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The ‘deadly wound’ of Rev.13:3 has stumped many in trying to determine just who or what it affects. Some have thought that mortal wound, and its healing, applied to secular Rome being strengthened in the past by the joining of the political with the ecclesiastical papacy. Some have also tried to stretch out the ‘forty and two months’ of the ‘beast‘ system into 1260 literal years (Rev.13:5).
     Knowing what receives the ‘deadly wound’ is not that difficult from God’s Word. And it’s probably today easier to know ‘what’ it is that receives it, more than any other time in past history. So how is that? Because of today’s outward workings of a group of world globalists who push a one world government, with a one world leader at its pinnacle in control; it’s not that difficult to see. The method of “how” the deadly wound happens, or “exactly who” causes it, is still sketchy, and no doubt will be revealed as the time approaches sooner. Suffice it to say that GOD causes the first ‘beast’ system to suffer a deadly wound, performing His whole Work leading up to the end of this age.
Most have heard a term used today by various world leaders which is unique to later generations, but not to theirs, as the term has been used as a type of ‘watchword’, even back to President Woodrow Wilson’s administration (see Woodrow Wilson’s Presidential inauguration speech). Many peoples just have not been listening. That term being used by those one-world leaders is the “New World Order”. And this has nothing to do with Hollywood movies. Along with that term ‘New World Order’, the phrase “one world government” has appeared along with it. Even further, look on the back of the U.S. One Dollar Bill. You’ll find the Latin “Novos Ordo Seclorum”, being translated, “New Secular Order”. “Render unto Caesar…”, one might say. More ancient mottos, such as the word “Utopia”, “brotherhood of mankind”, etc., can also be found in classical and historical literature (try Sir Thomas Moore’s classic work, Utopia). As I said, the majority just weren’t listening. Do those terms scare you? It shouldn’t, as our Lord Christ warned us in His Word that this ‘working’ towards an one-world ‘beast’ kingdom, covering the whole earth, would take place before His second Advent as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Furthermore, it’s important to keep these matters of today’s globalist political strategy in mind while grasping this study, as we ask a Word of Wisdom from our Father in Christ Jesus’ Name, Amen.

There Are Two ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13

     Understand that there are two ‘beasts‘ described in Revelation 13, otherwise you won’t know who the ‘deadly wound‘ is upon or against. Keep in mind that one beast is a ‘system’ of control, while the other, ‘another beast‘, is the one who controls it, i.e. Satan.
     Revelation 13:3 tells us that the first ‘beast‘ which comes up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, will receive a ‘deadly wound’ which was healed.

Rev 13:1    And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

2   And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

     This first ‘beast‘ which comes up out of the sea is a political, educational, economical, and religious system covering all of the earth. It is not an entity such as a person. At this point some might say, “but it says ‘his heads’ and ‘his feet’ and ‘his mouth’; doesn’t that mean this first beast is a man?” That Greek word for “his” in those verses is the Greek third person reflexive pronoun ‘autos‘ (Strong’s no. 846). It can be translated as ‘its, his, hers’. That means possession, like mine, yours, i.e. ‘his‘. It’s Satan’s one-world government system; ‘it’ belongs to ‘his‘ order, and is of him; but it is not Satan himself.
     These symbols of the “leopard”, “bear”, and “lion” were first mentioned in Daniel 7. They were symbols for those historical pagan systems of old, such as Babylon, Assyria, Medo-Persia, Greece, etc.
     The devil initiates this first beast, a system over all the earth. And he kick-starts it before he actually is cast out of Heaven with his evil angels, as given in the previous Chapter of Revelation 12. (Can’t just read a few verses of Revelation and expect to understand all this, you’ve got to cover all of Revelation and condense It in your mind. So I’m counting on you to fill in the gaps of this study here using God’s Word.)

3   And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
(KJV)

     One of the first beast’s political heads, meaning a system head, will suffer a ‘deadly wound’ which is healed. The phrase “was healed” is the single Greek word “therapeuo“, meaning “to wait upon menially, i.e. (figuratively) to adore (God), or (specially) to relieve (of disease)“ (Strong’s no. 2323). That Greek word has to do with therapeutics, healing. The KJV translators added the tense with “was“. This has led many to accept that the ‘healing’ already happened sometime back in world history. There’s really not a ‘hard’ tense attached to it, as in past, future, etc. So we are not definitely told here ‘when’ this ‘healing’ would take place. In my opinion, based upon our Lord’s other Revelations of this ‘beast’ within this Great Book, that event is yet to happen.
     Since the coming complete stage of one-world government will promise you anything you want, as long as you worship its main head, i.e. false messiah, then you certainly will be ‘moved’ to wonder after it, even fall in love with it, if you allow it to take hold of you. But don’t you beloved, for it is all a test, to cull out those who have not listened to our Father’s Word Jesus Christ.

Rev 13:4   And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”

     This ‘dragon‘ of course, is another one of Lucifer’s many titles (Rev.12:9). Notice it’s the ‘dragon‘ who gives power to this first ‘beast‘, which is a system of one-world government over all the earth. The deceived who will be fooled into worshipping this ‘beast‘ will think they are following Christ, for false messiah will set himself up as God (2 Thess.2). And who can make war against a system of control covering all nations, lands, and peoples upon the earth? This verse is a sign of the time when this first ‘beast‘ will be completed, and in full effect, with its head sitting upon it. It will require Satan’s presence de facto, controlling this first ‘beast‘ one-world order system as chief, to ‘heal’ the deadly wound upon one of its seven heads.

Rev 13:5   And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6    And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7    And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8    And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9    If any man have an ear, let him hear.

     There is no greater blasphemy against GOD than Lucifer setting himself up as Christ. And we know the time of his tribulation has been shortened to five months, as given in Revelation 9 and Matthew 24. Again, these verses signify Satan’s one-world order false kingdom at its final and completed stage, over all nations upon the earth. And those whose names which were not written in the book of life of the Lamb (Jesus Christ), will wrongly worship the false messiah. I don’t wish to put any fears upon anyone, but if you don’t know if your name is written in That Book of Life, then it’s time to come to our Lord Jesus Christ, and get down to study in our Father’s Word. That means you should be aware of these ‘times and seasons’ which lead up to our Lord Jesus’ return, and be watching, and help to reveal this Message from our Lord to others. It is Christianity which is teaching that this so-called New Babylon World Order spiritual age will be false, while all religious ‘systems of man‘ are preparing for a lasting and perfect peace.

Rev 13:10   He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

     This verse is a very important warning from our Lord and Savior for the period when Satan’s false beast system comes to its fullest. It means those who are meant for ‘captivity‘, will go into captivity. And those who try to battle against this future one world government with weapons of war, such as physical armaments, will not be able to defeat this future ‘beast‘ system. Compare God’s warning He gave to king Zedekiah through His prophet Jeremiah. King Zedekiah was told not to battle against the king of Babylon, that he and his people in Jerusalem were going into a 70 years captivity (thus that 70 years then relates to the great tribulation of 7 years; see Daniel 7). God was to be trusted and sought during that testing period. Zedekiah didn’t obey our Father, so he was cast in chains and taken to Babylon in captivity, and his sons were executed (see Jer.25; 29; 39). God’s prophecy through Jeremiah that Judah’s throne of rule in the land of Israel would end, then became fulfilled (Jer.22:30).
     The Old Testament prophets reveal that GOD brought His People into the historical captivity to Babylon because the majority had left Him for ‘another‘, in false worship. In other words, GOD was and is, in control of all these captivity events of His People. This latter day Babylon He is bringing again for the same reasons as in Old Testament times (2 Thess.2:10-12).
     This ‘patience and the faith of the saints’ is to know and understand these latter day events coming upon the world, and stay in our Lord Christ during this tribulation, being prepared according to Ephesians 6, putting on the whole Amour of God, meaning all of God’s Word. Some of God’s elect have a  Mission to fulfill during Satan’s tribulation. So if God’s elect pick up a physical weapon to battle against the first ‘beast’, then how will they survive to carry out their Mission for our Lord. And I think those certain ones know who I’m talking to. Physical power of material battle is not the arena in which our Heavenly Father and His Son will fight this last one-world false empire (Isaiah 9). This one’s going to be different. It will be a spiritual battle, not one of flesh and blood. Compare how Daniel was protected during that 70 years captivity in Babylon, even after being thrown into the lion’s den, and his brethren into the hot fiery furnace of the king of Babylon (Dan.3).

The Second Beast of Revelation 13

     The next verse is going to focus upon ‘another beast’. This second beast is the one (Satan) who controls the first beast system of one-world government.

Rev 13:11   And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

     This second, or ‘another beast’, comes up out of the earth. The first one came up out of the sea, which our Lord later tells us in Revelation 17 means peoples, nations, tongues. This ‘another beast‘ is Satan himself, for he will appear to have ‘two horns like a lamb‘, which is symbolic of his role of a spurious messiah. But he will speak as a dragon, for that’s who he is, the dragon, that old serpent, the devil. His coming ‘up out of the earth’ is a metaphor for having been cast down, lowly in status, to the dust (Ezek.28; Gen.3). It’s just a metaphor for the pit, i.e. hell. And hell is in Heaven, across a ‘great gulf fixed’ (Luke 16; Rev.12:7-9; Rev.17:8).
     So why does this ‘another beast’ have ‘two horns like a lamb’? Why would that “lamb” symbol be used, for it is used of our Lord Christ Jesus in John 1:29? Lucifer will have ‘two horns like a lamb’ because he will imitate Christ Jesus our True KING (see 2 Cor.11:14 with “transformed” in the Greek). But this dragon is a fake Christ. Because those who will be deceived have not listened to our Father’s Word, even though many of them love Christ Jesus, they will become the system of the ‘queen‘, and not widowed, for they will think the True Christ has come, when it will be an imposter, the “antichrist” (Rev.18:7; 2 Thess.2). That ‘queen’ analogy God gives in His Word is one of spiritual harlotry.

Rev 13:12   And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

     Satan will exercise all the power and control that the ‘first beast’ has, i.e. the one-world government New World Order. And that ‘deadly wound was healed’. Did you notice that it’s the “first beast” that receives this “deadly wound”? Recall what that “first beast” we are told represents, i.e. “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Rev.17:7-17).
     And this ‘first beast’ here in Rev.13 is not that first historical ‘beast’ of Daniel 7. This final ‘one world government’ beast will be all those Daniel 7 beast symbols rolled into one final false kingdom, a diverse kingdom. This final false kingdom being setup today is the fourth beast ‘diverse‘ from all others, as written in the Book of Daniel.
     Again, this phrase “was healed” is one word in the Greek; “therapeuo“, meaning “to heal”. Putting the verb ‘was’ in front of this Greek word to make the phrase “was healed” is basically a guess on the tense by the KJV translators. God’s Message by this Greek word ‘therapeuo‘ is associated with the ‘great apostasy’ of His People falling into false worship, to “another Jesus” which they think is Messiah (2 Cor.11:4). Both instances of ‘was healed’ in Rev.13:3 and verse 12 is this single Greek word ‘therapeuo‘. So it’s not totally reliable to think this healing took place specifically in this past. The tense is actually kind of neutral. It could apply to the past, or for today, and even yet future.

Who receives that ‘deadly wound’?

     Whether past, present, or future, that ‘deadly wound’ is to a ‘beast’ system of one-world government. It is not to Satan himself, nor to any flesh man, but to a system of false worship. In the prior Chapter of Revelation 12:3-4, a previous beast system was mentioned. The number of crowns for Lucifer’s first attempt at one-world government had ‘seven crowns’, and drew one third of God’s children in rebellion (Rev.12:3-4). The future coming one-world government will have ‘ten crowns’ this time (Rev.13:1). If you haven’t done so, I suggest you cover God’s Word on that original first rebellion by the cherub Lucifer, a time long before this flesh age of today (see the Isaiah 14 study).
     Lucifer’s first attempt at one-world government, during the first earth age, received a ‘deadly wound’ also. God destroyed that first spiritual age upon earth because of Lucifer’s rebellion and attempt to set himself up as God then. That first rebellion was Lucifer’s first setting up of the ‘image of jealousy’ in false worship (Ezek.8).
     Our Father brought this second flesh age to find out who wants to be with Him in the Eternity. God is not going to allow a second rebellion during a spiritual existence where He and His Son are fully revealed in their Power. If you understand spiritual matters of God’s Kingdom, He gives His children some very magnificent abilities which are inherit of the Heavenly spiritual state; abilities which became too great a temptation for a third of His children during that first earth age. Those spiritual abilities were even too much for the fallen angels of Genesis 6, so they left their own habitation, came down to earth, and took flesh daughters of Adam to wife (Jude 1; 2 Pet.3; Gen.6). So God had to bring the flood of Noah’s day to equalize the flesh age playing field again. Can’t have those with such spiritual powers living upon this earth during the flesh age. That would compromise flesh man’s right to a free-will choice to believe on Christ Jesus, or not. And this is what Satan’s MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT… is all about today, to try and turn you away from Christ Jesus. Our Heavenly Father is not going to allow that tempting to happen again during His Eternal and final Kingdom, as He will make us forget rebellion, and give us a heart to know and love Him only. All those who want to keep to their own sense of individuality and free will, pent up in their self pride, won’t be a part of God’s Kingdom (see Isaiah 60;65; Rev.21:4; 20-22).
     So what is the ‘seven heads’, and where does one of those seven suffer a ‘deadly wound’? Compare the following two verses:

Rev 13:3   And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast

Rev 17:9   And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

     The ‘woman‘ of Rev.17, which is described as the Babylon Harlot, meaning that old false system of worship and idols of ancient Babylon, is that deceived ‘queen‘ which rests upon seven heads, which are seven mountains. That ‘queen‘ makes up the future one-world religion, to include organizational religions of men, of all types and nations (Rev.18:7). Those seven mountains are the seven continents of the whole world, to include all nations upon this earth.
     Look around. Tell me it isn’t happening. Only one who lives in a fantasy dream could deny it, and that’s exactly what many are doing today by denying the existence of Satan’s New World Order. They are in a spiritual stupor, their minds being seared over as with a hot iron. Many were ordained to that stumbling today, for they can’t see all these events happening right before their eyes (Rom.8-11). If you see and understand, then praise our Lord Christ Jesus, for He gave it for you to understand, and not to be deceived.

