Chapter Three

From

UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY

OR

RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

ISBN 0-7414-4620-0

William Robert West

Author of “The Rapture And Israel”

Chapter Three: Unconditional Immortality

Makes The Great Doctrines Of The New Testament

Useless And\Or Impossible

Is "The Wages Of Sin Death"

Or

"Eternal Life With Torment In Hell”

An Immortal Soul And The Doctrine Of Hell

Over 534,000 downloads

An Immortal Soul or Resurrection of the Dead

An immaterial invisible immortal soul versus the resurrection of the dead

Chapter Three

Truth Magazine, August 7,2008, page 457 had an article about “Reinterpretation Of The Scripture.” The main point this article makes is about reinterpreting Genesis 3 to mean the Serpent was not real, but was taken from well-known pagan myths. The article points out that when one reinterpretation is accepted more will soon come and gives some reinterpretations they think may come. Without doubt, many have made reinterpretations of many scriptures and many more will make reinterpretations. Reinterpretation that the magazine said nothing about have been made and accepted by many. This chapter is about reinterpretations that have been made in the past; reinterpretations that are historical facts and believed by many today, reinterpretations that have caused many of the divisions we now have, Purgatory, Limbo, worship of Mary and Saints, Nether World, holy water, the rosary, forbidding Priest to marry, the crucifix, Monks and Nouns, forbidding eating of meat on Friday, and candle-burning. THE REINTERPREATIN OF THE NATURE OF MAN FROM NOW BEING MORTAL TO NOW BEING IMMORTAL AND THE REINTERPREATION OF THE WAGES OF SIN FROM BEING DEATH TO BEING ETERNAL LIFE WITH TORMENT IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS CHAPTER.

All that has the Son has eternal life. He that has not the Son has not life (immortality) 1 John 5:12. UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY MAKES THE GREAT DOCTRINES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT USELESS AND\OR IMPOSSIBLE.

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[1] THE REINTERPRETATION

OF THE DEATH OF JESUS

"Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him" [2 Corinthians 5:21]. Jesus actually died for our sins [Romans 5:8], and "We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son" [Romans 5:10]. The wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23], and Christ died our death that we may have life, not to keep us from an eternal life of torment, but to give us life [eternal life]. He paid the wages for our sin and died our death in our place, but He is not forever being tormented in our place. Death alone is the penalty for sin. [Hebrews 9:11-28; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:16-19; Matthew 27:20; John 10:15; 12:23-26; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Hebrews 2:14; 9:16-17; 10:14; Isaiah 43:12]. IF, AS MANY TEACH, THE WAGES OF SIN IS ETERNAL LIFE IN TORMENT, CHRIST DID NOT SUFFER ETERNAL TORMENT FOR US, THEREFORE, HE WOULD NOT HAVE PAID THE WAGES OF SIN FOR US. Jesus bore the punishment of sin that the sinner will bear at the judgment, but He is not suffering eternal torment; therefore, if eternal torment were the wages of sin, He is not paying it for us. Life is His gift to us, not just a reward for an immaterial, invisible "soul" that has eternal life and cannot die. Those who do not reach the blood of Christ [His death] will die, for the wages of their sin is death, "For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" [Romans 6:5]. If those not united in the likeness of His death will not be in the likeness of His resurrection, then what likeness will they have in Hell? THE WAGES OF THEIR SIN IS DEATH, NOT HAVING THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST OR ADAM OR ANY OTHER LIKENESS WHEN IN HELL. If a person is immortal from birth, then the only part of a person many says will be in Heaven or Hell, his undying soul, can never die, therefore, Christ could not have died in our place if we have an undying soul that cannot die, then that part of us cannot die, and Christ could not have died to save it from death, the wages of sin; the soul that cannot die would have no need for Him to have died in its place.

If Christ were as much alive in the three days His earthly body was in the grave as He was after the resurrection then there was no difference in Christ (1) than when before He came to earth (2) when His earthly body was in the grave (3) and now when He is in Heaven, if His death were not total and complete. If only His earthly body were dead, then He was the same "spiritual being" with all the power and glory in the three days His body was in the grave that He had before He came to earth, or that He now has in Heaven. Jesus could have given nothing but His earthly body for our sins. According to those who believe we have a soul, which is only a part of us that cannot die, the soul of Christ could not and did not die, THEREFORE, ACCORDING TO THEIR TEACHING JESUS DID NOT DIE FOR OUR SINS FOR HE WAS NEVER DEAD. The death of Jesus was not just a door by which He went instantly back to Heaven before His resurrection. He was not "received up from you into heaven" [Acts 1:11] unto 50 days after His death, not at the time of His death, not before His resurrection.

THE DEATH CHRIST DIED AND HIS RESURRECTION ARE OPPOSITES. IF HIS DEATH WERE NOT A REAL DEATH, HIS RESURRECTION COULD NOT BE A REAL RESURRECTION. Then what would God has given when He give His only Son, nothing more than one human body for three days. There was no real sacrifice by God or Christ, NO REAL RESURRECTION as Jesus was not really and in truth dead. We are told repeatedly God raised Christ [Acts 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30; 13:37; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Peter 1:21]. "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back form the dead our Lord Jesus" [Hebrews 13:20 New International Version]. Christ was as dead and as much under the power of death as mankind will be after death. He was not somewhere very much alive with the same body [spiritual body], and the power and glory He had before He came to earth; and just came back to His human body. THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A DEATH OR A RESURRECTION, and we would still be in our sins with no hope. His coming back to His earthy body on the third day would not have been a resurrection of anything but His earthly body. The Wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23] and Christ died in our place with all God's wrath that we would have had upon us at the judgment. JESUS PAID OUR DEBT IN FULL. HE "LAY DOWN HIS LIFE" FOR US [John 15:13] BUT HE IS NOT SUFFERING ETERNAL PUNISHMENT FOR US, THEREFORE, IF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT IS THE WAGES OF SIN, HE IS NOT NOW PAYING OUR DEBT. Suffering is never said to be the wages of sin, but MANY TAKE AWAY THE WAGES OF SIN (death) AND PUT AN ETERNAL LIFE OF SUFFERING IN HELL IN ITS PLACE. Not to take anything away from the suffering of Christ, but if He had suffered all He did right up to His death, and then not have died for our sin; we would still have to pay the penalty of our sin, which is death [Romans 6:23]. Jesus died for us, but He is not being forever tormented for us.

• "He laid down his LIFE for us" [1 John 3:16].
• "Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man BE RISEN FROM THE DEAD" [Matthew 17:9].
• "And go quickly, and tell his disciples, HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD" [Matthew 28:7].
• "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD the third day" [Luke 24:46].
• "This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after that HE WAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD" [John 21:14].
• "And killed the Prince of life; whom God RAISED FROM THE DEAD" [Acts 3:15].

a) CHRIST IS OUR PASSOVER Exodus 20: The lamb died in the place of the first-born. It was slain, not forever tormented. Its blood was placed on the doorpost, and the death angel passed over. If there were no blood, there was death for the first born, not an eternal life of torment. "For our Passover also has been sacrificed, even Christ" [1 Corinthians 5:7]. "That by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man" [Hebrews 2:9]. Christ died in the place of the sinner. It is by His blood that we are saved from death just as the blood of the lamb saved the first-born from death; the saved will be passed over by the second death. He tasted of death for all, but He is not forever being tormented for all.

b) NO ATONEMENT: If God's penalty for sin is not death, it would not have been necessary for Christ to die to redeem us from the curse of the law; for if the law did not inflict death on the sinner, and yet required the death of Christ for the redemption of the sinner, it inflicted on Christ as payment for our sins something it would not have inflicted on us as payment for our sin. "If the punishment due for our sins is not actual death, then Christ could not have made an atonement for us by his death. Under the Mosaic Law there was no such punishment as imprisonment for life, much less imprisonment for life under continuous torture. The penalty for the greatest offenses was always and only death." Curtis Dickinson, What The Bible Teaches About Immortality And Future Punishment, Page 16. If the soul does not die, but goes to Heaven or Hell at death, then Christ was not dead. He was not raised the third day, but only came back from Heaven or Hell, BUT IT COULD NOT BE A RESURRECTION. In Old Testament types, it was the LIFE given up in the blood poured out on the altar that atoned for sin; and it was LIFE given up by Christ that atones. Sin must be atoned for. The wages of sin is death. If Christ did not die, no atonement was made. If the wages of sin is an everlasting life of torment, then Christ did not pay it and no atonement was made. When "soul" [nehphesh] is reinterpreted to be an immaterial, invisible, undying inter part of a person, then when Christ "poured out his soul [nehphesh] unto death" [Isaiah 53:10-12], was this undying part of Him dead? If He were not dead, He did not pour out his nehphesh unto death and there was no atonement.

c) NO NEW COVENANT: "For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it. For a testament is in force where there has been death: for it never avail while he that made it lives" [Hebrews 9:16-17]. If Christ only changed from living on Earth to living any other place, whether it is Heaven, Hell or wherever, if His soul or spirit [?] which was alive before He came to Earth, was alive while He was on Earth, and was alive when His earthly body was in the grave just as it now is in Heaven, He did not die, there was no death and the New Covenant is not in force.

"HE WAS CUT OFF OUT OF THE LAND OF THE LIVING: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. AND HE MADE HIS GRAVE WITH THE WICKED, AND WITH THE RICH IN HIS DEATH" [Isaiah 53:8-9]. "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: WHOM GOD HAS RAISED UP, HAVING LOOSED THE PAINS OF DEATH: because it was not possible that he should be held of it...Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his grave is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with and oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, HE WOULD RAISE UP CHRIST to sit on his throne, he seeing this before SPAKE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, that his soul was not left in hades, neither did his flesh see corruption. THIS JESUS HAS GOD RAISED UP, whereof we are all witnesses" [Acts 2:24-32].

"And therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that RAISED UP JESUS OUR LORD FROM THE DEAD; who was delivered for our offenses AND WAS RAISED FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION" [Romans 4:22-25]. "For He has MADE HIM TO BE SIN FOR US, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" [2 Corinthians 5:21]. "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him THAT WAS ABLE TO SAVE HIM FROM DEATH, and was heard in that he feared, though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience through the things that he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" [Hebrews. 5:79]. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the age (aion-age, not world, probably end of the Jewish age) has he appeared to put away sin BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF And as it appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" [Hebrews 9:24-28].

