· The Old Testament did not teach life in Heaven for anyone, Jesus “abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). See chapter seven on, “A strange and unexplainable silence the silence of the Old Testament on punishment and life after death.”
Those that teach there is a deathless immortal soul that is in a person say this speaking of the soul that had been in Abraham, but a deathless soul could not be used to prove that there will be a resurrection of the dead.
1. If “I am the God of Abraham” proves Abraham has an immortal soul that never died, it proves that there cannot be a resurrection.
2. If “I am the God of Abraham” proves Abraham is dead and must be resurrected, it proves that Abraham did not have an immortal soul that was alive at the time Christ said this.
· It cannot prove both. If it proves life after death on the grounds of inherit immortality, it proves that there cannot be a resurrection.
How “I am the God of Abraham” proves there will be a resurrection was understood by those hearing Christ, but the commentaries are extremely divided on this passage and I have not found even one that has a convincing answer. Luke adds, “Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him” (Luke 20:38). Even though Abraham is now asleep and will be unto the resurrection, Is Christ saying Abraham exist in the mind of God and Abraham the person will be resurrected but with a new body that will be “equal unto the angels” (Luke 20:34-36). Abraham will be raised but not his natural earthly body; he will be raised with a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44) for life in Heaven.
Today most that are called Jews believe more like the Sadducees did, and do not believe the Old Testament says anything about an immortal soul, or anything about anyone going to Heaven at anytime after death; they do not believe their savior has come, and believed when he dose come he will restore Israel as a nation.
Alexander Campbell: "1. That before the Captivity, and the Macedonian and Roman conquests, the Jews observed the most profound silence upon the state of the deceased, as to their happiness or misery. They spoke of it simply as a place of silence, darkness, and inactivity. 2. But after the Hebrews mingled with the Greeks and Romans, they insensibly aided into their use of terms, and adopted some of their ideas on such subjects as those on which their oracles were silent." Appendix to "The Living Oracles," page 59, 1826, Gospel Advocate Company.
The belief of the Greeks was reincarnation back to some kind of earthly life that would die again, and would be reincarnated over and over with little or nothing being remembered about any of the earlier lives, not even what kind of plaints or animals they may have been in past lives; they had no conception of eternal life in Heaven that was made known by Christ.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both
(6). THE GOD OF ABRAHAM
Matthew 22:32 “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.’” Christ was proving to the Sadducees that there will be a resurrection, not that Abraham was alive at the time He was not saying that at that time Abraham was not alive in Heaven, Hell, in Abraham’s bosom, or alive any other place. If the dead are living in a disembodied state, for God to say he was the God of Abraham would not prove there will be a resurrection, but would prove one was not needed. If Abraham were not dead, Christ could not have used Abraham to prove the dead will be raised. The dead must be dead to be raised; a living Abraham would not need to be raised, would not need a resurrection to make him alive. The whole point Christ was making is that there will be a resurrection, not that none are dead to be resurrected. Not that a disembodied spirit is the only part of a person that will be in Heaven or Hell, and this immaterial part of a person is now alive in Heaven or Hell while his or her dead body is in the grave. If a disembodied part of Abraham were alive anywhere it would make his resurrection impossible. A resurrection of those who are living would be an empty show, a fraud, not a resurrection. The belief of many says, "Not so Christ, I was born immortal and cannot die; therefore, I cannot be dead or raised from the dead"? This theology destroys the Biblical doctrine of the resurrection.
1. Either Abraham was dead and will be resurrected.
2. Or Abraham was alive and he cannot be resurrected.
3. It could not be both; he could not be resurrected if he was alive.
If Abraham were alive, as many teach he was, then he was never asleep. Many believe we have an immortal part of us that can never be dead, but despite the fact this soul is alive it is going be resurrected from the dead so that it can be in Heaven even though it is already alive in Heaven before the resurrection. Paul said of Able, "He being dead" (Hebrews 11:4), if language has any meaning, Abel was dead, not alive at the time Paul said this. "For David...fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption" (Acts 13:36); if David were living (awake) at this time, if only his body was in the tomb, Peter had no point or argument; what Peter said had no meaning.
