beyond the grave is assured, how this life is lived makes little difference. It is like guaranteeing a college freshman that he will receive a doctorate degree, regardless of whether anything is learned, any work is done, any classes are attended, or any tuition is paid. While the student may indeed expend some effort, the motivation to apply himself wholeheartedly to his education will be substantially weakened. It would be so easy to slack off and postpone catching up to some time next week. After all, if the goal is certain, why worry about the details in the meantime? Spiritually, the result is the same. If one already has immortality, salvation, or is already "born again," there is no pressing reason to resist the pulls of carnality. Resisting Satan matters little. Devoting one's life to growing and overcoming has no urgency. Sin is no big deal. Why should one study to come to know God and His truth? Believing that one already possesses eternal life removes the urgency to live according to the desires and requirements of the Creator. At best, all that remains is the vague guidance of "just be a good person." The Bible teaches that there can be life after death through the resurrection from the dead. Eternal life is ours only if God supplies it, and not because we possess an immortal soul: » God tells us, "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4; emphasis ours throughout). God repeats this in Ezekiel 18:20. Clearly, it is possible for a "soul" to die. » Paul instructs in Romans 6:23 that "the wages of sin is death," not eternal life—not even eternal life in ever-burning hell. As with Ezekiel 18, sin incurs the death penalty. Satan, though, would have us believe that since death is not a real threat, sin is no big deal. It is only because of God's grace that we are not struck down immediately—not because of any inherent immortality within us—as the rest of Romans 6:23 explains: "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Eternal life is a gift, not an inborn quality. » I Timothy 6:16 says that God "alone has immortality"—not any member of the human race, Christians included! » Romans 2:7 promises "eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality," again proving that eternal life is a gift, not a right, and that immortality must be sought (by "doing good") rather than assumed to have it already. » Finally, in the "Resurrection Chapter," I Corinthians 15, Paul explains when Christians receive immortality: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will 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 has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (I Corinthians 15:50-54) It is not until "the last trumpet," when Jesus Christ returns, that the dead will be resurrected and given immortality (I Thessalonians 4:16). At this time, the saints will be changed and given new spiritual bodies (I Corinthians 15:49; I John 3:2). Clearly, immortality is not given until the resurrection from the dead, which does not take place until Jesus Christ returns. That God must resurrect a person for him to continue living means that He retains sovereignty. He is not obliged to grant eternal life to anyone who demonstrates, once he has the opportunity to know God, that he is not willing to be subject to His way of life. However, by belittling the truth about the resurrection from the dead, and telling people that they already have immortality, Satan can distract them from a basic reason why they need to listen to God—so that they may be resurrected and continue living!
David C. Grabbe
Whatever Happened to Gnosticism? Part Three: Satan's Three Heresies
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Leviticus 23:34-36 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
This seventh holy day is observed immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles. Biblically, seven symbolizes perfection. It is also the eighth day of the Feast, and the Hebrew word for "eight" is related to another meaning "fatness," implying abundance, fertility—even resurrection and regeneration. According to Jewish tradition, on the Last Great Day, they finished reading what they started when Tabernacles began. Though intimately connected to the Feast of Tabernacles, it holds a distinct meaning of its own. It is part of it yet separate. The offerings required on this day in the Old Testament were the largest of all, typifying Israel's thankfulness to God for all He provided. Today, God's people keep this day with praise and thankfulness—spiritual sacrifices (Hebrews 13:15)—for His abundant spiritual gifts.
Martin G. Collins
Holy Days: Last Great Day
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Job 14:13-15 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Job did not fear death; in fact, he felt death would be a relief from the struggles, infirmities, and trials of physical life. He knew that God would raise him at the appointed time, the first resurrection. He was sure in his redemption; he trusted God to forgive, save and resurrect him. Further, he understood that his life in the Kingdom would be so much superior to his physical life (Job 19:25-27).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Time and Life
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Job 14:14-15 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Job knew what was happening, that God was creating in him. He knew that a transformation was to come into his life after he had died—"if a man dies." God has a desire to be reunited with those who have died, with those in whom He has been working as well. He has a desire to finish His work! As long as the person is in the grave, God's creative powers and efforts are not yet concluded! What He wants to do is to match the spiritual character He has created within the person while alive as a human being with a glorious spiritual body that He will give them upon resurrecting them from the dead! Job understood this. Thousands of years ago, he knew it! Do we know it today as well as Job did then?