Rev 17:12    And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

     Our Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t leave anything out within His Word. He truly made understanding about this ‘beast‘ very simple. Here we are told that those ten horns of Revelation 13 are ten kings which will receive a kingdom. But they will not come to power as kings until the second ‘beast‘ (dragon) of Revelation 13 arrives. If you’ll remember, Satan and his army of false angels are booted out of heaven to earth, as written back in Revelation 12. That’s when these ‘ten kings’ will “receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”
     The phrase “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” of Rev.17:5 is also linked with this seven headed ten horned ‘beast‘ system upon the earth. In other words, Christ reveals the ‘MYSTERY’ in stages between these Chapters of Revelation. Another proof of this is Rev.13:2, which refers to the beast systems Daniel prophesied of (see Daniel 7). You’ll discover Daniel also spoke of these future world empires as a ‘type’ blueprint, portrayed with the leopard, lion, and bear symbols. Those “three kings” of Dan.7:24 for today may represent the “North American Group”, the “European Group”, and the “Pacific Asia Group” of Trilateralism, a global empire over seven mountains divided into three economically controlled areas.
     Some have used those past empire ‘beast‘ symbols as given in the Book of Daniel to try and categorize the first ‘beast‘ of Rev.13 into the same sort or class back in history, i.e., only having power over a portion of civilization, such as Roman, Grecian, Babylon, etc. The difference here in Revelation is, that all those previous empire ‘beast‘ systems, such as ancient Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Assyrian, Greece, and Roman, are all rolled into one this time. Rev.17:10-11 declares: “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” (Rev.17:11). Satan himself is that ‘son of perdition’ Paul spoke of in 2 Thess.2. This last world kingdom, with a ‘king’ ‘diverse‘ from all the previous empires, and over a kingdom also ‘diverse‘ from all the ones previous to it, is Satan himself sitting upon the throne of a one-world kingdom, over all the earth this time, proclaiming ‘peace’ and prosperity for all, trying to play Messiah (see Daniel 7-12).
According to Rev.17, the ‘seven heads’ are “…seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.”(Rev.17:9). These ‘seven mountains’ symbolize seven powers upon seven earthly continents, i.e. basically upon the whole earth. To be in agreement with The Word’s revelation of this ‘one-world’ kingdom over all the earth, it is a mistake to apply this final world kingdom to only a small area of the earth, such as some have with the ‘seven hills’ of Rome.
     This is where much speculation can creep in, for we are not specifically told in God’s Word which of the ‘seven mountains’ (seven continents) will receive this ‘deadly wound’. Nor are we specifically told just ‘how’ that deadly wound manifest itself. We could easily say it’s God’s elect giving a Testimony for Christ when delivered up. In my ‘opinion’, I’m inclined to believe that God’s ‘two witnesses’ cause the deadly wound, by prophesying for 1260 days, which is only a symbol for the great tribulation, while the literal time has been shortened to ‘five months’ (Rev.11; Rev.9). If God’s two witnesses cause the deadly wound to one of the seven heads (mountains), then look to Jerusalem, for that is where they prophesy from, and are murdered by false messiah, allowing their bodies to lay in the streets for three and one half days (Rev.11). Jerusalem lies at the heart of the latter day events, and is the main area of spiritual battle, with false messiah setting himself up there (2 Thess.2; Matt.24; Mark 13).
     In many ways, God compares this final false kingdom of Lucifer’s to the times of Moses when God led Israel out of Pharaoh’s hand in Egypt. If you’ll remember, God worked His Power through Moses to perform many miracles against Pharaoh and his false prophets. God’s ‘two witnesses’ will be given Power to do likewise, as Satan will empower his false prophets to do wonders also (see Exod.3 forward; Rev.11 about the two witnesses). Remembering how GOD led His People Israel out of Egypt is a comfort also for today, that is, for those who believe. Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming to destroy this final false ‘beast’ system upon the whole earth, and then He will lead us back to the land our Father promised to His People, and to all those who claim That Promise first given to Abraham, through Christ Jesus Yeshu’a Messiah (Jer.3; Jer.16). Many from all nations, tongues, and peoples shall have a wonderful inheritance with Immanuel, for God is with us!

Peace to you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

Some who read the various Bible studies here on Word Alpha Omega may feel these studies do not apply to all peoples of all races. Those may think the studies on the Lost Tribes leave out some believers on The Promise first given to Abraham. No believer on Christ Jesus as Savior is left out, for those of all races and nations who come to our Lord, are included as His People now. For the reason that some wish to hang onto that Old Covenant today, I’m going to address several of these issues in this letter. Especially as they apply to the differences between The Old Covenant, and The New Covenant in Jesus Christ. We’ll also discover to whom The Old Covenant did apply, and to whom The New Covenant in Christ Jesus now applies to. I’ll be using the terms ‘Covenant’ and ‘Testament’ interchangeably at times, for they both mean a ‘pact’, or ‘contract’. We ask a Word of Wisdom from our Father in Christ Jesus’ Name, Amen.

     The first mention of a covenant in God’s Word appears in Genesis Chapters 6 and 9 when God told Noah that He would establish His covenant with him and his seed:

Gen 6:17    And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18    But with thee will I establish My covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

     When the flood waters had receded off the earth with Noah and his family able to leave the ark, God spoke of that covenant again:

Gen 9:8    And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9    “And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10    And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

     This covenant was not with Noah and his seed only, but also “to every beast of the earth”. God promised He would not destroy the earth by waters of a flood again (Gen.9:11). Then a “token” of that covenant was given with His bow in the cloud (Gen.9:13). Therefore, that a “token” is given with a covenant, is very important to keep in mind, even with God’s later Covenants.

The Promise by Faith:  an ‘oath’ of a “Better Testament” To Come

Gen 12:1    Now the LORD had said unto Abram, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2    And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3    And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

     Then beginning in Genesis 12, God speaks to Abraham of a promise that He would make of Abram a “great nation”, and that through him, all the families of the earth would be blessed. The LORD also told Abram while in Canaan, that He would give all the land he could see to his seed forever, and that Abram’s seed would become as the dust of the earth for so many (Gen.13:12-17). Then in Genesis 15, God made a Covenant with Abram, showing him the land of his inheritance. The land was not a ‘token’ of that Covenant, but an inheritance. God had still yet to give that ‘token’ of His Covenant with Abraham:

Gen 15:4   And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, “This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.”
5    And He brought him forth abroad, and said, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them”: and He said unto him, “So shall thy seed be.”
6    And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.

     Even though no ‘token’ of this Covenant was given to Abram yet, he “believed in the LORD”, and God counted it as righteousness. That act by Abram became the ‘faith’ on The Promise God first gave that all nations would be blessed through Christ.

Gen 15:18    In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19    The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20    And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21    And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

     God then reaffirmed that Covenant, changing Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning ‘father of a multitude’. Then God added to that Covenant that He would be a GOD to Abraham and to his seed after him “for an everlasting covenant.”:

Gen 17:1    And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, “I am the Almighty GOD; walk before Me, and be thou perfect.
2    And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.”
3    And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4    “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5    Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6    And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7    And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

The Old Covenant by Circumcision:  In Hope of A Better Testament To Come

     But we still do not have a “token” of That Old Covenant yet, until Gen.17:10:

Gen 17:9   And God said unto Abraham, “Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10    This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11    And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you.

     The Covenant God gave to Abraham would continue through his son Isaac, and then to Jacob. God would give Jacob a new name of “Israel” (Yisra’el), which is from two Hebrew words of ‘sarah‘ (to prevail), and ‘El‘ (God). ‘Israel‘ means ‘one who prevails with God’, just as Jacob did wrestle with The Angel of The Lord and did prevail (Gen.32:28). Then Jacob would bear twelve sons, becoming the twelve tribes of Israel. It was to the children of Israel which that original Covenant by the “token” of flesh circumcision was to soon land upon.
     When God pitied His People Israel who were under heavy bondage in Egypt, He led them out through His servant Moses. Then His Covenant was offered to the people of Israel, and was established by blood:

Exod 24:5    And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
6    And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7    And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the People: and they said, “All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.”
8    And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the People, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.”

     Blood was required for the atonement of the soul. Without it, no reconciliation to God could be made. This act sealed The Old Covenant (Old Testament) among God’s chosen people of Israel. And flesh circumcision, i.e. blood ‘ordinances’ were to be kept as a “token” as long as that Old Covenant was in force:

Lev 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

     Even though these events show that there were flesh requirements of receiving and accepting that first Covenant, God was still keeping His first Promise to Abraham by ‘faith’, which began all the way back in Genesis 15:6.
     What is most important, is that God gave Abraham a Promise before He gave His Law through Moses. And that Promise first given through Abraham was that through him, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Meaning our Lord Jesus Christ would be born of Abraham’s seed, and become The Perfect Sacrifice for us; and then the Salvation Promise given to Abraham would be opened up to ALL who would believe on Christ Jesus, as God’s Promised Savior.

     Salvation through God’s Savior Jesus Christ… is That Promise to Abraham by ‘faith’, even as our Lord revealed to the Jews in John 8:

John 8:56    Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.”
57    Then said the Jews unto Him, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?”
58    Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

     The “I AM” is one of God’s sacred Names. Yes, even Abraham rejoiced in God’s Promise of Salvation, that through his seed our Lord Jesus Christ would be born of a virgin, be crucified on the cross for the remission of the sins of many, resurrect to the Right Hand of God, and come to rule all nations (Isa.7:14; Isa.9:6-8; Matthew 1; Matthew 26:26-28; John 19; Psalms 110; Acts 2:29-33; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28) . Our Lord Jesus Christ has always been the Foundation of The Father’s Promise first given to Abram:

Gal 3:6   Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7    Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8    And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
9    So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

     By the original Promise God first gave to Abraham, Salvation through ‘faith’, as our ‘faith’ in God, through His Son, became accounted to ‘all’ who believe on God’s Savior, as the righteousness of Abraham. This is how believers from all families of the earth were to be blessed through Abraham.
     But Isaac did not die as an offering as the blood of a testator, and blood was required to seal it, because as Paul said, “For where a testament is, there must also of a necessity be the death of the testator”, and “Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.” (Hebrews 9:16-18). God provided a “ram” to be the replacement blood sacrifice for Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen.22). Our Lord Jesus Christ “Immanuel” (‘God with us’; Matt.1:23) was to eventually be That Replacement Sacrifice, instead of Isaac or the ram Abraham sacrificed. Our Lord and Savior was there with Abraham, to tell him about it. “Really?”, some might say, “Where was Jesus mentioned in Abraham’s day”?
     Please turn to Hebrews 7:

Heb 7:1    For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2    To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3    Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

     There is only One Who is “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of day, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God”. I wonder who that could be? And Abraham tithed to this Melchisedec after returning from the slaughter of the kings, as per Genesis 14:

Gen 14:18    And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the Most High God.
19    And he blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20    And blessed be the Most High God, Which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

     The “Bread” and “Wine” are Sacrements of Holy Communion with Christ Jesus. Why would they be mentioned here, and associated with this Melchizedek? Now back to Hebrews 7 continuing about this Melchizedek:

Heb 7:4    Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

     Paul is getting ready to reveal a very deep mystery about this Role of Melchizedek, because His receiving tithes of Abraham didn’t fit into the requirements of the Old Covenant Law:

Heb 7:5    And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
6    But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

     But this Melchizedek, king of Salem, during Abraham’s day wasn’t even descended of Abraham’s people, yet He still received tithes from Abraham, and even had Power and Authority to bless ole’ Abraham! Who was this Mysterious Person with such Authority at that time?