1. Christ was not in the grave at that time He was visible for all to see.
· David was in the grave.
2. Christ did not see corruption.
o David did.
3. Christ ascended into Heaven.
· David has not ascended into Heaven, and he will not unto the resurrection.
"From the day that the fathers fell asleep" (2 Peter 3:4) shows that Abraham and David are still asleep, along with all other's that "are fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:6). To say that Abraham has been raised is to say the resurrection is past, and Christ was not the "first fruits" (2 Corinthians 15:20), or the "first born" (Colossians 1:18, Revelation 1:5). To say that an immortal part of Abraham was never dead is to make a resurrection impossible. The resurrection at the coming of Christ is the subject, and nothing is said about what will be between death and the resurrection. "For none of us live to himself, and none die to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living" (Romans 14:7-9). How could Christ be Lord of the dead if no one is dead? If all are alive, either alive in Heaven or alive in Hell?
Although Exodus 3:6 is constantly quoted to prove the dead Abraham was not dead, there is nothing in it that says Abraham was alive in Heaven at that time, but on the other hand the use of this passage by Christ to prove there will be a resurrection proves beyond any doubt that the dead are not now conscious, are not now alive before and without the resurrection.
This passage cannot prove both that:
· The dead are alive without the resurrection.
· That there will be a resurrection of the dead.
Christ used it to prove there will be a resurrection; thereby proving Abraham did not have a departed spirit that was alive without the resurrection. The, “Resurrection of the dead” was the issue of the Sadducees; nothing is said about departed spirits being alive in Heaven or Hell without the resurrection. It was, “As touching the resurrection of the dead” that Jesus quotes, “I am the God of Abraham…He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32), and His conclusion is that there will be a resurrection of the dead. Without the resurrection there is no life after death.
“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay: but He whom God raised did not undergo decay” (Acts 13:36-37). After the resurrection and ascension of Christ Peter said, “For David ascended not into the heavens” (Acts 2:34); David is asleep, not just his body is asleep but the read David is awake in Heaven, and David, all of David, will be asleep unto the resurrection, neither the real David, nor some immaterial something in David has not ascended to Heaven, no one but Christ has. John 3:13 clearly and undeniable said, “No one has ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.” None of the Old Testament saints went to Heaven at death, and they were not in Heaven at that time, not even Abraham or David was in Heaven. John wrote this years after Jesus had ascended to Heaven when Jesus was in Heaven; this is believe by many to be a parenthetical statement (words put in as a note of explanation) by John after Christ had ascended back to Heaven in Acts 2, which would make John be saying years after the ascension (at the time when John was writing the Gospel according to John) that no one, not even the Old Testament saints were in Heaven. When Jesus ascended in Acts 1:9 He was alone, none of the Old Testament saints accompanied Him, and none were in Heaven before Him.
Summary: If the dead are more alive than when they were living, it both takes away the need for a resurrection and made it impossible. Christ's argument that there will be a resurrection is totally destroyed. When this passage is used to prove the dead are not dead but are conscious, then it would proves that there is no resurrection. If the dead are now alive then how would His answer prove there would be a resurrection, and what would be the need of one? This is a serious problem for those who teach unconditionally immortality. IT CANNOT BE TAUGHT THAT THE DEAD ARE MORE ALIVE THAN THE LIVING WITHOUT DESTROYING THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION. If Abraham, David, Job, and other saints are now alive in Heaven, death has already been destroyed. Death would have been destroyed for all at death, not at Christ's second coming; and even those in the Old Testament would have had life, eternal life, without the death of Christ and without the resurrection and judgment. Take away the fact that Abraham was dead, which is the very thing that those who say a person is born immortal and can never die are trying to do; and you take away the point of Christ's argument, and make Him be saying just so many words that say nothing. Christ's argument, that there will be a resurrection, requires that Abraham is dead at the time Christ made the argument. Abraham being alive would have requires that he never died or that his resurrection was past before the death and resurrection of Christ. When did it happen? The resurrection of Christ, Abraham, or anyone requires that they be dead at the time of the resurrection for they could not be resurrected if they were alive. How could anyone think that a coming back of the living from Heaven is a resurrection of the dead? If David were not still in the tomb then he had been raised the same as Christ, but before Christ; therefore, Christ was not the first fruit. Today's theology has changed this to read, "But that the dead are not dead to be raised," or "But that the separated are not dead to be raised." If Jesus were saying Abraham is alive now, He would be denying the point He was making, that there will be a resurrection, for Abraham could not be raised if he were alive. If Abraham were alive at that time then Luke 20:27-38 proves that there will not and cannot be a resurrection. This passage teaches a "resurrection of the dead," not that "no one is dead to be resurrected from the dead."
