FEEDBACK: DEATH AND DESTRUCTION OF THE UNSAVED #5
12/8/09
We
appreciate feedback on the studies posted on this website. It helps us to see
if there is anything on this website that does not agree with the Bible.
Below is THE fifth ROUND OF DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT
OF THE “THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION
OF THE UNSAVED”.
The viewer’s email is in “italics”. Our
response is in regular text.
VIEWER’S
EMAIL:
Hello.
Thanks for your response. Would like to make a quick point about Adam's loss of
eternal life.
THE STATEMENT, “LOSS OF ETERNAL LIFE”, IS REALLY SAYING THAT THE DAY HE SINNED,
ADAM BECAME “SUBJECT TO DEATH” OR THAT ADAM WOULD “DIE IN THE FUTURE”
I did not say Adam would lose eternal life sometime in the future. I
stated that he lost eternal life the day he violated God's commandment.
The loss of access to the Garden of Eden as well as the tree of life are part
of the sentence of death. In this sense, Adam's loss of eternal life
resulted in being sentenced to eternal damnation. If Adam did not become
saved, he would have suffered the final execution on the day of his physical
death. So, in Adam's case he lost eternal life the day he rebelled.
But the rest of the human race never had eternal life because they were born
with the sentence of eternal damnation. In this regard, the books were
opened to judge mankind the day Adam rebelled (Rev 2012).
Re 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and
the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.
I do not believe the word death means cessation of existence in every
context. The unsaved cease to exist when they are physically executed by
God. God executes man by destroying his body and soul.
Mt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell.
PS: I would like to address a few more issues in this message later.
BELOW
IS OUR RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE EMAIL
Please
feel free to respond to other points later.
I
think you misunderstood me in the last email. Probably I was not clear enough.
You
mentioned that the day that Adam sinned, that he experienced the “loss of
eternal life”.
You
believe that “life = existence” and “death = cessation existence”. If that is
so, then the statement “loss of eternal life” is equivalent to “loss of eternal
existence”.
The
statement “loss of eternal existence” is effectively saying that Adam would
cease to exist (or die) sometime in the future. You are saying that Adam still
had existence, but he would not exist forevermore.
I
have heard people say that Genesis 2:17 is stating that Adam experienced the
“loss of eternal life”. If you think about this statement, it is really saying
that Adam would die in the future.
But,
the Genesis 2:17 says that Adam died in the day he sinned. Genesis 2:17
is not speaking of sometime in the future. The phrase “loss of eternal life”
effectively moves Adam’s death to sometime in the future.
That
is my point.
Genesis
2:17 is talking about the day he sinned and not when he was 930 years old.
Or,
to say it another way, the phrase “loss of eternal life” is really saying that
Adam would die in the future.
But,
God said “in the day” that you sin, you will surely die. Genesis 2:17 is
talking about the day he sinned, the phrase “loss of eternal life” is
effectively changing the verse to refer to a future time.
So,
this phrase “loss of eternal life” does not agree with the phrase “in the day”
that we find in Genesis 2:17.
This
ties into your reference to a “sentence of death”. In the day Adam sinned,
he was not sentenced to death. Rather, he died in the day that he sinned.
You
used the phrase “physical death”. The believer has already experienced “physical
death” because his body is dead according to Romans 8:10 and 1 Corinthians
15:29. We read in those verses:
Romans
8:10 And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.
1
Corinthians 15:29 Else what shall they
do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they
then baptized for the dead?
Romans
8:10 says plainly “body is dead”.
1
Corinthians 15 is speaking about the resurrection of the true believer’s body.
In verse 29, God refers to the true believer’s body three times as already “dead”.
The
believer is already “physically dead” (that is, his body is dead) according to
the Bible.
If
the believer is still “physically dead”, then the Adam also became “physically
dead” the day he sinned, and the unsaved in this world are already “physically
dead”.
You
talked about man being “executed”. The word “executed” means to “kill”.
According to Romans 7:11, God “slew” or “killed” Paul and Adam and the whole
human race the day that Adam sinned.
We
read in Romans 7:9-11:
9 For I was alive without the law once: but
when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was ordained
to life, I found to be unto death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
deceived me, and by it slew me.
The
Apostle Paul is speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He is
talking about himself. However what he says applies to all mankind, going all
the way back to Adam.
The
“commandment” goes back to the Garden of Eden and the commandment that
was given to Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.
When
that commandment was broken, then according to verse 11, the apostle Paul and
the whole human race was “killed”.
The
word “killed” actually means the same thing as the word “dead”,
which is to be separated from God, who is “life”.
The
word “kill” in Matthew 10:28 is the same Greek word translated “slew” in Romans
7:11. We read in Matthew 10:28:
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not
able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell.
The
“killing” of Matthew 10:28 is the “killing” that God did to Adam, Paul and the
whole human race the day that Adam sinned. It is to be separated from God, who
is “life” (John 11:25, 14:6).
The
corpse is a body sleeping in the dust.
There
is more information on this subject in the studies at these links:
http://www.isannihilationtrue.com/life1.htm
http://www.isannihilationtrue.com/dust1.htm
The
word “destroy” in Matthew 10:28 identifies with the 7 verses with the word
“destroy” that we find in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 describes a
“destroying” of on-going conscious affliction.
For
more information on Deuteronomy 28:15-68, please see the study at this link:
http://www.isannihilationtrue.com/proofs1.htm
Also,
this Greek word “destroy” from Matthew 10:28 is used in the past tense
and translated as “lost” in Matthew 10:6, 15:24, 18:11, and Luke 19:10.
We
read:
Matthew 10:6
But go rather to the lost <622> sheep of the house
of
Matthew 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost <622> sheep of the house
of
Matthew 18:11
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost <622>.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost <622>.
The
Greek word translated “lost” would be more precisely translated “perished”
or “destroyed”.
These
verses are talking about the present state of unsaved man. According to these
verses, unsaved man is already “destroyed” or “perished”. The
fact that the translators put the word “lost” hides this important
truth.
Unsaved
man is already “perished” or “destroyed” because he is separated
from God, who is “life”.
We
tend think of the word “destroy” in Matthew 10:28 as annihilation. But,
God is showing that it cannot mean annihilation because according to the above
list of verses (Matthew 10:6, 15:24, 18:11, and Luke 19:10), unsaved man is
already “destroyed”.
Unsaved
man in this world is not annihilated. Rather, he is separated from God, who is
“life”.
Revelation
20:11 gives the setting for Revelation 20:12.
According
to Revelation 20:11, sitting upon the throne is God “from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.”
According
to verse 11, the vision of Revelation 20:11-15 is after this present earth and
heaven are gone. There was no more place for them. It is not talking about
unsaved man standing before God in this present world. This passage is talking
about unsaved standing before God after this present world has past away.
It
agrees with the future tense that we read in Romans 14:10-12.
There
is more information on Revelation 20:11-15 & Romans 14:10-12 at this link:
http://www.isannihilationtrue.com/everyknee.htm
Thank
you.