The other robber by saying, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom."
What would “remember me when” mean to the Jews of that day; they understood the kingdom to be an earthly kingdom of Israel, the Old Testament kingdom restored. The thief know he was dying and was speaking to a person that he could
see was dying, mocking Him about coming into His kingdom when He was
dying. Neither of the robbers thought this dying man was the Christ or that He 73
would come into a kingdom. Saying to someone whom he knows would soon be
dead, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" was nothing more than mockery just as the sign the thief could see over His head saying "THIS IS THE
KING OF THE JEWS" was mockery. Neither of the robbers would have understood the messianic kingdom the Jews were looking for to be anything but a
physical kingdom of Israel with an earthly king.
CHRIST DID NOT GO TO PARADISE THAT DAY. When will anyone go to paradise or Heaven? Not unto after the judgment. We must wait for the resurrection and judgment before we will go to heaven. Did Christ tell the theft that he would be in Heaven that day? Jesus did not go to paradise that day. He had said He would be in the heart of the earth [grave] for three days [Matthew 12:40]; “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” It was on Friday evening just before the beginning of the Sabbath day when Christ told the robber that he would be with Him in Paradise, but on Sunday morning He said, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father" [John 20:17]. Paul said Christ died, was buried, and was raised on the third day [1 Corinthians 15:3-4; see Matthew 12:40]. He was dead and in the grave unto the third day when the Father raised Him. If Christ were alive and went to Heaven the day he died, what was His resurrection on the third day? It would be nothing but mockery to say He was raised from the dead when He was alive in Heaven. Christ said, "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man" [John 3:13]. If Moses did not ascend into Heaven at his death and had not ascended at the time Christ spoke this how did the robber ascend to Heaven if Moses and David did not? In an attempt to make a passage say someone went to Heaven at death the thief has been made to be better than Moses and David? Where was Christ from His death to His resurrection? "He foreseeing this spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up" [Acts 2:31-32]. This is from Psalm 16:10, "Because you will not abandon me to the grave (sheol)" New International Version.
WHICH WAY DO THEY SEND CHRIST? The advocates of an immortal soul say
Christ went both up and down at His death.
In the spirits in prison 1 Peter 3:18-20 the advocates of an immortal soul say Christ went down to Hell to preach to the spirits in prison at His death.
In the robber Luke 23:43 the advocates of an immortal soul say He went up to Heaven at His death. They say one place one time and another place another time.
The advocates of an immortal soul send Christ both down to Hell to preach
to spirits in prison AND up to Heaven with the robber, both places at the same time.
WHAT IS NOT SAID: Nothing is said about the robber believing after he had
"reproached him." This is added by those who say they do not believe in adding to the word of God. I have been told the robber "could have" heard Christ before this. If he did, he did not believe for he was still a robber and even after he was on the cross he railed on Christ ("reproached him" ). He was one of the many that could have heard Christ before this but if he had heard Christ he did not believe for he was one of the many who railed on Christ. Anyone can prove anything that they want to with a "could have."
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Christ went to the grave that day, not Heaven. Both Christ and the robber were in hades - the grave - on "this day.”
THREE PROBLEMS
1. Christ did not go to Heaven that day.
2. It must be assumed that mankind now has immortality and will never die.
3. It must be assumed that all the saved go to Heaven at the moment of death, before and without the resurrection and judgment, none to sheol (the grave) and none to
Abraham‘s bosom.
4. It must be assumed that David did ascend into the heavens [Acts 2:34].
THE KING JAMES VERSION AND THE COMMA
The way it is worded in the Kings James Version makes Christ be asking the thief a question with the question mark left out and it ends the question with a period.
As it is in the Kings James Version and with the Old English changed to today English."
"I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
"I say unto you, To-day shall you be with me in paradise?"
Yet this question Christ asked is frequency used to prove Christ was telling the thief that they both would be together in Heaven that very day. Christ went to the grave that day. Where is Paradise? The only other uses of Paradise in the New Testament are:
[1] Paul was "caught up into paradise," which he says is in "the third heaven" [2
Corinthians 12:2-4].
[2] "To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" [Revelation 2:7]; the tree of life is in the New Jerusalem [See Revelation 21:1 to 22:5].
