The guys on here talking about a soul coma have their theology twisted. When Jesus died on friday, was the world without God for 3 days? Wasn't His spirit ministering in Hell according to Peter? And the Abraham/ Lazarus parable? Don't we gain eternal life, pass from death unto life on accepting Christ? And the thief on the cross? And what about the souls of the dead saints in revelations 6: 9-10. Y'all can believe whatever you want but im pretty sure to meet with my Lord after my days here on earth are over!
The Bible describes two lives, and two deaths. The second death is that of the lake of fire. However, there is a punishment that precedes this which is commenly rendered as Hell, also a place of firery torment. However, the Bible says that those who are plunged into the second torment have also passed through the first.
That having been the case, I am convinced that there is also an intermediate point for the souls of the righteous as well. Our second life starts at the resurrection of the dead and continues forever after. However, the Bible states that the soul returns to God who created it. (Ecc. 12:7)
Further, Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes was expressing that after death, a man may no longer do anything to gain earthly rewards, honors, dishonors, or have any future involvement with mankind. Thus the only thing remaining of his time on earth is his legacy, which will soon be forgotten.
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I am an Apostolic Pentecostal. Apostolic in teaching, and Pentecostal in experience.
It is important to know that the OT doesn't provide a comprehensive view of the afterlife. Revelation was progressive, ending with Paul. We have to take the whole of Scripture into consideration, not just a few verses from the OT.
The reason for the resurrection is to provide victory over death, death is a temporary state. In our current state, which is subject to death, the souls of the redeemed are held in the presence of God in the Third Heaven, which exists outside of time and space (a spiritual place). The wicked are in Hell (Hades) in a type of holding until the judgment. Ultimately at the opening of the eternal state the known universe will be dissolved and all will be resurrected bodily to face judgment. The wicked will be cast into the lake of fire and the righteous will inherit the New Heavens and the New Earth that God will create. The final state will essentially be a universe restored to it's pre-fall glory. Satan will have won nothing.
Ha--arg. There is just really no defense left, nowadays, for some of the satanic yack that Seminaries--we'll go with 'ignorantly'--pushed back in the 19__'s.
I have no desire to upbraid anyone here; I'm just asking for a reasonable defense. However, I am prepared to argue against (essentially) "some guy said it was true," or the equally yack-i-fied "Christ has become our Sabbath."
Dordt came up preaching in a time when no one dared 'question his authority,' so I doubt this is comfortable for him. I'm prepared to work with that, too; imo, he no doubt earnestly studied all they had to teach, and it was surely the best we all knew back then. That was then, this is now?
Hybrid Mode