WE ARE SAVED BY THE DEATH OF CHRIST. We were baptized into the death of Christ and raised from the dead. In some way that we may never fully understand we died with Him and His death became our death for our sins. See 2 Corinthians 5:14; Romans 6:3-8; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:10; 2 Timothy 2:11.

d) MAKES CHRIST'S DEATH BE INADEQUATE: Many who say they "speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent" say "we cannot fully grasp the righteousness and holiness of God, nor the sinfulness of sin in His perfectly created universe." They believe that the sinfulness of sin makes eternal torment in Hell necessary, and eternal death would not be enough for God to be a just God. If they "speak where the Bible speaks," then how do they know that sin is not evil enough to require the death of the sinner, the supreme penalty, therefore, the sinner must be let off with a lesser penalty of a life of torment. The Bible clearly says death is required. "The wages of sin is death" not just a life of torment. They are clearly speaking where the Bible does not speak. It is often said that the sinfulness of sin makes Hell necessary but not once does the Bible say this. It says, "The wages of sin is death." WHEN CHRIST PAID THE WAGES OF SIN FOR US, IT WAS WITH HIS DEATH. HE IS NOT SUFFERING ETERNAL TORMENT FOR US, THEREFORE, IF THE WAGES OF SIN IS ETERNAL TORMENT AND NOT DEATH, THE DEATH OF CHRIST WAS INADEQUATE TO PAY FOR OUR SINS.

[2] THE REINTERPRETATION OF

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

If all the saved are now in Heaven with Christ and all the lost are now in Hell, why is He coming back to this earth? Death the "last enemy" has been made to do what Christ would have done at His second coming, namely taken all the saved to Heaven. There would be no need for Him to come back to do what death has already done. The doctrine of an immortal undying soul has supplanted the second coming of Christ by making the enemy of mankind be his best friend that takes him instantly to Heaven. THIS VIEW HAS CHRIST COMING BACK TO EARTH FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT ON EARTH BUT ARE WITH HIM IN HEAVEN.

The Abraham's bosom view says Christ is coming back to the earth for the resurrection, but the ones He is coming back to earth to raise from the dead are those who are not dead but are alive somewhere other than on earth where He is coming back to. This view makes souls be alive wherever they think Abraham's bosom to be. No one is dead; therefore, there cannot be a resurrection of the undead.

[3] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE RESURRECTION

OF THE DEAD FROM THE GRAVE

MAKES A RESURRECTION IMPOSSIBLE

AND NOT NEEDED BY ELIMINATING DEATH

Those that are not dead cannot be raised from the dead. Unconditional immortality says a person has an immaterial part that is immortal and not subject to death, and that all go to Heaven or Hell at death. If this were true, it would make the resurrection be of no consequence, impossible, and not needed. Most unconditional immoralists say the this immaterial part of a person is the only part of a person that will be in Heaven, and it is not now dead and not in the grave and will not be dead or in the grave at the coming of Christ; and we are told the souls (the immaterial part) of those who have died are not now on this earth and will not be on this earth when He comes. If all are now in Heaven or Hell, then all have been judged. If it were true that the only part of a person that can never die is the only part of him that will be in Heaven, there could not be a resurrection of the dead for this part of a person would not be dead. The resurrection is at and joined to the coming of Christ. If those who have died in Christ are in Heaven, some for two thousand years or more, what would be the point of the second coming of Christ to receive them unto Himself [John 14:3]. Would it not be ridiculous for Christ to come to Earth for His people when they had been with Him in Heaven, some for thousands of years? There would be nothing on earth to rise but the earthly body that will never be in Heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:50 "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God."

There could not be a resurrection to immortal life if a person now has immortal life; the only part of them that would be in Heaven would just go on living. Can those who are not asleep wake up? Dying has been made into a translation to another kind of life, not a death. Death has been made into a doorway into a continuation of life without the resurrection in which the lost will be a living spiritual being and have the same eternal life as the saved. Therefore, the resurrection cannot be a resurrection of the dead but only a moving day for those who are alive without it. The sting of death has been removed and made it into a victory for those in Christ; and in so doing has completely eliminated the need for a resurrection, and made it impossible to have one by denying that the dead are dead, and will be dead unto the resurrection.

Not only would the resurrection be impossible and would not be needed even if it were possible. Many believe the dead now have a spiritual body that now has incorruption [1 Corinthians 15:42]; it now has glory and power [1 Corinthians 15:43], and is now in the image of the heavenly [1 Corinthians 15:49]. If they are now in Heaven and not now in the image of Christ what image do they now have in Heaven? What body do they now have? If, as soon as they die, the dead are alive and they have the image of Christ, what more will they have or could want after the resurrection?

1. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IS AN UNSOLVABLE PROBLEM for those who believe an undying soul goes to Heaven or Hell at death, a problem for which there is no solution. What do they think will be raised from the dead when Christ comes? What body will be raised? What are they going to do with the earthly body if it were raised from the dead? It cannot go to Heaven. What will happen to it after it is raised? A RESURRECTION OF THOSE WHO ARE ALIVE IN HEAVEN OR HELL IS NO RESURRECTION AT ALL. IT IS AN EMPTY SHOW. IT IS AN INESCAPABLE FACT THAT ACCORDING TO THE POPULAR TEACHING, THAT THERE IS NO PLACE FOR A RESURRECTION IN THE POPULAR VIEW OF TODAY AND NO LOGICAL REASON FOR IT. A resurrection requires that the person raised be dead at the time of their resurrection, not more alive than when they were living. THE BIBLE TEACHING OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD AT THE COMING OF CHRIST CANNOT BE RECONCILED WITH THE HEATHEN DOCTRINE OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL. THEY ARE OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER AND BOTH CANNOT BE TRUE.

2. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IS A FUTURE EVENT [John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15]. If a person has an immortal soul that will never be dead and this "soul" is the only part of a person that will be in Heaven, the New Testament teaching of the resurrection has been destroyed. The Greek concept of the immortal soul assumes that an individual already posse's eternal life and the only question is “where this eternal life will be spent?” It cannot be said that something that is now living can be raised from the dead. It is utterly impossible to harmonize the New Testament teaching of a resurrection with the pagan teaching of an immortal soul. If there is no resurrection, then all life ceases at death. "For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised: and if Christ has not been raised, you faith is vain; you are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable." There is no stronger way Paul could have said that there is no hope of life after death if there is no resurrection.

3. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD DESTROYS THE THEORY OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT IS NEVER DEAD, THEREFORE, CANNOT BE RESURRECTED. THE TWO ARE INCOMPATIBLE.

o An immortal soul makes the resurrection impossible.

o The resurrection makes an immortal soul impossible.

o Death is the end of life. The resurrection is a return to life.

o If death is life in another place, the resurrection is nothing more than a moving day to another place, just a continuation of life in another place, not a real resurrection.

4. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IS THE ONLY HOPE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. THE BIBLE COULD NOT SAY ANY STRONGER THAN IT DOES THAT AN AWAKENING FROM THE DEAD BY THE RESURRECTION IS OUR ONLY HOPE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH. Without the resurrection to life from death, there would be no existence after death. Being raised from the grave to immortality is the teaching of the New Testament [See 1 Corinthians 15; Matthew 22:31; Luke 14:14; John 11:25; Acts 17:31; Philippians 3:8-11; John 6:3-9]. Without the resurrection, "Your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" [1 Corinthians 15:17-18]. "If from human motives I fought with will beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE" [1 Corinthians 15:32]; not tomorrow our immortal soul lives. Both reincarnation and the immoral soul from birth are a poor substitution for the truth. As clearly as life and death, the return of Jesus, the resurrection from the grave, and the Judgment Day are taught in the New Testament, how could anyone read the New Testament and believe reincarnation or that Plato's immortal soul is alive before and without the resurrection?

5. “If the dead are not raised” (1 Corinthians 15:16-19)

o “Neither has Christ been raise”

o “Your faith is vain (useless)”

o “You are yet in your sins”

o “They also that are fallen asleep (are dead) in Christ have perished.” If there is no resurrection of the dead there will be no hereafter for anyone who has died.

o “If we have only hoped in Christ I this life, we are of all men most pitiable”

If we had a soul that will never be dead, it will always live independent of the resurrection. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul has pervaded of the resurrection of the dead and made the resurrection to be completely of no consequence, it has destroyed the need for the resurrection. THERE COULD NOT BE A GOSPEL MORE DIFFERENT THAN THE GOSPEL OF AN IMMORTALTY SOUL THAT WILL NEVER DIE. Nothing is more plainly taught then there will be no life for anyone after death without the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Chrst.

6. AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IS THE ONLY TIME ANY OF THE DEAD WILL BE ALIVE AND WITH THE LORD. "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17].

7. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IS WHEN THE JUST SHALL BE RECOMPENSED, NOT AT DEATH FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT DEAD. "For you shall be recompensed in the resurrection of the just" [Luke 14:14]. No one is recompensed by going to Heaven at death before the resurrection and judgment. "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:3]. No one will be in His Father's house before the resurrection of the dead when He comes again to receive them. No deathless part of a person will at the death of the body go to His Father's house in Heaven before He comes again.

8. THE INCONSISTENCY OF MAKING DEATH A FRIEND. According to their belief the dead go to Heaven at death and are with God, Christ and all loved one who went before them. Yet they do all they can, pray to God to keep the sick alive and out of Heaven, spend a great sum of money to make keep them on earth, and grieve when a loved one goes to be with Jesus. It is obvious there is an inconsistency in what they claim to believe and what they really believe. It is obvious that they believe death to be an enemy, not a friend.

Christ was the first fruits [first one raised from the dead] afterward those who are Christ's shall be made alive [raised from the dead] at His coming [1 Corinthians 15:22-23]. Plato's immortal soul makes Christ being the first fruits or firstborn from the dead not possible for it makes all the dead be alive somewhere, and there cannot be a resurrection of an immortal soul that has everlasting life from birth.

NEW BIBLE DICTIONARY: "The most startling characteristic of the first Christian preaching is its emphasis on the resurrection. The first preaches were sure that Christ had risen, and sure, in consequence, the believers would in due course rise also. This set them off from all the other teachers of the ancient world...Nothing is more characteristic of even the best thought of the day than its hopelessness in the face of death. Clearly the resurrection is of the very first importance for the Christian faith" Page 1010, 1996. The resurrection is a New Testament teaching. The word resurrection is used forty-one times in the New Testament but not once in the Old Testament.

ADAM CLARKE on 1 Corinthians 15:32: "I believe the common method of pointing this verse is erroneous; I propose to read it: 'If, after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what does it advantage me? If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.' What the apostle says here is a regular and legitimate conclusion from the doctrine that there is no resurrection; for if there be no resurrection, then there can be no judgment-no future state or rewards and punishment; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, and keep ourselves under continual discipline? Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we can; FOR TOMORROW WE DIE, AND THERE IS AN END OF US FOREVER."

