charity,
I find it interesting, even paradoxical, that you quoted
Eccl 9:5 in support of your view, but you did not mention
Eccl 12:7 (ERV), which states:
"Your body came from the earth.
And when you die, it will return to the earth.
But your spirit came from God,
and when you die, it will return to him".
What did Jesus teach in
John 11:17-26 (ESV)?
According to John 11:24-26, to live and believe is followed by never dying. In the event of the raising of Lazarus, this is the narrative:
24 Martha said to him [Jesus], “I know that he [Lazarus] will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me,
though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me
shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus was crystal clear that everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never ever die ultimately. Death for the believer does not interrupt this eternal life that began at the point of commitment to Christ while on earth.
Oz