Monthly Archive for July, 1999

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1 Thessalonians 5:1

Published on July 21, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you“
 
Chapter 4 gave us the blessed hope of the believer, the rapture of the church to Heaven. This chapter gravely warns us of the coming Day of the Lord that deals with Israel and Gentiles (5:1-11).
 
The first three verses warn of the coming Day of the Lord.
But concerning
The words “but concerning” is a signpost showing that Paul now shifts to a new topic. These words are his usual formula for moving to a new line of thought (4:9,13; 1 Corinthians 7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1). In chapter 4, Paul discusses the Rapture but in this chapter, he turns to the Day of the Lord, which comes immediately after the Rapture.
Apparently, Timothy, in his report from his visit to Thessalonica, indicated to Paul that the new church needed further clarification about the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is the next prophetic event after the Lord Jesus comes to rapture the church to Heaven.
The Day of the Lord is a period of 1007 years. The first part of this era is judgment on the world for a seven-year period. In the Tribulation, God will judge proud Gentiles and apostate Jews. However, He will deliver a faithful Jewish remnant and Gentiles who put their trust in Him. Following these seven years, Jesus will reign on the earth for one thousand years, fulfilling the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants (Genesis 15-18; 2 Samuel 7).
the times and the seasons, brethren,
Paul now expands God’s prophetic plan. He moves from the Rapture to the time after the Rapture – the Day of the Lord.
We get the English word “chronology” from the Greek word for “times.” “Times” refers to the succession of events, the chronology of events. This word as well as “seasons” refer to dispensations.
The word “seasons” refers to the “events” of the Tribulation and Millennium. The word “times” denotes quantity whereas “seasons” carries the idea of quality – kinds of time. Thus, Paul deals with end time events following the Rapture. There are two kinds of “seasons” following the Rapture – the Tribulation and the Millennium. These are different and unique features of the Day of the Lord.
All of this is just the opposite of the Rapture, which is a signless timeless event. The Rapture could happen at any moment, in a twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). The “times and seasons” are related to earth (Daniel 2:21; 7:12; Ecclesiastes 3:1). The Rapture, however, will snatch the church entirely away form the earth to glorious scenes in Heaven.
A “dispensation” is not primarily a period of time but a way of life. It is an economy of God. God dealt with Israel by a system of laws because she was a national entity. God deals with the church in an entirely different way because she is an organism, not an organization like Israel.
Every believer in the church has the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. In the old economy, only certain special people had the privilege of the indwelling Spirit such as David and only for periods in his life. That is why he prayed, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:11).”
The distinction between Israel and the church is very important because there is a massive difference in mode of living the godly life. In the church, every believer is a priest, therefore, he or she does not need a priest. We have the right to offer our own sacrifices to the Lord. We do not need to go through a mediator. The church has the prerogative of a right standing before God, earned by Christ. We have an eternal relationship with the Son of God.
you have no need that I should write to you
Paul previously taught the Thessalonians about the Day of the Lord when he established the church a year prior to writing this epistle so they did not need instruction on that doctrine. They did need instruction, however, on the Rapture.
Principle:
God wants us to change the character of our lives by knowing prophetic truth.
Application:
God gives us no date to circle in our Day-Timer (Acts 1:6-8) as to when the Rapture will occur. He wants us to live with anticipation that He might come back any day. No sign needs to be fulfilled before He comes. He could come at any moment. Living in the light of His imminent coming sharpens our spirituality.
The purpose of prophecy is to comfort (4:18), edify, encourage holiness and give hope. Christians who do not understand prophecy are unstable. They do not understand the counterfeiting schema of Satan. Thus, they cannot distinguish the Devil’s plan from God’s plan. These Christians will buy into globalism and one-world government.
Prophecy distinguishes Christians from non-Christians. We live for a different purpose and with a different hope. The character of the sons of light stands in complete contrast to the coming dark Day of the Lord (5:1-11).
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1 Thessalonians 4:18

Published on July 20, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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"Therefore comfort one another with these words“
 
Therefore
 
The “therefore” shows that a purpose of the Rapture is “comfort.” Christians will reunite with their bodies. God will both raise the physical bodies of believers and rapture them. He will rapture those living when He comes. This is comfort for Christians.
 