JERRY CROSS: "It is important to notice that Paul argues for a resurrection, and not a release. Paul does not have in mind some disembodied existence such as advocated by Greek thinkers such as Plato. Furthermore, Paul is arguing for a resurrection that is a transformation and not a continuation or resumption of life just as it had been laid down. The resurrected body is to be radically different from the body of this earthly life (vv. 35-49). This is the same position argued by Jesus against both the view of the Sadducees and that of the Pharisees (Matt. 22:23-33; esp. v. 30)" Magnolia Bible College 1984 Lectures, pages 47-48.

DILLARD THURMAN: "The hope and aspiration of many has been shifted from His coming again to receive His own, to an immediate immortality and heavenly bliss immediately at death! Jesus DID NOT promise that!" Gospel Minutes, Volume 34, Number 5, February 1, 1985.

The resurrection was the backbone of the belief and teaching of the New Testament Church [Philippians 3:10-11; Acts 17:31, 23:6, 24:15, John 6:39-54, Luke 14:13-14, Hebrews 9:27, 1 Corinthians 15:1-58]. If the body is only a house in which the soul lives, then the putting off this house is not a death. If the soul is not on earth and anything comes forth out of the grave, it could only be the body of flesh; and then the "soul" must come back to rejoin the body, or we would have our dead earthly body resurrected but with no "soul." THE APOSTLES NEVER PREACHED A DISEMBODIED LIFE AFTER DEATH, BUT A RESURRECTION FROM DEATH. "God both raised the Lord, and will raise up us" [1 Corinthians 6:14].

IF WE ARE NOW A TWO PARTS BEING OF BODY AND SPIRIT, WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL BODY THAT THE SAVED SOUL OR SAVED SPIRIT WILL "PUT ON" [1 Corinthians 15:44]? Is the "soul" (as the word is used today) different from the spiritual body that we will put on at the resurrection? Is the spirit part of a person, which some teach we now have, going to put on another body at the resurrection, and become a different spiritual body from what it is now? Will it be a second spiritual body? If we now have this spirit or soul, how can it be changed in any way? Will it be different from the soul we now have? If it will not be different, all we could do would be to put off the body of flesh; and then our immortal part would be just as it will be in Heaven; if not, why not? There could be no other change or a resurrection; nothing other than putting off the body of flesh at death, and those who have died would have already done this. IF THE "SOUL" IS NOW IMMORTAL THERE WILL BE NO RESURRECTION AND NO SPIRITUAL BODY TO BE PUT ON AT THE RESURRECTION. THE RESURRECTION OF OUR EARTHLY BODY MAKES GOD'S WORD A LIE.

• "How are the dead raised, and with what manner of body do they come?" [1 Corinthians 15:35].
• "You sow not the body that shall be" [1 Corinthians 15:37].
• "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption" [1 Corinthians 15:42].
• "And as we have born the image of the earthy [Adam], we SHALL also bear the image of the heavenly [Christ]" [1 Corinthians 15:49].
• "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50].
• "We shall all be changed in a moment" [1 Corinthians 15:49].
• "The dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed" [1 Corinthians 15:52].
• "It is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is" [1 John 3:2].

Summary: THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE NATURE OF A PERSON, THAT HE IS NOW A TWO PART BEING OF BODY AND SOUL OR SPIRIT, THAT HE NOW HAS AN IMMORTAL SPIRIT and/or SOUL THAT IS JUST AS IT WILL BE AFTER THE RESURRECTION, AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST ARE NOW JUST AS THEY WILL ALWAYS BE. IF THIS WERE TRUE, THEN THE "SOUL," WHICH IS NOW THE IMMORTAL PART OF A PERSON, CANNOT PUT ON IMMORTALITY, BE CHANGED, TRANSFORMED, OR RESURRECTED AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. IF IT IS CHANGED OR RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD THEN THE SPIRIT and/or SOUL SOME SAY WE NOW HAVE CANNOT BE THE SAME SOUL AS THE SOUL WE WILL HAVE AFTER THE RESURRECTION. The simple Bible truth is that the saved will be resurrected with a spiritual body [1 Corinthians 15:53]. THE TEACHING THAT WE HAVE A PART OF US THAT WILL NOT DIE WHEN THE BODY DOES, AND THAT THIS "SOUL" IS ONLY THIS PART OF A PERSON THAT WILL LIVE FOREVER MAKES A REAL RESURRECTION IMPOSSIBLE.

All this is only because unconditional immortality must have something come from the grave that was dead, which could not be the "soul" for we are repeatedly told that it is as much alive as it will ever be; and it will be "at home with the Lord" from the time of the death of the body before and without the resurrection. David Owen says it should be noted that Paul says we will be raised with a spiritual body, not a spirit. 1996 Florida College Lectures, Page 216. It will be "us" that is raised with a new "spiritual body," not an undying inter spirit part of a person that is not dead being raised from Heaven?

If the resurrection were taken from the Bible, it would not affect the theology of many churches today. They take a short cut and go directly to heaven at death without the resurrection. Because they believe they are born with an immortal soul, which is the only part of them that they believe will be in Heaven, they do not need to put on immortality at the resurrection which they have bypassed. A believer in unconditional immortality says, "Therefore, at the Second Coming, all the resurrected saints are brought together and publicly displayed, not raised at that time." From a web site at: http//www.tranexp.com/win/intertrans.gif. The belief in the resurrection and the need for it is being abandoning by many. But, the Bible teaches that all die, and none will live before the resurrection; and without it there would be no life for anyone after death, not the saved or the lost.

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT ONLY A PART OF A PERSON WILL BE SAVED, AND THAT PART IS HIS IMMORTAL SOUL, WHICH CAN NEVER DIE, YOU CANNOT BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION. YOU MUST GIVE UP ONE OR THE OTHER FOR BOTH CANNOT BE TRUE. AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT CANNOT DIE NOW POSSESSES ETERNAL LIFE EVEN IF IT REJECTS CHRIST AND IT CANNOT BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THEREFORE, THERE WOULD BE NOTHING DEAD TO RISE FROM THE DEAD. Satan's lie, "You shall not surely die" after being changed to "My soul shall not surely die" has succeeded to the point that many now say, "No Christ, a part of me needs no resurrection, my soul is immortal and at death it will come to you in Heaven; this part of me will not wait to go to heaven unto after your second coming and the resurrection." One of the "church fathers," Justin Martyr said those "who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven are not Christian at all." A faith in something God has not spoken is a vain useless faith, therefore; a faith based on life after death because we have an immortal soul that is not subject to death is a vain faith.

[4] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE WAGES OF SIN

MAKES "THE WAGES OF SIN" IMPOSSIBLE

BY ELIMINATING DEATH [Romans 6:23]

The wages of sin have been changed from death to an eternal life of torment. Paul should not have said, "The wages of sin is death" [Romans 6:23]. He should have said, "The wages of sin is an eternal life of torment in Hell." James should not have said, "When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death" [James 2:15]. He should have said, "Sin will send you to Hell to be eternally tormented by God." If the soul cannot die, it cannot pay the wages of sin, which is to die, therefore, only the body can pay the wages of sin, death, and being saved will not save the body from death.

• Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is death" has been reinterpreted to be an eternal life with torment
• James 1:15: "And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death" has been reinterpreted to be "And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth eternal life in Hell."

AS LONG AS A PERSON HAS LIFE, THAT PERSON IS NOT DEAD, THEREFORE, AS LONG AS ANY PART OF THAT PERSON IS ALIVE, THAT PERSON HAS NOT RECEIVED THE WAGES OF SIN. NOR CAN A PERSON BE SAID TO BE DYING IF DEATH CAN NEVER BE REACHED. To an immortal soul that cannot die, death cannot be the wages of sin. Mankind does not like death, and most have made themselves believe THERE IS NO REAL DEATH. Even at the time of our death, many believe we do not die, and have reduced God's death row to life in prison. And as we now have immortality, the promise of "eternal life" must be reduced from being eternal life to just being a reward [heaven]. If only the earthly body dies, not the real "us," the resurrection could not be the center of the gospel [1 Corinthians 15:1-10]. It could not even be a part of it; therefore, the undying immortal soul doctrine takes the resurrection out of the Gospel; both the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection. No one would ever be dead to be raised.

NEVER A VICTORY: Evil and good beings must live side by side. If death is only separation from God, the separation must go on forever. THERE NEVER CAN BE AN END TO DEATH. There never can be an end to separation, for if the separation did end, both the lost and the saved would then be together. There will never be an end to evil. Satan, evil angels, and evil men are just moved to another place, not ended, and not defeated. They will remain just as evil, just as much in rebellion to God as they are now. ACCORDING TO THE TRADITIONAL DOCTRINE OF HELL THERE WILL BE TWO KINGDOMS, THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF SATAN WITH THE KINGDOM OF SATAN BEING MANY TIMES LARGER THAN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. WHAT KIND OF VICTORY WOULD THAT BE? IT MAKES SATAN WIN.

[5] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE JUDGMENT DAY

The judgment day at the coming of Christ is as opposed to an immortal soul going to Heaven or Hell at death as the resurrection of the dead is. If the dead are now in Heaven or Hell, all would have been judged at death and the judgment is going on now as each person dies. To take those who have already been judged out of Heaven or Hell FOR A SECOND JUDGMENT only to put them back in the same place where they now are would be a useless and empty show. It would make a mockery of both the resurrection and the judgment. The popular idea of an immortal soul going to Heaven at death makes the resurrection and judgment be out of place; and many have abandoned it. At the most, the judgment day could be nothing more than another reward day for these who were already judged and rewarded at death. Many churches say we get our reward of going to Heaven at death; therefore, the judgment day is made to be nothing more than an empty and useless show.

The judgment of all will take place on a special day IN THE FUTURE, the day of the second coming of Christ, NOT AT DEATH. Matthew 16:27; John 5:27-29; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Peter 3:7; Acts 17:31; Matthew 10:15; 11:22; 11:24; Mark 6:11; Matthew 7:22; Luke 19:22; John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24; 12:48; Romans 2:5; 2:16; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 3:13; Ephesians 4:30; 6:13; Philippians 1:6; 1:10; 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 5:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2:3; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1:18; 4:8; 2 Peter 2:9; 3:7; 3:10; 3:12; 1 John 4:17; Jude 6. The Bible is so clear on when anyone will be judged that I find it difficult to understand how anyone can read the Bible and then say we are judged at death to be saved or loss.