Heb 7:7    And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

     Paul is just saying that it would be a contradiction for someone who has nothing, to try and bestow wealth and blessings onto One Who already ‘owns’ everything. Wonder Who already ‘owns’ everything? Are we getting closer to discovering Who this Melchizedek was during Abraham’s time? Let’s keep going further:

Heb 7:8    And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

     And even men that die receive tithes of the people, yet this Melchizedek was alive when He received tithes of Abraham. When Abraham tithed to Him, it wasn’t an act of charity for someone’s death in the family. This Melchizedek lived!

Heb 7:9    And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
10    For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

     Even the Old Covenant Law provided for the sons of Levi to receive and pay tithes, but… Levi and his sons weren’t even born yet at that time! But still, this Melchizedek lived then, and was already receiving tithes! Who was this Melchizedek with such Authority? (Many of you already know, but for others, I’m not tellin’ yet.)

Heb 7:11    If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

     If the Law of The Old Covenant were perfect, and could have offered us Salvation, having been prepared by God through the Levitical priesthood, then why in the world would anyone ever need, or want anything better? Why would there ever arise a need for “another priest” after the order of Melchisedec? Why couldn’t the Levitical priesthood and the sons of Aaron be enough for helping us atone for our sins to God?

Heb 7:12    For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
13    For He of Whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14    For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

     If that first Old Covenant order of Levitical priesthood couldn’t fulfill the need for our redemption, then it had to change to something better. If that original priesthood had to change, then The Law had to change along with it. For this Melchisedec Whom is spoken of here, is of another tribe, that of Judah, which had no service among the Levitical priesthood.
     This Melchizedek is our same Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, later born of the ‘house of David’ from the tribe of Judah. Yet in Abraham’s presence He served as High Priest to him, even though Moses didn’t even say anything of His duties as Priest when God gave The Law on the Mount.

Heb 7:15    And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another Priest,
16    Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17    For He testifieth, “Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

     It is clearly evident then, that “another Priest” is needed Which can take us past that Old Covenant, a limited Covenant of flesh bondage, and one not able to give us Salvation unto an “endless life”. God knew we would need a Spiritual Covenant, The New Covenant, to offer us true redemption of our souls back to Him in everlasting Life. And The Father thus said to The Son, “Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (quoted from Psalms 110).

Heb 7:18    For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19    For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

     If that Old Covenant couldn’t get the job of Salvation done, then it was time to get rid of It, making the needed change. The “better hope” is by ‘faith’, and is the hope of our Salvation through Christ Jesus The Son of God, now our High Priest to The Father for us.

Heb.7:20    And inasmuch as not without an oath He was made Priest:
21    (For those priests were made without an oath; but This with an oath by Him That said unto Him, “The LORD sware and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22    By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

     Abraham understood the later need, for “a better testament” (Covenant), as he believed on the Promise of Salvation through Christ Jesus, and God counted it to him as righteousness.

Heb.7:23    And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
24    But this Man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
25    Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

     Even the sons of Aaron and those of the Levitical priesthood eventually died, ending each one of ther offices as priest. But our Lord Jesus Christ continued His Office as High Priest, by His resurrection to the right hand of The Father. None other than The Lord Jesus Christ had The Power and Authority to continue That Office of High Priest after death. Since He lives, He only is able to reconcile us to The Father through His Blood.

Heb.7:26      For such an High Priest became us, Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27    Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself.
28    For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, Who is consecrated for evermore.

The New Covenant:  A Better Testament Given

     This “oath”, which was 430 years before The Law, was That Promise to Abraham that through his seed, all families of the earth would be blessed in the Salvation through our High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, Which is God’s Savior Jesus Christ, The New Covenant (Testament). (See also Psalms 110; Psalms 89:34-37). How could we ever be saved by that Old Covenant, as those sacrifices never redeemed anyone from bondage of the ‘law of sin‘? Righteous Abraham knew the answer even then:

Matt 26:26    And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27    And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink ye all of it;
28    For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

     Our Lord Jesus in His Role as ‘High Priest’ was this Melchizedek (King of Righteousness), and He offered Abraham Holy Communion with Him (Gen.14). That time with Abraham was the first act of Holy Communion with Christ, and it was by ‘faith’ on our Lord Jesus as God’s Savior ‘Immanuel’ Who would come. So finally, we now have a Perfect Sacrifice by Blood, of The Testator of a New Covenant, in Jesus Christ Yeshu’a Messiah, a Perfect Covenant not of the flesh, not of circumcision of the flesh, not of imperfect priestly ordinances of ritual and animal sacrifice, not of religious dogma, but… of ‘faith’ by His Spirit dwelling in us.
     Indeed God has a Plan for believers from all races and peoples. And that Plan is for all to come to Him through our Perfect High Priest, a Perfect Sacrifice, being Christ Jesus. And That Plan is not a ‘flesh’ Plan of Salvation, but a Plan of spiritual Salvation by faith on Him. The New Covenant through ‘faith’ in Christ Jesus is not a circumcision made with hands, but is now circumcision of the heart through ‘faith’ (Col.2:11; Rom.2:28-29).

Rom 4:16    Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17    (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before Him Whom he believed, even God, Who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18    Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, ‘So shall thy seed be.’
19    And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:
20    He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21    And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
22    And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
23    Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24    But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him That raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25    Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

     Because of the flesh thinking, many still believe in that Old Covenant with the ‘token’ of flesh circumcision and being justified by The Law. The Promise by ‘faith’ was always first, as The Law was given because of transgressions, i.e. sins:

Gal 3:18    For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
19    Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
20    Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21    Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22    But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

     Paul clearly explains that God’s Plan of Salvation was always of that Promise given to Abraham by ‘faith’, and never of The Law. Don’t get me wrong, for God setup much of The Law to govern the flesh time, even though none in the flesh can ever be perfect in It. It still does not mean His Law is bad. But The Law was never to be a substitute for The Promise given to Abraham, which is by ‘faith’ on Jesus Christ for our Salvation. Only God through His Son can give ‘eternal life’. The Law never could.
     Because many do not understand the ‘original formation’, as Paul states in the Greek of Romans 8, concerning the first ‘creation’ before Lucifer rebelled, they keep their Salvation tied to the flesh body, instead of their spiritual body (see 1 Corinthians 15). Because we will no longer need a flesh vehicle in God’s future Kingdom, this is ‘how’ we are ‘justified’ by ‘faith’ in God’s Savior Jesus Christ now, Which is The New Covenant. It is of our spirit which is saved, not our flesh. None shall be justified, nor saved by the flesh. Though we still live in this flesh body today, our flesh has ‘already’ perished in the spiritual sense, for those ‘in Christ’. Our flesh became ‘dead’ in bondage to the Old Covenant sealed by the blood of animals, when we accepted The New Covenant Jesus Christ by His Blood. Our hope now is the coming future fulfillment of That Salvation Promise originally given through Abraham, by The Spirit; a spiritual Kingdom of Israel with our Lord, of all believers by ‘faith’.

     Blessings and love to all my brethren in Jesus Christ who accept God’s Promise of Salvation by ‘faith’, even as righteous Abraham also did.

Peace to you in Christ,
Dave Ramey.

The first part of this study in 1 Corinthians 15 revealed how Paul was having to renew The Gospel in the hearts and minds of many at the Church of Corinth. Some there had corrupted the simple understanding of our Lord Christ’s Resurrection, and thus the resurrection of the dead in general. Paul even gave us examples of his trials at Ephesus among “beasts“, i.e. those who follow Satan. He and his fellow brethren who went there held the “sentence of death” in their hearts, as already being prepared to die in the flesh (compare 1 Cor.15:32 with 2 Cor.1:7-9). And that so that they would be more willing to follow GOD through Christ, and not man.
     In this study, Paul will explain deeper as to what body those who resurrect ‘put on’ after death in the flesh. Some believers may consider this Biblical subject as too difficult to grasp, and impossible to know or understand. Most often, that attitude is the result of this matter not being fully taught to them directly from God’s Word. Our Heavenly Father gave It to His to know, through Paul His “chosen vessel”. And as the state of death of the flesh is a natural phenomenon of the ‘flesh realm’, likewise the resurrection of the “spiritual body” to the Heavenly dimension where God dwells, is even more natural.
     Let’s continue this 1 Corinthians 15 study in verse 34, as we ask a Word of Wisdom from our Heavenly Father in Christ Jesus Yashu’a’s Precious Name, Amen.

1 Cor 15:34       Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

     “Wake up out of your stupor!”, that’s what Paul is saying to those at the Church of Corinth, and… also for many believers today which are in Biblical ignorance. Use plain old common sense, and put away the doubt that some would have us lodge upon. Some do not realize the importance of Christ’s Mission as Saviour and His Resurrection from the dead. Those “have not the knowledge of God”. Thus Paul was speaking to “some” among the Church at Corinth who had crept in, and were distorting The Gospel of Christ Jesus. For those who once believed, it’s to their own “shame” also, because they would rather listen to doubters and fad makers, than the simple Word of God as written. (Recall back in 1 Corinthians 15:12 that “some” among those at Corinth were denying the resurrection of the dead?)

1 Cor 15:35      But some man will say, “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?”

     Since those at Corinth were having difficulty in understanding the resurrection of the dead, Paul felt it necessary to explain this spiritual matter in detail. In the Greek, this question can be worded as, “In what way are the dead raised? And with what sort of body do they appear with?”
     Our Lord Christ’s Transfiguration should not be confused with this particular working Paul is getting ready to explain here. Our Lord Jesus’ Body was transfigured to further show that God raised Him. The body of Moses was buried in Moab by God Himself, yet Moses later appeared on the mount with Elijah in front of Christ’s disciples (Deut.34; Matt.17). In other words, we know Moses really did die in the flesh, but his body may have been transfigured also, likewise as Enoch and Elijah were taken, and were not (see Jude 1:9). But all others part the flesh with that earthly body going back to the dust as written (Ecclesiastes 12:5-7).

1 Cor 15:36     Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
37    And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

     The Greek for “fool” as used here can mean ‘ignorant‘, ‘egotistic‘, or ‘unbelieving‘ (‘aphron‘; Strong’s 878). Paul’s just saying, “Don’t be silly and ignorant of The Truth.”
     This verse begins a simple analogy as to how the resurrection happens compared with a sown seed that germinates and grows. The word “quickened” is Greek ‘zoopoieo‘, meaning ‘to vitalize’. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon has it as ‘to cause to live, to produce alive, to restore to life’, etc. (Strong’s 2227).
     One major difference to keep in mind with this analogy of a seed which is ‘dormant’, and then springs a new life from within when it is sown in the ground and germinates, is that the flesh and the spirit are two distinctly different dimensions. Paul will make that distinction later on in this Chapter also.
     The main point of this sowing analogy, is that even God has ordained His Power to make even a dormant (dead) plant seed show a new life when it germinates to another plant. But even that dead plant seed or kernel is not the body that will spring forth with new life (i.e., “thou sowest not that body that shall be”). That dead kernel or seed came from an older plant which had already died. It’s easily seen when a seed such as a kernel of corn is planted, and it becomes a ‘new’ tall plant with ears of corn growing from it. That germinating growth within the seed feeds off of the dead outer shell until it takes root in the ground.
     We know our flesh natural body cannot be compared exactly to a plant seed in that operation, so don’t get too literal with this analogy. The main point here is that the seed had to die first, before a ‘new plant’ bearing fruit could come forth. Likewise it is with our own flesh body, when our ‘spiritual body’ will merely step out of its old flesh body at death. Instead of a seed producing ‘another’ new ‘flesh’ plant like the one it originally came from, our spirit body will not be a product… of a new flesh body. If one believes our resurrected body will be of the flesh order, then they have believed on a false doctrine like that of reincarnation. Some may not like to hear that, but nevertheless, that’s the belief the evil one has tricked many into, if they believe in being raised into a new ‘flesh’ body after death.

1 Cor 15:38     But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body.
39    All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

     Now Paul is going to mark the difference between various flesh bodies, and how God set different operations into existence. Each “seed” has its own type of nature. We cannot expect to plant an apple seed and get a lemon tree plant. The two are genetically different. So it is with animals, and also with mankind, each given a body to which it was purposed by God in His flesh creation.
     The point being made with these two verses about the flesh, is also of how God created and formed man’s ‘flesh image’ to be in the likeness of His Image and that of the angels (Genesis 1:26-27). The ‘image’ for flesh man didn’t originate with that man Adam. The Image of Man began with GOD’s Own Image, and His Son was The Perfect Pattern of That Heavenly Image of Man on earth as The Saviour (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:12-15; Exod.24:10-11; Ezekiel 1:26; Matt.1:23 with “Emmanuel“). Paul is going to ‘cross borders’ so to speak with this Message of That Heavenly Image of Man a bit later. Right now, he’s still giving analogies as to the differences between bodies within this flesh dimension.

