A subscriber in Arizona asks, "You say that we will have to give an account of our stewardship of time and talent but that it does not affect our salvation. What do you think that giving account is for?" * * * Such statements of Scripture remind us that we are responsible for our deeds and our decisions during this life. The day will come when we each will answer to our Maker. There will come a time of reckoning, a "judgment" day, the Great Assize (Psalm 50). For those who are finally saved, this will be a moment of infinite exposure before God who knows every outward circumstance and inmost … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2012
THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS (2)
A gracEmail subscriber has heard the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) used to teach that when the wicked die they immediately begin to suffer conscious torment, and that after the Resurrection they will suffer that conscious torment forever. Why do I not teach these two things? * * * Some argue that this story cannot be a parable because Jesus says "there was a certain rich man" and "a certain poor man." However, Jesus also introduces the story of the Unrighteous Judge by saying "there was in a certain city a judge," yet Luke tells us that story is a parable (Lk. 18:1-2). … [Read more...]
ARE THE DEAD CONSCIOUS?
A gracEmail subscriber writes," I read your book The Fire That Consumes and I believe your position is scriptural that the dead are unconscious between death and Resurrection. I do have some questions, however, about several passages." * * * My major concern in The Fire That Consumes was to investigate thoroughly all biblical teaching about the final state of the lost. Because those who believe that the lost will totally perish and be destroyed eternally in hell are divided as to whether the dead are conscious or awake before the Resurrection, I tried to avoid that subject in TFTC. … [Read more...]
THE ‘INTERMEDIATE STATE’
A brother who has read The Fire that Consumes inquired about the state of believers after the moment of death and before the resurrection at the Last Day, the period sometimes called "the intermediate state." * * * If one begins thinking at the point of biblical anthropology, it seems to me one easily concludes that there is no conscious "intermediate state." In the Creation story, God makes a mud man (body) into which he breathes "breath of life" (spirit/breath) and the creature becomes a "living soul". Genesis uses the same expressions "breath of life" and "living souls" when talking about … [Read more...]
DEATH AS SEPARATION
A gracEmail subscriber asks about the Bible's frequent reference to the dead as "sleeping" and a different subscriber asks if death does not involve separation of body and spirit. * * * Indeed, death involves the separation of body and spirit but a word of caution is in order. "Spirit" (from Latin, spiritus) is ruach (Hebrew) or pneuma (Greek) -- "breath" or "wind" -- with which our material body is living and without which it is dead (Gen. 2:7). The spirit is not some immaterial "real person" or "immortal soul" which remains conscious when the body is dead, as in Platonic thought. The … [Read more...]
JESUS’ TRANSFIGURATION AND THE DEAD
A pastor in Florida quotes the biblical passage which says that the dead know nothing (Eccl. 9:5), and asks how to square that with the account of Jesus' Transfiguration, in which Moses and Elijah briefly appear and talk with Jesus, then disappear again. * * * Indeed, the Bible describes the dead as going down into Sheol (Hebrew) or Hades (Greek), the "unseen realm" for which one might easily coin the English name "Gravedom." In that "land of forgetfulness," that domain of "darkness" (Psa. 88:11-12), they are cut off from life and from enjoying blessings from God's hand (Psa. 88:5). Most … [Read more...]
YOUR SON IS SAFE
A dear Christian sister whose 21-year-old-son was killed in Afghanistan asks: "Until Judgment Day, are Christians who die just 'sleeping,' or are they with the Lord? I know the Bible says we won’t have our glorified bodies until the resurrection but it also says that to be 'absent from the body' is to be 'present with the Lord.'” * * * I am so sorry for the loss of your son. May God give you special comfort and his supporting Presence each new day. As for the state of the departed, the most common biblical description throughout both Old and New Testaments is that they have fallen asleep. … [Read more...]
THOSE GOD WILL BRING WITH HIM
In First Thessalonians 4:14, Paul states that God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. "Where are they now," asks a gracEmail reader, "that they will be brought to the earth? What does this verse mean?" * * * The young church at Thessalonica to whom Paul wrote these words seemingly expected the Lord to return during their own lifetime (1 Thes. 1:9-10). However, some of their fellow-believers had died already -- "fallen asleep" is the common biblical metaphor -- and Jesus had not come yet. This raised a concern for the Thessalonians whether their departed loved ones would miss the … [Read more...]
IMMORTALITY IS CONDITIONAL
A sister from an independent Christian church in Idaho writes: "You mentioned a book you co-authored on the subject of final punishment, your part being to present the biblical case for conditional immortality. What exactly do you mean by 'conditional immortality?' " * * * Part 1 "Immortality" means deathlessness, and anyone who is "immortal" is incapable of dying. According to the Bible, God "alone possesses immortality" inherently or in his own nature (1 Tim. 6:16). Human beings are not naturally "deathless" or "immortal." We are mortal human creatures who owe our existence every moment … [Read more...]
ROBERT SHANK (1918-2006)
I have just learned of the passing of Robert Shank, 88, who died peacefully at his home in Mount Vernon, Missouri on October 16, 2006, ten days after suffering a debilitating stroke. His death concluded an earthly pilgrimage of humble conviction and quiet scholarship, bringing to an end more than 60 years of faithful ministry as a Christian pastor, preacher, author, lecturer and teacher. Following in the footsteps of his Baptist minister father, Shank himself began pastoring Southern Baptist churches in 1941, also serving as teacher and president of a Bible academy. The same year marked his … [Read more...]