MAKES THE JUDGMENT A MOCKERY and NOT NEEDED: If God has already judged both the good and evil, and is now tormenting or rewarding them; the Judgment Day can be no more than a useless mockery. A SECOND JUDGMENT: If all go to Heaven or Hell at death as is taught by today's theology, WOULD NOT A SECOND JUDGMENT MAKE GOD UNSURE OF HIMSELF? If in all the billions He had judged at death and sent them to Heaven or Hell, if He found just one that He had misjudged, He would not be infallible and, therefore, would not be God. Satan fashions himself as an angel of light and his ministers as ministers of righteousness, and has done their work well [2 Corinthians 11:14-15].

The Catholic Encyclopedia, "Hell" by P. Kreeft says, "God must appoint some fixed term for the time of trial, after which the just will enter into the secure possession of a happiness that can never again be lost in all eternity...Accordingly, it is the belief of all people that eternal retribution is dealt out immediately after death." Most Protestants also believe a person goes to Heaven or Hell immediately after death, therefore, their judgment must be immediately after death, not at the second coming of Christ.

[6] THE REINTERPRETATION OF DEATH

TO BE NOT DEATH BUT ETERNAL LIFE

EITHER ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN OR ETERNAL LIFE IN HELL

BEFORE THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT

AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY MAKES DEATH A FRIEND, NOT THE LAST ENEMY THAT SHALL BE ABOLISHED AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST [1 Corinthians 15:26]. "To die" never signifies "to live in torment." If Abraham, David and all the saints of the Old Testament were in Heaven, they were there without the resurrection, without the death of Christ, and neither one would be needed nor would there be any death to abolish.

1. Death would have been destroyed by changing death into eternal life for all at the time we die, not at Christ's second coming. Death would have been destroyed for those in the Old Testament before and without the death of Christ by putting them all in Heaven or Hell at the time of their death.

2. Death that took them to Heaven was no enemy.

3. Death is not even death, for changing from life on this earth to life in Heaven or life in Hell is not death.

[7] THE REINTERPRETATION OF ASLEEP

ARE THE DEAD ASLEEP OR AWAKE?

What is asleep, the body, or soul, or spirit, or man? The scriptures never speak of a soul being asleep, or the body, or spirit, but the whole person as being asleep; and he will be asleep unto the resurrection day. If Christ were not raised, the dead are gone forever, will never live again in any way or in any time. Paul's argument is that they have perished, have come to an end, and will not be resurrected in anyway. If Christ were not raised, they are gone. There will be no resurrection or life after death. Those who are asleep in Christ will never wake up. The Bible must be changed and made to say that the soul, the only part of a person that many believe will be in Heaven is not asleep and can never sleep. 1 Corinthians 15:18 APOLLUMI--PERISHED "Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have PERISHED [Apollumi]." If Christ were not raised from the dead, those who have died have perished. If Christ were not raised, He was not the Son of God, but just a man. His teaching and all the New Testament are not true. He will not come back, and there will be no resurrection of those who are "asleep in Christ." They have perished [Apollumi]. WHEN PAUL SAID THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP IN CHRIST HAVE "PERISHED" HE IS SAYING THEY WILL NEVER LIVE AGAIN ANYWHERE IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION FROM THE SLEEP OF DEATH. THEY ARE GONE "PERISHED" FOREVER. HE IS NOT SAYING THEY HAVE JUST "lost their well-being" BUT ARE ALIVE SOMEWHERE EVEN IF CHRIST WERE NOT RAISED FROM THE DEAD. Perished cannot mean tormented, but a total end, for if "perished" is "tormented," then Paul said those who are "asleep in Christ" will be "tormented" if there is no resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:12-19]. Paul is not saying that if Christ were not raised, the dead in Christ have just "lost their well-being" because they are alive and will forever live in pain and torment, but he is saying that they are dead and will never live again anywhere if there is no resurrection. If a part of us cannot die, then Paul has no argument for it cannot perish, and must forever live somewhere, and there cannot be a resurrection of the undead that cannot die, and when Paul said some had perished, he just did not understand that a soul cannot perish; that the only part of a person that will live forever cannot die or perish. Paul's argument has been neutralized, and he is made to be saying nothing; and the death and resurrection of Christ has been made to be useless and not needed? PAUL SAID THE DEAD IN CHRIST ARE ASLEEP, THE THEOLOGY OF MANY SAYS NOT SO PAUL, ALL THE DEAD IN CHRIST ARE AWAKE IN HEAVEN.

• Jesus said, "Lazarus is fallen asleep" [John 11:11].
• Then said, "Lazarus is dead" [John 11:14].

He did not say Lazarus's body is asleep, but his soul is alive in Heaven. Lazarus would have spent four days in Heaven, but Lazarus or no others in the Bible that were raised from the dead ever said one word about what it was like. Do you think that if they had seen the joy of Heaven, or the pain of Hell, which many believe they would have seen, that a single one that was brought back from Heaven or Hell could have kept quiet about what they had seen? Could you? They said nothing because they were as Christ said "asleep," not more alive than the living. Lazarus was a problem to the chief priests and Pharisees because everyone knew he had been dead and was alive [John 11:47], not because he was telling of what he had seen. Not a one that was brought back from the dead had an "afterlife experience." Why? Because they were "asleep." Is earth better than Heaven? If Lazarus were in Heaven for four days, would he want to come back to earth? Would you or anyone want to leave Heaven and come back to this earth? Why would Christ have been cruel to Lazarus by taking him out of the joy of Heaven?

It was not possible for Lazarus to have been resurrected from the dead if he were not dead.

• Lazarus had to be dead to be resurrected from the dead.
• A "soul" must be dead to be resurrected from the dead but we are told that it cannot be dead. If that were true, then this part of us that has no substance, cannot be resurrected from the dead.

a) GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE: Abraham [Genesis 25:8-9] and others died, and were "gathered to his people." The argument is made that this could not refer to their physical body; therefore, it was the soul that was gathered to his people. If that were true then the souls would be asleep together, not awake together, therefore, it would not prove a part of a person is conscious after death. The Hebrew belief was that both the good and the bad went to sheol-the grave. See Genesis 3:7-35; Job 7:21; 14:12; 24:19; Psalms 13:3; 1610; 31:17. "Slept with his fathers" is in the Old Testament about 38 times.

• Abraham "was GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE" [Genesis 25:8-9].
• "Moses, Behold, YOU SHALL SLEEP WITH YOUR FATHERS" [Deuteronomy 31:16].
• "So DAVID SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS" [1 Kings 2:10; 11:21]. "David...fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption" [Acts 13:36].
• "From the day that the FATHERS FELL ASLEEP" [2 Peter 3:4].
• "So man lies down and rises not: Till the heavens be no more, they SHALL NOT AWAKE, NOR BE ROUSED OUT OF THEIR SLEEP" [Job 14:12].
• "CHRIST...THE FIRST FRUITS OF THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP" [1 Corinthians 15:20]. Christ is the only one who has been raised from the dead and is the only one who is not now "asleep."

If, "gathered to his people," means, "awake" then, "asleep" has to mean, "awake." If not, then wherever Abraham was, he would be "asleep"; and not know where he was, or who was with him. How could Christ be the first fruits if Abraham were alive before Him?

ABRAHAM'S FATHER SERVED OTHER GODS. "Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods" [Joshua 24:2], which, according to Catholics and Protestants, would send him to Hell, but both believe Abraham went to Heaven, and was "gathered to his people"; which would include his father. Both seem to be somewhat unsure of where Abraham is, they are not sure if Abraham was "gathered to his people" in sheol, which is the grave, or if he is in Heaven and not "gathered to his people" his father the idolater whom they believe is in Hell.

Not one of the passages, which speak of being "gathered to his people", is speaking of any one being gathered in Heaven. Sheol (the grave) is not Heaven; therefore, these passages are not speaking of anyone going to Heaven at death even though they are often used to prove it.

b) THE STATE OF THE DEAD. THE ANALOGY OF SLEEP IS USED THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE. If death does not indicate unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is used throughout the Bible, is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. [Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31 Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 9:24; 25:5; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. THE SCRIPTURES OFTEN SPEAK OF A PERSON BEING ASLEEP AFTER DEATH BUT NEVER SAY ANIMALS SLEEP WHEN THEY DIE. Why? If they were asleep, they would wake up.

THE STATE OF THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP

They have perished if there is no resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:18].

Their thoughts have perished [Psalms 146:4].

They are as though they had never been [Job 3:11-18; Psalms 39:13; 146:2].

They have no remembrance of God [Psalms 6:5].

They rest in the dust of the earth [Job 17:13].

They cannot give thanks to God [Isaiah 38:18].

The dead know not anything" [Ecclesiastes 9:5; 9:10].

The resurrection is the only hope for the dead. Without it, the dead will never have life again.

D. Padfield seems to make knowing or not knowing each other in Heaven to be dependent on Abraham being awake with his people. He leaves out the resurrection and makes Abraham be alive without it, therefore, Abraham will not need the resurrection for he is not dead. He jumps from death before the resurrection to Heaven as if they are the same place and everything will be the same in both. What we will be and know in Heaven after the resurrection does not depend on what we will know while in the grave and will not depend on being awake while we are in the grave. Is he not so desperately trying to prove a person is now immortal that he is saying to God, "Abraham being with the fathers proves he is not 'asleep with the fathers'?" This view is used by those who believe in "Abraham's bosom" but it is so desperately an attempt to prove that the dead are not asleep they makes the saved and the unsaved be awake together waiting for the resurrection even though they are not dead to be resurrected from the dead.

This view makes:

1. The dead not be dead but alive.

2. Those who "sleep with the fathers" are not asleep but are "awake with the fathers."

3. The resurrection impossible as no one is dead.

4. Makes the Bible not mean what it says. The many times it says "sleep with the fathers" must be changed to be "awake with the fathers" and the many times the Bible uses the metaphor of sleep for death are not only not true, but would be an outright lie.

c) THE AWAKENING, WAKENING UP AT THE RESURRECTION: The resurrection will be an awakening. "So man lies down and rises not: Till the heavens be no more, they shall not AWAKE, nor be roused out of their SLEEP" [Job 14:12]. David said, "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness" [Psalms 17:15]. Death is likened to sleep because it is a state of unconsciousness, which will be followed by an awakening. Was David and many others asleep, but Abraham awake? Gathered to his people where? In the sleep of death, or some other place where they were awake and not asleep, not dead? Nothing is said about such a place, and it must be read into this. This is nothing more than an attempt to set aside the clear teaching of the Bible with a vague interpretation? Abraham could not be "made alive...at his coming." Christ is the first fruits; and the rest will be resurrected "at his coming" [1 Corinthians 15:23]. Abraham and his people fell asleep, and will be asleep unto the resurrection, "From the day that the fathers fell asleep" [2 Peter 3:4]. The Bible says nothing about the state of a person from the time he falls asleep unto the resurrection. THE CHRISTIAN HOPE IS NOT ON DEATH, NOT ON BEING AWAKE ANYWHERE BEFORE THE RESURRECTION BUT ON THE RESURRECTION, ON BEING RAISED FROM THE DEAD AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. Albert Barnes says "In the Scripture sleep is used to intimate that death will not be final: that there will be an awakening out of this sleep, or a resurrection. It is a beautiful and tender expression, removing all that is dreadful in death, and filling the mind with the idea of calm repose after a life of toil, with a reference to a future resurrection" Barnes' Notes On the New Testament.