comfort one another with these words
God puts His promises on paper. He challenges believers to comfort one another with the promise of the Rapture. Paul asks the Thessalonians to comfort one another in the loss of their loved ones with this truth. They can rest on God’s truth.
There is a difference in the Christian’s grief verses the non-Christian. His grief is not permanent. We will meet our loved ones again. We anticipate that day. This changes our view of life and death.
Principle:
The Rapture comforts those who lose loved ones in death.
Application:
The idea of the Rapture frightens some people. Those who live in unconfessed sin probably do not anticipate Christ’s coming. Sin blunts one’s desire to meet the Lord.
Death is a certainty. Christians may meet physical death [if the Rapture does not occur] but they will never face eternal death.
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27).”There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1).
Christians pass into eternal life the moment they accept Christ. This is our great hope. The bleak, barren pit where we put our loved ones will come alive at the Rapture.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).
”You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8 ).
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).
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1 Thessalonians 4:17c

Published on July 19, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord“
 
with them
 
The “them” here are those physically raised from the dead in verse 16. We will reunite with our loved ones who died as Christians.
 
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
The New Testament used the word “meet” for the arrival of a magistrate. This word carries the idea of an official welcome of a newly arrived dignitary. Our meeting of the Sovereign Lord of the universe will be the most auspicious and awe-inspiring occasion of the ages. This is when He takes us, His bride, the church, to Heaven.
The church will meet the Lord in the “air.” This is the earth’s atmosphere, the space immediately above the surface of the earth.
And thus we shall always be with the Lord
The principal purpose of the Rapture is to “be with the Lord.” We will live in fellowship with Him eternally. We will never be separate from Him. As well, nothing will separate us from fellow believers either. We will never say “goodbye” again.
Principle:
Jesus will bring the church into endless, blissful fellowship at the Rapture of the church into Heaven.
Application:
At the Rapture, bodies of Christians who died and went to Heaven will rise first (4:16). These are those who died before the Rapture. Immediately after Jesus comes, they will rise from their burial place.
Immediately following that, God will rapture both those whom He resurrected bodily and those then living into the air. From this point, all Christians will be with the Lord forever. What a blessed reunion! First and foremost, we will reunite with the Lord and then secondly, we will reunite with those we love. The Rapture completes the church. From this point on, there will be no more division or separation.
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1 Thessalonians 4:17b

Published on July 18, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord“
 
shall be caught up
 
The words “caught up” mean to seize, snatch away, carry off by force. This is the idea of rapture. We get the English word “rapture” from the Latin rapturo — to catch up.
 
Jesus will take the church away from earth suddenly and by force in the Rapture. This is a signless and timeless event. Note the use of the Greek word for “caught up” in the following verses: Matthew 11:12; 12:29; 13:19; John 6:15; 10:12, 28,29; Acts 8:39-40,40; 23:10; 2 Corinthians 12:2,4; Jude 23; Revelation 12:5.
together
The word “together” marks a link in place and time. Living Christians associate with the resurrected bodies of past saints in the Rapture. The Rapture of the church into Heaven is the next event on God’s prophetic timetable.
Christians will accompany Christ back to Heaven. He will take us by force. He will suddenly seize us and carry us off in order to claim us for Himself.
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ‘In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also’” (John 14:1-3).
Principle:
The Rapture is a signless, timeless event whereby we will accompany Christ to heaven, body and soul.
Application:
No prophetic event needs to occur before the Rapture. The church does not need to enter the final apostasy. Israel does not have to possess fully the land of Palestine from the Euphrates to the River of Egypt. The church does not have to evangelize the world before the Lord comes for her. None of these things need happen before the Rapture. However, all these things must occur before the Second Coming. It is crucial to distinguish between the Rapture and the Second Coming to keep a proper prophetic perspective.
The Rapture is a signless, timeless event. No one knows the time. Therefore, we must live in the light of His unannounced coming.
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
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1 Thessalonians 4:17

Published on July 17, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord“
 
This passage gives us a chronological sequence of events related to the Rapture.
 
