My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me . . . a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." (Jn. 10:5, 27) The phraseology is slightly different but the meaning is identical, Christ's sheep are not subject to long term mass delusions. Of course there are those within the Church body who are subject to error, but the body of that which calls itself the Church has always been a mixture of wheat and tares, yes? We will not be separated until the last harvest when Christ himself will distinguish between his own and the pretenders. Event in the great apostasy to come, and I emphasize TO COME, Christ's own will remain true. Your construct requires an apostasy that started at the beginning and has been ongoing for 2000 years, which is outside the scope of biblical cosmology. In fact your arguments have a tendacy to do that a lot, to map every reference to a spiritual existence, which every believer currently enjoys even in our present imperfect flesh, onto some future state of pure spirituality when we will not be enfleshed. Every time I or someone else points out this twisting of the chronology of our Christian walk you break out the magic phraseology of a limited thinking in the flesh instead of in the spirit. Brother, as a Holy spirit indwelt believer I have access to the same spirit as you. When you use that argument you come close to denying my own status as holy spirit indwelt and it verges on insulting.
Now, addressing Davy's argument, lets look at another quote from Paul from the same book:
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
Will we have the same kind of flesh at our resurrection? No! certainly not. But it WILL be a body, not pure spirit as the edited quote you gave might seem to imply.
Yes, wheat and tares, and also sheep and goats.
There are two narratives, one of Christ's sheep hearing and following, and another of strong delusion--but you are only fully acknowledging the one. Which means, you yourself are only hearing approximately half of Christ's voice...and there you have it. That is exactly the case for most of Christendom...and both narratives have come to fruition.
As for your comments on my continued effort to return truth according to all the scriptures rather than only part, pointing to the error--that is my part, which no, is not the same as you. It doesn't work that way. It is a fine notion, but biblically spiritual gifts are give variably according to God, and even "poured out upon all flesh", including many who are evil. Which is not insulting, just the biblical truth. You have no reason to be offended. But I am not arguing, but telling, as I ought to.
As for when the apostacy began, have you not read that the spirit of anti-Christ was already at work 2,000 years ago, which you now deny and use as a point of showing me wrong--and yet it is written? But perhaps you have also not heard or read where the rift began, which Jesus clearly stated, saying that He comes "
quickly", that "
all things would come upon that generation", after revealing all the things "
that must shortly take place." But as foretold, false teachers among the early church in unbelief soon began to develop the now popular false doctrine of a future generation and fulfillment, even changing Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy sighted by Jesus, to 69 weeks +1 week--which you now refer to saying "TO COME" with emphasis.
Back to How the dead are raised:
You seem to object to "pure spirit" and yet God is pure and spirit. But we also know that God is fully capable of manifesting in whatever form at will--and that we become One with Him having that same will. So where is the problem if not with some love of the flesh as we know it being first born of it?
All I am saying is there is nothing less of what is born of the spirit of God, but there are many apparently including yourself, who reject the idea of that form of more, and want not to hear what is better in God than what is in this world. I maintain, that what is born of the spirit of God is not less, but more by far, even perfect. Yet many argue with a tight grip on the flesh as if with cold dead fingers.
Why would anyone do that?
(rhetorical)