What is the resurrection?

• Is it spirits who are now awake and living in Heaven or Hell returning to their earthly bodies?
• Or is it all that are asleep in the grave will wake up at the judgment?

It was Lazarus who was asleep. Not just his body while his soul was alive [John 11:11]. Some of the saints had fallen asleep. Not just the body had fallen asleep, but the "living being," the whole person [1 Corinthians 15:6]. The Bible nowhere speaks of the body being asleep while some immaterial, invisible, inter part of a person is awake. It is the whole person that sleeps unto the resurrection, and the whole person that will wake up at the resurrection. If only the body were asleep with the spirit alive in another world, why would there never be a hint that the real person was not asleep in any of the passages that use sleep as a metaphor of death?

"For the hour is coming when ALL WHO ARE IN THEIR GRAVES WILL HEAR HIS VOICE AND COME OUT, those who have done good TO THE RESURRECTION OF LIFE, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" [John 5:28-29 New Revised Standard Version, also 2 Corinthians 5:10]. THE DEAD WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF JESUS WHEN THEY ARE IN THEIR GRAVES, NOT WHEN THEY ARE IN HEAVEN, HELL OR ABRAHAM'S BOSOM. THE RESURRECTION IS NOT A BRINGING BACK FROM HEAVEN OR HELL THOSE WHO ARE NOT DEAD; IT WILL BE A REAL RESURRECTION FROM A REAL DEATH. Jesus clearly said ALL who are in the grave. He did not say, "The souls of ALL who are in Heaven or Hell." If the dead now have life in Heaven or Hell, then Christ was wrong. "But should raise it up AT THE LAST DAY. For this is the will of my Father that everyone that beholds the Son, and believes on him should have ETERNAL LIFE; and I will raise him up AT THE LAST DAY [John 6:39-40]...and I will raise him up IN THE LAST DAY [John 6:44]...and I will raise him up AT THE LAST DAY" [John 6:54]. "I know that he SHALL RISE AGAIN in the resurrection AT THE LAST DAY" [John 11:24].

ABRAHAM, WHERE ARE YOU? Three views about where Abraham is.

1. BIBLE VIEW: Abraham is asleep with the fathers.

2. CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT VIEW: Abraham is awake in Heaven.

3. A NEWER AFTER JUDGMENT VIEW: Abraham is awake in Abraham's bosom, the good side of hades.

o Many who do not know whether they believe #2 or #3 will say some loved one had gone to be with Jesus in Heaven, but if they are trying to prove the soul is alive before the resurrection will use Luke 16. Abraham is moved back and forth from Heaven to Abraham's bosom as they need to, but most of them do not seem to know they are moving him.

[8] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE LIFE

THAT CHRIST PROMISED TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM

[John 4:14; 4:36; 5:21; 6:40 See chapter two, Life or death]. If all are born with an immortal soul that cannot die, all have eternal life and Christ could only give them a reward, not life. Unconditional immortality gives both the sinners and the saved eternal life without the death of Christ.

[9] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE RESURRECTION

MAKES BELIEVING IN THE RESURRECTION FOOLISHNESS

Most Protestant churches believe the dead go to Heaven or Hell at the time of death. After living in Heaven for hundred's of years, to come back to the earth and put the earthly body back on to be judged; and then put off the earth body and go back to Heaven or Hell would be nothing but pure foolishness.

TWO VERY DIFFERENT GOSPELS

UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY AND THE RESURRECTION ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT GOSPELS Galatians 1:6-9. There is a dividing line between unconditional immortality and conditional immortality so sharp that two are completely different Gospels as far apart as night and day. Both cannot be true. One is a "delusion" [2 Thessalonians 2:11, King James Version] "A working of error" [American Standard Version]. Do you believe a lie? Unconditional immortality is very different from anything preached in Paul's day [Galatians 1:6].

It is the "doctrines and precepts of men" [Matthew 15:9], and is wresting the writings of Paul and the other scriptures [2 Peter 3:16]. It takes away a need for the death of Christ, and the need of the resurrection.

TWO INCOMPATIBLE BELIEFS

Either one makes the other one impossible.

1. The resurrection: Makes an immortal never dying soul impossible. If it is not dead, a soul that is alive cannot be raised from the dead.

2. Unconditional immortality: 1. Makes the resurrection an unanswerable problem. If the soul is immortal and never dies, what will be the use of the resurrection? What will be raised from the dead? 2. Makes a real resurrection impossible.

These two Gospels are so opposed to each other that if one is true, it makes the other one a lie of Satan that will destroy you at the judgment. Believing it is disbelieving God. Believing this doctrine, or not believing it, can be the difference in whether you believe God or man. One came from man and is vain worship [Matthew 15:9]. The resurrection and an undying immortal soul are not compatible. If one is true, then the other one cannot be. They are so contradictory to each other that you cannot believe both; you must choose one or the other for both cannot be true. Christ taught the resurrection. It is our only hope, not now having immortality and never dying. The undead cannot be raised.

THE SILENCE OF THE BIBLE

All the great doctrines of the Bible are clearly expressed. The doctrine of God, of Christ, the resurrection, the church, the judgment, sin, etc., and are all as clear and plain as our language can say them, but the doctrine of an "immortal soul" or "a never-dying soul," which is constantly expressed today, cannot be found in the Bible. From where did it come? If anyone believes, practices, or teaches anything in the name of Christ, they are obligated to prove it from the Bible. If they do not or cannot, it is a sin to believe, practice, or teach it. It is up to the person who affirms anything to prove it, and it is not up to the person in the negative to prove something is not true. Have those who believe in and teach Hell proved it to be from God's word? Hell MUST be proved if it is taught. At the judgment, what will you say to God if there is no Hell and you have taught many that God was the cruel and sadistic God of Hell?

HOW MANY TIMES CAN A PERSON MAKE CHRIST A LIAR BY BELIEVING AND TEACHING THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT HE TAUGHT AND ATTRIBUTING THESE LIES TO HIM? How often can we attribute the teaching of man to Christ before it becomes the "precepts of man" and vain worship? (Matthew 15:9).

Will you say to God at the judgment that you loved your theology, a different gospel, more than His word?

IT ADDS TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION: Most all who believe in Hell misuse many symbolic passages in revelation to prove it. John said, "If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book" [Revelation 22:18]. Do they love this cruel and evil teaching enough to have these plagues added to them selves?

HEAVIER JUDGMENT James 3:1 and VAIN WORSHIP Matthew 15:9. When we teach things that slander God, and makes the resurrection of Christ not needed, etc., we teachers will answer to God at the judgment and with a heavier judgment. As teacher we will be judged for not knowing and teachings the truth. We teach that following the teaching of man is vain worship and sinful for others, but it is as sinful for us when we do the same things. If we are not sure beyond any doubt that God's word teaches eternal torment, but teach it anyway; and it is the commandments of men, it may be the difference in living or the second death for us. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" [Romans 14:23], and faith comes by hearing the word of Christ [Romans 10:17], THEREFORE, IF THE DOCTRINE OF HELL IS NOT TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE IT IS SIN TO BELIEVE OR TEACH IT. Do we think this would not apply to us if we teach anything that we have any doubt about? At the judgment we will give an answer for both what we teach, and for what we do not teach. If we teach Hell or that men are born with an immortal second part that God cannot destroy, then we better make sure it is from the Bible; for we will answer to God in the very same way as anyone teaching "faith only"; or any other doctrine of men. Do some condemn themselves by teaching it is a sin to change God's word, and then preaching what may be the biggest change ever made to it? There is no acceptable reason for a gospel preacher not to know and teach the truth. What will they say to God at the judgment?

Is a person born with an immortal soul, or do the saved put on immortality at the resurrection? This is one of the most important questions of all times. It has more influence on our conception of our nature, our view of life in this world, and life after death, the nature of God, than any other question. YOUR WHOLE THEOLOGY [all that you believe] IS DETERMINED BY YOUR VIEW OF THE SOUL. Not only does man now having an immortal soul make the resurrection impossible, it makes the judgment be passed; and the second coming of Christ pointless for there could not be a resurrection or a judgment at His coming.

The doctrine of unconditional immortality

· Changes the nature of God, makes Him cruel and sadistic.

· Changes the hope set forth in the New Testament that there will be a resurrection. It makes no one ever be dead to be resurrected from the dead.

· Changes the resurrection of Christ, which gives us a hope of being resurrected, by reducing the death and resurrection of Christ to His earthly human body only if His soul were immortal and could not have died therefore, the resurrection of Christ must be the "first fruits" only of the resurrection of this earthly body. If we have an immortal soul, the "soul" part of us that could not die, and therefore could not be resurrected. Makes the part of a person that cannot be resurrected be the only part of him that will be in Heaven.

· Changes the message we preach to the lost and their fate, whether they will have an eternal life with torment or a second death from which there will never be a resurrection, from the wages of sin being death, to the wages of sin is eternal life with torment in Hell.

· Changes the nature of a person from mortal, to both mortal and immortal at the same time. Two opposite natures at the same time is not a possibility.

· Changes the nature of the resurrection of Christ, whether He was dead and raised by God or only His earthly body was dead, and He just came back from Heaven to it.

· It makes the judgment be passed.

· It makes a real resurrection impossible. Changes the nature of our resurrection, whether we are dead and resurrected or just come back from somewhere.

· It makes the second coming of Christ pointless.

· Changes many words [die, death, perish, destroyed, lost, end, sleep] to mean the opposite of the way they were used by those living then, and the opposite of the way the world now uses them. See chapter two). CHANGES ETERNAL LIFE TO ETERNAL REWARD, AND CHANGES ETERNAL DEATH [The wages of sin] TO ETERNAL LIFE WITH TORMENT.

o ANYTHING MORE DIFFERENT FROM THE GOSPEL THAN THE IMMORTAL SOUL THEOLOGY WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE. It makes the resurrection of those who were never dead and are already in Heaven be nothing but pure foolishness and the judgment of those who were judged at the moment of death pure folly. If it is not a total different gospel there could not be one, for not just some part of it is different but it is one hundred percent different.

The belief in an immortal soul is the foundation of

· Much of philosophy beginning with the Egyptians, the Greeks, and today.