Many translations make Christ be telling the thief they both would be together in paradise (Heaven?) that day.
Wycliffe New Testament: ―And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise‖
English Standard Version: ―And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise‖
Young's Literal Translation: "And Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, To-day with me thou shalt be in the paradise"
New International Version: "Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise"
New American Standard Bible: "And He said to him, Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise"
English Standard Version: "And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise"
Amplified Bible: "And He answered him, Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise"
English Standard Version: "And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise"
Darby Translation: "And Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
This Catholic Bible also makes Christ be asking the thief a question without using a question mark.
Holman Christian Standard Bible: "And He said to him, I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise"
New International Reader's Version: "Jesus answered him, What I'm about to tell you is true. Today you will
be with me in paradise"
Today's New International Version "Jesus answered him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise"
New International Version - UK: "Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise"
Marshall Parallel New Testament In Greek And English: "Truly thee I tell, Today with me thou will be in the paradise"
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With the comma where it is in most translations, Christ answer to the mockery of the thief was that he would be with Him that day. That day Christ was in the grave, therefore, Christ told the thief that he would be in the grave that day. Telling the thief that he was going to die and be in the grave that day does not sound like an answer the thief would have received if he had truly repented and was forgiven.
If Christ were telling the thief that he would be with Him in Heaven it was not on that day; the comma, which is not in the Greek must be moved for both Christ and the thief went to the grave that day, not to Heaven. "I say unto you to-day, you shall you be with me in paradise." This would not make the being in paradise be on that day, not on the day of their death. No one goes to Heaven at death before the resurrection and judgment. If the thief truly did repent and by "paradise" Christ was telling the thief that he would be in Heaven with Him, the comma must be put after "today" for Christ or the thief did not go to Heaven that day.
The Greek, in which the New Testament was written, did not have chapters or punctuation. Men have added the punctuation. The oldest manuscripts are all capitals, the words are not separated, and there is no punctuation. Cardinal Huge de Sancta Caro divided it into chapters in A. D. 1250. Robert Stevens divided the Bible was into verses about A. D. 1550. Manutius, a printer of Venice in A. D. 1490, invented the comma. It was put in the King James Version in A. D. 1611, but it was not used by Luke before it was invented, therefore, there was no comma in Luke 23:43. There was not a comma in the whole New Testament. Men put all the punctuation marks in the Bible we use today, not God. The translators could sometimes make it say what was consistent with their beliefs by the way they used punctuation. Move the comma, which was not invented unto 1490 and was added by uninspired men in the King James Version by man in A. D.
1611, and it does not say when they would be in paradise.
VERILYISAYUNTOYOUTODAYYOUSHALLBEWITHMEINPARADISE The
oldest Greek manuscripts have all capitals letters with no separation between words and sentences, and no punctuation marks.
VERILY. I. SAY. UNTO. YOU. TODAY. YOU. SHALL. BE. WITH. ME. IN. PARADIS
E
Dots were put into the Greek in the ninth century to separate the words. The dots
and all later punctuation of all Greek texts, which has been added after the ninth century is entirely on human authority.
“Verily I say unto you, „To-day you shall be with me in paradise.‟”
“Verily I say unto you today, „You shall be with me in paradise.‟” The comma was invented in1490 and put in the Bible by men.
"This day" is a common expression in the Bible. See Genesis 31:18; Exodus 34:11; Deuteronomy 4:26; 4:40; 6:6; 7:11; 8:1; 8:11; 30:5.
“I declare to you this day, that you shall surely perish” [Deuteronomy 30:18].
“Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all man” [Acts 20:26 King James Version].
The Companion Bible, Appendix 173: " The interpretation of this
verse depends entirely on punctuation, which rests wholly on
human authority, the Greek manuscripts having no punctuation of
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any kind till the ninth century, and then it is only a dot in the middle of the line separating each word."
To put the comma where the King James Version put it makes Jesus a liar for He know He would not be in paradise that day. The King James translators, who believed that everyone will go immediately to Heaven or Hell at death, punctuated it to makes both Christ and the thief be in Heaven on that very day.
