Life Only in Christ

 

What is the wages of sin?

 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23.

 

Through whom only is there salvation from sin?

 

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.  [Christ Jesus alone]

 

Why did God give His only-begotten Son?

 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.

 

What does Christ declare Himself to be?

 

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

 

What does He give to those that follow Him?

 

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, an d they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

John 10: 27,28.

 

In whom is life eternal?

 

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and the life is in his Son.”

1 John 5:11. 

 

Who only have this life?

 

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Verse 12. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who has sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24.   

 

What is Death Like

 

By what figure does the Bible represent death?

 

“Brother, we don’t want you to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep, or grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13. (See also 1 Corinthians 15:18, 20; John 11: 11-14.) 

 

Note – In sound sleep one is wholly lost to consciousness; time goes by unmeasured; and mental activity is suspended for the time being.

 

Where does Daniel represent the dead as sleeping?

 

“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”  Daniel 12:2. (See also Ecclesiastes 3:20; 9:10.)

 

What does one in this condition know about his family?

 

“If his sons are honored, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he does not see it.”

Job 14:21. 

 

What becomes of a man’s thoughts at death?

 

“When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.” Psalm 146:4.

 

Do the dead know “anything”?

 

“For the living know that they will die; but the dead knows nothing.” Ecclesiastes 9:5.

 

Do they take part in earthly things?

 

“Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.” Verse 6.

 

Note – If one remained conscious after death, he would know of the promotion or dishonor of his sons; but in death one loses all of the attributes of mind – love, hatred, envy, etc. Thus it is plain that his thoughts have perished, and that he can have nothing more to do with the things of the world. But if, as taught by some, man’s powers of thought continue after death, he lives; and if he lives, he some be somewhere. Where is he? Is he in heaven, or in hell? If he goes to either place at death, what then is the need of future judgment, or even a resurrection, or of the second coming of Christ? If men go to their reward at death, before the judgment takes place, then their rewards precede their awards.

 

How much does one know of God when dead?

 

“No one remembers you when you are dead. Who praise you from the grave”? Psalm 6:5.

 

Note – As already seen, the Bible everywhere represents the dead as asleep, with not even a remembrance of God. If they were in heaven or hell, Jesus would have said, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep”? John 11:11.  If so, calling him to life was really robbing him of the bliss of heaven that rightly belonged to him. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16) teaches not consciousness in death but that riches will avail nothing in the judgment and that poverty will not keep one out of heaven.

 

Where Are The Dead?

 

“For David did not ascend to heaven.” Acts 2:34. “It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to silence.” Psalm 115:17.

 

Where did Job say he would await his final change?

 

“If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. Job 14:14. If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in darkness.” Job 17:13.

 

Note – The Hebrew word for ”grave” in this verse is she’ol, meaning among other things a dark, hollow subterranean place, used simply in reference to the abode of the dead in general, without distinguishing between the good and the bad. (Young’s Analytical Concordance.)

The same word is also translated “pit” 3 times (Numbers 16:30; 33; Job 17:16), and “hell” 31 times (every occurrence of the word “hell” is in the King James Version of the Old Testament). The translation of she’ol as “grace” 31 times bears witness to the unsuitability of the present English word hell to the idea of she’ol, especially in reference to Jacob (Genesis 37:35; 42:38), Job (Job 14:13), the psalmist (Psalm 30:3), and even Christ (Psalm 16:10; cf. Acts 2:27, 31), The American Revised Version avoids choosing between “hell” and “grave” by retaining she’ol as an untranslated Greek word hades in the New Testament. It should be remembered that “hell” in the Old Testament always means she’ol, the figurative abode of the dead, a place of darkness and silence, not a place of fiery torment.

 

When The Dead Rise Again

 

What must take place before the dead can praise God?

 

“But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You, who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.” Isaiah 26:19. 

 

When did the psalmist say he would be satisfied?

 

“And I – in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.” Psalm 17:15.

 

Were there to be no resurrection of the dead, what would be the condition of those fallen asleep in Christ?

 

“For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” 1 Corinthians 15: 16-18.  

 

When will be the resurrection of the righteous?

 

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16.

 

Note – If, as stated in Ecclesiastes 9:5, the dead do not know anything, then they have no knowledge of the lapse of time; it will seem to them when they awake that absolutely no time has elapsed. “Six thousand years in the grave to a dead man is not more than a wink of the eye to the living.”

It ought also to be a comforting thought to those whose lives have been filled with anxiety and grief for deceased loved ones who perished in sin, to know that they are not now suffering in torments, but, with all the rest of the dead, are quietly sleeping in their graves.     

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