· Reincarnation-transmigration of souls to other bodies after death.

· Most Eastern religions.

· The Catholic and the Protestant immortal soul at birth.

· The doctrine of Hell.

· Purgatory.

· Limbo.

· Nether world.

· Worship of Mary and the reported sighting of her.

· Intercession of and worship of saints.

· The belief that Abraham's bosom is a real place.

· Spiritualism.

· Communication with the spirits of the dead.

· The "New Age" movement and channeling craze with spirits of the dead.

· Near-death experiences.

· An evil, cruel, and sadistic God who made most of mankind just so he could torment them.

All of the above teachings are based on the soul being immortal, which is of pagan origin. WITHOUT THE DOCTRINE OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL, NONE OF THE ABOVE COULD BE TRUE. It is the mother or foundation of more false doctrines than any other teaching. Eternal torment of the soul cannot be unless Plato's immortal soul is true. If it is, the resurrection as taught by Christ, could not be true.

HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED

AND WITH WHAT KIND OF BODY?

"HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED" 1 Corinthians 15:35?

"You sow a bare grain" 15:37 | "the body that shall be" 15:37

It is sown in | It is raised in

(1) Corruption | (1) Incorruption

(2) Dishonor | (2) Glory

(3) Weakness | (3) Power

(4) A natural body | (4) Spiritual body

"As we have borne the image | We SHALL also bear the

Of the earthy 15:49 | image of the heavenly" 1 Cor. 15:49

"Flesh and blood cannot inherit| We SHALL all be changed in a moment, in

The kingdom of God " 15:50 | the twinkling of an eye, at last trump

"Corruptible must put on | Incorruption" 1 Corinthians 15:53

"Mortal must put on | Immortality" 1 Corinthians 15:53

All now have the body Adam | Saints to be like Christ 1 John 3:2

"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not 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" [1 Corinthians 15:51-52].

1. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50]

2. "We all shall not 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" [1 Corinthians 15:51]

3. "And the dead shall be raised incorruptible" [1 Corinthians 15:52]

4. "And we shall be changed" [1 Corinthians 15:52

5. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption" [1 Corinthians 15:53]

6. "And this mortal must put on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:53]

WHAT BODY WILL THE SAVED HAVE IN THE RESURRECTION?

EARTHLY BODY | RESURRECTION BODY OF THOSE IN CHRIST

Living saints | Are Changed in a moment 1 Corinthians 15:51

Image of Adam | Image of Christ 1 Corinthians 15:49

Now like Adam | Shall be like Christ 1 John 3:2

Body of humiliation |"Conformed to the body of his glory" Phil 3:21

Earthly tent |"A house not made with hands" 2 Cor. 5:1-10

Natural body | Spiritual body 1 Corinthians 15:44

Corruption | Incorruption 1 Corinthians 15:42

Moral | Immortal 1 Corinthians 15:53

Dishonor | Glory 1 Corinthians 15:43

Weakness | Power 1 Corinthians 15:43

A CHANGED BODY versus AN IMMORTAL SOUL: Paul says, "HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED? AND WITH WHAT KIND OF BODY DO THEY COME? ... IT IS SOWN A NATURAL BODY ['a grain of wheat'], IT IS RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY ['the body that shall be' 1 Corinthians 15:37]...AND JUST AS WE HAVE BORNE THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHY (Adam), WE SHALL ALSO BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY (Christ)...AND THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY" [1 Corinthians 15:35-53]. The body made for this earth that is put in the ground will be raised a spiritual body suitable for life in Heaven. The immortal soul doctrine says not so, the souls that will be in Heaven exist now and they cannot be changed and they are not dead, therefore, they cannot be raised from the dead. Who is wrong, Paul or today's theology?

THE BODY CHANGED, NOT AN IMMORTAL SOUL CHANGED "For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who SHALL FASHION ANEW THE BODY OF OUR HUMILIATION, THAT IT MAY BE CONFORMED TO THE BODY OF HIS GLORY" [Philippians 3:20-21]. "The body of our humiliation" is not an "immaterial, invisible, no substance" soul that will be remade ("fashion anew") into another "immaterial, invisible, no substance" soul, but it is us that will be changed from an earthly body to a body like Christ now has, changed from a body that is suitable for life on this earth to a body that will be suitable for life in Heaven. It is our body that will be changed, not an immaterial something in us that is now just as it will be in Heaven and cannot ever be changed. I do not know how I can be raised without this earthly body and still be me any more that I know how I can be in Heaven without and still be me, but I believe God when He says that it will be me. Those who believe a person now have an immortal immaterial soul now living in them believe this invisible something in them is now "conformed to the body of His glory."

THE BIBLE IS CHANGED

• Bible says, "raised a spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44]
• Some say the dead in Christ will be, "raised an earthly body, then changed to a spiritual body"
• Others say it will be “raised an earthly body and restored to be like the earthly body of Adam before he sinned”
• Are not both adding to and changing what the Bible says, “raised a spiritual body”?

IMAGE OF ADAM versus IMAGE OF CHRIST: We are now a soul in the image of Adam. We will be raised in the image of Christ [1 Corinthians 15:45-49]. THE "LIVING SOUL," THE PHYSICAL BODY IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM [GENESIS 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:44-45] IS NOT THE "SPIRITUAL BODY" [1 Corinthians 15:44] IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST THAT WE WILL HAVE. An "immortal soul," which many believe we need to save so that it will live in Heaven is not the "spiritual body," which we will have after the resurrection. We do not now have the "spiritual body," which is in the image of Christ, and will not have it unto we put on immortality at the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:54]. We will be the same person we now are, but our bodies will be changed from the image of Adam to the image of Christ, from earthly bodies to spiritual bodies. All of us, our whole person, will be in Heaven; not just some thin air, immaterial, invisible part of us that has no body.

When God made the earth He give fish bodies that are appropriate to live in water and birds bodies that are appropriate to fly. He gives Adam a body that was appropriate for life on this earth. Where will we be after the judgment day; if on earth we will have to have earthly body suitable for life on this earth, if in Heaven we will have to have a spiritual body suitable for life in Heaven? Will we have the earthly image of Adam or the heavenly image of Christ? Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God but the earthly body in the image of Adam both before and after he sinned was flesh and blood. If the earthly body is to be resurrected then it is the natural body that sinned that is to be resurrected, but in the resurrection we will be like angels who are in Heaven [Matthew 22:30]. Is there anyone who believes angels have earthly bodies?

HOW COULD IT BE SAID ANY MORE CLEARLY THAT THIS EARTHLY BODY WILL NOT BE RAISED, OR THAT WE DO NOT NOW HAVE THE BODY WE SHALL HAVE? (1) Or that it is not an inter immortal part of us, which we now have, which needs no change, which will never be dead to be raised? (2) Nor any more clearly that we are now "mortal," but will be raised "immortal"? We could not put on immortality if we have it on, if we now have an immortal (undying) soul that is not subject to corruption (death). It is this mortal person that must put on immortality, not an immortal soul that is now in this mortal person that must be freed. If a person did have a soul that is now immortal, that immortal soul could not "put on immorality."

1. Those asleep: Their physical bodies sowed will be raised spiritual bodies.

2. Those living: Their physical bodies will be changed to spiritual bodies. The change to both are identical and at the same time. On this side of the coming of Christ there are only physical bodies. On the other side of the coming of Christ there will be only be spiritual bodies. It will be an alteration of the whole person from being physical in the image of Adam to being spiritual in the image of Christ, not just an immaterial part of us forever being unchanged.

3. "But now has Christ been raised from the DEAD, the first fruit of them that are ASLEEP. For since by man came DEATH, by man came also the resurrection of the DEAD. For in Adam all DIE, so also in Christ shall all be made ALIVE. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ's at his coming" [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]. The term "dead" or "die" means the same every time it is used in this passage. It is the person that is dead and will be made alive at the resurrection, not only some part of the person that is alive and cannot be dead. Death is death and cannot be made to mean alive.

THE BIBLE TEACHES ---------- BUT MAN TEACHES

We put on immortality at the |We are immortal from birth

Judgment 1 Corinthians 15:53 |(also we "seek" it Romans 2:7)

Wages of sin is death Rom 6:23 |Human soul can never die

The "end" of the lost is to be |Lost will be burned,

burned Hebrews 6:8 |but will have no "end"

The word the or idea of "Hell" |"Hell" is taught as though it is

is not in Bible |on most every page of the Bible

"Raise up even from the dead" |Living souls to be brought back from

Hebrews 11:19 |somewhere, not raised from death

The evil shall perish |The evil can never perish,

be destroyed |or be destroyed, or die

Death to be abolished |Death is "separated from God"

1 Corinthians 15:26 and 15:55 |and can never be abolished

Lost will be devoured Heb 10:2 |The lost can never be devoured or

Consumed Hebrews 12:29 |consumed, they must burn forever

God can destroy soul in |God can torment the soul,

Gehenna Matthew 10:28 |but He cannot destroy it

Christ died (give His life) |His soul did not die: only

for our sins |His human body was dead

Christ came to give us life |All humans are eternal from birth

John 10:10; 10:28 |(have life and immortality) there-

"Eternal life" John 17:2 |fore already have "eternal life"

God is everywhere |God is not everywhere

|(if death is separation from God)

God is just and loving |This teaching makes God

|unjust, sadistic, cruel, evil

First the natural [now] |We were born with a natural

"then that which is spiritual" |body with a spiritual body

[after the resurrection] |inside the natural body

A day of wrath and judgment |A Day of Judgment but an

(same day) Romans 2:5ff |eternity of wrath

Nothing about God tormenting |Both are taught as if they

anyone or wrath of God on the |were gospel facts

lost after Judgment Day |

The resurrection is unto life |The dead are now living in Heaven

John 5:29 And is "from the |or Hell - have life and rewarded

dead" Romans 1:4; Acts 23:6 |or punished without the resurrection

Christ said "I give unto them |He gives eternal (immortal) life

eternal life" John 10:18 |to all at birth

Earthly body is but a bare |We now have the full-grown

seed of spiritual body which |spiritual body, the soul,

we will have after Judgment |before death and the judgment

Day - 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 |not just a seed of it

Judgment and punishment are at |We are judged good or bad at death

the second coming of Christ |and punished/rewarded at that time

"They are worthy of death" |But they cannot die and God

Romans 1:32 |cannot kill them

"For there is no work, nor |"For there is work, and

device nor knowledge, nor |device, and knowledge, and

wisdom, in Sheol, whither |wisdom, in Sheol whither you

you go" Ecclesiastes l9:10 |go " Ecclesiastes 9:10

"Soul that sins, it shall die" |The soul is immortal,

Ezekiel 23:4* |therefore, it cannot die *This seems to be a person bring put to death under the law, but many almost always apply it to the soul dying at the judgment, even while they are teaching the soul cannot die. See Hebrews 10:28.

