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juliamajor
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Jn.11:25-26 Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoever liveth and Believeth in me shall NEVER die. Here is the blessed assurance that one will live forever, that one possesses a present life that will continue forever, never die.
The early Church upheld the teaching of scripture many of those who were the apologists spoke out on this issue as they did on others.
Justin Martyr 150 AD “We have been taught that only they may aim at immortality who have lived a holy and virtuous life near to God. We believe that they who live wickedly and do not repent will be punished in everlasting fire” (First Apology, 21).
Second Clement 150 AD “If we do the will of Christ, we shall obtain rest; but if not, if we neglect his commandments, nothing will rescue us from eternal punishment” (Second Clement 5:5).
Athenagoras 177 AD “[W]e [Christians] are persuaded that when we are removed from this present life we shall live another life, better than the present one … Then we shall abide near God and with God, changeless and free from suffering in the soul … or if we fall with the rest [of mankind], a worse one and in fire; for God has not made us as sheep or beasts of burden, a mere incidental work, that we should perish and be annihilated” (Plea for the Christians 31).
Hippolytus 212 AD “Standing before [Christ’s] judgment, all of them, men, angels, and demons, crying out in one voice, shall say: ‘Just if your judgment!’ And the righteousness of that cry will be apparent in the recompense made to each. To those who have done well, everlasting enjoyment shall be given; while to the lovers of evil shall be given eternal punishment. The unquenchable and unending fire awaits these latter, and a certain fiery worm which does not die and which does not waste the body but continually bursts forth from the body with unceasing pain. No sleep will give them rest; no night will soothe them; no death will deliver them from punishment; no appeal of interceding friends will profit them” (Against the Greeks 3).
To the martyr’s that died they had immediate glory in God’s presence in heaven. To teach otherwise is to go against the whole body of scripture and almost 1500 years of the Church (until of course the reformation where purgatory was ratified). Did they all die with a false teaching of being in heaven?
In the catacombs of Rome are found inscriptions on tombs such as “In Christ, Alexander is not dead, but lives-his body rests in the tomb.” “Gone to dwell with Christ.” “One who is lives with God.” I cannot find any instance of soul sleep among the writers (both good or bad) in the first three centuries of the Church.)
In agreement Heb. 9:27 states after death, the judgment. In other words the judgment is that one goes either to heaven or to hell, and it is determined at death, not afterwards in a resurrection. So we go to rest and fellowship with the Lord, eventually to receive our rewards or to punishment and eternal separation, not to sleep.
In Mt.27:52 The scripture writes that at the time of the resurrection of Jesus many Bodies of the saints which slept arose. Notice what slept, the bodies. And the bodies arose, not their souls. The spirit that continues to exists is put back in the body animating it to life. As Paul states in his teaching on the resurrection of the body (1 Cor.15:15-20) Christ is the firstfruits of those that slept.
1 Thess. 4:14-18 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Whether one believes this is the 2nd coming or the rapture, the point is made that there are those who come with Jesus to be united with their bodies. Since the dead rise first and those who are alive don’t receive a resurrection but a transformation. Vs.15 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will 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.” Where is Jesus coming from? Heaven. If Jesus is bringing some people with him and they don’t have resurrected bodies yet, doesn’t this mean they are immaterial spirits. What dead are rising? Certainly this are not those who are alive and remain. The dead are those who bodies are put to sleep. This is exactly what Paul explains in 1 Cor.15:52-54 “the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed (those who are still alive) previously Paul explains the body in vs.35-49 vs.42 so is the resurrection of the dead. The BODY is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.” So resurrection refers to the human body not the soul or spirit, it is the body that sleeps and will be resurrected. As we have seen our hope is to be immediately with the Lord, not wait for some undetermined future time.
In conclusion it is the doctrine of soul sleep that needs to be put to death and out of existence.
The early Church upheld the teaching of scripture many of those who were the apologists spoke out on this issue as they did on others.
Justin Martyr 150 AD “We have been taught that only they may aim at immortality who have lived a holy and virtuous life near to God. We believe that they who live wickedly and do not repent will be punished in everlasting fire” (First Apology, 21).
Second Clement 150 AD “If we do the will of Christ, we shall obtain rest; but if not, if we neglect his commandments, nothing will rescue us from eternal punishment” (Second Clement 5:5).
Athenagoras 177 AD “[W]e [Christians] are persuaded that when we are removed from this present life we shall live another life, better than the present one … Then we shall abide near God and with God, changeless and free from suffering in the soul … or if we fall with the rest [of mankind], a worse one and in fire; for God has not made us as sheep or beasts of burden, a mere incidental work, that we should perish and be annihilated” (Plea for the Christians 31).
Hippolytus 212 AD “Standing before [Christ’s] judgment, all of them, men, angels, and demons, crying out in one voice, shall say: ‘Just if your judgment!’ And the righteousness of that cry will be apparent in the recompense made to each. To those who have done well, everlasting enjoyment shall be given; while to the lovers of evil shall be given eternal punishment. The unquenchable and unending fire awaits these latter, and a certain fiery worm which does not die and which does not waste the body but continually bursts forth from the body with unceasing pain. No sleep will give them rest; no night will soothe them; no death will deliver them from punishment; no appeal of interceding friends will profit them” (Against the Greeks 3).
To the martyr’s that died they had immediate glory in God’s presence in heaven. To teach otherwise is to go against the whole body of scripture and almost 1500 years of the Church (until of course the reformation where purgatory was ratified). Did they all die with a false teaching of being in heaven?
In the catacombs of Rome are found inscriptions on tombs such as “In Christ, Alexander is not dead, but lives-his body rests in the tomb.” “Gone to dwell with Christ.” “One who is lives with God.” I cannot find any instance of soul sleep among the writers (both good or bad) in the first three centuries of the Church.)
In agreement Heb. 9:27 states after death, the judgment. In other words the judgment is that one goes either to heaven or to hell, and it is determined at death, not afterwards in a resurrection. So we go to rest and fellowship with the Lord, eventually to receive our rewards or to punishment and eternal separation, not to sleep.
In Mt.27:52 The scripture writes that at the time of the resurrection of Jesus many Bodies of the saints which slept arose. Notice what slept, the bodies. And the bodies arose, not their souls. The spirit that continues to exists is put back in the body animating it to life. As Paul states in his teaching on the resurrection of the body (1 Cor.15:15-20) Christ is the firstfruits of those that slept.
1 Thess. 4:14-18 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Whether one believes this is the 2nd coming or the rapture, the point is made that there are those who come with Jesus to be united with their bodies. Since the dead rise first and those who are alive don’t receive a resurrection but a transformation. Vs.15 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will 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.” Where is Jesus coming from? Heaven. If Jesus is bringing some people with him and they don’t have resurrected bodies yet, doesn’t this mean they are immaterial spirits. What dead are rising? Certainly this are not those who are alive and remain. The dead are those who bodies are put to sleep. This is exactly what Paul explains in 1 Cor.15:52-54 “the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed (those who are still alive) previously Paul explains the body in vs.35-49 vs.42 so is the resurrection of the dead. The BODY is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.” So resurrection refers to the human body not the soul or spirit, it is the body that sleeps and will be resurrected. As we have seen our hope is to be immediately with the Lord, not wait for some undetermined future time.
In conclusion it is the doctrine of soul sleep that needs to be put to death and out of existence.
We need to be careful here…
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.