QUICKENING
Genesis 2:7 tells us:
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living [zao/chay] soul [nephesh]."
Ecclesiastes 12:7 (when the body dies):
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ever since Adam sinned and began to die, when created human beings have been born into the world, not one has continued to be alive | live [zao] forever, because when we were born into the world (born "of the flesh"), we were not born with a life [zoe] that's eternal (we do not have eternal life in ourselves).
and because the created human being does not have (eternal) life [zoe] in itself, then after the body has died (because the created human being is no longer zao, alive) the spirit of life [zoe] that was in the flesh goes back to its source.
When the human body dies, the soul does not die.
When the human body dies, the spirit does not die.
THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS
When Jesus died, His Spirit did not die: His soul went into hades (Acts 2:27), where by the Spirit He preached to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:18-20), and His dead body, being quickened [zoopoieo] (made alive by the Spirit), was raised from the dead:
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (Jesus, John 6:63).
In 1 Corinthians Chapter 15:22 Paul wrote the following:
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be quickened [zoopoieo]."
So let's walk through the verses in the New Testament that talk about "quickening | being quickened - and strip them of the false interpretations offered by @WPM earlier in this thread":-
With regards to the quickening of the body, Paul said,
"Fool ! That which you sow is not quickened [zoopoieo], except it die." (1 Corinthians 15:36)
Paul was answering the question: "How are the dead raised [egeiro]? With what kind of body [soma] will they come?" (1 Corinthians 15:35), and he was talking about the resurrection of the body from death/the dead.
In Romans 8:10-11 Paul wrote:
"If Christ's Spirit is in you,
1. your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit (of Christ) is your (eternal) life [zoe] because of (Christ's) righteousness.
2. Moreover, if the Spirit of the one who raised [egeiro] Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised [egeiro] Christ from the dead will also quicken [zōopoiéō] your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:10-11).
Therefore in Colossians 3:4 he wrote:
"When the Messiah, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
So does this quickening of/by the Spirit refer sometimes to the quickening of the body and sometimes to the quickening of a human spirit in the New Testament?
Let's see.
where does the teaching in main-stream churches about the "quickening of the human spirit" come from?
EPHESIANS 2:4-6
When it's taught in main-stream churches that the human spirit is "quickened" or "quickened from the dead" ("spiritual regeneration") at the time a person is born of the Spirit, then Ephesians 2:4-6 will often be one of the first verses cited as a verse that's talking about the "quickening" of the human spirit,
but Ephesians 2:4-6 is related to Colossians 2:12-13 and uses the exact same Greek words as Colossians 2:12-13, which is talking only about the quickening of Christ's dead body (by the Spirit), and His bodily resurrection from the dead:
"Ye are buried with him [sunthapto] in baptism, wherein also all of you are risen with him [sunegeiro] through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him [egeiro] from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him [syzoopoieo], having forgiven you all trespasses." (Colossians 2:12-13) *
* Christ's dead body was quickened - not His Spirit:
"If the Spirit of the one who raised [egeiro] Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised [egeiro] Christ from the dead will also quicken [zōopoiéō] your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:11).
So using the same Greek words in Ephesians 2:4-6, Paul says,
"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins,
(1) He has * syzōopoiéō (quickened together with) Christ, (by grace ye are saved);
(2) and has * raised us up together (synegeírō)
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6).
* The word has in Ephesians 2:5-6 is past tense: Christ's dead body has (past tense) been quickened and raised, and those who belong to Him have been (past tense) quickened and raised together with Him.
It's talking about the positional reality in Christ of those who belong to Him, and it's because (and through) the following two facts:
"Christ is risen [egeiro] from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection [anastasis] of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be quickened [zoopoieo: made alive]." (1 Corinthians 15:20-22 ).
and because, as Jesus taught those who believe in Him:
"I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." (John 14:19b-20b)
Paul called this "the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints,
which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27),
So Paul says,
"If then ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life [zōḗ] is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life [zōḗ], shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4).
(i) The word zoopoieo (quickening, being made alive) is being applied to the mortal body in all the above verses, so let's list the other verses using the same word soon which Amillennialists often cite as referring to a quickening of the human spirit, despite the fact that these verses where the word zōopoiéō is used, are all related to the quickening of the body - NOT the human spirit:
1 Peter 3:18:
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Romans 4:17:
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
1 Timothy 6:13:
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things (Greek o pas: the whole, or the all), and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession. (Compare Romans 8:10-11).
John 5:21:
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
John 6:63:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (Compare Romans 8:10-11).
2 Corinthians 3:6:
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit quickens.
(Compare Romans 8:10-11).
Galatians 3:21:
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have quickened, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (Compare Romans 8:10-11).
The majority of main-stream churches (especially Amillennialists) will always teach that quickening refers to the human soul or spirit in the New Testament - but it never does.
The Amillennial version of the gospel of salvation from sin and death has lost sight of the fact that God created human beings to live | to be alive [zao] in created bodies, on the created earth; and He breathed life [ZOE] into Adam in order that Adam could ZAO [live | be alive] forever.
God did not create human beings to "die and then go to heaven when we die" - and the first humans lived in a paradise.