1 Cor 15:40     There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41    There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

     By this “celestial bodies”, it is meant as heavenly orbs above the earth, as in outside away from this earth, but “bodies terrestrial” means today’s earthly nature, such as flesh. The “glory“, or splendor of the heavenly orbs is of one ‘order’, and the glory or operation of the earthly is another. Each celestial body of nebula, planet, star, solar system, and galaxy each have their own type of order and appearance, and reason for existence in God’s material part of His creation. The sun and the moon, which are of the same material dimension, are obviously different, and have different operations and purposes. Yet they both operate within the same material dimension. It’s important to realize Paul is not speaking of God’s Heavenly dimension Abode with the word “celestial“. Paul is simply giving an example of how there are different orders even within this same material dimension, i.e. the sun being a celestial body, and this earth being a terrestrial body, yet both in the same material dimension.
Also in the Heavenly dimension order, there are different glories also. The “it” part below is speaking of our spirit body which exists in the Heavenly Order.

1 Cor 15:42     So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43    It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

     Likewise, with all the different orders of existence God created, so it is when our flesh body dies or at the change of the “last trump”, our “spiritual body” is suddenly revealed in the Heavenly order. “It” was put into an earthly flesh body at conception, being sown in corruption, “it” will be raised in incorruption of the Heavenly Order.
     This is where many get confused with the differences between the ‘soul’ (spirit intellect), and the spiritual vehicle body that transports the ‘soul’ intellect. Let me say that again. The ‘soul’ (Hebrew ‘nephesh‘ but used in various applications), which is our ‘personality’ or ‘intellect’, is attached to a “spiritual body” within the flesh. When God formed our flesh in our mother’s womb, He placed a ‘spiritual body’ within it, which has our ‘soul’ intellect or ‘self’. Paul will clarify this distinction between the natural body and the spiritual body in the next few verses.
     The spiritual body is “sown in corruption”, meaning it is placed inside a flesh body that gets weak, sick, and dies. We all well know about the weakness which the flesh body is under. At death of the flesh body, the spiritual body “is raised in incorruption”. The Greek word for “incorruption” is ‘aphthrsia‘, meaning ‘incorruptibility, unending existence’ (Strong’s 861). Our spiritual body was sown into the flesh in “weakness“; it will be “raised in power”, meaning of the power of the Heavenly dimension. (Don’t get ahead of me just yet with this, for with some in that Heavenly dimension, their ‘spiritual body’ can still perish in the “lake of fire”, and “be no more”, as Revelation 20:15 and Psalms 104:35 puts it).
     This “it” is the spiritual body with which the dead also must appear with before Christ’s Judgment Seat, as per the following 2 Corinthians 5 verses:

2 Cor 5:8     We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9    Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.
10    For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

     When Paul stated “all” will appear in front of Christ per that 2 Cor.5:10 verse, that’s exactly what he meant. All… the “just“, and the “unjust“, will appear before the Judgment Seat of our Lord Christ Jesus, to receive reward for serving Him, or punishment for serving the evil one (see Acts 24:15). As stated in Part I of this study, only Satan and his angels have already been judged and sentenced to perish in the “lake of fire”. None else have yet.

1 Cor 15:44     It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

     Paul is noting the distinction between ‘two’ bodies we each have. This word “natural” is Greek ‘psuchikos‘, meaning ‘animate‘ which is the part we have in common with the animals, i.e. a gross sensuous nature. And the word “spiritual” is Greek ‘pneumatikos‘, meaning ‘non-carnal, i.e. (humanly) ethereal (as opposed to gross)’ (Strong’s 5591, 4152). Ethereal means of the Heavenly dimension.
     We each have ‘both’ bodies while in the flesh, together at the same time, for as Paul said here, “…there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body”. That means present tense, as in ‘right now’.
     So at death of the flesh, the “spiritual body” which already is inside our flesh vehicle, merely steps out with its ‘soul’ intact, and separates from the flesh at death, the “silver cord” being “loosed” (Ecclesiastes 12:5-7). This is a very natural operation which God setup, and we should never fear it, even though the devil’s own do everything they can to distort this Truth, and cause many to fear it.

1 Cor 15:45     And so it is written, “The first man Adam was made a living soul;’ the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”

     The “first man Adam”, meaning the fleshy pattern for man created from the Heavenly Pattern Image of God and the angels for this second earth age, was made “a living soul” by God placing a soul with a spirit body, into an earthly formed flesh vehicle (Gen.1-2). The “last Adam”, meaning Jesus Christ Begotten as The Perfect Pattern of Man of the Heavenly, was made a Glorious Spirit, quickened by God’s Spirit when He raised His Only Begotten Son from death on the cross. The “last Adam” is also The Pattern believers on Christ will be made similar to, and are the “sons of God” (1 John 3). That means as children of God, in the Heavenly state like the angels of God (Mark 12:25).
     This final Heavenly state of “the last Adam” which Paul is speaking of here is not just the imperishable ‘spiritual body’ which will not be subject to the earthy elements of hot, cold, sickness, etc., but it is the final Pattern of glory for God’s Eternal Kingdom. That spiritual bodily Pattern is modeled after The Son (1 John 3).

1 Cor 15:46     Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47    The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

     For the deeper Bible students, this first state is speaking of when God created Adam “also” flesh, and placed his soul into a flesh formed body (Gen.2; Gen.6:3). There was another heavenly world/earth age before this second one which God began at Genesis 1:2 (see the Genesis studies). Our Heavenly Father destroyed that pre-Adamic age when Satan rebelled and brought this age of flesh so as to offer Salvation through His Son Who died on the cross for the remission of our sins. So the flesh state is first for this second worldly age, and then after death of the flesh comes the spiritual state. Likewise also, the first patterned flesh man is of the earthy state Adam, but the Pattern for the “second man”, as quickened by God’s Spirit is The Heavenly Christ Jesus. Though believers on The Saviour will go through a similar change in being quickened in their spiritual body to the Heavenly, we shall never be ‘a Christ’, but we are “sons of God”, calling out “Abba“, which means ‘Father’ (Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:15).

1 Cor 15:48    As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49    And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

     In John 3 our Lord mentioned that one must be “born again” to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:3-9). If you’ll get your Strong’s Concordance out and look, you’ll discover that “born again” in the Greek means ‘born from above’ (‘anothen‘; Strong’s 509). Well, born ‘from above’ where? It means our soul being placed inside our flesh by God and being born of ‘water’ of woman’s womb. We must also receive God’s Spirit inside us by believing on His Saviour Jesus Christ. So as we have held the “image of the earthy”, i.e. flesh body, so will we hold the “image of the heavenly”. It occurs when our ‘spiritual body’ goes back to The Father at flesh death, as written in Ecclesiastes 12:5-7.

1 Cor 15:50     Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

     This is how we know for certain, that our spiritual body with our soul is ethereal, and of the Heavenly, and not of flesh, period. A spiritual body in the Heavenly cannot be a body of “corruption” like the flesh body is. Simply, flesh cannot go there where God is. This is why Isaiah got so nervous when his ‘spirit’ was allowed to see God in a vision (Isa.6). Isaiah figured himself to be dead, for he knew none could see God without having died in the flesh. Therefore, this verse is yet another example that the flesh and the spirit are two separate and different dimensions of existence. Because angels have appeared to flesh man during this flesh age, and also because of the example of the Heavenly manna feeding flesh children of Israel in the wilderness, we know this is how God’s Eternity will be different, but will still include a material earth (see 2 Peter 3:13; Isaiah 65; 66; Rev.21).

1 Cor 15:51     Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52    In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

     If Paul hadn’t covered enough of this spiritual matter already towards the end of this Chapter, he’s going deeper. So it’s not time to drift off with this study.
     Not all of those ‘in Christ’ will have passed on to the spiritual state before our Lord Christ finally returns. Many brethren in Christ are still going to be here on earth in their flesh body up to the second coming of our Lord Christ Jesus, along with the ‘spiritually dead’ (unbelievers and deceived). How do we know? Because as Paul states, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:…“, that’s when everyone will be in the Heavenly dimension on earth. The “dead” in this verse, meaning the ‘spiritual dead’ who are still alive on earth in the flesh, will also be raised into an incorruptible ‘spiritual body’, and we all are going to be different (“changed” = Greek ‘allasso‘, i.e. ‘to make different’; Strong’s 236).
     Thus the Heavenly dimension will be revealed to all, and all knees will bow to Christ Jesus as KING and LORD. By this… working is ‘how’ even those who pierced Him on the cross will be able to see Him when He comes (Rev.1:5-7; John 19:37; Zechariah 12:10). We all will be in our ‘spiritual body’ at that point.
     By counting the number of trumpets in Revelation, we know this “last trump” is the seventh and last angel sounding of Revelation 11:15, and is when all the kingdoms of this world will become Christ’s. That also means our Lord is coming here; we’re not going anywhere up in the atmosphere, as the Heavenly will be revealed upon the earth when all put off their flesh body shell (see Zechariah 14). Many confuse these 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 verses with the so-called ‘secret rapture’ doctrine, of being ‘taken out’ before Christ comes. That ‘secret rapture’ idea is not written, as Paul even gave us the timing here for the “last trump” when everyone alive on the earth will also have their flesh cast off and their spiritual body revealed. The separation between God’s servants through Christ Jesus will then occur… upon the earth (again see Zech.14; Matthew 25; Rev.20; Ezekiel 44).
     Those who preach the false ‘secret rapture’ doctrine of flying away like to link that doctrine with these verses, and with 1 Thessalonians 4, so let’s turn there for a moment:

1 Thes 4:13     But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

     Paul didn’t want our brethren at Thessalonica to be ignorant of the resurrection either, like some at Corinth were. He’s saying, “I want you to know where those who have died in Christ are (i.e. “asleep“), and not to be ignorant as the heathen are, who don’t believe in the resurrection, and are thus without hope. Don’t even sorrow for those in Christ who have died,” he is saying.

1 Thes 4:14    For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.

     If those in Christ believe that God raised His Son from the dead, then also those in Christ who have already died, our Lord Jesus will bring with Him when He comes back to earth. Plain enough.
     Now ‘how’ can Jesus bring those believers who have already died with Him if they’re not already where He is beforehand? Give Satan enough time, and he’ll figure out a way to twist these verses, and he has, with a so-called false ‘secret rapture’, i.e. that some on the earth rapture up to meet Christ before the great tribulation, and then come back down with Him, like a bouncing ball.

1 Thes 4:15     For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

     Those in Christ who are still alive in the flesh and remain upon the earth until His coming, shall in no way ‘precede‘ (“prevent“) those who are asleep in Christ which have already parted from their flesh bodies at death. How’s that? It’s because those “asleep” in Jesus are already with Him (see what Christ said to the malefactor crucified with Him in Luke 23:42-43).
The Greek word for this “prevent” in the New Testament Manuscripts is ‘phthano‘, and it means ‘to be beforehand, i.e. anticipate or precede’ (Strong’s 5348). That means believers still in their flesh bodies upon earth will not ‘go before’ those in Christ who have already died. That’s very insightful, because according to God’s Power He setup governing the resurrection of the dead, one must leave their flesh body behind to resurrect to the Heavenly, just as God raised His Son Jesus Christ from the dead (excepting our Lord’s Body being transfigured; ours will not be, but will be cast off). This is how the saints (those “asleep“) per Zechariah 14 can, and will return with Christ, when He sets foot upon the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

1 Thes 4:16    For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

     Per Zechariah 14:4-5, Christ’s feet will touch down on the Mount of Olives, which is on the “last trump”, the seventh of Revelation 11:15. But the “dead in Christ” (not the ‘spiritually dead’), i.e. those already “asleep“, resurrect when they leave the flesh now. This is just as Paul stated that those who are alive and remain will not ‘precede‘ (“prevent“) those who have already gone on to be with our Lord Jesus (see also 2 Cor.5). Paul is just giving a short summary, and means “the dead in Christ shall rise first” when they die. Separate the colon (:) above into separate subjects. That’s what a colon does in English grammar.
     Why in the world the KJV translators chose that word “prevent” for Greek ‘phthano‘ which means ‘precede‘, is beyond me. If you speak another language, then how would you translate ‘precede’ to that other language? One certainly wouldn’t use meanings which imply to ‘prevent’ a working of God. So we could only reconcile that word ‘prevent’ as meaning, “you can’t prevent those who die in the flesh today from their spiritual body leaving it!” We can’t stop the resurrection of the dead from happening, for God has ordained it to happen immediately when one dies! (Eccl.12:5-7 again).

1 Thes 4:17    Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18    Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

     This “shall be caught up” phrase is the sole Greek word ‘harpazo‘, and it means ‘to seize (in various applications)’ (Strong’s 726). As used in this verse, it means those in Christ will “flee” as a great gathering, to where our Lord Jesus Christ will be. We are ‘seized’ to Him in our spiritual body. Greek ‘harpazo‘ does not mean ‘up’, as the KJV translators missed much in this verse, but the direction will be more of ‘over there’. Where’s ‘over there’,” you might ask? Let’s look in Zechariah 14, which tells us of our Lord Christ’s return:

Zech 14:4    And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5    And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.