GOD --- versus --- THEOLOGY |

GOD SAID "DESTRUCTION" |GOD MEANT "TORMENT" |

GOD SAID "DEATH" |GOD MEANT "SEPARATION" |

GOD DID NOT SAY MAN HAS AN |PLATO AND THEOLOGY SAYS |

IMMORTAL SOUL FROM BIRTH |AND TEACHES IT FOR HIM |

NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT WRATH |SOME KNOW AND TEACH IT WILL|

AFTER THE JUDGMENT DAY |LAST FOR ETERNITY IN HELL |

NOT FLESH OR SPIRIT! - WHAT IS THIS THIRD KIND OF BODY?

NOT EARTH OR HEAVEN! - WHERE IS THIS THIRD KIND OF PLACE?

(EARTH)-DEATH | (ASLEEP IN CHRIST)| RESURRECTION (HEAVEN)

By man | Living or Dead? | By man (Christ)

(Adam)-Death |1 Corinthians 15:21| Resurrection of Dead

Die in Adam | Alive Before Being| In Christ "MADE ALIVE"

1 Cor 15:22 | "Made Alive" | at His Coming

"Unto Death" | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? | "Crown of Life" Revelation 2:10

"Once to Die" | The Silence of God| "After This Cometh

| But We Speak | Judgment" Hebrews 9:27

"This world" | The Thunderous | "That which is to come"

Ephesians 1:2 | Silence of God | ____________________

Natural Body | What Body? | Spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15:44ff

Image of Earthly| Who's Image? | Image of Heavenly 1 Cor. 15:49

Corruption | Neither one | Incorruption 1 Cor. 15:42-43

Dishonor | Neither one | Glory 1 Corinthians 15:43

Weakness | Neither one | Power 1 Corinthians 15:43

Mortal | Neither one | Immortality 1 Corinthians 15:54

"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" 1 Corinthians 15: 52. If all the saved are ALIVE in Abraham's bosom, who are the DEAD that shall be RAISED? The dead are neither mortal nor immortal. Then if they are now living, what kind of being are they? "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3). He has not yet come to receive them. Where are they unto He comes?

The two "all's" (1) "We ALL shall not sleep." Those who do not live to the second coming will ALL sleep. (2) "We ALL shall be changed." Both those who are asleep and those who are alive at the second coming will ALL be changed. The immortal soul doctrine says, "None of us shall sleep" for this would be "soul sleeping."

· In 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 Paul says nothing about a soul or spirit that needs no resurrection or changes but is speaking of the changing of our body to a spiritual body.

• "For in the resurrection they...are as the angels IN HEAVEN" [Matthew 22:30]. I know of no one who believes "the angels in Heaven" have an earthly body.
• "And as we have borne the image of the earthy (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ)" [1 Corinthians 15:49].
• Beloved, we are now children of God, and it is NOT YET MADE MANIFEST WHAT WE SHALL BE. We know that, if he shall be manifested, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see him even as he is" [1 John 3:2].
• "For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall FASHION ANEW the body of our humiliation, that it may BE CONFORMED to the body of his glory: [Philippians 3:20-21 American Standard Version].
• "CHANGE" King James Version
• "TRANSFORM" New American Standard Version

Many teach that the soul is not asleep (not dead) 1 Corinthians 15:20. WHAT THEN IS THE RESURRECTION? It could not be from the dead, for only the body could be dead (according to their teaching), and it can live only on this earth, which will pass away, be dissolved with fervent heat at the second coming of Christ 2 Peter 3:7-13. [1 Thessalonians 4:17] Some teach that a living soul with immortality, a spiritual being will come back from somewhere to the earthly body, its bare grain, [1 Corinthians 15:3; but from where? Not to earth, but to meet the Lord in the air [1 Thessalonians 4:16]. Will the earthly body be "in the air"? Which body the soul cannot keep, for the body of flesh cannot go to Heaven. If the dead are now living in some kind of paradise somewhere, but not Heaven, Hell or earth, why do they hope for a resurrection of the earthly body, and what good would it be? What would be the reason for raising the natural body for such a short time, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" [1 Corinthians 15:52]? Will the soul come back from Heaven to put the earthly body back on, only to put it off ("Be changed") in a moment all before the judgment? See 1 Corinthians 15:50; 1 Thessalonians 5:15-17; Philippians 3:21). Then it would have the earthly body only for the "twinkling of an eye" [1 Corinthians 15:52]. If the soul is living in heaven or hell, the resurrection of the body for only a moment is all there could be to the resurrection, why have it? No part of a person would be dead but his body; no part of a person could be raised from the dead but his body. The only part of a person they believe will be in heaven or hell, the immaterial, invisible soul, would be as alive as it will ever be and already be where they think it will always be, and the resurrection of only the body of flesh for only a moment would be useless.

Robert C. Welch says we will not come forth with the same kind of body, which is planted. Florida College Lectures, Page 238, 1975.

WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL WE HAVE FOR ETERNITY? When we are caught up to meet Christ in the air, will He bring us back to earth and have His kingdom of earth where we will have an earthly body, or will we be with Him in Heaven a have a spiritual body? If you believe on earth, an earthly body is a must, if you believe in Heaven, it cannot be an earthly body. WHERE WE WILL BE FOR ETERNITY WILL DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF BODY WE WILL HAVE.

NOT ONE KIND OF BODY LIVING IN ANOTHER KIND OF BODY: 1 Corinthians 15:42 is a simple and undeniable statement that says that we do not now have incorruption and immortality, and will not have them after death. Not unto the resurrection. Therefore, if we have life between death and the resurrection, it would be life without the body of flesh; but we will not have put on incorruption or immortality unto the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:54), therefore, it would be life that is not of earth and not of Heaven. No one knows anything about what our spiritual body will be like, but it is not something we now have inside this body of flesh, just waiting to get out at death. It will be a body, not just a thin air nothing or some kind of ghost; therefore, it will have substance of some kind, but not flesh [1 John 3:2]. And not something that will fit within this body and not be seen. NOT ONE KIND OF BODY, MADE WITH ONE KIND OF SUBSTANCE, LIVING INSIDE ANOTHER KIND OF BODY, WHICH HAS ANOTHER KIND OF SUBSTANCE. Likewise, Heaven is a place with substance (most certainly far greater than this earth), and not just a cloud in the sky. This world and universe are so complicated and large that there is much on this earth that man does not yet know, and he does not yet even know the size of this creation (this universe). My opinion is that it is small and insignificance in both size and splendor when compared to Heaven, and this body is an insignificance seed, an acorn compared to a large oak tree [1 Corinthians 15:35-39], of the spiritual body we will have in Heaven. Seeds are unlike the trees yet the same identity is in them. Will the lost have the same great new and splendid spiritual body in Hell, which the saved in Heaven will have?

We cannot see God's greatest work (Heaven and spiritual beings) or know anything about what they are like, therefore, this universe shows us only a small part of the power of God. We each do different things in a day, not all the same things, or all think the same thoughts. Today we do not do the same thing that we did the day before. While there will not be days as we know them, Heaven will not be an eternity with everyone doing and thinking the same thing, or all seeing the same thing with never any change. Heaven will not be just a glorified earth, but we will each one be the same individual as we now are, not just carbon copies of each other. Heaven will be great beyond anything that can come into our minds now, but many act in such a way that shows going there is not the most important thing to them; and taking others to it even less important. "I do not know what all we will be doing in heaven, but I do know we will not be dormant and inactive" B. Reeves, Guardian of Truth, Page 8, 1996. "What we will be has not yet been revealed, what we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is" [1 John 3:2, New Revised Standard Version]. I do not know how God made this world out of nothing, but He said in His word that He did and I believe Him. I do not know how God can raise me with a spiritual body without this earthly body and it still be me, but His word says He will and I believe Him.

The resurrection will be from the DEAD, not from life. It shows we are now MORTAL and will die, and we will be DEAD, not living with immortality before the resurrection. It will be a bringing back to life those who are DEAD.

"BUT EACH IN HIS OWN ORDER" 1 Corinthians 15:23-38

1. "Christ the first-fruits"

2. "Then they that are Christ's AT HIS COMING."

The order of being raised from the dead is changed to:

1. "Christ the first-fruits"

2. "Then all that are in Christ" are raised AT THEIR DEATH, and Paul was wrong when he said, "AT HIS COMING."

But in truth the order has been changed to:

1. The dead in the Old Testament were raised AT THEIR DEATH, before Christ and without His resurrection.

2. Therefore, Christ not the first-fruits

3. "Then all that are in Christ" are raised AT THEIR DEATH, and Paul was wrong both times. Wrong when he said Christ was the first-fruits and wrong when he said, "they that are Christ's AT HIS COMING."

DO YOU BELIEVE MAN OR GOD?

Unto His coming, CHRIST IS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, therefore, all others are still asleep in Christ (dead) and will be dead unto the resurrection. But many say, "Not so Paul, all the dead in Christ are alive and in Heaven before the resurrection"? BOTH CANNOT BE RIGHT. IF THOSE WHO TEACH THE DEAD IN CHRIST GO TO HEAVEN AT DEATH AND TAKE UP RESIDENCE IN THEIR PERMANENT RESIDENCE ARE RIGHT, THEN PAUL DID NOT SPEAK THE TRUTH AND THERE CANNOT BE A RESURRECTION AT THE COMING OF CHRIST FOR ALL ARE RAISED AND GO TO HEAVEN AT THEIR DEATH.

Many believe that the living saints will be changed from their earthly bodies into spiritual bodies at the coming of Christ, but the dead saints who now have spiritual bodies will come back from Heaven and put back on their earthly bodies at the resurrection. DO THEY THINK WE ARE A SPIRIT NOW, BUT WILL BE A SPIRITUAL BODY AFTER THE RESURRECTION?

Can you imagine such a thing as people standing before God clothed with white robes and praising God, but they have no body? It is inconceivable. A thin air nothing cannot wear a robe or speak to praise God. And if this earthly body "the body of our humiliation" shall be fashioned anew "that it may be conformed to the body of his glory," then if we shall be a thin air ghost with no body Christ will also be a thin air nothing. How can nothing have "glory"? How can thin air nothing be like anything "conformed" ["fashioned" King James Version]? There would be nothing to "conform" to anything.