Genesis 2:7 tells us:
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living [zao/chay] soul [nephesh]."
Ecclesiastes 12:7 (when the body dies):
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ever since Adam sinned and began to die, when created human beings have been born into the world, not one has continued to be alive | live [zao] forever, because when we were born into the world (born "of the flesh"), we were not born with a life [zoe] that's eternal (we do not have eternal life in ourselves).
and because the created human being does not have (eternal) life [zoe] in itself, then after the body has died (because the created human being is no longer zao, alive) the spirit of life [zoe] that was in the flesh goes back to its source.
When the human body dies, the soul does not die.
When the human body dies, the spirit does not die.
THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS
When Jesus died, His Spirit did not die: His soul went into hades (Acts 2:27), where by the Spirit He preached to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:18-20), and His dead body, being quickened [zoopoieo] (made alive by the Spirit), was raised from the dead:
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (Jesus, John 6:63).
In 1 Corinthians Chapter 15:22 Paul wrote the following:
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be quickened [zoopoieo]."
So let's walk through the verses in the New Testament that talk about "quickening | being quickened - and strip them of the false interpretations offered by @WPM earlier in this thread":-
With regards to the quickening of the body, Paul said,
"Fool ! That which you sow is not quickened [zoopoieo], except it die." (1 Corinthians 15:36)
Paul was answering the question: "How are the dead raised [egeiro]? With what kind of body [soma] will they come?" (1 Corinthians 15:35), and he was talking about the resurrection of the body from death/the dead.
In Romans 8:10-11 Paul wrote:
"If Christ's Spirit is in you,
1. your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit (of Christ) is your (eternal) life [zoe] because of (Christ's) righteousness.
2. Moreover, if the Spirit of the one who raised [egeiro] Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised [egeiro] Christ from the dead will also quicken [zōopoiéō] your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:10-11).
Therefore in Colossians 3:4 he wrote:
"When the Messiah, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
So does this quickening of/by the Spirit refer sometimes to the quickening of the body and sometimes to the quickening of a human spirit in the New Testament?
Let's see.
where does the teaching in main-stream churches about the "quickening of the human spirit" come from?
EPHESIANS 2:4-6
When it's taught in main-stream churches that the human spirit is "quickened" or "quickened from the dead" ("spiritual regeneration") at the time a person is born of the Spirit, then Ephesians 2:4-6 will often be one of the first verses cited as a verse that's talking about the "quickening" of the human spirit,
but Ephesians 2:4-6 is related to Colossians 2:12-13 and uses the exact same Greek words as Colossians 2:12-13, which is talking only about the quickening of Christ's dead body (by the Spirit), and His bodily resurrection from the dead:
"Ye are buried with him [sunthapto] in baptism, wherein also all of you are risen with him [sunegeiro] through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him [egeiro] from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him [syzoopoieo], having forgiven you all trespasses." (Colossians 2:12-13) *
* Christ's dead body was quickened - not His Spirit:
"If the Spirit of the one who raised [egeiro] Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised [egeiro] Christ from the dead will also quicken [zōopoiéō] your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:11).
So using the same Greek words in Ephesians 2:4-6, Paul says,
"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins,
(1) He has * syzōopoiéō (quickened together with) Christ, (by grace ye are saved);
(2) and has * raised us up together (synegeírō)
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6).
* The word has in Ephesians 2:5-6 is past tense: Christ's dead body has (past tense) been quickened and raised, and those who belong to Him have been (past tense) quickened and raised together with Him.
It's talking about the positional reality in Christ of those who belong to Him, and it's because (and through) the following two facts:
"Christ is risen [egeiro] from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection [anastasis] of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be quickened [zoopoieo: made alive]." (1 Corinthians 15:20-22 ).
and because, as Jesus taught those who believe in Him:
"I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." (John 14:19b-20b)
Paul called this "the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints,
which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27),
So Paul says,
"If then ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life [zōḗ] is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life [zōḗ], shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4).
(i) The word zoopoieo (quickening, being made alive) is being applied to the mortal body in all the above verses, so let's list the other verses using the same word soon which Amillennialists often cite as referring to a quickening of the human spirit, despite the fact that these verses where the word zōopoiéō is used, are all related to the quickening of the body - NOT the human spirit:
1 Peter 3:18:
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Romans 4:17:
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
1 Timothy 6:13:
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things (Greek o pas: the whole, or the all), and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession. (Compare Romans 8:10-11).
John 5:21:
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
John 6:63:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (Compare Romans 8:10-11).
2 Corinthians 3:6:
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit quickens.
(Compare Romans 8:10-11).
Galatians 3:21:
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have quickened, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (Compare Romans 8:10-11).
The majority of main-stream churches (especially Amillennialists) will always teach that quickening refers to the human soul or spirit in the New Testament - but it never does.
The Amillennial version of the gospel of salvation from sin and death has lost sight of the fact that God created human beings to live | to be alive [zao] in created bodies, on the created earth; and He breathed life [ZOE] into Adam in order that Adam could ZAO [live | be alive] forever.
God did not create human beings to "die and then go to heaven when we die" - and the first humans lived in a paradise.
Last edited: