CLOTHED BY PUTTING ON CHRIST
IN THIS LIFE TIME
“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27). We put Christ on when we are baptism into His death and walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-5). Christ said to the church at Laodicea, “You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of you nakedness may not be revealed” (Revelation 317-18). A person can put Christ on only in this life time; the church a Laodicea were to buy white garments that they would not be naked in this life time. If a person is clothed with Christ in this life, they will be clothed at the judgment, those that are naked, without Christ at their death; they will be naked at the judgment. There is no salvation after death, if a person dies clothed with Christ they will always be, if they die naked, not clothed with Christ they will never be. Paul is speaking of being found naked “while we are in this tent.” “We do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed” is before their death, not after their death.” “So that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life,” if we are clothed with Christ while we are mortals, our mortality will be sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44); only those clothed with Christ is this lifetime will be raised a spiritual body. All that are clothed with Christ when they die will be clothed with Christ after the Resurrection.
· If we are clothed with Christ at our death, we will be clothed at the Judgment and always after.
· If we are without Christ, naked, at our death we will be naked at the Judgment.
(6). W. E. VINE'S SIXTH PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT
To prove there is a SPIRIT in a person that is now immortal
"Supposed that they beheld a spirit" Luke 24:37
The sixth proof that Vine used to prove a person now has an "immaterial, invisible part of man" is Luke 24:37-39,"Supposed that they beheld a spirit." This is what they (as men) thought based on their fear, and was not based on inspiration. The two parallel account of this says phantom (Matthew 14:26; Mark 6:49). Strong (page 1006) says this word is not pneuma (spirit) #4151, but "phantasma" #5326 (also #5324); "A (mere) show...i.e. specter (a hunting vision)" When Christ walked on the water is the one time this word (phantasma) is used in the Bible, and is translated "ghost" in the American Standard Version and most others. It is translated "a phantom" by Marshall, and in the "Christian Bible." The "Englishman Greek Concordance," page 783 says, "Lit. A phantom." These disciples seem to have believed they were seeing a ghost or phantom, and like these disciples, some today believe in ghosts, spooks, haunted houses, and such things. This maybe the only time Vine’s thin air with no substance ghost or spirit is in the New Testament, and then it was only in the mind of these disciples, only what they thought they were seeing, and not what they did see. Spirits, God, Christ, Angels have a body, and mankind after judgment will have a body, and are more than just thin air nothing, but we will not have two bodies with two opposite natures both at the same time. The use of this passage to prove a person has an immortal soul makes the proof be based on a lie, based on what the disciples thought they were seeing, not on what they did see. What they thought they were seeing, a phantasm or ghost must be changed to say they were seeing, "The immaterial, invisible part of man" which Vine does not seem to know whether it was an invisible "soul" or an invisible "spirit" they were seeing, but it was not very invisible for they were seeing it. Christ said to them that He was not a spirit, not a phantom or ghost, not something that has no body that they thought they were seeing, that He was flesh and blood. It seems that these disciples were familiar with the pagan teach that was taught all around Israel at that time, and thought that they were seeing such a spirit; Christ simply pointed out to them that His having flesh and bones was completely inconsistent with the pagan concept of an immaterial bodiless soul they thought they were seeing. Why did Vine use an uninspired statement made by men in fear, who was not seeing what they thought they were seeing to prove something to be a divine truth? Notice that Vine used it to prove the very thing that Christ pointed out to them was not true? This passage says absolutely nothing about a person having an immortal invisible soul that he used it to prove. Does he think they were inspired to believe a lie and that this lie becomes truth, but only after he changes this "phantom" to both a "soul" and a "spirit"? And that this "immaterial, invisible part of man" is just air, and it has no kind of substance or no body of any kind; and that a spiritual body is no body at all, with just nothing to it? Yet, Vine said these disciples thought they were seeing something that he says is "immaterial, invisible”; therefore, could not be seen. Although what they were seeing was not invisible, he used it to prove a person has an invisible bodiless something in them. Most who believe a person has an immortal soul do not believe a bodiless soul that has not flesh and bone can be seen, never the less they will use this to prove these men were seeing a soul that has no substance, a bodiless soul that they say cannot be seen.
LUKE 24:27-29 and ACTS 7:59: Two of the passages, which W. E. Vine used to prove a person has an immortal part, are uninspired statements. What these disciples thought they were seeing but were not, and what Stephen was asking that could not be unless they believed in Christ. (See (2) Acts 7:59 above) Does this not say something about how weak his proof is, something about how desperate he was for his proof?
(7). W. E. VINE'S SEVENTH PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT
To prove there is a SPIRIT in a person that is now immortal
"The spirits of just men made perfect" Hebrews 12:22-23
He used “the spirits of just men made perfect” to prove that the spirits of the just dead men are alive in Heaven, and were made perfect at the moment of death. Hebrews 12:22-23 is a list of seven ways the New Covenant is now better than the Old Covenant. Paul said they had come, not will come after death to the spirits of just men made perfect. This was then, while Paul and the others were alive, it was before they had died, before the Resurrection, before the Judgment, they had already come "to the spirits of just men made perfect" at the time Paul wrote this before anyone will be in Heaven. We could not have come to the spirits of those made perfect in Heaven for they are not yet in Heaven. Seven ways the New Covenant is now better than the Old Covenant.