John W. Ritenbaugh
We Shall Be God! (Part 1)
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Proverbs 29:18 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The New King James Version says, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law." Normally, people do not want to perish. We are in the church because we do not want to perish either. This assumed that we have a vision, there has been a revelation to us, of a purpose to life. If the revelation or the vision is not there, what do people do? They cast off restraint. The vision, the revelation of God, makes a person walk a certain path. If it were not for that revelation or vision, we would at the very least passively wander off the path. The Living Bible translates this verse, "Where there is no revelation, the people run wild"! It is a bit more active and a harsher interpretation, and perhaps this paraphrase is actually more descriptive of what is happening in the world. If people do not have the vision of what God is going to accomplish through the resurrection of the dead, they cast off all restraint, run wild—they do whatever comes to mind, whatever hope, whatever desire, whatever longing strikes them. Does that make them stick to the straight and narrow path that leads to the Kingdom of God? Of course not. They are constantly going contrary to the true direction, off the path.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Resurrection From the Dead
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Ecclesiastes 3:11 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
God has endowed us with the sense of the future and with a curiosity about what goes on beyond the grave: Is there life beyond the grave? Do we have immortality? Is this life all there is? He has made man with the capacity to think about these matters. Unfortunately, as Solomon says, nobody can figure out what He is doing. Without vision, people perish (Proverbs 29:18); without revelation, people cast off restraint—they go off the path. "They do not know what He is doing from the beginning" does not refer to what He is doing in His creative acts but the purpose of life. His purpose has been revealed to us that we might have the same hope that God has for us: to share all eternity with Him and live as He does. If we have caught the vision and understand what the resurrection is—the doorway through which we step to continue in all of its fulness the kind of life that God has already introduced to us and we have begun to put into practice—we realize that we will be able to continue as His companions, His children for all eternity. This is what the resurrection represents!
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Resurrection From the Dead
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Isaiah 65:20-25 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Isaiah envisioned the final days of the judgment period when the resurrected billions will receive their call to participate in God's plan. These resurrected multitudes will be counted among God's elect—made participants in His Master Plan, and given the opportunity to enter God's Family (verses 22-23). They will they then have a close relationship with God the Father (verse 24). Imagine the astonishment of those resurrected at the beginning of this period of judgment. Each person will be in his first moment of consciousness since death. At first, some may think they are in heaven, hell, or purgatory. Most will simply be confused—bewildered. Nothing that many had been taught about an afterlife will turn out to be true. Faced with undeniable evidence that their old teachings and ways were false, they will be more willing to start over and be taught the truth. Untold millions who have not had any religious teaching whatsoever will start learning from scratch. Who will teach these thousands of millions? Millions of teachers who will have been born into God's Family in the first resurrection and during the Millennium! Those resurrected to mortal life will then undergo a process of conversion similar to that of Spirit-begotten Christians today. They will be taught God's laws and will learn they are guilty of sin and deserving of the death penalty. They will learn of God's mercy, and that Christ paid the penalty for them, if they will accept His payment. The vast majority will repent. Upon repentance and faith in Christ as their personal Savior, they will be forgiven, and God's Spirit will be given to them. Then they, as Spirit-begotten children of God, can begin growing spiritually—developing God's holy, righteous, and perfect character within them. Unlearning all the falsehoods learned in their first life and learning God's true ways will take time. And building character will take time, because character can be developed only through time and experience.
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Matthew 5:12 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
What did Jesus mean when He told His disciples, "Be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven"? (Matthew 5:12.) And why—only a few verses before—did Christ say, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (verse 5)? Do some of the saved—"the persecuted" (verses 11-12)—go to heaven to collect their reward, while others—"the meek"—inherit the earth? Or did Jesus Christ contradict Himself in His very next breath? The apostle Peter was inspired to write, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (I Peter 1:3-4). Notice it! The reward of the saved—the inheritance of true Christian—is reserved in heaven. That is where it is kept at this present time. But do Christians go to heaven to receive their reward? Jesus Christ explained it in the book of Revelation: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be" (Revelations 22:12). When Christ returns from heaven the second time, He will bring the reward of the saved with Him! Though now temporarily reserved in heaven, Jesus will bring the reward of the saints (true Christians) to this earth! Daniel wrote, "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him" (Daniel 7:27). Jesus did not say Christians will inherit their reward in heaven. Rather, the reward—authority, an office of power in the Kingdom of God—is being temporarily reserved in heaven because that is where Jesus is. But it will be brought to the earth, where Jesus will reward His saints, in the Kingdom of God, with positions of rulership and authority over the nations.
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
What Is the Reward of the Saved?
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Matthew 11:20-24 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Christ mentioned the people of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom, Nineveh in Jonah's time, and finally the Queen of the south. All of these examples of people who lived in different generations are compared to those of Jesus' day, the vast majority of whom did not understand or believe Christ's message. Jesus tells us that they all will be resurrected with the generation that lived during His time! Jesus gave enough examples of people living at widespread times to prove that most of humanity will be alive at the same time on this earth. There will be pre-Flood men and women, all twelve tribes of Israel, those who lived during the Middle Ages, and the vast majority living now. Even babies and children who died untimely deaths will be resurrected then. They will all rise in the second resurrection because they had not been called by God during their first life. The ancient peoples Jesus mentioned in Matthew 11 and 12 would have repented if He had personally come to them in their day. They will repent when resurrected and given access to the Holy Spirit after the Millennium. The Bible shows that the vast majority of those who ever lived will finally be born into God's Family at the end of this coming period of judgment, pictured by the Last Great Day. God's Master Plan of salvation for mankind will then be complete. Then the spirit-composed members of God's great ruling Family can look forward to new heavens and a new earth—and to new and wonderful opportunities in ruling the universe under God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Elder Brother!