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both
(7). THE TRANSFIGURATION: A RESURRECTION or A VISION?
Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-9.
A VISION: Christ said it was a vision. "Tell the vision to no man" (Matthew 17:9). Moses and Elijah ("Elias" in the King James Version) were seen with Christ and then were gone, leaving only Christ. Vision (Greek-horama) is used in the New Testament twelve times, and in the King James Version it is always translated "vision" except in Acts 7:31 where it is translated "the sight." This is not the Greek word "optasia" that is translated "vision" in 2 Corinthians 12:1.
1. "Tell the vision (Greek-horama) to no man" Matthew 17:9.
2. "He wondered at the sight (Greek-horama)" Acts 7:31.
3. "To him said the Lord in a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 9:10.
4 "And has seen in a vision (Greek-horama) a man" Acts 9:12.
5 "He saw in a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 10:3.
6 "What this vision (Greek-horama) which he had seen might mean" Acts 10:17.
7 "While Peter thought on the vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 10:19.
8 "And in a trance I saw a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 11:5.
9 "But thought he was seeing a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 12:9.
10 "A vision (Greek-horama) appeared to Paul in the night" Acts 16:9.
11 "And after he had seen the vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 16:10.
12 "To Paul in the night by a vision (Greek-horama)" Acts 18:9.
If this were a vision, no argument can be taken from it for the existence of disembodied souls, for Moses and Elijah were only seen in a vision. Those who believe in unconditional immortality MUST reinterpret this into being a soul that was alive in Heaven and came back from Heaven to earth, and that:
· Despite the fact that Christ said no man had ascended to Heaven, Moses and Elijah had ascended to Heaven.
· Despite the fact that nothing is said about where Moses and Elijah were before the vision or after it.
· Despite the fact that nothing is said about them having come down from Heaven. That they were in Heaven must be added to what is said, if not added it would not prove anything about a soul, or anything about where that soul was.
They must say to Christ, "No it is not a vision of Moses, but the real Moses has been alive in Heaven and came back from Heaven." It is not said or implied that Moses was in Heaven and came back to earth, or that he was alive anyplace without the resurrection. We are told that this was a vision. "Tell the vision to no man" (Matthew 17:9). It being a vision proves they were not called back from Heaven; it does not prove that there was an immaterial, invisible part of them that is now alive anywhere; if Moses and Elijah were alive and in Heaven Christ could not have been the first fruits.
Visions were common in the Old Testament and were not used to prove anyone has an immortal something in them that is not subject to death.