If the "spirits" of the just dead were now in Heaven, the just dead under both the Old and New Covenants would be in Heaven, and it would not prove the New Covenant to be better than the Old Covenant. It would be out of place in this list of ways the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant. Those who believe all, both the saved and the lost, have souls that are now immortal believe they were just as immortal under the Law as they now are under the New Covenant; therefore, it would not be a way the New Covenant is better than the Old.
When and how are the spirits of just man made perfect? "The spirits of just men made perfect" refers to men made perfect by having their sins washed away by the blood of Christ. We have had our sins washed away and have come to have fellowship with others who have been made perfect by having their sins washed away.
Adam Clarke in his Commentary on Hebrews 12:23: "In several parts of this epistle teleiov, the just man, signifies one who has a full knowledge of the Christian system, who is justified and saved by Christ Jesus; and the teteleiwnemoi are the adult Christians, who are opposed to the nhpioi or babes in knowledge and grace...The spirits of the just men made perfect, or the righteous perfect, are the full grown Christians; those who are justified by the blood and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. Being come to such, implies that spiritual union which the disciples of Christ have with each other, and which they possess how far so ever separate; for they are all joined in one spirit, #Eph 2:18; they are in the unity of the spirit, #Eph 4:3, 4; and of one soul, #Ac 4:32. This is a unity which was never possessed even by the Jews themselves in their best state; it is peculiar to real Christianity: (See Heb 12:29)."
There is no way we could have come to the "spirits" of those in Heaven; if they were in Heaven they would be beyond our reach unto we are in Heaven with them. We would not have come to them.
"And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect" (New Revised Standard Version). If disembodied spirits were in Heaven and in any way we had fellowship or communication with us it would prove Spiritualism, which is forbidden by God. Most all who uses this to prove we now have an immortal soul do not believe we have any communication with the dead, not if the dead are in Heaven, Hell, the grave, or any other place; therefore, they do not believe we could have came unto them, but they are desperately looking for any passage to prove we now have an immaterial, immortal soul in us and take "And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect" out of it’s contexts.
When this is used to prove that after death we have a “soul” that is alive and made perfect, it makes the judgment and resurrection be 100% totally useless. The “made perfect” in Hebrews 12:23 is something that had happened at the time Paul said this, not something that will not happen unto after the resurrection.
· “To the spirits of just men made perfect (telioo)” (Hebrews 12:23).
· “Herein is our love made perfect (telioo)” (1 John 4:17).
· “He that fears is not made perfect (telioo) in love” (1 John 4:18).
· “And by works was faith made perfect (telioo)” (James 2:22).
o Made perfect is not used to mean we have no sins or cannot sin.
(8) W. E. VINE’S EIGHTH PASSAGE
To prove there is a SPIRIT in a person that is now immortal
1 Peter 4:6
“For unto this end was the gospel preached (past tense) even to the dead (present tense), that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”
The question is:
(1) Who were the dead?
(2) And when was the gospel preached to them?
Two views of who were the dead that had had the Gospel preached to them.
(1) Christians that were alive in the flesh at the time the gospel was preached to them and they believed, but they were dead (asleep in Christ) at the time Peter wrote this. See 1 Corinthians 15:12-28.
(2) Those who “were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) before the gospel was preached to them. The Gospel was preached to them when they were dead through their trespasses and sins (past tense) so that they may live (present tense).
· “And you did he make alive, when you were dead through your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
· “He that hears my word, and believes him that sent me, has eternal life, and has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).
Nothing is said about any preaching to any one after they were physically dead, or nothing about preaching to souls or spirits. The Gospel is preached to save; Peter is not saying salvation is being offered to anyone after they are dead, or that the gospel was preached to anyone after their death.
SPIRIT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Spirit is translated from the Greek word pnuma. It is the same as ruach in the Old Testament.
· “The Spirit (ruach) of the Lord God is upon me” (Isaiah 61:1).
· “The Spirit (pnuma) of the Lord is upon Me” (Luke 4:18).
GOD IS SPIRIT
“God is spirit (pnuma)” (John 4:24)
THE HOLY SPIRIT
He is spoken of as a distinct person (John 14:26; 15:26; Luke 3:22), a heavenly being; therefore, He is a spirit as is God the Father.
JESUS CHRIST
Before He took on the form of man He was with the Father (John 1:1-17) “For a little while lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7). After His resurrection He is now in Heaven, a heavenly being like the Father and the Holy Spirit (Hebrew 1:1-14), just as He was before He took on the form of man.
ANGELS
“Are they (angels) not all ministering spirits (pnuma)” (Hebrews 1:14). “Who makes his angels spirits (ruach)” (Psalm 104:4).
DEMONS
“A woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit (pnuma)” (Mark 7:25).