Why Christians Should Keep God's Holy Days
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Matthew 11:20-24 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Christ mentioned the people of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom, Nineveh in Jonah's time, and finally the Queen of the South. All of these examples of people who lived in different generations are compared to the citizens living in the cities and towns of Jesus' day, the vast majority of whom did not understand or believe Christ's message. Jesus tells us that they are all to be resurrected with the generation that lived during His time! Jesus gave enough examples of people living at widespread times to prove that most of humanity will be alive at the same time on this earth. There will be pre-Flood men and women, all twelve tribes of Israel, those who lived during the Middle Ages, and the vast majority living now. Even babies and children who died untimely deaths will be resurrected then. They will all rise in the second resurrection because they had not been called by God during their first lifetime. This group includes all people of all times except those who will have already been born of God, and those relatively few individuals who already had their opportunity to receive eternal life, but deliberately rejected it, having sinned willfully. Those few will be resurrected in the third and final resurrection to be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14-15). The ancient peoples Jesus mentioned in Matthew 11 and 12 would have repented if He had personally come to them in their day. And they will repent and receive the Holy Spirit when resurrected into a world that has been personally ruled by Jesus Christ for 1,000 years! The Bible shows that the vast majority of those who have ever lived will finally be born into God's Family at the end of their coming period of judgment. God's master plan of salvation for mankind will then be complete. How wonderful and reassuring is the truth of our all-wise, loving and merciful Creator God!
Staff
Is This the Only Day of Salvation?
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Matthew 11:21-24 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus spoke of a time of judgment when those ancient peoples would be given an opportunity to understand what He had been preaching to the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. They, too, will hear the good news! Christ mentioned the people of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom, Nineveh in Jonah's time, and the Queen of the South. All of these examples of people who lived in different generations are compared to those who lived in the cities and towns of Jesus' day, the vast majority of whom did not understand or believe His message. Jesus tells us that they will all be resurrected with the generation that lived during His time! Jesus gave enough examples of people living at widespread times to prove that most of humanity will be brought back to life at the same time on this earth. There will be pre-Flood men and women, all twelve tribes of Israel, those who lived during the Middle Ages and the vast majority living now. Even babies and children who died untimely deaths will be resurrected then. They will all rise in the second resurrection because they had not been called by God during their first lifetime. This group includes all people of all times except those who will have already been born of God, and those relatively few people who already had their opportunity to receive eternal life, but deliberately rejected it and sinned willfully. Those few will be resurrected in the third and final resurrection, and they will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:13-15).
The Last Great Day: God's Master Plan Completed!
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Matthew 22:31-32 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
This text is often twisted around and perverted in an attempt to prove that Abraham is not dead—that he has already gone to his promised reward without having to be resurrected—just the diametric opposite of what Jesus used this illustration to point out. Christ states plainly in John 3:13 that "no man has ascended to heaven"—which would obviously include Abraham! God is the God of the living, not the dead. Jesus was speaking of their future resurrection to immortal life! For He plainly said, "As touching the resurrection of the dead...." We can now see why Abraham and his children through Christ have not, as yet, inherited the promises (Hebrews 11:13, 39-40). They simply cannot come into this eternal inheritance until they receive eternal life (I Corinthians 15:50-54)! This, as Paul explained, will happen at the resurrection from the dead! Without a resurrection, the dead would never live again! (I Corinthians 15:16, 18.) Therefore, the resurrection of the dead is central to God's plan. And unless Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all deceased Christians are resurrected from the grave at Christ's coming, they cannot inherit the promises! The resurrection of the dead shall occur at the second coming of Christ—when He comes as the King of kings and the Lord of lords to reign over and to rule all nations of the earth. When He comes to set up His Kingdom, then Abraham and his spiritual children in Christ shall be given immortality and will inherit the Kingdom of God—a world-ruling government headed by and ruled by Christ, occupying the very land promised to Abraham—the land stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates River. This Kingdom or government composed of immortals shall rule over all the nations of earth composed of flesh and blood mortals. How different the plain truth of God's Word is from the ancient religious fables and myths which the world embraces today!
Will You Go to Heaven?
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Matthew 27:52 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Matthew 27:52 specifically states that the bodies of these saints were resurrected: "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised." Notice that Matthew does not describe them as having any outstanding or remarkable appearance, as the spirit bodies of Jesus and various others are highlighted as having (Daniel 12:3; Matthew 13:43; Mark 9:2-3; see also Matthew 17:1-2; Revelation 1:13-16). Moreover, when these resurrected saints of ad 31 went into Jerusalem, they did not restrict their appearance to a comparative few as Jesus did after His spiritual resurrection. Rather, "they appeared to many." Like Lazarus, and all the others who had been brought up in physical resurrections, these saints lived for a while longer—no one knows for how long—served the purpose for which they were raised, and then died once again. There is no record of them living eternally after this resurrection.