Then
The word “then” means afterward, thereupon, thereafter. This word denotes succession in numbering and shows chronological sequence. The word “then” strongly opposes the former state of resurrecting the dead. This is an entirely different event. The previous verse explained the place of the dead bodies at the Rapture. This verse explains what happens to those living when Jesus comes again.
we who are alive and remain
By the word “we,” Paul includes himself in those who might be living at the Rapture. He was disappointed but not mistaken. Paul’s expectation of the Rapture kept him on the tiptoe of anticipation of meeting the Lord face to face.
Principle:
Healthy Christians live in anticipation of the Lord’s return.
Application:
A healthy Christian lives on the tiptoe of expecting Jesus’ return. Jesus may come today, glad day! Are you living in anticipation of the Lord’s return?
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1 Thessalonians 4:16

Published on July 16, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first“
 
Paul now shows why the living will not precede the dead by elaborating on the prophetic order of events at the Rapture.
 
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
The word “descend” literally means to go down. The Lord Himself will descend personally from heaven to the sky. If there is to be rapture, He can employ no lesser agency or person than Himself. He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).
The word “shout” carries the idea of a call, summons, shout of command. This shout is a signal for the church to get ready for the Lord to rapture it. Jesus will summon His church to be with Him forever just as a general would summon his soldiers or an admiral, his sailors. Such a shout both demands and expects instant compliance even in the heat of battle. The call knows no defeat in the conflict and conquest. There can be only one result once the life-giving voice of the Son of God rings forth (John 11:43; 5:25, 28-29).
with the voice of an archangel,
An “archangel” is an angel of exalted rank, the highest rank of any angel. Jesus’ shout will be with the authority of the ultimate rank of an archangel. The rapture is one of the greatest interventions into the affairs of men in the history of the universe. It is backed by all the authority, power and majesty of heaven.
The Rapture not only marks the culmination of the progressive sanctification of the saint but also the completion and glorification of the church. No wonder Jesus shouts with the voice of an archangel. This is an announcement of the victory of the redeemed over sin and the world.
and with the trumpet of God.
A trumpet is a wind instrument usually made of bronze or iron broadening out to a megaphone. Ancients blew the trumpet on solemn occasions to stir up others to get their attention. This was true of the seven angels of Revelation. They used the trumpet in war for various signals of military actions.
Trumpets in the Old Testament were a signal to God’s people (not to the lost). This signified the approach of God to His people and their assembly before Him (Exodus 19:13,16-17,19), the ongoing march (Numbers 10:2), movements in battle, divine deliverance and great festival occasions. God’s trumpet sound is an indication of something momentous. This is the divine summons that the church has awaited for centuries.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
This phrase is an explicit statement about the resurrection of the believer from physical death. The word “rise” literally means to stand up or to make to stand up. Jesus will cause Christians to live physically again.
Dead believers will rise before living believers (1 Corinthians 15:52). Not just any person will rise from the dead but only those who are “in Christ.” This phrase refers to the spiritual position into which God places Christians when they believe in the death of Christ to forgive their sin. The Bible never claims that the Old Testament saint is “in Christ.” Christ makes positional truth possible by virtue of His work on earth. Death does not disturb our spiritual union with Christ.
Principle:
God is able to rebuild a decaying body into a resurrected body.
Application:
God will restore our present physical bodies in the resurrection into a likeness of the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).
This resurrection of physical bodies into the likeness of Christ’s resurrected body is only for those who have a right relationship with God. We enter this relationship when we place our trust solely in the death of Christ to obtain forgiveness for our sins.
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1Thessalonians 4:15b

Published on July 15, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep“
 
will by no means precede those who are asleep
 
The word “precede” means to come before. Those still living when Christ comes back will not precede in the Rapture all those who died before the Rapture. Jesus will raise all dead bodies of all Christians of all ages before He raptures the church.
 
