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Like we will be alive when the living saints and the saints dead in Christ in the grave will be resurrected and raised up to meet Christ in the clouds and go to heaven.Luke 9:28-30
Jesus Talks with Moses and Elijah
28 About eight days after Jesus said these things, he took Peter, John, and James and went up on a mountain to pray. 29 While Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became shining white. 30 Then two men, Moses and Elijah,[a] were talking with Jesus.
Again!! Only the body of believers that have died is in the grave==the spirit is with GOD.Like we will be alive when the living saints and the saints dead in Christ in the grave will be resurrected and raised up to meet Christ in the clouds and go to heaven.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Lets take a look and see if the text proves that Paul was looking forward to being a disembodied spirit in heaven.2 Corinthians 5:8
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
There is a fine distinction between the soul and the spirit. The soul, strictly speaking, is a living being. All the animals are living beings, they are living souls. The human, however, additionally has a spirit as well as a body. The confusion can come because when the scriptures are speaking about the human being, soul and spirit are more often than not used interchangeably. When an animal dies, all life ceases. There is nothing left alive. However, when a human dies, only the body ceases to have life, the spirit continues to live, or perhaps I should say the spirit continues to exist. Only God can kill or destroy the spirit of man.Souls can die. The souls of humans and animals can die. This is because a soul is a living being, not some form of disembodied spirit or ghost. Souls could not die if they were immortal.
So why would you need to be saved by the life and resurrection that Christ gives you, if you already have it of yourself. No, that negates the whole teaching and gospel of Christ, need to think about it..There is a fine distinction between the soul and the spirit. The soul, strictly speaking, is a living being. All the animals are living beings, they are living souls. The human, however, additionally has a spirit as well as a body. The confusion can come because when the scriptures are speaking about the human being, soul and spirit are more often than not used interchangeably. When an animal dies, all life ceases. There is nothing left alive. However, when a human dies, only the body ceases to have life, the spirit continues to live, or perhaps I should say the spirit continues to exist. Only God can kill or destroy the spirit of man.
In the resurrection, the body that once existed is not raised. Rather what is raised is not a physical body but rather a "spiritual" body. Unfortunately, we haven't a clue about what that spiritual body really is. We know, according to 1 Corinthians 15, that it is imperishable, that it is glorious, that it is powerful. But we really don't know much more than that. We also know that between the death of the physical body and the resurrection of the spiritual body the spirit is not dead.
Luk 20:34 And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,
Luk 20:35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,
Luk 20:36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
Luk 20:37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
Luk 20:38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him."
Thus, we conclude that there is an intermediate existence, an existing state of being, between the physical dying and the resurrection. We can consider that further if you like. There isn't a lot we can say about the intermediate state, but there is some. The story of the rich man and Lazarus speaks to it. Other passages do also, although not much.
What are you talking about? I never said anything about already having it of one's self. The whole passage of 1 Corinthians 15 is speaking about the resurrection of the saved. Paul begins that chapter with,So why would you need to be saved by the life and resurrection that Christ gives you, if you already have it of yourself. No, that negates the whole teaching and gospel of Christ, need to think about it..
The part "..However, when a human dies, only the body ceases to have life, the spirit continues to live, or perhaps I should say the spirit continues to exist..." No, only at the resurrection the dead in Christ, like Lazarus are given life and bodily brought out of the grave by Christ. Till then, they are dust. There is nothing that flies around and floats on a cloud somewhere, man just goes to the grave and turns to dust. Both man and animals were created from dust. So, when they die they then return again to dust; just the reverse of creation.What are you talking about? I never said anything about already having it of one's self. The whole passage of 1 Corinthians 15 is speaking about the resurrection of the saved. Paul begins that chapter with,
1Co 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
1Co 15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
He ends it with,
1Co 15:55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
To understand what happens to the unsaved, you have to look elsewhere.
Paul was looking forward to the resurrection of the body at the second coming, it was what was constant in his teaching. His focus was not on being a disembodied spirit after death but on being with Christ on the resurrection at the end.2 Corinthians 5:8 ("Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.") suggests to me that we are conscious while "away from the body and at home with the Lord" -- for otherwise, how could we possibly "rather" that state of affairs in preference to any other?
Sorry Hobie, but you are wrong.The part "..However, when a human dies, only the body ceases to have life, the spirit continues to live, or perhaps I should say the spirit continues to exist..." No, only at the resurrection the dead in Christ, like Lazarus are given life and bodily brought out of the grave by Christ. Till then, they are dust. There is nothing that flies around and floats on a cloud somewhere, man just goes to the grave and turns to dust. Both man and animals were created from dust. So, when they die they then return again to dust; just the reverse of creation.
"...for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis 3:19