John Plunkett
Resurrection AD 31
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Luke 16:19-31 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
In the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), Jesus illustrates death—total unconsciousness—as being followed by a resurrection from the dead and a restoration to consciousness. Secondly, Jesus describes the second death, eternal death, in the Lake of Fire that will totally destroy the wicked. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), not endless torment. Jesus shows that the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear the voice of God and come forth—those who have lived righteously to the resurrection of life, and those who have lived wickedly (including the rich man) to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28-29). We need to understand how vital it is to hear and submit to God's voice now.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part Two)
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Luke 16:22-23 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus does not say the rich man is taken immediately to an eternally burning hell. He says the rich man dies and is buried. People are buried in a grave and covered with earth. Hades (verse 23) is the Greek word for "grave." The King James Version generically translates hades into "hell," as it also does the Greek words tartarus (the present condition of darkness and restraint of the fallen angels or demons) and gehenna (a place at the bottom of a high ledge at the south end of Jerusalem where garbage and dead bodies were dumped and burned). Other Bible translations correctly distinguish the different meaning in these words. The rich man went to the same kind of place Jesus did when He died—"hell" (KJV) or "Hades" (NKJV)—but the Father did not leave Him there (Acts 2:31-32). Daniel 12:2 speaks of those who will be resurrected to eternal life (the just) and of those who will be resurrected to damnation or judgment (the unjust). In the parable, Jesus speaks of two different, separate resurrections (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:4-5, 11-12). Jesus pictures the rich man as wicked and lost, but even he will open his eyes and rise from his grave after the Millennium. Having passed up his opportunity for immortality by choosing this world's temporary, material riches and pleasures rather than eternal, spiritual riches, he is without hope, doomed to perish in the Lake of Fire. The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man shows the resurrection from the dead, not an instantaneous going to heaven or hell. It is a resurrection from death, not from life. It depicts mortals who die and are dead, not immortals who never lose consciousness and live forever under punishment in a fiery hell. Jesus describes bringing back to life one who was dead, who had no conscious realization of the lapse of centuries and millennia since his death.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part One)
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Luke 16:22-23 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Lazarus, who represents those who are Abraham's spiritual children, is resurrected at Christ's return with all the firstfruits (I Corinthians 15:23). These saints will live through the Millennium (Revelation 20:4), but the rest of the dead will not live until the thousand years have past (verse 5). The rich man, then, will not return to life until a thousand years after Lazarus and all the saints have been made alive. All human beings know they will die (Hebrews 9:27), but the dead have no thought or knowledge—they know nothing and can do nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10). They are totally unconscious (Job 14:21). David writes: "His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day, his plans perish" (Psalm 146:4). The rich man, at the time of his resurrection after the Millennium, will come to consciousness, knowing absolutely nothing of the centuries that have passed since his death. To him, it will seem that only a fraction of a second has passed.
Martin G. Collins
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part Two)
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Luke 16:27-31 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The rich man's last thought flashes to concern for the fate of his five brothers. He utters a final cry to Abraham, begging him to send Lazarus to plead with his brothers to heed his warning testimony. Abraham replies that they had the writings of Moses and the prophets. The rich man, however, thinks his brothers would listen to one from the dead, indicating that he realizes that Lazarus had been resurrected. Abraham replies that, if they would not follow the Scriptures, they would certainly not be persuaded even by one raised from the dead. These final verses show that Jesus' purpose in giving the parable was to reveal the truth of the resurrection. Other scriptures tell us what happens where this parable leaves off. Matthew 13:30 speaks symbolically of the wicked being gathered into bundles to be burned. Matthew 3:12 records John's warning to the Pharisees that they would be burned up as chaff if they did not repent. They are to be burned in a fire so hot that no amount of water could put it out because the flames would turn the water to steam. When God punishes the wicked, the fire will be unquenchable. This does not mean, however, that it will not burn itself out when it has no more combustible materials to burn. An unquenchable fire cannot be put out, but it can burn itself out when it has consumed everything. Malachi 4:1, 3 also speaks of this fire, reporting the end of the wicked: They will be ashes and smoke (see Psalm 37:20). In this, Jesus is preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, revealing salvation, the resurrection to eternal life as the gift of God, and inheritance of the Kingdom of God on this earth. Jesus teaches that if we refuse to hear Moses and the prophets—if we refuse to believe the inspired, written Word of God—we have no hope of salvation. All Scripture, the whole Bible containing both the Old and New Testaments, is profitable for doctrine and instruction in receiving the gift of salvation (II Timothy 3:16-17).
Martin G. Collins
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part Two)
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John 3:3-8 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Enter means literally "to go inside of," as one would enter a building, not an ethereal or abstract concept. Paul says, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50), which agrees perfectly with Jesus' statement. When combined with Jesus being the pattern for the entire new creation, and that He did not go through a conversion process and yet was born again by a resurrection from the dead, John 3:3-8 must refer to the end of the process. Otherwise, we have to try to explain away verses like "That which is born of the flesh is flesh" (verse 6). It is perfectly clear on its own; it needs no explanation. We are still confined to the earth. But the birth Jesus is speaking about occurs later: "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit"! The old "hat pin test" still works. We still bleed and feel pain. We are still flesh. We are not spirit yet, so we have not been born again. It becomes even clearer: Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (verse 7-8) If we—proven to be fleshly beings—can still see each other coming and going, we are not yet spirit. It is so plain! The process that ends in being born again begins at begettal. Throughout the entire process, however, there are types, symbolic actions, that represent later realities. Repentance and baptism typify a death (Romans 6:2-11). We have died to sin, and when a person dies, he is buried. Likewise, we are buried in water and are raised up out of it (typifying a resurrection) to begin a new life. But we are not born again yet; we are still flesh and blood. God imparts His Spirit to us at the laying on of hands, but we are not spirit. We have the Spirit in a small measure as a down payment, an earnest, a guarantee, of our future, complete endowment (II Corinthians 1:22; 5:5). It has begotten us to begin the process. We go through these types but the reality is still future. And it will not occur until we literally die, our bodies decay, and we are resurrected by the power of God. Only then will we be spirit. Then we will be like the wind. The process will have been completed. We will be born again!
