Well, if you look at it this way. Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise, then I suppose your right. I do see Jesus easing his mind either way.Angelina said:Jesus came as the Savior of the world and redeemer of all who believe in him by faith. He did not come to do the Holy Spirit's job.The Holy Spirit was sent after Jesus departed... John 16:7
1 Cor 15:35-58 NIV is about the resurrection body, resurrection as in the first resurrection Angelina 1 Cor 15:50-54 NIV.Angelina said:Wow! Another transition takes place when we leave this earthly tent. It is spiritual 1 Corinthians 15:45 just as God is Spirit, John 4:24, Jesus is Spirit Gal 4:6 and the Holy Spirit is Spirit. God does not need a body made of flesh to live? What about the Holy Spirit...does he also need a body to live. Do you think that the Godhead had physical bodies prior to creating the world and everything that came into existence? :blink:
Correct, and our spirit breath cannot exist without the body. Our spirit cannot exist without this "tent". That is why God made our bodies, because everything has a purpose. When we die, we are not floating around the third heaven as wind and breath like Casper the ghost. That's illogical.Angelina said:Our flesh/body was a lifeless form of clay made out of dust in the beginning and then God brought that lifeless dust form, shaped like a man to life. The body is just a tent that houses our spirit which God originally breathed into Adam and our soul which is our very essence.
But God did not inspire the punctuation, MAN did. Man added the comma before today to fit his theology. By saying it's ok to read it with punctuation is reading it incorrectly.Angelina said:but God did inspire that written passage...if that is correct then that is all that matters. You cannot throw the baby out with the bath water and hinge your whole theology on that one piece of misplaced punctuation.
But if Paul doesn't know whether the man was in the body or out of the body, how can we know? The point is, is that you can't base your belief of what happens after we die based on a vision. Matt 17 Transfiguration is also a vision, but it's also about the second coming of Christ.Angelina said:Paul is speaking of a vision/revelation from the Lord just as John was in spirit had a vision [Revelation 1:10] which he recorded and is now known as the Book of Revelation. What I am trying to point out is...that the thief could easily be in the paradise that day or it could also mean "from this time forth" as the term today seems to indicate in other places in the bible ie: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts"...
2 Cor 12:2-3 NIV I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—