The words “no means” are very emphatic. The reality of deceased Christians joining live Christians at the Rapture is without doubt. God has a plan, not only for the resurrection of Israel but also for us as individuals.
The body sleeps, not the soul. The New Testament guarantees that those forming the class of living believers at Christ’s return shall in no wise precede Christians who died before the Rapture. This shows that those who died did not die by accident. The Lord deliberately chose a specific number to die, whereas the living were deliberately left over. It is absolutely impossible for living saints to get the advantage or start over departed saints.
The reason is obvious. Deceased believers whose souls are in Heaven have a part in the coming of Christ from the very start. They are like those in the first division of a parade that are associated with the dignitaries, marshals and escorts. Living believers are like a division that joins the parade along the line of march.
Principle:
Souls in heaven will joins living people on earth in the resurrection of their bodies from death.
Application:
Christians should not get the idea that when believers go to heaven they are somewhere in outer space sleeping in nylon nighties! That is a fairy tale that is more like a nightmare! When we go to Heaven, we will be more awake than we are now. Our souls and spirits will be in heaven fully conscious, but our bodies will remain on earth until just before the Rapture when God will resurrect our bodies and transform them so they will be just like the resurrection body of Christ (Philippians 3:21).
Christians in heaven will join living people on earth in the resurrection and rapture of their bodies to Heaven. Their souls and spirits will join their bodies in the Rapture of the church.
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1 Thessalonians 4:15

Published on July 14, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 2 Comments
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“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep“
 
For
 
Verse fifteen explains verse fourteen. “Since Jesus died and rose, it follows that God will….” Paul, building on the two great facts of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, does not present some novel analysis of his own about the Rapture. Rather, he makes these statements on the authority of Christ.
 
this we say to you by the word of the Lord,
Paul’s authority for making statements came personally from the Lord Jesus by direct revelation. Jesus made no such statements when He was on earth. The Lord gave to Paul special revelation about the church (Ephesians 3:1ff) and the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Nowhere in all the history of Israel or the teachings of Jesus was there any information on the Rapture until this special revelation to Paul.
Paul’s special revelation included two things: 1) there will be a special resurrection of departed saints in the church prior to the Tribulation period, and 2) Jesus will rapture the church to Heaven.
This is the first time the New Testament explains the Rapture of the church in writing. This is brand new truth. The Lord alluded to the Rapture in John 14:1-3, but this is the first formal presentation of the Rapture in writing [John wrote long after 1 Thessalonians].
that we who are alive
First, Paul deals with the special resurrection of all church saints prior to the Tribulation period. Those who “are alive” here are believers still alive when Jesus comes again. They never experienced death.
The idea of resurrection was not new. The Old Testament taught about resurrection and so did Jesus. The Old Testament consistently associates the resurrection of Israel with the Tribulation, particularly at the end in connection with the millennial kingdom (Isaiah 26:19 with 16-18, 20-21; 27:1; also 26:1-15 for Millennium; Daniel 12:1-2). Martha knew that there would be a resurrection of Israel when the Messiah returned to set up His earthly kingdom (John 11:24). This is a resurrection of Israel at the Second Coming [in distinction from the Rapture] at the end of the Tribulation.
Paul includes himself in those he named as living and remaining at Christ’s return, because he was not at all certain whether he might die first. He believed the Lord’s return could occur at any moment in his lifetime. He was disappointed, but not mistaken. The Rapture is a signless, timeless event that is always imminent. Jesus can come at any time. Each generation of Christians have justification to expect the Lord to come in their generation.
and remain
The word “remain” means be left behind, survive. These are those who survive bodily until Christ comes back. No Christian will leave until God wants them to leave. None of us can stay here if God wants us to go and none of us can go if God wants us to stay.
until the coming of the Lord
The second component God uniquely revealed to Paul was the Rapture. The idea that the Messiah would come to earth and raise the dead saints of Israel in the Old Testament was not unique to New Testament Christians. However, the idea of a Rapture was unique because there is no hint of this concept from Genesis to Malachi.
The word “coming” means a presence. It comes from two words: with and being. The coming of the Lord will be the time He will be with us. He will arrive and we will stand in His presence. Paul uses this term for His presence in contrast to His bodily absence.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” (Philippians 2:12).
When the New Testament uses “presence” for the Rapture of the church, it signifies not merely the momentary coming of Christ, but His presence until He manifests Himself to the world. It is a reference to His advent, arrival. Jesus at that time will be at hand in person.
There are three Greek words for Christ’s coming. The New Testament uses both terms for the Rapture and for the Second Coming (when He comes to earth on the Mount of Olives). Only the context can determine whether it is the Rapture or Second Coming.
There is an important distinction between the Rapture and the Second Coming. The Rapture is a private coming for the church, whereas the Second Coming is a public coming where every eye will see Him. The Rapture is for the church only. In the Rapture, Jesus will come in the clouds to catch away the church. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is no longer in the church. At the Rapture, God changes the believer’s body into a body like the resurrected body of Christ. In the Second Coming, Jesus will come to earth to establish His millennial kingdom on earth (Zechariah 14:1-4). Satan no longer is loose on earth. At the Second Coming, the desert will blossom like the rose.
Principle:
The Rapture is a New Testament revelation.
Application:
The blessed future of the church is the Rapture. The church will not enter the Tribulation.
“…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…” (Titus 2:13).
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1 Thessalonians 4:14b