Do evil spirits have a body? Mary Magdalene had seven evil demons or evil spirits cast out of her [Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9]. One man had a legion of demons in him [Luke 8:26-36]. They were spiritual being that were known about by the person they were in and by those who knew them. Evil spirits are beings that are completely separate beings from the being they are in. To make a person have a "spirit" that is the same as an evil spirit is to make the person have a living being in him or her that is completely different, a completely separate being, just as separate a being as an evil spirit is. We now have a "natural body" and after the resurrection will have a "spiritual body." If God, angels and evil spirits have no substance of any kind, if they are nothing but thoughts with no body, there can not be a "spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44]. This being in us would now be like the angels but Christ said it would be in the resurrection, not now [Matthew 22:30]. Though we can now know only of material substances of this earth does not mean there is no spiritual substances. If there were not, there could be no Heaven and no spiritual body. "How are the dead raised? And with what manner of BODY to they come?...you sow not the BODY that shall be, but a bare grain...but God gives it a BODY...to each seed a BODY of its own...So also is the resurrection...it is sown a NATURAL BODY; it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY. If there is a NATURAL BODY, there is also a SPIRITUAL BODY...howbeit that is not first which is SPIRITUAL, but that which is NATURAL; then that which is SPIRITUAL...and as we HAVE borne the image of the earthly, we SHALL also bear the image of the heavenly...We all shall not 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 [1 Corinthians 15:35-54]. We are not now a spirit as the angels and demons are and will not be unto the resurrection. We may not understand how God, Christ and the Spirit dwell in us, nor how evil spirits can be in a person but the fact that they do does not make them be nothing but thoughts, does not make them be nothing but thin air.

Guardian of Truth (Page 254, 1994 "In 1 Thess 4:13-18...Paul deals with one-half of the resurrection." He is speaking only of those in Christ and says nothing about those not in Christ. This is also true of most of 1 Corinthians 15 "They that are Christ's at His coming" 15:23. The lost will not be "raised in glory" 15:43, in "power" 15:43, in "the image of the heavenly" (Christ) 15:49. CAN YOU FIND ONE THING SAID ABOUT THE BODY OF THE LOST AFTER THE JUDGMENT? WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE?

• Will their body be in the image of Christ when they are in Hell?
• Will their body still be in the image of Adam when they are in Hell?
• Will God give the lost a spiritual immortal body only so He can torment them forever?

The doctrine of eternal torment makes the whole Bible need to be rewrote

• "Wages is sin is death" [Romans 623] must be rewrote to be "Wages of sin is an eternal life of torment"
• "You shall surely die" [Genesis 2:16-17] must be rewrote to be "You shall surely suffer eternal torment in Hell"
• "The soul that sins it shall die" [Ezekiel 18:4] must be rewrote to be "The soul that sins shall live forever in Hell"
• "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin" [Romans 5:12] must be rewrote to be "Through one man sin entered into the world, eternal Hell through sin"
• "For God so loved the world, that whosoever believes on him should not perish" [John 3:16] must be rewrote to be " "For God so loved the world, that whosoever believes on him should not go to Hell"

MAKES 1 CORINTHIANS 15 IMPOSSIBLE by teaching that we are immortal and have incorruption from birth. We cannot put on that which we now have on. If we have an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man," (W. E. Vine) which cannot die, then Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15 to prove there is a resurrection is destroyed. If they had a spirit that could not die, they had not perished, and could not perish.

MAKES PAUL'S "CHANGED" IMPOSSIBLE 1 Corinthians 15:51. If a person now has an immortal incorruptible soul, it cannot be "changed." It is "us" not just a part of "us" that will come forth from the grave "changed." If a "soul" were now immortal, it could not be "changed" from mortal to immortal, it could not "put on immorality" at the resurrection. We do not have immortality before the resurrection. The doctrine of immortality from birth makes the soul now have incorruption. Paul says, "This mortal must put on immortality" 1 Corinthians 15:53. "THIS MORTAL" is what will put on immortality, not a soul that is now immortal. It is not some inter immaterial, invisible part of us that is now immortal, and can never die, which shall be raised from the dead and "changed," but it is "us" that will be "changed" at our resurrection.

MAKES TREE OF LIFE NOT NEEDED Genesis 3:22-24: If a person is immortal, he cannot die. He will live forever somewhere, on earth or wherever. A person moving from earth too wherever; and having more joy, more power, more blessing, etc., when he gets there than he has while he is in this body, then it would not be a death. Without the tree of life, he will always live for he would be immortal and cannot die.

MAKES THE BIBLE CONTRADICT THE BIBLE. A soul that cannot die-VERSUS-death, perish, destroy, lost, end. If the wages of sin is death, there cannot be an eternal life of torment. By misusing some scriptures, those who teach men have a soul that can never die, makes the Bible contradict itself.

IT MAYBE A DELUSION TO SOME 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, "And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth." The delusion can be any doctrine of man that is not the truth. HOW BIG A LIE AND HOW MANY LIES CAN YOU BELIEVE AND STILL SAY YOU BELIEVE CHRIST? Where do you draw the line on how much error you can believe? Some believe there is no line, and God will accept anything as worship. Some believe God will accept worship only if it is by faith, which comes from hearing His word [Romans 10:17; 14:23].

• Most believe Pagan worship is unacceptable to God.
• Many do not believe worshiping the Pope, or a saint is acceptable to God.
• Many do not believe infant baptism and sprinkling are acceptable to God.
• Many do not believe having many wives is acceptable to God.
• Many do not believe the error of an immortal soul at birth, which is the foundation of many other errors; and the doctrine of Hell, which makes God more sadistic than any other being, to be acceptable to God.

Worshiping after the doctrines and precepts of men is not acceptable to God [Matthew 15:9]. Not in the time of Christ and not today. If it is not clearly taught in the Bible, you cannot say it is of faith that comes by hearing [Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7], therefore, it is from the doctrines and precepts of men, which are not acceptable to God. The truth shall make you free [John 8:32]. Can anyone who believes any of Satan's lies over God's word be made free by the truth? WHAT YOU BELIEVE AND TEACH CAN BE A DELUSION AND THE DIFFERENCE IN WHETHER YOU LIVE OR DIE AT THE JUDGMENT IF YOU MAKES GOD MORE SADISTIC AND EVIL THAN SATAN.

MAKES MODERN SPIRITUALISM POSSIBLE. The teaching, that a person is conscious after death, makes it possible and even probable that spirits can and do return to earth and speak to us. This has prepared the way for spiritualism. Satan may be using this to send his angels with lies to lead those who go to spiritualists into his way and keep them from the truth of God. If the truth, that all mankind are asleep from death to the resurrection, were believed, and not the pagan doctrine, then spiritualism would not be possible. If Mary is asleep then the appearances of her ghost are the manifestations of a demon that makes many believe a lie. Satan is using spiritualism to make many believe his lie, "You shall not surely die."

MAKES SOME BELIEVE IN "AFTER DEATH EXPERIENCES," AND MAKES THEM BELIEVABLE TO MANY. If a person has a soul, which does not die when the body dies, it makes it possible for some to believe a person can come back and tell things they saw on the other side of death. The truth, that a person is "asleep" from death unto the resurrection, and has no knowledge in the grave [Ecclesiastes 9:10] makes "after death experiences" impossible and unbelievable. A person who is asleep unto the resurrection has no afterlife experiences to tell us. In the many after death experiences I have read, no two are the same.

Not to take anything away from the power of Satan in the world, or his danger to us [see 1 Peter 5:8 etc.], but by making him be an eternal being, and the eternal ruler over Hell; he is being given a power he does not have, which may add to his being worshiped by many. Some seem to think that to exist in torment with Satan over them may be better than not to exist, and they worship the one who they think will be over them. But, if they knew the truth that at death he will have no more power over them, and his end will be the same as theirs; he may not have the appeal of a being to be worshiped. SATAN HAS HAD MANY VICTORIES, BUT HIS LIE THAT MANKIND IS NOW IMMORTAL, THEREFORE, THERE IS NO DEATH; AND THE INVENTION OF HELL MAYBE HIS BIGGEST VICTORIES. MANY PREACH HIS LIES!

UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY REDUCES GOD AND ALL SPIRIT BEINGS TO BEING NOTHING BUT "MIND," TO BEING NOTHING BUT MENTAL THOUGHTS WITH NO BODY, NO SUBSTANCE, JUST THIN AIR NOTHING. The immortal inter spirit of a person must be something that can fit within a person and not be seen. Therefore, it cannot have any substance; it cannot have any kind of body, just thin air nothing. God is a spirit. Although most who believed unconditional immortality does not realize it makes God, angels, and mankind after the judgment to be nothing more than mental thoughts, but some have realized what it does to God and men. Robert Morey in "Death and The Afterlife," on page 79 says from the meaning of rephaim, when the body dies, a person enters a new kind of existence and exists as a spirit as angels and other spirits. If that were true then both men and angels would be only energy beings and would be composed only of mind or mental energy, and be capable of supradimensional activity as thought and speech without any kind of body. Although he did not mention God, he has reduced God to being nothing more than thoughts, an "energy being." According to him God and the soul of a person has no substance of any kind, they are only a disembodied mind or mental energy being. Ron Halbrook said God is an immortal spirit, without a body, Page 117, Florida College Annual Lectures, 1986. W. E. Vine says, "immaterial, invisible part of man," Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words, Page 593. Therefore, Heaven can exist only in the mind of God. It cannot be a real place if spirits are nothing more than thoughts with no substance. A spirit, which is just mental thoughts, cannot be any more real than a dream is for it would have no more actual existence and no more substance than a dream.

Not only is it this doctrine the same as the Pagan doctrine from which it came [the soul has no body or substance], but also it makes God be the same and be nothing but thoughts. Most who believe a part of a person is now immortal have not come to the realization of where this belief takes them.

Is God immaterial? If by immaterial you mean not of any earthly material, then God and angels are immaterial. If you mean by immaterial that God has no substance, that He is just thin air nothing, then He is not immaterial. What ever materials Heaven is made of we cannot at this time know, but it is greater by far then the substance the earth is made of, just as the spiritual bodies of all heavenly beings are greater than earthy beings. God, angels, heaven all has substance (materials of some kind but not earthly substance) just as we will have when we put off the earthy bodies, and put on the spiritual bodies will have bodies that have substance, but not earthly substance.

DEATH HAS BEEN REINTERPRETED INTO ONLY A MOVING DAY FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN; or INTO MOVING FROM EARTH TO A PLACE OF TORMENT, and there is no need for a judgment as all were judged good or bad at death. If you remain a conscious being after your body dies, have you really died?

Anything that is not taught in the Bible is not a Bible doctrine. Faith comes by hearing God's word. Can anyone who believes something not taught in the Bible truly say he or she has faith?

Continue to chapter four, five, six, and seven The Changing Hell, The Vanishing Hell.

BACK TO INDEX AND CHAPTER ONE Copyright 2006 by William West

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