John W. Ritenbaugh
You Must Be Born Again!
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John 3:10 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?" (John 3:10). Should Nicodemus have known of this teaching? Yes! What had he neglected? The Scriptures! He was a teacher of the Old Testament. Does the Old Testament say anything about the resurrection from the dead? Yes, indeed! Here at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus emphasizes the hope of mankind, the resurrection from the dead, changing from flesh to spirit, only he calls it becoming "born again." Like any good teacher, He used different metaphors to explain the same process so that greater numbers of people can grasp the concept. So now He tells Nicodemus that he should have recognized and understood it from the teachings of the Old Testament. Job knew about the resurrection. He says to God: Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes. (Job 14:13-14) Job, although he does not call it being born again, knew he would be changed from physical to spiritual. Nicodemus, a master of the law, apparently never understood Job's words, so Jesus was opening his understanding. "You shall call [the last trumpet], and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands" (Job 14:15). Our God will desire to fellowship again with the wonderful attitude, the beautiful heart, the sterling character that He created in us through our experiences in the flesh. Just like a father desires to see his child finally born after waiting so long during his wife's pregnancy, God wants to see us born into His Kingdom. Later, Job returns to this theme: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that [out of, free from, without] my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19:25-26) He knew that when he rose from the grave, he would not be flesh, although Nicodemus apparently did not. Others in the Old Testament, like Daniel, also understood a spiritual resurrection: And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:2-3) Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:40, "There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another." As a star is brighter than a light on earth, so shall we be after the resurrection compared to now. Paul found this idea—that people will be resurrected and glorified—in the Old Testament. Isaiah also writes of the resurrection: Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth [tribulation and the Day of the Lord], and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah 60:1-3) Paul uses this same imagery in II Corinthians 3:18: "But we all . . . are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory," meaning from the glory of man to the glory of God. Isaiah writes about it later in his book: Before she travailed, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? (Isaiah 66:7-8) A nation is a family grown large, but Isaiah speaks of such a nation coming into existence "at once," in a moment (see I Corinthians 15:51-52). Here is the God Family, the Kingdom of God, born (again!) all at the same time, except Christ, the Firstborn, who has already gone through the process. "Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery," says the LORD. "Shall I, who cause delivery shut up the womb?" says your God. "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom [also part of the birth analogy], that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory." (Isaiah 66:9-11) Jerusalem, a type of the church, is resurrected, born again, and glorified.
John W. Ritenbaugh
You Must Be Born Again!
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John 3:13 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Perhaps no other doctrine more clearly exposes the effectiveness and thoroughness of Satan's deception of the whole world (Revelation 12:9). Jesus plainly states in John 3:13, "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of man who is in heaven." Yet, most of the Christian world believes that immediately upon death a person's soul wafts off to heaven to be with others of the dearly departed. This verse does not stand alone; many scriptures confirm Jesus' testimony. Peter says regarding the highly respected, man-after-God's-own-heart David, ". . . he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. . . . For David did not ascend into the heavens . . ." (Acts 2:29, 34). Other scriptures remind us that, when a person dies, he is without consciousness: For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. . . . Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10) Psalm 146:3-4 adds, "Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans [thoughts, KJV] perish." Jesus identifies Himself in Revelation 1:18 as, "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen." He says something similar as He begins His message to the church at Smyrna: "These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life" (Revelation 2:8). Who are we to believe, a God who never lies or the tales of false prophets? Was Jesus telling the truth when He said He was dead—that He was not off in heaven during those three days and three nights, conversing with the Father, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses? If we believe the Bible, the answer is beyond question. The gospel Jesus Christ brought reveals the Kingdom of God as the Christian hope. The Bible teaches that a person must remain in his grave, unaware of events in the conscious world, until a resurrection occurs, when his life is renewed (just as Jesus' was), his body is changed to spirit, and he enters God's Kingdom. In I Corinthians 15:50-54, the apostle Paul teaches that the resurrection does not occur until Christ returns. Then, those who "died in Christ" will be resurrected from their graves with spiritual bodies, and the living saints will also be changed, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. . . . [T]he dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (verse 52). Galatians 3:29 speaks about our reward: "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise," confirming that those who are true Christians—"in Christ"—will receive the same inheritance Abraham was promised. Romans 4:13 establishes beyond doubt what Abraham will inherit when he is resurrected: "For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Furthermore, regarding those who will be resurrected with Abraham, Revelation 5:10 adds, "[You] have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth." Later, Revelation 11:15 says, "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'" Many centuries of pagan tradition have convinced people that heaven is their "home" and their reward when they die. Nevertheless, the biblical record is unassailable: God's Kingdom will be established on the earth He created for mankind, and it will be an everlasting Kingdom with Christ as its King. In awe of what he saw, John declares in Revelation 21:1-4: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven [to the earth] from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." The Bible contains much more on this facet of the gospel. Yet, with just this small sampling of verses, there should be no doubt remaining that the gospel teaches that the inheritance of Christians is this earth.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Is the Christian Required To Do Works? (Part Five)