     This is where those in Christ which are still alive and remain in their flesh body at His coming will go to at the ‘change’ into their “spiritual body”. So where’s the Mount of Olives? It’s where Jerusalem is today, and is also the spot where our Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven from (Acts 1). This certainly will be no ‘secret rapture’, nor anything like that. It will be a “gathering” together to Christ, as Paul explained in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 with the Greek word ‘episunagogue‘ (Strong’s 1997).
     The word “air” in that 1 Thessalonians 4:17 verse is Greek ‘aer’, and it is – ‘from aemi (to breathe unconsciously, i.e. respire; by analogy, to blow)’ (Strong’s 109). The definition is about the breath which God put into man that sustains our flesh, but is spirit. In John 3:8 our Lord Jesus also used ‘wind‘ as an analogy for the ‘spiritual body’. A more correct translation of this “to meet the Lord in the air” would be the act of being seized to The Lord ‘in the breath’, or Breath of Life spirit body. In other words, it just means to flee to our Lord where He will be upon the earth when He appears, and we will flee to Him in our revealed Heavenly dimension “spiritual body”.
     But for the Biblical unlearned, they are easily swayed into taking the KJV translator’s expression as meaning to go up into the atmospheric clouds to meet Christ, above the earth, and live in the ‘clouds‘ forevermore. Obviously, per the Zechariah 14 verses above, our Lord Jesus returns to set foot upon the earth where His Kingdom Rule will be established. That is not up in the ‘clouds’ to live friend. Paul was using an expression with this “in the clouds” phrase, as meaning a great gathering together of Christ’s Body, The Church.
     Back to 1 Corinthians 15…

1 Cor 15:53   For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

     For those who have already tired of this long study and left or put it down, they will have missed the deepest mystery Paul touches on in this verse. These next few verses are the highlight of the teaching on the resurrection of the dead. Not to get off the subject with this, but it seems many times within our Lord’s Word, part of His protection of deeper Truths within It, is that many of them appear in the middle, or weaved within and without historical verses, or just before the Chapter ends. It means those who have taken the time, been patient in The Word, and kept to being thorough all the way to the end, will not miss the “pearls” of God’s Treasures. Thus a true disciple of Christ requires self-discipline in The Word.
     I put the words above in the 1 Corinthians 15:53 verse in bold because… each one of those words in the Greek has a different and separate meaning about our “natural body” vs. the “spiritual body”, and a ‘mortal’ soul vs. an ‘immortal’ soul. This is very important to take back to the Greek. Otherwise we won’t really know what Paul is speaking of here.
     The word “corruptible” is Greek ‘phthartos‘, and means ‘decayed, i.e. (by implication) perishable’ (Strong’s 5349). That applies to our weak flesh body which goes back to the earthly elements it came from when it dies. The word “incorruption” is Greek ‘aphthrsia’, and means ‘incorruptibility, genetive case unending existence’ (Strong’s 861). It means the “spiritual body” which we covered back in verses 42 and 50. This “spiritual body” doesn’t get sick, feels no pain, won’t die like the flesh, but is a body of the Heavenly order by God’s Power. This incorruptible spirit body is what we ‘all’ have dwelling within our flesh. Even the wicked have this kind of spirit body within their flesh today. It separates from our flesh body at death by the parting of a “silver cord” (Eccl.12:5-7).
     To explain this more simply, whichever dimension of existence our soul is in, it requires a vehicle to get around in that state of existence. For this flesh material dimension, it requires a “corruptible” (Greek ‘phthartos‘) flesh body. In the heavenly Order by God’s Power, the soul requires a “spiritual body” vehicle to get around in (Greek ‘aphthrsia‘).  But there’s more…
     Our soul must go through a change in Christ Jesus to have Everlasting Life. The word “mortal” in the Greek is ‘thnetos‘, meaning ‘liable to die’ (Strong’s 2349). This ‘mortal‘ is a ‘condition’ of the ‘soul’, or soul intellect. So what’s the word “immortality” which the ‘soul’ must put on to have Eternal Life? “Immortality” is Greek ‘athanasia‘ meaning ‘deathlessness‘ (Strong’s 110). The spiritual state of our ‘soul’ must put on “immortality” to be with The Father and Son forevermore. It must become totally free from the power of death. Per Revelation 20:14, we know the power of “death” will not be destroyed until the end of our Lord Christ’s “thousand years” reign upon the earth. That means the “spiritual body” of some at that future time, along with their “mortal” soul, can still be under the power of ‘death‘.
     Now put all that together you say? All, the “just” and the “unjust” will be changed into their ‘incorruptible body’ (aphthrsia) at our Lord Christ’s coming. But the ‘soul’ of the “unjust” will be in a state which is still ‘liable to die’ (thnetos). Thus in God’s Word, there is such a matter as both a ‘mortal’ soul, and an immortal soul. “How can a ‘spiritual body’ in the Heavenly with a soul perish,” you might ask?

Matt 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.

     This is what our Lord meant with “both soul and body” still able to be destroyed in “hell” (‘hell‘ is Greek ‘geena‘ here; used as a metaphor for the “lake of fire” event of Rev.20). The destruction of one’s ‘soul’ in the “lake of fire”, even while they have left the flesh, and are in their ‘spiritual body‘, is… the “second death”…

Rev 2:11    He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

     Those who overcome in Christ Jesus during this flesh age will not experience the “second death”. The ‘second death’ is the perishing of the “spiritual body” (aphthrsia) along with the “mortal” (thnetos) ‘soul’, in the “lake of fire”. The power of death, and the one (Lucifer) given control over it, along with the wicked and their holding place (hell, pit, the abyss, prison, etc.), will all perish in that lake of fire.

Rev 20:6    Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

     Moreover, those who overcome in Christ will be of the “first resurrection”, which is the ‘soul’ putting on ‘athanasia‘, i.e. ‘immortality‘ or deathlessness; a spiritual body with a soul that cannot die, ever! “Well done, thou good and faithful servant:…”, as our Lord would say in Matthew 25.

Rev 20:14     And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15    And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

     Those of verse 15 above are the ones who will be in a ‘spiritual body’ during Christ’s “thousand years” reign, but with a ‘soul’ that is ‘thnetos‘, or still ‘liable to die’ in the “lake of fire” at the end of Christ’s reign (Rev.20). Satan and his angels have already been sentenced to perish in that ‘lake of fire’. None else have yet (see also Rev.21:8).
     So if there is a “first resurrection” as written, then is there another resurrection later, i.e. a second one? In other words, will some during Christ’s reign who are still in a “liable to die” spirit body and soul, put on ‘athanasia‘ (‘immortality’) in Christ Jesus later? Yes:

Rev 20:5    But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

     Based on what our Lord revealed through Paul about the state of the soul in a “spiritual body” during that “thousand years”, some who will have a ‘mortal‘ soul throughout, will later put on ‘immortality‘. Those will come to Christ Jesus as their KING and LORD and be like the “first resurrection”. Those will not perish in the “lake of fire” with Satan, hell, and the wicked. Thus, they will ‘live’ again in the everlasting immortal sense, to be with The Father and Son Eternal.
     Continuing in 1 Corinthians 15…

1 Cor 15:54    So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55    “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
56    The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

     So when all born into the flesh are finally ‘changed’ and done with that “corruptible” flesh body, and then step into their “spiritual body” that is of the Heavenly and is “incorruption“,… and when those in Christ with “mortal” souls puts on “immortality“, only then will occur the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory”.
     As long as you grasp the difference between the four states or conditions we each must go through in Christ, then the many fads and leaven traditions formed by man’s ‘topical’ understanding on the resurrection of the dead, become exposed for what they are.
     The “strength of sin is the law”. Please let that soak in. If you also understand about the first earth age, and that this second age, which is of flesh, is not how God originally setup His creation, then that’s why the carnal nature cannot please God as written (Romans 8, where Paul also covered much about that first formation of the heavens and the earth, long ‘before’ Lucifer rebelled). The carnal state cannot be mindful and stable in adhering to God’s Law. For Eternal Peace to happen, man must be freed from that perishing nature. Our Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to get us out of the bondage of the carnal, and bring us to Himself, and live according to God in the spirit.

1 Cor 15:57     But thanks be to God, Which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58    Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

     This teaching our Lord Christ gave us through His apostle Paul should produce greater strength and peace of mind for one in Christ. That especially for these latter day times. Those at Corinth were receiving the “strong meat” of this teaching of our Lord through Paul, in the Greek language (Hebrews 5). Thus they understood these different meanings of the flesh vs. the heavenly body states. Many of our brethren, who also love The Father through His Son, are not being taught this fuller meaning from the New Testament Greek by Christ’s apostle Paul. They have accepted something else, based on a ‘topical’ understanding of this Chapter as given by the KJV translators. If you’ve understood this, then what else have you missed by not going back to the original Bible languages using a simple Strong’s Concordance?
     So that’s a very important Chapter in God’s Word, and helps explain God’s Operation of the resurrection of the dead. I hope and pray through Christ Jesus that your ‘spirit’ begins to remember this order which is according to God’s Plan of Salvation.

Peace be to you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey

What happens when the flesh body dies today? Is there a life after that event, and if so, what is it like now? Are those who have died in Christ in some outer chaos state of ‘nothingness’, with no awareness of anything? Some would have us believe that’s the way it is, and even worse, that our loved ones who have died are in the ground out there somewhere. It can clearly be seen that a personality which showed vitality and activity in their flesh body when alive, suddenly departs when their flesh dies. Just where does that ‘expression’ of personality go? Our LORD told us in His Word where that “spirit” goes, and His apostle Paul was sent to give believers comfort in the resurrection Message.
     Our LORD and Saviour does not want His to be ignorant of this matter of the resurrection, for our Lord Jesus Christ Himself rose on the third day, defeating ‘Death’, and Jesus Yashu’a Messiah became the “firstfruits” of that resurrection unto Life (Matt.16:21; Matt.28; Acts 10:37-43; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Cor.15:20).
     “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). If you were raised a Christian, as a believer on Christ, then no doubt you’ve heard that verse more than once. But because of the ‘commandments of men’, how that John 3:16 verse applies to those who “sleep in Christ” now is not often properly taught to Christ’s Body, The Church (Ekklesia). Many have distorted what Paul clearly preached on the resurrection, and because of man’s traditions, it has caused many brethren in Christ sadness and a wearisome hope for loved ones who have already passed on, when our Heavenly Father did not intend any faltering hope in Christ Jesus.
     The resurrection of the dead is the main subject of 1 Corinthians 15. It covers our Lord Christ’s resurrection, how It applies to those who are now “asleep” in Christ Jesus, and for how those still alive at Christ’s coming are “changed“, at the “twinkling of an eye”. I reference this 1 Corinthians 15 Scripture often in my studies for the same reasons Paul was having to renew this understanding among those at Corinth, because of some among them who twisted God’s Truth.
     I may have to cover this subject in two separate studies because of its deep spiritual nature, so let’s get to it, as we ask a Word of Wisdom from our Heavenly Father, in Christ Jesus’ Name, Amen.

1 Cor 15:1    Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2    By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3    For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4    And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

     Those at the Church in Corinth had some problems staying focused on what Paul had taught when he had first preached The Gospel to them. Because of the pagan abominations happening around Corinth at that time, some had left off The Gospel of Christ. Elements of paganism obviously were twisting The Gospel among them. So Paul was trying to help renew That Spirit of The Gospel in them again, and he is making known within this 1 Corinthians 15 Chapter how Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of Life for those who believe on Him.
     When Paul says he preached Christ crucified and risen “according to the scriptures”, he’s talking about The Old Testament Scriptures! The Old Testament Scriptures of God’s Word is all that was written at the time. God declares new things before they come to pass (Isa.42). Yahaveh (YHVH), through His Old Testament prophets testified that His Son Immanuel (‘God with us’), would come to die on the cross, be buried, and rise on the third day (see Psalms 22; Isaiah 53; Isaiah 7:14; Zech.13; Dan.9:24-26; Gen.3:15; Ps.16:10-11; Hosea 6:2; Isaiah 61:1-2; Zech.9:9; Jonah 1:17; Matthew 1:23).
     Furthermore, our Lord Christ struck Paul (Saul) down on the road to Damascus, as Paul was His “chosen vessel” (Acts 9). Paul was an excellent scholar in the Old Testament Scriptures, having studied with one of the best scholars of his day (Gamaliel; Acts 22). Yet Paul was zealous in ‘traditions’ of the Pharisees, instead of being given the missing link of God’s anointing through The Holy Spirit to put The Scriptures aright in his mind. Our Lord Christ did that for Paul, and thus Paul received The Gospel from no man, but directly from The Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 15:5    And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6    After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7    After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8    And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

     Our Lord Jesus was seen of Peter (Cephas) after He had risen, and then of the rest of the Apostles. Then Paul saw our Lord at a time when he was persecuting Christ’s Church, and our Lord Christ claimed Paul as His “chosen vessel” with a commission to further The Gospel (Acts 9).

