Why are only the DEAD resurrected to damnation judged by their works?
They are called the dead. They are not called the resurrected dead. The definition of dead always means dead. How can the dead stand in sheol without a resurrection? Are they also resurrected in sheol?
When these dead stand before God, there is not even a physical creation, neither heaven nor earth. Are you declaring they stand in the NHNE thus afforded all the benefits of the Atonement prior to being cast into the LOF?
Resurrection is only granted after judgment is pronounced.
You don't even allow a physical resurrection to those in verse 4. Declaring one in verse 12 is blatantly dishonest to prove Amil is correct. Those dead are judged according to their works. When do you think salvation via the Atonement kicks in at this Judgment? Because that is when they receive the first resurrection or any resurrection at all.
You claim the first resurrection is spiritual birth. You don't ever posit a physical resurrection at any point. Is the physical restoration some second resurrection never found once in Scripture? Did all those given life after physical death in Scripture receive a second resurrection? What is this second resurrection you have concocted? For those who physically became alive after death, given this second resurrection, why would a second resurrection happen before a first resurrection?
What ever happened to sticking with one definition that works? The first resurrection is physical, and that is all. There is no resurrection after that unless there is a second death. Not many people die twice. And in Scripture the second death is the LOF. The only logical second resurrection is getting out of the LOF.
Otherwise a second resurrection after a second physical death is still a first resurrection again, as physical life is restored the second time. Death was only physical twice, and the resurrection was physical twice. It was not born twice, just resurrected twice. In Scripture the use of second, has moved from the physical to the spiritual to not confuse chronological physical deaths. Most people do not make it a habit to die physically and resurrect physically multiple times, much less only one time.
Back to John 5:29
"And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
This verse is not proof all of humanity from all time is mentioned here.
This verse is proof that at the GWT some will have the resurrection of life, or no one will. They will all be cast into the LOF.
With this verse you are literally saying that those in Christ will also be in death and sheol until the GWT. There are a couple of pre-mill who agree with you that the redeemed are in death until the GWT. For the very same reason that there is only one resurrection where the Lamb's book of life is opened.
And you refuse to accept this is about doing good works, even though that is the basis for the two types of resurrections.
So now instead of a first and second resurrection, you declare from Scripture a good works resurrection to life and an evil works resurrection to death. Then you declare, no, it is not about works, even though that is the only basis for either type.
If you declare salvation is not by works, then this rules out that the redeemed are even mentioned in this verse. Which now brings me back to my point which you have not addressed once.
They shall come forth. That is still the dead standing at the GWT. Coming forth is not a resurrection, not even in this verse. The resurrection is their destination after judgment. They shall come forth unto the resurrection. You claim the resurrection is the coming forth, but it is not. Some of these dead are granted the resurrection of life, after being judged according to their works. But only the lost are still in their graves at that point. No one who accepted redemption in their physical life is in their graves at this point. Only those in sheol and death. Death is those who are removed from the Lamb's book of life before they physically die.
Not in this verse, nor in Revelation 20 does it claim the lost ever experience the first resurrection. If they did, they would have already been spiritually born from above prior to the first resurrection. You claim even prior to the first death, as the spiritual birth is not granted in death. It has to happen in physical life. Thus one cannot be alive when they experience the first resurrection. They have not even experienced the first death yet.
For this reason, Jesus never calls the first resurrection being born again. Because all humans agree the first resurrection is physical life after physical death, except for those amil who have it all confused. But yet Amil are hypocritical declaring there is need for the first resurrection to even stand before the GWT. But they cannot call it the first resurrection, because they have misappropriated the usage of the first resurrection to mean the second birth, which already has an agreed wording: being born the second time into a spiritual family from above.
A resurrection is not a birth. A resurrection is a restoration of something lost, and in this case physical life. A first resurrection cannot happen prior to the first death. A first resurrection is granted after physical death.
That is why those thrones in verse 4 were handed down a judgment from God.
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
These thrones were not being judged by God. This is not the GWT, but a lower court. These thrones clearly received a judgment from the higher court, the GWT. The judgment is the following:
"they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years"
That is the judgment handed down from the GWT to these thrones that John saw. It is further described here:
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
This is the first resurrection. It is not granted to Christ who is eternally alive and the King. The first resurrection is granted to those beheaded in the 42 months, just prior to Armageddon. These are the souls standing before the thrones in verse 4. A soul that receives the first resurrection gets a permanent incorruptible physical body. They live on earth with those in the camp of the saints.
You turn around and declare those beheaded represent the Church living in the last 1992 years and call the first resurrection, the second birth granted to the living, even though the first resurrection was granted to souls whose head was severed from their body, and in need of a physical restoration, called the first resurrection. They did not need the second birth, as they were not in sheol, nor death. They only had a head severed from their body as testimony to overcoming the mark of the beast and not giving in to the worship demands of Satan. In other words the act of cutting off their head was their spiritual birth ie your "first resurrection". The contradiction is that the judgment they received was the first resurrection. The first resurrection cannot be the act of them physically dying. Their physical death was their moment of spiritual birth. That is why they are souls waiting for judgment, and no Scripture declares they went to death nor sheol when their heads were cut off. Revelation 20:4 cannot be turned into symbolism describing the church of the last 1992 years. Some would even claim these thrones are the church handing this judgment to those beheaded. Why would the church be judging itself as a perpetual motion phenomenon?
Amil point to the Cross. One could also point to Job 1 and these thrones are the council of the sons of God. At the Second Coming the church is restored as sons of God. In Revelation 6, these restored sons of God were told to wait. They were waiting for those beheaded mentioned in Revelation 20:4. Then it seems they were allowed to grant these beheaded a first resurrection. Amil can only reply with the point Revelation is too symbolic and not even in chronological order. As if only they can figure it out and declare their opinion as truth. Revelation is pretty straightforward when it deals with life and death. Those beheaded were dead physically and granted life physically on earth. They were not part of the church, but still redeemed out of Adam's dead corruptible flesh just as the church was. The church stood in judgment. The church was not being judged. Those beheaded were being sentenced to the first resurrection. That being a permanent incorruptible physical body. No where does it claim they were glorified, and joined the church, even though some amil seem to think there is more than one way into Paradise: being the church and those judged by the church.