H Leo Boles: "Evidently Jesus did not mean that this robber would go with him to heaven that day, as it seems clear from other statements that Jesus did not go to heaven that day. His day of ascension came about forty days after that time" A Commentary On The Gospel Of Luke, Page 454, 1954, Gospel Advocate Company.
―It may be asked why translators of most modern version do not place the comma after the ‗today‘ so that the verse will harmonize with other scriptural teaching on death and resurrection. We might as well ask why they do not translate the Greek bapitizo as ‗immerse‘ or diakonos as ‗servant‘ instead of merely spelling them with English letters. To do so would put the translation at odds with most denominational doctrine and almost insure it failure to be accepted‖ Curtis Dickinson, ―The Witness‖ Volume 30, Number 8, 1990.
There is no grammatical justification for the placement of the comma before "today."
Christ or the thief did not go to Heaven that day. By moving the comma that was added by uninspired men with a theological prejudice, the conflict with other passages is removed even if "in paradise" does mean "in Heaven."
Note: The punctuation can change the meaning of the same words.
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman, without her, man is nothing.
[2]. “TO DIE IS GAIN” Philippians 1:21-23
When this passage is used to prove that a person takes up residence in their permanent abode at once in Heaven at death, it is taken out of context. Paul says, "So that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear" [Philippians 1:13-14]. His imprisonment was not a personal gain, but because of it the word of Christ was being preached, therefore, it was gain to the cause of Christ. In verse 18 it did not matter the motives, Christ was being preached and he rejoiced. Verse 20 "So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death." If he lived, he would preach Christ. If he died, others would be made more bold and preach Christ because of his death. Verse 21 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Death is an enemy [1
Corinthians 15:26]. It was not a personal gain for Paul. He knows that if he died before the coming of Christ he would not be in Heaven unto after the resurrection and judgment at the second coming of Christ. He knows his death would be a gain for the cause of Christ that Christ would be preached because of it, not a personal gain for himself.
Verse 22 "But if to live in the flesh, if this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know not" If he lived and preached Christ, or if his death would cause others to preach Christ, which one would bring the most fruit, he knew not. He is not saying he did not know whether living in this world was best, or living in Heaven was best; but this is what he is made to say when this passage is used to prove an immortal soul.
Philippians 1:12-30: When it became know that Paul was in prison it was gain to the Gospel for it made others bold to preach the Gospel and others preached the Gospel
“thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds.” In the same way Paul is saying his death would be gain to the cause of Christ just as his being in prison was, not a personal 77
gain. If "To die is gain," means we go to Heaven when we die, why would Paul say he did not know if going to Heaven was better than living on earth; why do we go to a doctor to get well and do all we can to keep from going to Heaven; why do we pray for each other when one of us is sick; would we not asking God not to take us to Heaven and are thankful if He does not? The reason we do not want to die is that death is not a gateway to Heaven, but death is an enemy, which makes the resurrection be absolute necessity; without it there would be no life after death for anyone. If death were a gateway to Heaven, we would be praying, "Lord, do not make us come live up there with You, let us live down here on earth where Satan can tempt us."
We are repeatedly told we will be with the Lord at His coming, not at death [2
Thessalonians 2:1] when He shall appear [Colossians 3:4], yet "To die is gain" is used to set aside many plain and clear passages and make the entrance to Heaven be immediately at death, not after the resurrection.
[3]. “TO DEPART AND TO BE WITH THE LORD”
Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8
Philippians 1:23: “To depart and be with Christ.” Be with the Lord at the judgment day, not instantly at death: In the same letter Paul says, "If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead" [Philippians 3:11]. Every time Paul discusses life after death he always points to the resurrection; without it there would be no life after death. He tells the Thessalonians that we will be with the lord after the resurrection,
"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].
Be with the Lord "at that day" 2 Timothy 4:8
Be with the Lord at "His appearing" 2 Timothy 4:8
2 Corinthians 5:8: “Knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us
also with Jesus, and shall present us with you…are willing to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord…For we must all be made manifest before the
judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body” [2
Corinthians 4:14-5:10]. The context 2 Corinthians 5:8 is the resurrection and judgment at the coming of Christ, not to be in Heaven at the moment of death; it is taken out of it‘s context and made to contradict it context.
"Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at THAT DAY; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing" [2 Timothy 4:8]. Paul clearly says the time of his death has come, but he will not receive the crown of righteousness unto the appearing of Christ at the Judgment Day. He will be with the Lord at the same time all the saved will be, "at that day" the Judgment Day, not at death. At " his appearing" See 2 Timothy 1:12; 1:18; 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; Philippians 1:10; 1:6; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 5:6.
When will Paul be given "the crown of righteousness," when Christ comes, not at death?
See 1 Peter 5:4. When will Paul and all the saved be with the Lord, at "His appearing,"
not at death? "To be with the Lord," says nothing about an "immaterial, invisible part of man" between death and the resurrection or after the resurrection. "For the Lord himself shall descend for Heaven…and so we shall we ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]; it is after the resurrection that we will be with the Lord, not at death. No one has 78
ascended into Heaven but Christ; therefore, Paul has not ascended to Heaven and is not now in Heaven with the Lord [John 3:13]. Paul died about two thousand years ago, but like David [acts 2:29], Paul is not yet in Heaven with the Lord and will not be unto after the resurrection; therefore, this passage could not be saying Paul had an immortal, invisible soul that would go to Heaven and be with the lord at the time of his death.
Peter says of David "that he both died and was buried...for David ascended not into the heavens" [Acts 2:29-34].
Today's theology says, "David is not dead and has ascended into Heaven."
To make "with the Lord" mean we go to Heaven with the Lord at death takes away any need for a resurrection and makes it useless and foolish. After some had been in Heaven with the Lord for centuries, why would He send them back to earth to raise them from the dead and take them back to Heaven when from the day of their death they had been very much alive in Heaven and were never dead?
There are three major views on the condition of the dead.
1. The dead are dead and will be dead unto the resurrection of the dead.
2. The dead are alive in an intermediate state without the resurrection.
3. The dead are alive in Heaven or Hell without the resurrection.
Although this passage is used as undeniable proof or both 2 and 3 and to set aside the many passages on the resurrection, this passage is completely silent about where the dead are before the resurrection and says nothing about a separate conscious entity being in a person; it was Paul that would die (depart) and Paul the would be with the Lord, not just something unseen that was in Paul. It is not implicated, as some say, that Paul was speaking of some immaterial something that has no substance that would be with the Lord but Paul that would be with the Lord.
Those who believe the dead go to hades, some to be with the rich man in torment and some to be in "Abraham's bosom" also use "be with the Lord" when they are trying to prove men now have an immortal soul, but in doing so they do not seen to be able to see that they are making all go to Heaven or Hell at death and, therefore, they have made going to hades at death impossible. We could not be in "Abraham's bosom" and in Heaven with the Lord both at the same time. When they need to, they make hades be "the grave" for the body to be in; and when they need to, they make it be "Abraham's bosom"
for the "soul" to live in. How do they know when it should be one, and when it should be the other? In trying to make Paul and Stephen be conscious after death, they are both put directly in heaven at death before and without the Judgment Day; sometimes even by those who do not believe anyone is now in Heaven.
We need to be very careful not to make Paul say something he did not say [2 Peter
3:16]. "To be with the Lord," but where and when will we be with the Lord? Not in our permanent abode in Heaven at death, for we will not be there unto after the judgment. If we go to Heaven or Hell at death, this would mean that the final judgment takes place immediately at death, for God would have to decide our destiny then; therefore, God would have made the final judgment before the Judgment Day, before the coming of Christ.
Jesus said, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:3]. Many say, "Not so Lord, we will be with you in Heaven, Your second coming and the resurrection will not be needed for we will be alive with You in Heaven." But Paul said, “For our citizenship 79
is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who
will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory”
[Philippians 3:20-21]. It is us who will be transformed, not just a part of us that is now just as immortal as it will always be and will not need to be transformed, and this part of us will not wait for the Lord Jesus to come again, but immediately go to Heaven to be with Him at death.
Living Christians need not sorrow as the rest who have no hope [1 Thessalonians 4:13]. There are four points in this passage.
1. Those who are asleep will be resurrected from the dead at the second coming of Christ. The departed person will not be with Christ unto He comes "again,
and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:2].
Not alive before "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven...and the dead in Christ shall rise first." At the coming of Christ the dead shall rise from the grave, not come ba