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John 5:25 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
His declaration is interesting because the subject directly involves a resurrection, and it is also tied to a vital process that sets the elect apart. The key words in this verse are "hear" and "dead." We need to add a thought from Ephesians 2:1: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Before God's calling, even though we were physically alive, we were spiritually dead because of sin. However, John 5:25 says that the dead "hear" His voice. Similarly, those who are spiritually dead cannot "hear" God's Word until they are called, made part of the elect, and enabled by God to hear and thus understand His Word clearly. Another important factor appears in Hebrews 10:38: "The just shall live by faith." Also, Ephesians 2:8 says that we are "saved by grace through faith." Romans 10:17 adds, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Finally, in John 6:63, Jesus clinches the point: "The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life." This linkage of truths makes vitally clear the importance of the calling and election by God. His enabling of us to "hear" is what begins to sweep away the spiritual blindness that has kept us ignorant of the purpose He is working out here below. This miracle of hearing gives rise to truly effective faith. It makes God's Word truly logical and believable, making commitment in obedience to His purpose possible. Yet, what if a person cannot "hear" what God is saying? None of these saving elements comes to pass in life because no faith is produced! Jesus utters another awesome, humbling truth in John 10:3-4, 6, 16: "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." . . . Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. . . . "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd." He describes our calling and relationship with our Shepherd—Himself—in intimate and personal terms. "He calls them by name." He personally leads them out of their pen, a symbol of the world in which we are held captive, enslaved, and spiritually dead. Conversely, verse 6 plainly depicts the spiritual condition of the uncalled: They did not understand. God had not enabled them because He was not calling them to be a part of His purpose at that time. Thus, the miracle that opens our minds so we could "hear" was not performed on them. Romans 8:30 adds another startling truth: "Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and who He justified, these He also glorified." Only the called are justified! Justification through repentance and the atoning blood of Jesus Christ is what permits us into the presence of God, enabling further growth to glorification in God's Kingdom!
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian Fight (Part Six)
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John 5:28-29 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
You may have heard ministers preach that sinners go directly to the fiery tortures of hell when they die. But this would mean they are condemned to hell before they are formally judged and sentenced! Christ says the judgment of the wicked dead, who are now in their graves, is yet in the future: "The hour is coming," He says. Then how could they now be receiving punishment when they have not, as yet, even been judged? The two ideas clearly contradict each other! When will the dead be judged? Obviously after they come up from their graves in a resurrection!
What Is Hell?
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Romans 1:1-4 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
What this section shows is that Jesus actually became a born-again Son of God through a resurrection from the dead. Before His resurrection He was a son of David, born into that line by physical birth. His ancestry is meticulously recorded, showing His descent from Adam, the son of God (Luke 3:23-38). Thus, He was indeed the Son of God prior to the resurrection of the dead by means of human birth. Though Romans 1:3 plainly shows His physical generation, verse 4, in contrast, shows His spiritual generation. We see Christ in two different positions, born first as a human, then born as God. Why did Paul differentiate between the two if a birth is not involved in each? He is showing that at the resurrection, our Lord and Savior became the Son of God just as we will—by a resurrection from the dead! Paul writes more about this birth in Romans 8:29, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn [prototokos] among many brethren." Who are His brethren? His disciples, members of His body, the church! We will be born again! We have already been born one time, even as Jesus was born to Mary. But He was declared to be a Son, born by spiritual generation, and we will follow that pattern. Jesus Christ was born again! He is the pattern. His brethren, converted Christians, will go through the same born-again experience that He did. Consider that He never had to repent, be baptized (although He was, to set an example for us), have hands laid on Him to receive the Spirit, or be converted, yet He was born again. But He was not born again until He was composed of spirit. This reveals when being born again takes place! For us, it occurs precisely when it occurred for the pattern, Jesus Christ. He was not a born-again Son of God until His resurrection from the dead, and we will not be born again until our resurrection from the dead (I Corinthians 15:50-54)! Since Jesus did not have to be converted, and since He was declared God's Son by His resurrection, being converted is not being born again. All of God's children will follow the same pattern as the Firstborn. We will be born again the same way, by the resurrection from the dead. "And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (verse 17). When did Christ become glorified? At His resurrection! We will be glorified together. When? At our resurrection! We will follow the pattern.
John W. Ritenbaugh
You Must Be Born Again!
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Romans 8:19-22 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
We shall be delivered from this world (the church is in, though not of, this world) into the glorious world tomorrow and the Kingdom that shall rule it. The creation is waiting for this time of Christ's coming, the resurrection, and the Kingdom of God, because the creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption or deteriorated decay. It is not now delivered. It shall be—at the resurrection. Although this is not referring directly to our being born again, it is a direct comparison to the birth of a child being delivered from its mother's womb. The resurrection—the time when we are changed to be Spirit and to inherit the Kingdom will be a time of delivery from the bondage of corruptible flesh and from this world of sin—a real birth!
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
Life After Death?