MANKIND
Mankind are being of this earth, not heavenly spirit being; we are now in the image of Adam, and will not be in the image of Christ unto the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-49). No one in the image of Adam, no one who is flesh and blood, is ever said to be a spirit. God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, angels, and demons are spirits, but men are never called a spirit in the Bible; a person will not be a spirit unto after the resurrection and judgment. “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30); now mankind are not like angels, not spirit being as angels now are, but are now earthly being. Not unto after the resurrection will any one be “as angels in heaven”
1. “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39). At the time Christ said this He was in the form of man (Philippians 2:6-11).
2. The natural body we now have will be raised a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:42-45). (Matthew 22:30).
THE GREAT CONFUSION: Soul or spirit or both?
Two terms that comes from different words, and are not used interchangeable in the Bible. Vine says they are not the same thing, but he says both are an “immaterial, invisible part of man”
Does a person have an immortal soul or an immortal spirit that is not subject to death, and both the soul and the spirit now have eternal life without the resurrection? How many immortal beings does a person have in them? If two, a soul and a spirit, will both of the immortal beings in a person always exist as two independent and separate beings? If only one of the two, which one of the immortal beings that is in a person, the immortal soul, or the immortal spirit? Vine says they are different, "Generally speaking the spirit is the higher, the soul the lower element" (page 589); yet he says both are "the immaterial, invisible part of man" (soul on page 588 and spirit on page 593). Do we have both a higher and a lower " immaterial, invisible part of man?"
Those who believe all mankind have an “immaterial, invisible part of man" do not seem to know whether it is the "soul" or the "spirit" that is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that will live without the earthly body. When preachers preach on the soul being immortal, they use passages that speak of the spirit but say nothing about a soul. There is much confusion on what part of a person is immortal, will it be the soul, or will it be the spirit that will be in Heaven.
MANY USE SOUL AND SPIRIT INTERCHANGEABLY. For their belief, the soul and the spirit must be the same. If they were not, they would be forced to say one or the other is the immortal something that is in a person, or that a person has two immortal beings inside of them. When I believed in Hell I could not see there being a separate immortal soul and immortal spirit; I used them interchangeably just as most do now without realizing it. When some read the spirit goes back to God, in their mind they see an immortal soul going back to God. Those who believe (1) the soul will take up permanent residence in Heaven at the moment of death, (2) and many who believe the soul is in Abraham's bosom and that it will not be in Heaven unto the Judgment Day, both use Ecclesiastes 12:7 to prove the soul (the "immaterial, invisible part of man") goes back to God in Heaven at death. How could the spirit (the other "immaterial, invisible part of man") return unto God at death if it goes to Abraham's bosom, or if the soul of many goes to Hell? I have continually been told for years that lost souls go to Hell at the moment of death. Then how could the soul return to God if it goes to Hell, and only the few souls that are saved will go to Heaven at the moment of death? How can they not see that they are saying the soul goes to one place, and at the same time they are saying the soul goes to another place?
After Christ had been dead for three days and after His resurrection He said, "Touch me not for I have not yet ascended to my father" (John 20:17). Many say Christ went to an intermediate place where souls go before the resurrection, but not to Heaven. If there were such an intermediate place, then the soul or the spirit does not return to God at death. One position is taken on one passage, and then the same persons shifts to another position on another passage, and are continually shifting their position.
SOUL OR SPIRIT, WHICH ONE IS IMMORTAL?
Any time 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12, etc., comes up in a Bible class the teacher has the same problem, the same confusion. What is the difference in soul and spirit? Which one is immortal? Many never seem to be quite sure which of the two, the soul, or the spirit they believe to be immortal, and not sure if they are the same, or if they are two entirely different immortal beings in a person. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 does not say what the functions of the body, soul, or spirit is, or what becomes of them at death. It does not say one is mortal and two of them are immortal, and will forever live somewhere. This must be read into it. Whatever Paul means by the use of the word “preserved” it is apply equally to body, soul, and spirit, the body is “preserved” just as the soul and spirit are “preserved”; it cannot mean one is immortal and another is not immortal. He said, “The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:18 King James Version). It is the whole Paul (“me”) that will be preserved, not just an immaterial something that was in Paul, not just a part of Paul, but his whole being.
· There is nothing about any part of a person now being immortal in it.
· There is nothing about Hell after the judgment in it. This also must be read into it.
SPIRIT HAS TAKEN THE PLACE THAT SOUL DID HAVE
Many that not long ago believe the soul was the immortal part of man now say not so, that the soul is not immortal but the spirit is. One of the many examples that could be given is, “What happens to you when you die?” by La Vista Church of Christ at: http://lavistaachurchofchrist.org/LVanswer/2004/2004-07-20.htm. If you, as many in the Lord’s church have, change the part of a person they say is immortal from the “soul” to the “spirit,” have you did anymore than change the name of the part of a person you believe is now immortal? Are you not saying we now have immortality and Paul was wrong? Are they saying, “O. K. we were wrong when we taught the pagan doctrine of an immortal soul, but we are not going to give it up for then we would have to give up eternal torment, we will change from an “immortal soul” to an “immortal spirit,” and will still teach the same thing about the spirit that we have always taught about the soul.