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.
“After he had offered one sacrifice for sin for ever, set down on the right hand of God.”
“After he had offered one sacrifice for sin, for ever set down on the right hand of God.”
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman, without her, man is nothing.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both
(2). “TO DIE IS GAIN” Philippians 1:21-23
When this passage is used to prove that a person immediately takes up residences in their permanent home in Heaven at death, it is taken out of context. The first chapter of Philippians is about the Gospel being preached. Paul says, "Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 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 1:12-14). 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, and that Christ would be preached because of his death, 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. “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel more courageously and fearlessly,” (Philippians 1:12-14 New International Version). He is not saying he did not know whether (1) living in this world was best, (2) or living in Heaven was best, but when this passage is used to prove an immortal soul this is what he says is changed to.
Philippians 1:12-30: When it became known that Paul was in prison it was gain to the Gospel for it made others bold to preach the Gospel, and made 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 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." If there is no real death, there cannot be a real resurrection.
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.
The Greek word “ex” is used hundreds of times in the New Testament, mostly translated “all” or “from.” Of the hundreds of times it is used, Philippians 1:23 is the only time “ex” is translated “betwixt.”
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both
(3). “TO DEPART AND TO BE WITH THE LORD”
Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8
Philippians 1:23: “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire 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). It was Paul, “I” that had a desire to be with the Lord, not something in Paul that had no substance.
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 changed to contradict it context.
Many passages show that Paul’s whole hope of being with Jesus was at the resurrection, not at the moment of death. "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. "To be with the Lord," says nothing about an "immaterial, invisible part of man" (1) not between death and the resurrection (2) or not after the resurrection; Paul used "me," and "we," not "my soul," or "your soul," nothing is said about "your soul" in this passage. "For the Lord himself shall descend for Heaven…and so we shall 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 ascended into Heaven but Christ; therefore, Paul has not ascended to Heaven, and he 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 he 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.
Paul teaches:
1. That the dead are now asleep.
2. That the dead will not be resurrected unto the resurrection at the coming of Christ.
· Therefore, “absent from the body” cannot mean going to Heaven at death.
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 when they were not 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.
Although this passage is used as undeniable proof of 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 it says nothing about a separate conscious entity being in a person; it was Paul that would die (depart), and Paul that would be with the Lord, not just some something that Paul could not see or could not know it was in him. 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 after Paul was dead, but Paul himself that will be with the Lord, the whole Paul.
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; therefore, they have made going to hades, to “Abraham’s bosom,” at death impossible. We could not be (1) in "Abraham's bosom," and (2) 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 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 (our bodies) who will be transformed, not something that is in us that is now just as immortal as it could ever be, something that will not need to be transformed, and this something that is already immortal that is now in a person that will not wait for the Lord Jesus to come again, but it will immediately go to Heaven to be with Him just as soon as it is freed by the death of the person it is in. Both the how and when Paul or anyone will be with the Lord is stated in no uncertain terms in many passages
Living Christians need not sorrow as the rest who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There are four points in this passage.
The saved will not have the bodies of flesh and bones that will be renewed and made to be immortal bodies of flesh and bones, but will have new bodies made for Heaven just as the angels.
Why did Paul say he had a desire to depart? He lived a life of suffering, toil, and trials (2 Corinthians 11:23-33), and like Job, he understood death would be a relief from pain; and he knew that from the standpoint of the person that departs it will be as if he or she is with the Lord the next moment, for we will know nothing of the time between death and the resurrection, that time will seem as if it was only a moment for both the person that has been asleep for thousands of years, and for the person that has just fallen asleep. The dead in Christ are now asleep, and have not yet ascended into Heaven, not even David or Paul, only Christ is now in Heaven, “But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that ARE ASLEEP…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). For us, there is no life after death unto the resurrection, and never would be life without a resurrection of the dead.
Analus is used in the New Testament only two times.
1. "When he will RETURN (Greek-analus) from the wedding" Luke 12:36.
2. “Having a desire to DEPART (Greek-analus), and to be with the Lord" Philippians 1:23.
"To depart," or "Will return," which one does analus means? The article “the” is in the Greek before analus, but was not put in most English translations. “
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both
(4) IN THE BODY OR OUT OF THE BODY (2 Corinthians 12:1-2)
"But I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord" Paul had not died at the time he wrote this; therefore, there are only two possibilities.
(1) "That he had seen a VISION (optasia) in the temple" (Luke 1:2).
(2) "They had also seen a VISION (optasia) of angels" (Luke 24:23).
(3) "Disobedient unto the heavenly VISION" (optasia) (Acts 26:19).
(4) And in this passage, "I will come to VISIONS (optasia) and revelations" (2 Corinthians 12:1). A vision, which is something like a dream, cannot be used to prove that there is an immortal soul or an immortal spirit in Paul or in anyone that lives on after the person is dead.
EITHER WAY: If Paul were taken to Heaven, or if this was a vision.
1. This says nothing about an “immaterial invisible part of man,” nothing about a soul or a spirit.
2. Or nothing about anything that will be after death before the resurrection, this was when Paul was still alive, not after his death.
Those who use this to prove a person has an immortal soul that is now as immortal as it will be after the resurrection must say they know what Paul said he did not know. They must say only something that was in Paul, a "soul" but not his body went to Heaven, and that this was not a vision. How could anyone know this when Paul did not? According to the common view, when a soul leaves the body, the body is dead, and death is the separation of body and soul. Therefore, if this something called "soul" separated from the body, and it went to the third Heaven, but his body was on the earth separated from this soul that had been in him, then Paul was dead, but the soul that had been in Paul was alive. According to the belief that death is only a separation of the body and soul, Paul would have been dead, and his soul coming back to his body would have to be a resurrection from the dead. According to this teaching, his dead