1 Cor 15:9    For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10    But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11    Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

     By God’s Grace, He sent His Son to die on the cross for the remission of sins of all who would believe. That Grace includes the preaching of The Gospel, the hearing of The Gospel, and believing It by Christ’s sent ones who were witnesses. For those reasons, many of the Corinthians, and us, have also believed.

1 Cor 15:12     Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

     Now we get down to one of the problems Paul noticed among those of the Church at Corinth. There were “some among” them that were distorting the Truth about the resurrection, and how our Lord Jesus became “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor.15:20).
     The non-believing Jews sought to have Paul killed for preaching The Gospel. Because the sect of Sadducees refused belief in any type of resurrection, Paul only had to bring the matter up between the Sadducees and Pharisees when they were ready to do away with him (Acts 23:6). The sect of Pharisees accepted the doctrine of resurrection, but refused Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah, and sought to execute those like Paul who were preaching The Gospel. We can easily see these parallels still existing today of those who distort The Gospel, i.e. that Christ rose on the third day after being buried in the sepulcher tomb which Joseph of Arimathea provided.
     What’s Paul really asking those at Corinth here? To not believe that there is now a resurrection of Life after flesh death is to refuse that Christ Himself rose. It’s as simple as that. Think about it. If there is no such heavenly operation put into effect by The Father, then how could He cause His Son Christ Jesus to rise on the third day, as written? When our Lord Jesus defeated ‘Death’ upon the cross, that’s when that operation of passing from death to Life ‘in Christ Jesus’, began. It doesn’t have to wait for Christ’s second coming to happen, our Lord put it into operation after He rose!
     God gave us a clear example of what happens upon death of the flesh body in The Old Testament. Let’s turn to Ecclesiastes 12:

Eccl 12:5    Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6    Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

     In these Ecclesiastes 12 verses, we are being given a view of flesh death approaching in later life, when many of the visions of our youth are but memories, and we prepare to go to our “long home”. In the Hebrew the phrase “long home” is ‘owlam bayith’, meaning ‘everlasting or perpetual’ ‘place or house’ (Strong’s nos. 5769; 1004). That means our Heavenly home. For one still in the flesh, it exists behind a spiritual veil today. If the “silver cord” is “loosed”, it means the band which keeps the joining of our ‘spiritual body’ within our ‘natural body’ (i.e. flesh body), is totally removed (“loosed” – Hebrew ‘rachaq‘, meaning ‘removed‘; Strong’s no. 7368). The “golden bowl” being broken, and the “pitcher” being broken at the fountain, are metaphors for the flesh body which is formed from the clay of the earth. The analogy is to an earthen ware jar being broken, symbolic for the flesh clay body losing the breath of Life Which sustained it.
     “Put all that into plain English please,” you might say? Alright. Our flesh body is not the real part of our ‘self’ or ‘soul’. The flesh was formed of the elements from the ground, and though our Heavenly Father performed a marvelous work with its design and operation, it was never meant to last forever. Because the flesh is earthy, it must have food from the earth to help sustain it, but it must also have the breath of Life (see Gen.2:7-8). As an unborn fetus in a mother’s womb, we lived from the Life of the mother’s blood. We moved around in the womb, kicked a little here, or a lot there, until we finally came out and took our first breath. That first breath allowed us Life independent of our mother. Our ‘soul’ while in our mother’s womb was then able to express itself outwardly, immediately showing a personality all its own. The ‘soul’ (Hebrew ‘nephesh’) is our intellect, mind, or expression of character.
     Then what happens to our flesh and our soul when our “silver cord” is “loosed” at flesh death? –

Eccl 12:7    Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it.

     The flesh body, being from “the dust” of the earth, goes right back “to the earth as it was”. That means at death it immediately starts breaking down in decay, going back into the elements of earthly matter which it was formed from. That flesh part will never be needed any longer, ever; we’re done with it at death.
     But the “spirit“, which is the breath of Life spiritual part from God, immediately goes back to The Father Who gave it. The Hebrew for that word “spirit” in the above verse is ‘ruwach‘ (Strong’s no. 7307). That Hebrew word ‘ruwach‘ is used and translated many different ways, but it is meant here in Ecclesiastes 12 as the spirit intellect in man which God gives (see Proverbs 16:2 & Psalms 104:29-30). Some interpret this part of man as ‘air’ only, like the earth’s physical air which we breath. We will discover later in this 1 Corinthians 15 Chapter that there is more attached to man’s “spirit“, i.e. that it has the part of of us which we call ‘self’, personality, mind, intellect, or our ‘soul’. This is the part of us some call our ‘inner self’, and it continues after the flesh body dies, as written in that Ecclesiastes 12:7 verse.
     Continuing back in 1 Corinthians 15…

1 Cor 15:13    But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

     To deny that man has a “spirit” which God placed in the flesh at birth, which returns to The Father at flesh death, is to deny the “resurrection of the dead”. Not believing that as written, would also mean to deny that Christ rose from the dead.

1 Cor 15:14    And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

     The basis of Christianity and Salvation through God’s Promised Saviour Immanuel Jesus Christ, is our Lord’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Our Lord’s flesh was transfigured for a further proof that He rose from the dead (Matthew 28). Anyone who denies that has denied Salvation through Christ Jesus as The Saviour.
     What does Paul mean with the preaching of that point? If it sounds like he is linking the subject of where the dead in Christ are now, to our Lord Jesus’ resurrection, then you’re correct. Paul is doing exactly that to those who refuse to believe that man’s ‘spirit’ resurrects at flesh death (Eccl.12:7). Paul is saying something like, “Why are you listening to my preaching of The Gospel if you don’t believe the dead now rise? My preaching is in vain, and your faith also means nothing, if that’s what you think. For it would mean that you also don’t believe our Lord Jesus rose from the dead!” And that’s exactly the false doctrine which some at Corinth had fallen into, by listening to “some among” them say there is no resurrection, instead of listening to The Word through Christ’s apostle Paul.

1 Cor 15:15    Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: Whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

     Paul continues the rebuke at Corinth to those who have believed on false prophets among them in denying that the resurrection is already in effect now. “Here we’ve been preaching to you how God raised up Christ Jesus from the dead, and you mean you really didn’t believe The Gospel we first preached to you?” That’s what it means to deny the resurrection. It’s saying Christ did not rise. That would make Paul and all those who preach The Gospel liars to God’s Face.
     Right now some might be thinking to themselves, “But Dave, what this Scripture really means is the resurrection must wait until Christ returns on His second Advent, ushering in His Kingdom. Until then, all who die in Christ are ‘asleep’ in their grave!” Afraid not! That is not Paul’s Message here with this rebuke to those at Corinth, for even our Lord Jesus taught us what happens to those in Him after He rose:

John 5:24     Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him That sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25    Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26    For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself;
27    And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.

     In that John 5 Chapter, our Lord Jesus was hinting of His being delivered up to die on the cross, and then during His resurrection, He would go to the “spirits in prison”, who were in a state like the “rich man” of Luke 16, i.e. in Satan’s prison, the pit, and He would preach The Gospel Salvation to those who would also believe on Him as The Saviour. Then those who believed, would be brought out, and live according to God in the spirit! Where else is that written? I want to make sure to leave no doubt with this, so turn with me to 1 Peter 3…

1 Pet 3:18      For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19    By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20    Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

     When our Lord Christ resurrected, He was “quickened by the Spirit”, and angels, authorities, and powers were put under His Authority (1 Pet.3:22). Our Lord gave us in Luke 16 that there is a “great gulf fixed” border in Heaven, right now, where the ‘pit’ of hell is on one side, and God’s Paradise is on the other side, and that all “spirits” which pass through flesh death, go to one place or the other. According to our Lord in that John 5:25 verse, Christ preached to the “spirits in prison”, and led many of them out.
     Another example in 1 Peter 4…

1 Pet 4:5     Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
6    For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

     When The Gospel Salvation Message is “preached“, is Salvation through Christ Jesus offered along with It? Yes, of course. If the “dead” are literally ‘asleep’ in their graves, and ‘know nothing’, as some misinterpret Ecclesiastes 9:5, then how could they hear and understand The Gospel being preached to them by our Lord Jesus, as written above? So how is it that some say that the dead do not rise?
     Who are the real false witnesses concerning this subject of the resurrection? I’ll say it; it’s those who would rather listen to popular traditions and further them, either for gain, or out of ignorance through lack of deeper Bible study. That Christ rose from the dead is the major foundation of our belief in God’s Promised Salvation, thus this matter is not a light thing to play with.
     So I’m telling you to ‘rejoice’ in Christ Jesus, because our loved ones who have died and have also believed on Him, are with Him now!

1 Cor 15:16    For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17    And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

     If the dead do not rise right ‘now’, then Christ Jesus did not rise from the dead either. That’s what Paul just said here. And if God didn’t raise our Lord Jesus up on the third day, then neither do we have forgiveness of our sins through Him. It would mean we are left with no hope, and would still be in our sins with our ‘faith’ a vanity.
     Who wants us to refuse to believe that God raised up The Christ? The devil is that one which continuously hinges on denying the resurrection of Christ. Even the devil’s own tried to bribe the soldiers guarding our Lord’s tomb, to get them to testify that Christ’s Apostles came in the night and stole His Body away (Matthew 28).

1 Cor 15:18    Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

     Where does refusing to believe in the resurrection of the dead place those in Christ who have already died? It would mean that their “spirit” didn’t go back to God Who gave it, but instead that their flesh body went back to the dust, and that’s it, no life after death, “perished“, period (“perished” = Greek ‘apollumi‘, ‘to destroy fully’; Strong’ no.622). Through Christ Jesus we know there is Life after death, for He conquered ‘Death’ on the cross for us.
     Adding the lie that those ‘asleep’ in Christ are out back in the graveyard somewhere, and not in Life with Christ in the Heavenly dimension, is denial of the resurrection. That includes the false teaching that the flesh body which decayed in the casket in the grave is resurrected in the future at Christ’s return. We just learned from Ecclesiastes 12 that we have both a flesh body, and a spiritual body. That flesh body will not rise, as it’s gone back to the earthly elements after it dies. So at death today, that’s the only part that dies and perishes, i.e. the flesh body. Our “spirit” continues on to God. Then after that, the only possible death remaining is to the spirit body, i.e. mortal soul, being thrown into the “lake of fire” at the end of Christ’s “thousand years” reign (Rev.20; Matt.10:28). Those who are “asleep” in Christ now, and those of His who remain on earth at Christ’s coming, will not suffer that future “second death”, which is the casting of the soul into that ‘lake of fire’. Paul will explain more about these different bodies later in this Chapter.

1 Cor 15:19    If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

     If Christ did not rise, and there is no resurrection of the dead, then where is our hope? We would be like the non-believers wouldn’t we? How is their hope? Past this flesh life, they have none, because they have refused to believe on Christ for their Salvation. Since the flesh is all there is to life in their mind, they try to live flesh life to the fullest, thinking that when you die, well…, that’s it, it’s all over. So “let’s party”, they might say. What about us? What would it mean for all our persecutions and sufferings for our Lord Jesus, doing our best in following His Commandments and denying a fleshy lifestyle of the worldly? Wouldn’t that be misery for us, if we had no hope in eternal Life through Christ Jesus?
     That’s exactly what the non-believers consider of us. They think we’re foolish for believing on Christ for our Salvation, and that we’ve ruined our lives by not taking part in their “drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” type attitudes. They reason that because they don’t believe in ‘any’ life after flesh death, thus many of them want to prolong flesh life with the attempt at cloning, etc.
     But we who belong to The LORD, are not miserable, because we have believed on Christ Jesus our Saviour, and He gives us The Holy Spirit Comforter to ‘know’ His Truth is Life, and not foolishness. Moreover, He gives us to ‘know’ Heavenly matters which puts the worldly wise to shame.

1 Cor 15:20    But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

     When our Lord Jesus Christ was raised up from the dead, He became the First to resurrect to a Glorious Body. We know that Enoch and Elijah did not die, and that God buried the body of Moses. All others have died, and will continue to die in the flesh, all the way up to our Lord’s coming on the “seventh” angel sounding (Rev.11:15).

1 Cor 15:21    For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22    For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23    But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.