A RESURRECTION: (1) If Moses and Elijah were really there, then Matthew was wrong when he called it a vision. (2) If it were a resurrection, it was a resurrection like Lazarus and other resurrections in the Bible, then it would prove Moses was really dead before this resurrection, it would prove Moses was not alive and that he had to be resurrected to be there. If Moses were alive and immortal, he would have been brought back from Heaven; he would not have needed to be raised from the dead. For this passage to teach a person now has an "immaterial, invisible part of man" it must be proved that this was not a vision or a resurrection of the dead, but a bringing back of the living Moses from Heaven. Would the apostles be able to see an "immaterial, invisible" disembodied spirits that had no human body? It had to be a vision or a resurrection for the apostles to be able to see them. If they were alive in the flesh, they had to be brought back from the dead just as Lazarus and others were. All resurrections in the Bible, other than of Christ, were only temporary restoring of the earthly life to be a life just as it was before death, and those who were raised from the dead did not put on immortality as those in Christ will at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). Just as Lazarus was brought back in his earthly body to a mortal life, they were resurrected back to a mortal life, and they were still in a mortal body, and were not like the resurrection of Christ, or like the resurrection of the saved at the coming of Christ. They were all raised mortals subject to death, and they all died again. Not one of them is still alive today. Not one of them was raised immortal. In any of these temporary resurrections, not one thing is said about what will be after our death or after the resurrection. If God raised one or ten thousand back to an earthly body that is mortal, it would not effect the resurrection of all at the coming of Christ and would not in any way prove a person is now mortal or immortal. These earthly resurrections of mortal bodies say nothing about the resurrection at the coming of Christ when the saved will put on immortality. From the resurrections of Lazarus and others back to the mortal earthly body, if there were no other revelation about the resurrection we would not know anything about those in Christ that are going to be raised immortal on the Resurrection Day.
Summary: Either way, if the transfiguration were a resurrection or a vision, it does not prove that a person is now mortal or immortal. The reason for this vision or resurrection was to show that we are not to hear the law and the prophets, but to "hear you him." Christ is now the one who has "All authority" (Matthew 28:18). If any of the resurrections in the Old or New Testament were a resurrection to immortality, Christ could not have been "the first-fruits of them that are asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). How can death be changed to life in Heaven without a resurrection?
THE DEATH OF LAZARUS: In John 11 is the account of the death of Lazarus and his restoration to life on this earth to a mortal person that would die just as all mortal persons will. When Jesus arrived, the sister of Lazarus said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died." Did Jesus comfort her by saying her brother was a good person, and he was now happy in Heaven with other saints and angels, and he would never again have pain, and he was much better off than when he was in this world, but He was going to take Lazarus out of Heaven and bring him back to this world; this is the way of today's theology, but it is not found in the Bible. His reply was, "Your brother shall rise again." Martha declared her faith in the resurrection as was taught by Jesus by saying, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day" showing she did not believe he was then alive and in Heaven. Paul says the same when he says that those in Christ who have fallen asleep have perished if the dead are not raised (1 Corinthians 15:14-20). If they were forever alive in Heaven, they would not have perished if there were no resurrection. Today's teaching is not found in the Bible, and makes a lie of the Biblical teaching. Those who have "fallen asleep in Christ" will be asleep unto the resurrection, and without it they will forever be asleep. "And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day" (John 6:39). God could not have told us any clearer where we will be after death. In many churches Plato’s philosophy of an immortal soul that can never be dead has replaced the Bible teaching of the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ.
MANY BODIES OF THE SAINTS: In Matthew 27:52 the resurrection of many of the saints is sometimes used to prove the existence of immaterial entities.
· They were asleep before this resurrection, before “the tombs were opened,” not in Heaven, Hell, or Abraham’s bosom. THEY CAME FROM THE TOMBS, NOT FROM HEAVEN. Coming from the tombs is positive proof that they were not alive in Heaven and that it was earthly bodies that was resurrected, not immortal souls or spirits.
· Nothing is said about these “bodies” ascending to Heaven after they were resurrected.
· This says “the tombs were opened” and bodies came out of the graves, it say nothing about immortal souls that according to the immortal soul doctrine would not have been in the tombs, but they would have to come from Heaven or Hell.
· Their resurrection was not unto eternal life, this was before the resurrection of Christ who was the “first fruits” (1 Corinthians 15:20). If this or any resurrection were to eternal life in Heaven Christ would not have been the “first fruits.”
· This was before any one will put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:54; Romans 2:7). These resurrected saints were earthly being with “bodies” that were seen just as Lazarus was, not immortal, immaterial, invisible souls or spirits.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both