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Romans 8:29 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Now compare with Romans 1:3-4: "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God . . . by the resurrection from the dead." Jesus was, in the human flesh—His first birth—a descendant of David. But, by the resurrection from the dead (born again), Jesus became the born Son of God, now no longer human, but composed of spirit—a spirit Being. He thus became the first so born of many brethren who shall be born again at the time of the resurrection of those who are Christ's. Of course we understand, and so did Paul in writing the above, that Jesus was also the Son of God while in the human flesh. Though born of a human woman, He was sired by God. But this is comparing the two births: the one from the human Mary, as descended from the human David, and the other, by His resurrection to glory, as Son of God. Emphatically this does not imply that Jesus was a sinner needing salvation. He was the pioneer, setting us the example, that we, too, may be born of God.
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
Life After Death?
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Romans 11:26 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Many other scriptures state that God desires to save all of mankind, not just Israelites. Given the circumstances that have already occurred, and the criteria that must be met under the process of judgment, the only way God can save humanity is through a future resurrection.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Final Harvest
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1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
As he opens this chapter, Paul's clear purpose is to show that the hope God has placed before us is not based on men's guesses or possibilities, but on the testimony of many eyewitnesses then yet living when he wrote this in the AD 50s. Paul adds that he did not make up the gospel, but it was what he received from Christ, and what he received was exactly the same as what he had later been told by the apostles when he met with them in Jerusalem. Paul is presenting the resurrection of Christ as a historical fact. We also have available to us the witness of the apostles' lives following the resurrection. Now, people just do not do the things the apostles did without believing what they saw with their own eyes with all their heart. Thus, in the first eight verses Paul reinforces what Peter says in II Peter 1:16-21, that there is plenty of strong evidence of the proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is not a figment of these men's imaginations. It really did occur, and God did not provide a mere two or three witnesses, but hundreds of them to the fact of the resurrection of the dead. Paul establishes that our hope is resurrection into the Kingdom of God. However, we must take this hope one step farther if we want to make it a motivating force. The resurrection is, in one sense, merely a promised event given at a point in time. It does not occur merely because we believe it, or even because it has been promised. It occurs because of Who promised it. It occurs because there is a powerful Being of utmost integrity, who cannot lie and who will make it occur. This is where our hope must be, not in what He has promised, but rather Who has promised it. Is our faith in God? So must our hope be in God.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Perseverance and Hope
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1 Corinthians 15:22-24 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Even as all men die, the same all will be made alive (verse 22). God wants eventually to call and save everyone—but within the order He decrees (II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 2:4). Everyone who has ever lived and died will be resurrected—first Christ was resurrected, then later the saints who lived and died before Christ's second coming will be resurrected. But what about the vast majority who never were Christ's? Verse 24 includes them all in "the end"—when Christ completes His job of conquering every enemy (verse 25). That happens after the Millennium (Revelation 20:7-10). Those who have not heard or understood the truth have not been consigned to eternal death. They have not sinned willfully. They never had a chance! Even if some have lived up to the best they knew while alive, the Bible teaches only one way to salvation—through belief in Christ (Acts 4:12) and spiritual conversion as defined in the Bible. Most of our loved ones who have died "unsaved" in all probability did not die lost. They most likely were not called during this age, but their call is coming later. They shall be resurrected to mortal life and given spiritual understanding and the opportunity to become members of God's Family. Revelation 20 tells us when this great resurrection will occur.
Staff
Is This the Only Day of Salvation?
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1 Corinthians 15:50-53 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The Kingdom of God is something no human, born of flesh and blood, can enter or inherit. It is through the resurrection of those begotten by the Spirit of God during this mortal life, that this mortal will put on immortality and, like God, become immortal, incorruptible—literally born of God's Spirit into the very God Family! That is how we shall enter into the Kingdom of God. Those thus born again, which will include all the Spirit-begotten saints of God through the centuries, will be organized into the executive branch of the government of God to rule this earth's mortals under Jesus Christ (Daniel 7:27; Revelation 2:26-27; 5:10)!
What Is the True Gospel?
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1 Corinthians 15:50-53 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Whatever is born of spirit IS spirit, said Jesus (John 3:6). But we have not yet been born of spirit; we are still flesh and blood! If you think you have already been "born again," then take the "pin test." Stick a pin in your finger. Do you feel pain? Does your finger bleed? Then you are still flesh and blood—you have not been "born again." When Christ was resurrected—"born again"—He was able to pass through solid walls (John 20:19, 26). Do you think those who claim to have been "born again" can match this feat? Obviously, any human beings who claim to be already born again are terribly mistaken, for they are still flesh and blood. Jesus said you must be "born of spirit"—you must become composed of spirit—to see or enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5; I Corinthians 15:50). Thus, the new birth is something yet to occur at the resurrection!
What It Means to Be Born Again
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1 Corinthians 15:51 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
At the second coming of Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 4:13-16), all the dead in Christ will be raised with new spirit bodies; and those mortal Christians still alive at His return will be instantly changed into the same kind of spirit bodies—bodies which can inherit the Kingdom of God. Our present flesh is corruptible, subject to death and decay. But spirit beings are eternally new—immortal, incorruptible, never subject to death and decay!
Will You Go to Heaven?