     The power of death started with Adam for breaking God’s Commandment. Except for Elijah, Enoch, and possibly Moses, since then all die. Likewise through Christ’s resurrection, “all” shall be made alive. Yes, that includes the ungodly also, but it does not mean they receive Salvation as one ‘in Christ’. Some of those will still have to make it through Christ’s “thousand years” reign. Many of them will not, as per Revelation 20. Therefore, the phrase “every man in his own order:” means according to God’s Plan of Salvation, not ours. Even as Paul stated in Acts 24 –

Acts 24:14     But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
15    And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

     Look up those KJV terms “just” and “unjust” in your Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. The resurrection of the dead applies to both the ‘righteous’, and to the ‘wicked’. The wicked must be raised also just to stand in front of Christ for Judgment, if not for any other reason (2 Cor.5:10). It’s also important to realize that Satan and his fallen angels only, have already been judged and sentenced to ‘perish’ (Jude 1; Rev.20; Ezek.28:18). Only Christ Jesus has sole Authority to pass judgment unto everlasting damnation, which is the casting of the soul into the ‘lake of fire’, and called the “second death” (Rev.2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8; see also Matthew 10:28; John 5:22).
     It’s easy for those in Christ to fall into the trap of pre-judging the wicked to condemnation of everlasting hell fire, when our Lord has not done so yet. That practice has helped further some of the false traditions which clouds proper understanding of the “resurrection of the dead” per this 1 Corinthians 15 Chapter. Of course those ‘in Christ’ pray and hope for deliverance from the hands of the wicked, but we must be careful about seeking ‘eternal revenge’ which only belongs to God. Other than Satan and his angels, all others are still under our Lord’s warning of being damned to perish in the lake of fire for doing wickedness (Matt.25:37-46). None have yet been cast into that “lake of fire” of Revelation 20:10-15. Am I saying that the truly wicked are going to receive everlasting Life in Christ Jesus? No. I’m saying that we know by The Word which ones have already been judged to perish, i.e. Satan and his evil angels (Matt.25:41). But for all others, we need to restrain our ‘own’ ideas of eternal vengeance upon those not judged by Christ yet. Vengeance belongs to our Heavenly Father, not us (Deut.32:35-43; Ps.94:1; Nahum 1:2; Rom.12:19; Rom.13; Rom.14).
     This does not mean for those in Christ to just lay down either. We are to be a little ‘salty’ for Christ (Matt.5:13). Enforcing God’s Law against the evil, as given to those whom God setup in authority on earth, is still required (Rom.13). But the term ‘to judge’ is often misunderstood within Scripture. A flesh judge of The Law sentencing a murderer to death is not ‘judging’ a ‘soul’ to eternal condemnation in the ‘lake of fire’. Only Christ can judge a soul to perish for the eternity, which is the “second death” (Matt.10:28).

1 Cor 15:24     Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

     This “end” Paul is speaking of here, is the ending of this second world age we are now in today. Christ’s “thousand years” Millennium reign upon earth is included as the last part of this second world age (Rev.20). The beginning of The Father’s Kingdom is the Eternity, and “third heaven”, or third and last world age, which Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 12. That age is when God will make all things new, i.e. the “new heavens and a new earth” as written (Isa.65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13). But first, Christ must reign, putting all enemies under His feet, as per Rev.20 and here in 1 Corinthians 15. So I hope you realize that between that previous 1 Cor.15:23 verse and this 24th verse, there is a long stretch of time. Read these 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 verses in the way our Lord Christ read from Isaiah 61 in the Temple at the start of His Mission as Saviour (Luke 4:16-21).

1 Cor 15:25     For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
26    The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

     Our Lord Christ Jesus will reign, and ‘all’ knees will bow to Him as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Isaiah 45:23; Rom.14:11; Philippians 2:10; Rev.19:16). The final enemy that will be “destroyed“, or vanished (Greek ‘katargeo‘), will be Satan himself, as “Death” is another one of his many titles (Rev.6:8; 1 Cor.15:54). Satan’s destruction along with the wicked is written at the end of Revelation 20, and 21:8. That event is the “second death”, and occurs at the end of Christ’s “thousand years” reign, before He delivers up The Kingdom to The Father for The Eternity.

1 Cor 15:27     For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith, “all things are put under Him”, it is manifest that He is excepted, Which did put all things under Him.

     When it was written in Psalms 8:6 that GOD The Father (YHVH) has put all things under Christ’s feet, The Father Himself is excepted in that, as His Son will reign in Authority over His enemies (Psalms 2; Isaiah 53; John 5:19-23; Eph.1:17-23). That is how The Father has declared Authority over all things, and during that “thousand years” reign of Revelation 20 by Christ Jesus and His elect servants. (See also John 1, as ‘The Word’ is Jesus Christ, and all things were made through Him).

1 Cor 15:28     And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him That put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

     All will be subdued, and bow the knee to Christ Jesus when He reigns upon the earth. All will confess that Christ Jesus is Immanuel ‘God with us’, GOD’s Promised Saviour (Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23). When our Lord Jesus has fulfilled that “thousand years” reign upon earth, then He will deliver The Kingdom to The Father. Our Heavenly Father will then return to this ancient earth which He created (Rev.21:3; Zechariah 8; Ezekiel 48:35).

1 Cor 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?
30    And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

     Don’t let this KJV translation from the Greek confuse you. Keep to the subject Paul has been teaching us on, which is those who refuse the resurrection of the dead, and thus also that GOD raised His Son Christ from the dead. Paul is still mocking those who refused to believe in the resurrection. In so many words, he’s saying, “If you don’t believe that the dead now rise, then you don’t believe that Christ Himself rose from the dead. So what in the world are you baptized in The Name of Christ for? If Christ did not rise, then that is being baptized for the dead!”
     Further, “If you don’t believe that Christ rose, but you still see fit to get baptized in His Name, then why do you suffer ‘jeopardy’ (perils) everyday, if it is for the dead, that is, if you don’t believe Christ rose?” For one not believing that Christ rose, then to get baptized in His Name, it would be doing works in the name of the dead. Boy, ole’ Satan must really love those who would do that! Paul’s rebuke to those at Corinth for listening to those false prophets among them must have really stung them, showing their ignorance on a silver platter even. Imagine today, if a non-believer who refuses that Christ Jesus rose, gets baptized in Christ’s Name!?*@!. (I won’t discuss it here; but it happens.)
     But GOD The Father did raise His Son Jesus Christ up from the dead. Those who believe on Him and are baptized in His Name, suffering dangers in this world to work for Him, are baptized into Life, not death!

1 Cor 15:31     I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32    If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
33    Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

     Paul is saying, “I protest your boasting in tribulations and trials for Christ, since some of you don’t believe Christ rose. But I suffer daily persecutions for Christ Jesus, yet I have His Promise of Life, which some of you have refused!” Moreover, what Paul did suffer through at Ephesus by the children of Satan (“beasts“), because of the work GOD did through him there, would mean nothing, “if the dead rise not”!
     Many of those events of our Lord’s work through Paul at Ephesus was much like the spiritual warfare in the days of Moses against Pharaoh’s false priests. One Demetrius, a silversmith who crafted pagan idols for the false goddess Diana, had a strong contention against our Lord’s Work through Paul (Acts 19:24 forward).
     Truly; don’t be deceived. Companionship with corrupt men has been the ruin of many a good man. Paul and those with him did not go through Ephesus to have companionship with corruptness, but to preach The Gospel of Christ and help our Lord deliver many out of that corruption of false idol worship and associated practices. He knew he was walking literally into the halls of death at Ephesus, and even had prepared in his heart to die, as one already sentenced to death:

2 Cor 1:7     And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
8    For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9    But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God Which raiseth the dead:
10    Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in Whom we trust that He will yet deliver us;

     How could Paul and those with him have such resolve in their hearts against the fear of death? How did they overcome that fear in such a dangerous place? They overcame it through The Blood of Jesus Christ, knowing and believing in His Promise of Life!
     Do you think many of those in Christ who faced death on the battlefield were also helped by our Lord to overcome their fear of death, just as Paul and Christ’s disciples were? Yes, without any doubt whatsoever. Paul knew what the “resurrection of the dead” through Christ Jesus meant. We as belonging to Christ Jesus today, should also.

     I’ll stop here for this study, and pick it up again beginning at 1 Corinthians 15:34, as we will learn more about the “resurrection” in the next Part of this study.

Peace to you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

Maybe you’re a person who sees much hypocrisy among various Church systems of man today, so you delay in coming to Christ?  It could be that you saw this apparent hypocrisy while being raised in a certain Church when young?  Possibly you have a hard time understanding there are those in the Church who don’t always follow what they preach?  Or is it that all the various denomination creeds of, “we don’t do that, or teach that in our Church”, and then you go to a different Church and find, “Yeah, we do that here, and we teach that here”? One Church has music, another one doesn’t. One Church uses many religious icons, another has none. Or maybe you heard certain preachers say something like, “that teaching from The Bible was taught to me by my great-granddad, and if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for me and this congregation”; even though you verified from The Word it clearly didn’t fit Biblical Scripture? Did all of this make you turn away from Christ when you finally got out on your own?
At the same time, possibly you opened up your Bible and read for yourself, without allowing anyone to tell you what It says?  And maybe, just maybe, what you read from Scripture didn’t fit with some of the various Church traditions and creeds being taught by many? And maybe you also noticed that many of those creed Churches keep teaching the ‘same’ Message over and over, never getting down to the ‘meat’ of God’s Word? Could it be that you have a heavy scientific background, with factual working knowledge, or your common sense tells you that this earth is older than the 6000 year myth which many Churches teach? In other words, have you always known there was more to The Word than they were teaching?

If you have experienced this, then you have come to one of the right places to learn why. Some may find this message a little hard to take, and wrongly think I’m attacking the Churches. I am not, nor do I judge my fellow brethren in Christ, for only our Father has that Authority and Power. There are some good Churches which teach God’s Word, instead of relying on men’s traditions, and if you find one, hang on to It. (For the deeper student of God’s Word, this Message is given weight per our Lord Christ’s Messages to the seven Churches in Asia, as five out of seven Churches had problems, while only two kept The Word of His patience. Revelation 2 & 3).

Facts Many Christians Find Hard To Admit

1.)  Many do not have ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’. (Ezek.12:2; Isaiah 6; Isaiah 29:9-14):

Matt 13:10   And the disciples came, and said unto Him, “Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?”
11    He answered and said unto them, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”
12    For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13    Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14    And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias (Greek for Isaiah), which saith, ‘By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15    For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.’ (Jesus quoting from Isaiah 6:9-10).

This lack of having eyes to see and ears to hear is still going on today, as God revealed it would until Christ’s second coming. That Truth is hinted at in Chapter 6 of Isaiah the prophet pointing to Christ Messiah’s second coming. This situation has caused, and is causing some of the many confused doctrines of men to be taught today. Many ‘have to’ just accept what they are told to believe, because they can’t understand The Word for themselves. To some It is given to know, but they can’t find a Church teaching the ‘meat’ of The Word. Maybe this is your situation?  It is not given to everyone to understand The Word; and God has His reasons for it, which can be discovered in Paul’s writings.
This lack of ‘eyes to see…’ by many will eventually lead many Churches today into the ‘one-world religion’, already slowly coming to completion. It’s ultimate king will be none other than Satan, on earth, claiming to be Jesus Christ. It is called, ‘MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH’ (Revelation 17). Many think that false religious system applies to the ‘traditions’ of the Pharisees and Rome. That it will also include many Christian denominations of today, is part of their deception. And because many will be deceived, they don’t know that God is allowing it to happen, with the ‘strong delusion‘ of 2 Thess.2:10-12:

II Th 2:10   And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11    And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12    That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

     The ‘crept in unawares’, who purposefully distort the Truth of God’s Word, cause many who lack ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’ to stumble at The Word of God. False traditions and creeds are then allowed to grow within the various deceived members of Christ’s Body. Traditions such as accepting lifestyles contrary to The Word. Traditions which keep the believer in bondage. And the biggest false tradition of all is not teaching God’s Word chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Those false apostles who have taken over the scholar position of The Word do not wish that God’s Word be taught line by line. The reason is that just by reading God’s Word line by line to the congregation will help expose false doctrines which are not part of God’s Word. Our Father would then be allowed to ‘speak’ to the members of the Body of Christ. False creeds and traditions are conjured up by men and are only ‘based’ on God’s Word. The Word of God then becomes ‘watered down’ without line by line study.

2.)  Many Christians misunderstand God’s warning about false prophets and false apostles whom they allow to creep into various Churches. (Acts 15; Acts 20:29-31; Romans 16:17-18; 2 Corinthians 2:17; Galatians 1:7; 2:4; 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Peter 2; 1 John 4.)

2 Cor 11:2   For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3    But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4    For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Paul was not giving this warning to non-believers, but to the Body of Christ’s believers. Even though Paul was an excellent scholar of The Old Testament, and having been converted directly by Jesus Christ, he was still afraid for those believers in Corinth. He feared that they might be deceived by false apostles and false prophets. In other words, Paul knew it was coming, as revealed by the Old Testament prophets. The spiritual war is not only out in the streets of the world, no; the battle is also right inside Christ’s Church. And today, there are many that are losing that spiritual battle against false prophets and false apostles. Many in the Body of Christ have allowed their minds to be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2 Cor 11:13-15
13    For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14    And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15    Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The word ‘transformed’ is ‘metaschematizo’ in the Greek. It means ‘to transfigure or disguise‘ (Strong’s no.3345). The heart of Paul’s message here is that Satan has some of his own followers ‘disguised’ as ‘ministers of righteousness’, serving among various Churches. It should be obvious today with many of the abominations going on in some Churches, such as the acceptance of the ‘gay’ lifestyle and same sex marriages being performed by ministers; eastern monks chanting in front of the Communion Table of Christ, etc. Romans 1:18 through end, reveals that these abominations are still not acceptable by God. So their false teaching that all Old Testament Law is done away with, gets torn apart even by the New Testament in the Book of Romans.