Published on July 13, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus“
 
even so
 
The words “even so” show the parallel between the resurrection of the bodies of believers and the resurrection of Christ. Paul now draws his first conclusion. There is complete concord there. The resurrection of the body of the believer is as sure as the resurrection of Christ. Our physical bodies will rise from the dead since Christ rose from the dead.
 
God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus
God will personally bring believers with Him in the resurrection of the physical body from the dead. The soul and spirit will reunite with the physical body at that time. God will give us a resurrection body that is like the resurrection body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).
The Father thus fully acknowledges the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and acts on it by resurrecting our bodies when Jesus comes back. The guarantee of our bodily resurrection is the resurrection of Christ. This is not a general resurrection for He will bring back only those who fell asleep in Christ and no others.
The comparison would be more exact if Paul had said, “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so also will God raise us up.” However, departed Christians are spiritually with Christ in heaven and God will not raise their bodies until He brings back their souls and spirits to earth. This is why they come back “with Him,” accompanying Christ in the closest kind of association and fellowship.
Paul will show how God will bring Christians back with Him in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
Principle:
One day the Father will undo the work of the undertaker.
Application:
Because the undertaker’s work will be done, Christians do not fear death because they know that their resurrection is as sure as the resurrection of Christ. Christians will break the bonds of the casket. God will raise us from the dead. Even more, He will rapture us into His presence (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).
“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).”When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).
God will resurrect our physical body and transform it into a resurrection body first. Then He will translate that body to Heaven [the Rapture]. We will meet the Lord in the air with a new resurrected body.
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1 Thessalonians 4:14

Published on July 12, 1999 in 1 Thessalonians. 0 Comments
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“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus“
 
For
 
Paul now sets forth two great features in the work of Christ that banish unfounded grief. Removal of ignorance about these will remove worries about what happens to the physical body of the Christians who die.
 
if we believe
The word “if” in the Greek means that this supposition is assumed true. Paul assumes that the Thessalonians believe in the death and resurrection of Christ (Acts 17:3). The following truths only carry currency if we believe them. Hope rests on our faith in the resurrection of Christ. The certainty of our hope is inseparable from Christ’s resurrection.
that Jesus died and rose again,
Paul here uses Jesus’ human name on earth, emphasizing his historical nature. In His humanity, Jesus launched two foundations of the Christian faith – His death to pay for our sins and His resurrection to initiate us into eternal life. Thus, in one statement we have the two foundations of the Christian faith.
Paul does not use the word “slept” for the death of Christ; instead, he uses the harsher word – “died.” Christians can enjoy peaceful sleep because Jesus endured death as a penalty for sin. Jesus’ death took away the sting of death.
The second great fact is the truth that Jesus rose again. Because of His victory over death, the body of the Christian believer sleeping in Christ will rise to participate in the Rapture and be caught away from earth.
The death and resurrection of Jesus is the irreducible minimum of the gospel. A person cannot become a Christian without believing these two great truths.
“Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; “whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:23-24).”But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, “and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses” (Acts 3:14-15).
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree” (Acts 5:30).
“…who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25).
“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).
“For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9).
“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit…” (1 Peter 3:18).
“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:8).
Principle:
A person becomes a Christian by believing in the death of Christ to pay for our sins and in the resurrection of Christ to give us eternal life.
Application:
A person becomes a Christian by believing that Jesus substituted His death on the cross for our eternal death and that He bodily rose from the dead to give us eternal life.
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