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Galatians 1:1-3 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The bulk of this chapter is occupied with Paul's defense of his apostolic office. False teachers,the people who had access to the Galatian Christians' ears,were teaching them that what Paul had previously taught them had no authority from God because Paul did not meet the qualifications of being an apostle. These people could come up with all kinds of things. They might say, "Well, Paul never met Jesus": that he had not been an eyewitness to Jesus' preaching, that he had received no commission from God to be an apostle, and that he had not even been chosen like Matthias. Paul's calling, conversion, and commission were done apart from large numbers of people. Nobody had seen him trailing around after Jesus as they had seen the Twelve. He had not been eyewitness to the miracles that Jesus did. "He had not been taught directly by Jesus," was what they were saying. Thus, Paul spends the first chapter and more defending his position. Immediately, he states that his authority did not come through men. He confirms that he was an apostle, but his selection was not of men but by Jesus Christ. Right off he states his authority, and that it had come directly from God. By doing this, Paul puts himself in the same class as the Twelve, because even these false teachers were willing to concede that the Twelve's offices did not come through men either. Everybody knew that they were directly chosen by Christ. So Paul asserts, "So was I." He also speaks of his experience on the Damascus Road as his commission, and then he references the resurrection, further linking his commissioning to the risen and glorified Christ. All of this is contained within the first three verses. He had to establish his authority quickly, and this is how he chose to do it.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 24)
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Ephesians 2:11-12 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
What a depressing status! If these verses stood alone, these "aliens" and "strangers" would indeed live their lives in vain. Without a future opportunity for salvation, they would truly be lost forever. Are millions lost because they never heard the name of Christ? What about infants who died? What about the billions enslaved under the dreadful yoke of atheistic communism? They did not choose to be born in a godless society. Are the doors forever shut on those born in a nation dominated by Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, or Islam? Most calling themselves Christian think so. Could we call God merciful if He consigned people to hopelessness merely because of an accident of birth? Would He be fair to condemn those who never heard? God can do anything He wants. It is, after all, His creation. In verse 13, though, there is a slight crack in the door of hope: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Everyone has stood in the Gentile's position of being far off from salvation. We have all had to be brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Could the only difference between us and them be a matter of timing? Imagine the multiple billions who have lived through childhood unloved, uneducated, and unhealthy in body and spirit. They may have endured miserable marriages, reared and lost children to disease, war, and natural disaster. Others may have spent seemingly pointless lives growing old, neglected, and disrespected as fodder for the next disaster. The heaven and hell doctrines of this world's Christianity may make for interesting reading, but they render the judgments and resurrections of God as superfluous. They diminish the creative power of the great, merciful God in these areas as finished and past, not as ongoing and future. In contrast, the Last Great Day has a very special meaning to those who understand. It answers perplexing questions about the great masses of humanity who are living or have died without knowledge of God's way or a true understanding of Jesus Christ, the only "name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). In my thirty years as a minister, I have yet to talk with anyone from another church who knows the fate of these "lost" people.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Final Harvest
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Philippians 1:23-24 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Since Paul would go to the grave at death, why did he say he would be with Christ? Notice that Paul did not say where he would go or when he would be with Christ. There is not one word mentioning heaven here, nor is there one word saying that he would be with Christ immediately. Then why the hurry for departure? To understand what is meant here, turn to another scripture where Paul was ready to depart. In II Timothy 4:6-8 Paul wrote: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." In these verses Paul explains what he meant by being with Christ. He does not receive his reward immediately at death. But there is laid up a crown of righteousness which the Lord shall give him at that day. What day? At Christ's appearing—His second coming! In Isaiah 40:10 we notice this same day mentioned: "Behold, the Lord God will come . . . behold, his reward is with him. . . ." Check Revelation 22:12 also. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). This is when the dead "that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake" (Daniel 12:2). The dead have not been with the Lord these thousands of years; but they are awaiting the time when they will in the future awaken from the dust of the earth to meet the Lord in the air! This is the time when, according to I Corinthians 15:52, the dead shall be raised incorruptible by the power of the Spirit of God. This is the first resurrection. Now Paul's enigmatic statement in Philippians is clear. He was willing to remain alive for the sake of the Philippians who needed him as a teacher and apostle, even though he sometimes desired personally to be delivered from troubles by death to await the resurrection and be with Christ. To die is gain! There is no knowledge of passing time (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10; Psalms 146:4). The next moment is the resurrection!
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
What Is the Reward of the Saved?
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Colossians 2:12-13 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Symbolically, our baptism imitates what our Savior did for us, and therefore, by our participation in it, we show our desire to be united—at one—with Him in both His death and resurrection (Romans 6:5). Paul writes in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." This is what our decision to be baptized tells our Father in heaven. Being put into the water represents the death of the "old man" with his sinful way of life. Being completely covered by water symbolizes burial, and being raised from the water pictures a resurrection to "newness of life." After baptism we consider ourselves dead to sin, that is, we have completely divorced ourselves from living a sinful way of life (Romans 6:11). Once baptized, we are to give our lives to God and use our time to become "instruments of righteousness to God" (verse 13).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Basic Doctrines: Water Baptism
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1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Paul mentions the exact timing of this event twice! In verse 15, he says that this occurs at "the coming of the Lord," and in verse 16, Christ "descend[s] from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God." To combat these clear time markers, Protestants have to say that Christ returns twice and that there are two different blowings of the trumpet! Paul himself quashes this argument in I Corinthians 15:50-52: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Caught Up in the Rapture
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