Life Death and Destiny

(From Chapter Six (Part 3C - The Final State): The Judgment of God from Life, Death and Destiny) { The Final State (Part 3A) click here } { The Final State (Part 3B) click here } { Eternal Destruction (Part 1) click here } THE FINAL STATE OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED (c) Literal Destruction. It is often supposed that this view is merely an attempt to evade … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Six (Part 3B - The Final State ): The Judgment of God from Life, Death and Destiny) { The Final State (Part 3A) click here} THE FINAL STATE OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED (b) Everlasting suffering. The most common view, at least since the great Augustine of Hippo, (( 354-430 A.D.  See The City of God, Bk 21. )) has been that the wicked will suffer forever, … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Six (Part 3A - The Final State ): The Judgment of God from Life, Death and Destiny) THE FINAL STATE OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED In essence, there is little debate amongst Christians over the final state of those who are saved: they will enjoy everlasting, bodily (resurrected) life in communion with God and with one another, in the “new heavens and new … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Six  The Judgment of God from Life, Death and Destiny) THE LAST JUDGMENT Occasionally it is taught that the lost simply perish forever at death, without ever facing judgment. However, the Bible states consistently that God in Christ will raise up every human being for judgment, either for life or for condemnation: …there will be a resurrection of both the … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Six (Part 1 - Introduction): The Judgment of God from Life, Death and Destiny) It is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Having discussed the question of death and resurrection, it is time to deal with that of God’s judgment and its implications for those whom God may reject. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Five: The Path to Immortality from Life, Death and Destiny) LIFE ONLY IN CHRIST (a) Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Therefore death, though real, is not the last word. There really is a final, eternal Kingdom of God. It is a huge and tragic mistake to live only for this present world. Rather, what we decide and do now really does have eternal … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Five: The Path to Immortality from Life, Death and Destiny) THE TRUE PATH - Part Two As George E. Ladd observes, “Apart from the resurrection of Christ, all ideas of life beyond death are empty speculations…. The Christian hope, for Paul, is not a theory or a speculation; it was a certain fact which in turn rested upon another event in history – the … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Five: The Path to Immortality from Life, Death and Destiny) THE TRUE PATH - Part One (a) Resurrection makes sense. Resurrection takes seriously both the reality of death and the wholeness of the human person. Resurrection means a new, transformed, immortal form of existence for the whole person who has died; new life, not as a physical body, but as what Paul … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Five: The Path to Immortality from Life, Death and Destiny) A DEAD END The so-called immortality of the human soul is a dead end solution to the question of human death. For three reasons. (a) The idea of the immortality of the soul makes no sense. It treats our bodily self as if it were unnecessary to our real personality. The Bible, on the other hand, … [Read more...]

( From Chapter Five: The Path to Immortality from Life, Death and Destiny) Jesus Christ has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (II Tim. 1:10)! The Gospel of resurrection, that is. For, “as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to … [Read more...]