What is the Soul?
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul."
In a Bible discussion, I asked for a show of hands of those who believed in ghost. Only one, maybe two students ventured to raise their hand. The rest stared at me as if I had lost control of my mental faculties. When I rephrased the question and asked, "who believe in God," the show of hands was unanimous. In our Bible studies we talk freely about the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, often failing to accept the relationship of these entities as residents of the spirit world. There is the spirit of God, and there is the spirit of the Devil.
To state that I believe in a metaphysical God, but I do not believe in the spirit world or I do not believe in ghost or spirits is a contradiction in belief. The question of the soul and where it resides after death translates into questions of the spirit world that we shall attempt to answer in this six-part series. To believe in and understand the soul one must have a firm belief in the spirit world.
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth". (John 4:24) God is a spirit, thus the soul is a spirit. If we are to accept God as the Lord of the universe, we must accept the spirit world as the ruling authority. To worship God, we must worship him in our spirit. Ancient culture believed strongly in the spirit world whereas modern day societies have learned to doubt even the simple manifestation of a ghost while offering prayers to a metaphysical God.
We live in an environment of opposites such as good and bad, and there are night and day. There is the natural world, and there is the spiritual world. The natural world consists of elements that we interact with on a natural level and we interact with the spiritual world on a spiritual level. The spirit world consists of what is known as the heavens. In the Jewish theology, there were three "heavens." "We will provide scriptural documentation in a detail discussion of these places of interest and the resident of the soul later."
To entertain the question of the soul and it existence after death we must adjust our perspective so that our view is spiritual rather than natural. The Bible teaches us in the New Testament that we continue as a spiritual being after death. Those who teach that the soul sleep often refers to the Old Testament and obtain their doctrine from it alone. This is a violation of Paul's admonition to, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth". (2nd Timothy 2:15) A couple of scriptures that are often referenced is as follows:
· Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
· Ecclesiastes 12:7, "then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it."
Those that hold this position and refer to Ecclesiastes forget the keys to understanding the scripture. Context and perspective are two important keys to understanding the word of God. Here again, is Paul admonition, " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" (2nd Timothy 3:16). All scriptures are not to be used as doctrine; some are to be used as bases of reproof. Surgically removing a verse from its supporting scriptures that determine it context and presenting it as a complete thought are the making of a polluted mess. The context and the perspective are established in the first three verses of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, "The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit has a man of all his labor, which he takes under the sun?
The Preacher is writing about things from a human perspective, from that which is "under the sun." He is not providing doctrinal statements about life after death. From the human perspective, when you die the dead do not know anything in that the spirit returns to God who gave it and the body returns to dust. These statements do not mean the soul ceases to exist when a person dies. Those who advocate the pro-soul sleep will say that "the dead not knowing anything" means they do not exist. However, here again, this is written from the perspective of people on earth. He has made it clear that he is speaking from a human perspective. We cannot interpret the New Testament in light of the Old Testament. The New Testament interprets the Old Testament. This is why we look to what the word of God says in totality.
Matthew 17:1-8, "And after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his clothing was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if you will, let us make here three tabernacles; one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear you him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, except Jesus only".
This is known as the Transfiguration of Christ. What is important to note is that Moses and Elijah were both alive in their, so to speak, dead state. In other words, they are not united in their resurrected bodies because the general resurrection has not yet happened. Therefore, we can clearly see that there are at least two people who are alive, after death, who are not in their physical bodies.
Jesus gave a startling dissertation of a righteous beggar and a rich man living and dying. (Luke 16:23) And in hell he lifts up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. In that elucidation, we are privy to a conversation between two dead men. There is no indication that Lazarus saw the rich man in Hell, This would have been too traumatic, but the rich man saw Lazarus, which added to his torment. .” (Luke 16:24-25) And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” If one came back from the dead would it make any difference to what we already know? There is much to be learned here without the twisting and shaping of these verses.
We can see in the story of Lazarus and the rich man that after each has died, both were conscious and self-aware. Jesus is obviously teaching that the soul survives after death. Still, there are those who will say that this is a parable. Of course, the problem with this theory is that parables do not have proper names in them. In this case, there is a specific individual named: Lazarus. Also, if it were a parable, then what is Jesus saying with the illustration of consciousness after death and before the resurrection? The most logical answer is that Jesus was teaching us that there is life after death.
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Paul is telling us that he would rather be outside of his body, "absent from the body," and be at home with the Lord. If soul sleep is a true doctrine, then how is it possible to be outside of the body and also be home with the Lord? It wouldn't make any sense.
2 Corinthians 12:1-4 It is not expedient for me doubtless to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
To properly understand this section of Scripture we need to know what is meant by the term "third heaven." In the Jewish theology, there were three "heavens." The first heaven deals with the atmospheric region (Deuteronomy 11:17; 28:12; Judges 5:4; Acts 14:17). The second heaven deals with the region of outer space (Psalm 19:4,6; Jeremiah 8:2; Isaiah 13:10). The third heaven is God's dwelling place (1 Kings 8:30; Psalm 2:4; Matthew 5:16).
So, when Paul says that knew someone who was caught up to the third heaven, he was speaking about entering into that dwelling place of God. What is important is that it occurred either in the body or out of the body of which he did not know. If soul sleep is a true doctrine, it could not be said that such a person who is outside of his body (who had died), was also with God at the same time. It just wouldn't make any sense. Therefore, soul sleep is wrong.
Continued in Part #2
A Place Of Refuge
No comments:
Post a Comment