Lesson 9 Review: Contrary Passages?

 

Introduction

Memory Text: “ ‘You search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me’ ” (1 John 5:39, NKJV).

There are passages that support our beliefs but there are also passages that can be interpreted to support something different from what you believe in. This week will look into those kinds of passages that justify the natural immortality of the soul.

Why is it wrong to take Luke 16:19-31 as a literal description of the afterlife?

‘First, we would have to admit that heaven and hell are close enough to allow a conversation between the dwellers of both places (Luke 16:23-31)’. We would also suppose that while the body lies in the grave there remains conscious form of the spiritual soul with “ ‘eyes,’ ” a “ ‘finger,’ ” a “ ‘tongue,’ ” and which even feels thirst (Luke 16:23, 24). Heaven won’t be a place of joy and happiness.

What does the account of the rich man and Lazarus teach?

1.       Status and social recognition in the present is not the criteria for the future reward, and

2.       The eternal destiny of each person is decided in this life and cannot be reserved in the afterlife (Luke 16:25, 26).

How should the promise to the repentant thief on the cross in Luke 23:43 be understood in light of Jesus’ words to Mary Magdalene and His promise to His disciples?

It would be an error to think that Jesus on that same day went with the thief to heaven, if He did, He would not make the statement about first ascending to His Father in heaven after resurrection (John 20:17). He would not also promise His disciples that they will be taken to heaven only at His second coming (John 14:1-3).

What should the natural reading of Luke 23:43 be?

“Truly I tell you today, you will be with Me in Paradise”.

Who was Paul referring to as “those who sleep in Jesus”?

Paul was referring to believers who already had died and who will be raised at Christ’s second coming to receive eternal life (1 Cor. 15:16- 18, 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

 When did Paul expect to be “with Christ” (Phil. 1:23) and “with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17)?

These verses do not teach that Paul expected to go to heaven at death, rather that He would receive his reward at the Second Coming (2 Tim. 4:8). The next thing, he would know after death is the Second Coming of Christ.

Why did Paul decide to die than to live?

This is because he would finally rest from all his troubles, without needing any longer to suffer pain in his body (1 Cor. 9:27, NRSV).

How did Christ preach “to the spirits in prison…in the days of Noah” according to 1 Peter 3:13-20?

The term, “spirits” is used in this text and other texts in the New Testaments (1 Cor. 16:18, Gal. 6:18) refer to living people who can hear and accept the invitation of salvation. The preaching was to the “disobedient” antediluvians in the “days of Noah”. ‘Christ’s preaching to the impenitent antediluvian world was accomplished through Noah, who was divinely instructed by God (Heb. 11:7)’. This text was ‘written in the context of what it means to be faithful; they are not a commentary on the state of the dead’.

What are the reasons why the notion that Christ’s disincarnated spirit preached “to the spirits in prison” is wrong?

There is no second opportunity of salvation for the dead (Heb. 9:27, 28). It contradicts the biblical teaching that the dead remain unconscious in the grave until the final resurrection. The antediluvians would not have been the only people to hear the message because they were others who would be burning with them in hell too. Christ would not also have preached to fallen angels because the disobedience was “formerly”.

How can the souls of the “souls” of the dead martyrs cry “under the altar” according to Revelation 6:9-11?

‘As the blood was symbolically sprinkled around the altar, so the blood of the martyrs was symbolically poured at God’s altar when, by remaining faithful to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 6:9; see also Rev. 12:17, Rev. 14:12), they also lost their lives.

What other reasons are we given according to the lesson that makes us understand that the “souls” of the martyrs crying “under the altar” are symbolic?

‘By taking them literally, One would have to conclude that the martyrs are not fully happy in heaven, for they are still crying out for vengeance’. John was not also given a view of heaven as it actually is. For instance there are no white, red, black, or pale horses there with warlike riders, likewise there are no ‘souls’ lying at the base of an altar in heaven’. George E. Ladd, a non-Adventist also confirms in his statement that it is merely a vivid way of picturing the fact that they had been martyred in the name of their God.

In Conclusion,

No passage in the Bible justifies the natural immortality of the soul, we all wait for the Second Coming when all souls will be raised some to immortality and some to destruction. I pray that God gives us the grace to not fall for any contrary interpretations to these passages in Jesus’ name.