Acts 20:27   For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
28    Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.
29    For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30    Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31    Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

     Paul gave this warning more than once in his Epistles. Christ gave the same warning with beware of the false prophet who are ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt.7:15). Ezekiel 22 gives this same warning to the ‘house of Israel’. It still applies today, for the ‘house of Israel’ now are the Western Christian nations.
Many university and school systems have been taken over by these false workers of iniquity also. The True Doctrine of Christ is being attacked on every level in our society today, and especially in the various Church systems.
This attack is nothing new today. God warned His People to beware of it. The majority have not listened to God and His Christ, but listen to man’s doctrines instead. This same attack by false ones happened in Old Testament times especially. What makes people so naive to think that attack has stopped today, even after Christ gave that warning for our times?  If you see these deceptions in the various Church systems of man, and know what I’m talking about, and haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior because of it, then read on:

3.)   God has given control of this flesh world to Satan and his children. Because of Satan’s deceptions which God allows, not only non-believers are being duped, but many of the Body of Christ’s believers are being deceived also.

Luke 4:5   And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6    And the devil said unto Him, “All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7    If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.”
8    And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’ “

     The kingdoms of this flesh world have been ‘delivered unto’ Satan, and he is free to operate them. God allows it, again, for His reasons and not ours. Those reasons are also revealed to us in God’s Word (2 Thessalonians 2 for one. The Old Testament prophets give the full picture).
The many ‘flesh’ philosophers in the world live to twist people’s minds away from the reality of evil controlling this world. They try to say there is no God, nor Satan. They bring their doctrine on the doubter in stages. The next step of deception they use is that there is no ‘personal’ God, but mother nature is God. Then you’re ready for the next thought, that the evil in the world is because of man’s ignorance of mother nature’s natural laws. They’re right about one part; the evil is due to ‘ignorance’, but not of their view of law and science, but ignorance of a personal Godhead, The Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit. Their false views prevent God’s Truth from entering the mind and heart.  Just as the choice to accept Jesus Christ as Savior, or not, is up to each person, listening to those world philosophers is each one’s choice also. But let me ask this.  Has the world view helped alleviate the evil on the earth?  Be honest with yourself.  I don’t require a reply.

I Jn 2:16   For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17    And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The word ‘world’ is ‘kosmos’ in the Greek, and it means an orderly arrangement (Strong’s no.2889). It doesn’t mean the earth being utterly destroyed and turned into an asteroid belt. It means this ‘flesh age’ existence will pass away. The flesh existence is going to perish. It is temporary, not eternal. The Spirit of GOD is Eternal, and is Life.

     Many are seeking comfort today with things familiar in their lives. Man has always had this problem with ‘seeing is believing’ according to the flesh. The flesh is the root of this deception. Without it Satan wouldn’t be so successful.  That’s why it is important to turn to Jesus Christ, our Salvation. He will help open your eyes and your heart, so you will receive ‘sight’, and hear with your spiritual ears, and be converted back to God, and be healed.
What then?  Because you may see hypocrisy of man’s creeds and traditions in many Christian Churches, do you deny your own chance at Salvation through Christ?  Because others choose to remain blinded to God’s Truth, does that mean you have to?  Maybe Christ has a Mission for you, since you might be aware of the false traditions happening today. Could you be ready for the New Wine of Mark 2:22?  ‘Old bottles’ are a symbol for traditions of men. Christ was teaching there that the full Word of His Truth, which is the ‘New Wine’, would break those ‘old bottle’ traditions of men if It was put into them. New Wine must go into ‘new bottles’. The ‘new bottles’ are a symbol for those who have not allowed themselves to be conditioned by heeding man’s false traditions. This was also the meaning of Mark 10:15, where only those who receive the Kingdom of God ‘as a little child’ will enter in. A little child has not been conditioned by years of creeds and traditions. So when one hears The Truth of God’s Word, like a little child does when learning from one they trust, they ‘readily’ receive It and understand It. Their ‘flesh understanding’ does not get in the way. Their self-pride is not puffed up from the flesh ideas of man. Christ’s Spirit is then allowed to dwell in them and to reveal His Truth.

Many feel, because of their bad habits and sins they commit in their lives, that Jesus Christ would never accept nor forgive them. Some who are ready and willing to accept our Lord Jesus as Savior, feel they must get their lives under control before they can come to Him. They might even say to themselves, “Jesus would never accept me; I mean, look at all the bad things I’ve done in my life. Every time I just think about what I’ve done in my past, it depresses me.”  All of us, including those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, have done things in our past that we now surely regret. Much of those sins are the way of the flesh, caused by the ‘flesh thinking’. There never will be enough time to get your life together by yourself. It will not happen. There is no Salvation through the flesh, as it is destined to perish. As Paul the Apostle would teach:

Rom 8:5   For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6    For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
(KJV)

That spiritual mind of ‘life and peace’ is not of the flesh, as the flesh will always let us down, falling in sin. All have sinned. None are perfect in the flesh, and this flesh body will still continue to cause sin requiring a further need for repentance through Christ Jesus.

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8    So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
(KJV)

Our spiritual nature in Christ can only be perfect to the Law of God, not our flesh. The flesh always fails in following God’s Law. The fleshy life cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, because it is carnal, and condemned to death.

Rom 8:10   And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11    But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
(KJV)

The flesh body will always fail, as said before, its destiny is to die and perish. The flesh cannot have eternal life and eternal peace (1 Corinthians 15:50). The reason why your soul was placed inside your flesh when you were born, was so you could make a ‘choice’, to either eternal life through Jesus Christ, or to eternal death, which is the casting into the ‘lake of fire’. That’s not a threat, but Truth. Eternal ‘death’ means ‘blotted out’, gone, just like you never ever existed. It can be no other way, as GOD’s Divine Nature is Life and there is no darkness of death in Him, as in the future death will no longer exist (Revelation 21:4). Our heavenly Father does not wish to lose any of His children which He created. That’s why we are all here born in the flesh, and appointed once to die and then the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
When you accept Jesus Christ as The Only One Who can offer Salvation from this bondage state of flesh, believing on Christ as Savior, then His Spirit will begin to dwell in you, quickening your soul and spirit, while you are still walking upon this earth. By His Spirit giving you that ‘quickening’, He gives you strength and peace, to help overcome this evil world of flesh bondage. And it’s yours for the asking.

Rom 10:9   That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10    For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11    For the Scripture saith, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
12    For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [as for Gentiles]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
13    For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.
(KJV)

What Happens When You Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?

       1)   When you realize the flesh always dies, you realize that your flesh cannot save you from its terrible state of death, and that there must be some other Way by a Higher Authority with all Power.

2)   When you believe that Jesus Christ is The Son of God, and GOD’s Savior, you ADMIT He is That Higher Authority with all Power, and there is none else.

3)   When you believe:
A) that Jesus Christ is The Only Begotten Son of God:
B) that He came in the flesh to offer Salvation to all who would only believe;
C) that He only was without sin in the flesh;
D) that He died on the cross and resurrected; and now sits on the right hand of God, and by this act Christ became The Victor over Death;
E) then you recognize that Jesus Christ paid the price for us so that we might obtain Salvation.

4)   When you repent to Jesus Christ, and ask forgiveness, confessing to Him that you are a sinner, and believe that He only has the Power to save you from this flesh state of death, and believe all the previous three statements, then you will have received His offer of Salvation. Then Christ’s Spirit will dwell in you, even now as He promised His (1 John 4; Ephesians 3:14-19).

     These are the steps each must take, and in sincerity, as God knows all hearts and all thoughts. Then after accepting Christ’s offer of Salvation, believing on Him, repenting to Him of yours sins and asking Him forgiveness,then go get baptized in Christ’s Name.
     Our Lord and Savior set the example for us as He Himself was Baptized of water (Matt.3:13-17). So we need to do likewise in obedience to His command (Matt.28:19; Eph.4:4-8; Col.2:11-12; 1 Pet.3:21; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38-39).

John 3:15   That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16    For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17    For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
18    He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

     When Christ begins to spiritually dwell in you, He will help you to gain better control over the flesh. His Holy Spirit will guide and direct you in sincerity and in Truth as you seek Him further. Get to know His Letter called The Word of God. God personally wrote That Letter to you, which The Holy Spirit will help you understand as never before. Remember to ask our Father through His Son Jesus Christ for His Spirit of guidance in your study of His Word.
The offer of Salvation by Christ is given freely, as our Heavenly Father does love us. He wants us to return to Him as ‘sons of God’. Don’t wait until you can get your life in order, going it alone. It won’t happen. The flesh bondage was created to make sure you can’t do your own salvation (Galatians 3:22), ensuring we must rely on Christ Jesus as our Salvation to have eternal Life.

Peace be with you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

This is a question each professing Christian needs to resolve for theirselves in these latter days. It is yet again a time today to test the spirits, as the Apostle John said, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
One of the matters which is again trying to creep into the Churches today is the false doctrine that someone or something other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth can offer Salvation. Some of that false attitude is because of various inter-faith movements springing up within Christian Churches. The inter-faith movement’s intention is to put Christianity on an equal par with all other religions of the world, and thus delegate The Lord Jesus Christ as merely a human flesh prophet, and not “Emmanuel” (Greek for ‘God with us‘ per Matthew 1:23). We know of the prophecy through Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 that many Christian believers would fall away and become apostates in the latter days before the second coming of Christ Jesus. The inter-faith movement, called ecunemicalism, a literal joining in fellowship with other religious ideas outside God’s Word, is designed to lead up to that great falling away from Christ.
The Apostle Peter gave a Message to the rulers and religious leaders in Jerusalem in his day. It’s worth repeating for our times also…

Acts 4:10   Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom ye crucified, Whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11   This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12   Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

     The religious system in Jerusalem during Peter’s day refused The Cornerstone Jesus Christ of Nazareth as God’s Promised Savior “Immanuel” (Isa.7; ‘God with us‘ in Hebrew). Those rulers instead had Jesus The Christ crucified upon a cross that would fulfill prophecy given through David nearly a thousand years earlier (Psalms 22). The religious leaders of Peter’s day refused the “sign” which God gave back in Isaiah’s day, which stated, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel“ (Isa.7:14).
The “sign” of Isaiah 7:14 was first given to a remnant of the house of David at Jerusalem for Isaiah’s time, meaning the king line Promise God made to David of always having one of his offspring established on the earthly throne would remain true (2 Sam.7:8 forward). That Promise especially involves God’s Promised Savior Jesus Christ Immanuel, Who is to eventually sit upon that throne of the house of David, on earth, ruling over all nations with a rod of iron (Gen.49:10; Rev.12:5; Rev.20; Rev.21 & 22; Ps.2). The reign of Jesus Christ of Nazareth “Emmanuel“, on earth at His second coming of the future is also our hope, if we be in Christ. There is none other Name with the “sign” given, that will bring Salvation unto Eternal Life, and it is only for those who believe. That “sign” of Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in Jerusalem when a virgin (Mary) conceived by The Holy Spirit, and God The Son Jesus of Nazareth was born in the flesh (Matthew 1).
So what of the ‘crept in unawares’ which are trying to distort this Truth with doctrines that all religious belief systems lead to the same God? Can the earth save us? Can belief in spirits of trees in the forest, the sea, and the creatures upon this earth save us? Can we even save our own soul unto Salvation? Absolutely not. There is only one true belief whereby we may be saved, and that is on The Promised Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth Who shed His Blood upon the cross, and Who came in the flesh form, being without sin, as God with us on earth, Whom The Father also resurrected to the right hand of His Throne (1 Peter 3:21-22). Only God has The Power to save and can be perfect without sin (Gal.3:22). Such was our Lord Jesus The Christ on earth, and evermore.
What can we say then of the religious leaders today who invite other belief systems into our Christian Churches for the sake of solidarity and world brotherhood? Is that done in hopes that people of other faiths will come to solely believe on The Father through His Son Christ Jesus as we have? Some of them may do that, but that’s not the purpose of trying to join other belief systems with Christianity. Is the inter-faith movement of other faiths trying to join within Christianity in accordance with sound Christian Doctrine? What did the apostle Paul say about this…

2 Cor 6:14    Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

     Christian Doctrine from our Lord Jesus through His servant Paul thus states to not be unequally yoked together with those who refuse Jesus of Nazareth as The Christ. Sadly, that also includes anyone who professes to believe in God but… not specifically on Christ Jesus as God The Savior “Emmanuel“. Just believing there is a God is not enough, for “…the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19).

2 Cor 6:15   And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

     The word “Belial” is of Hebrew origin and is an epithet for Satan. There are many different belief systems in the world with some of them acknowledging there is a God, but at the same time refusing Christ Jesus as The Savior. Don’t be deceived away from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus by falling away to those other faiths, for without The Only Savior Jesus Christ they cannot save. And if they refuse The Savior Jesus Christ, then they definitely have not believed on the same God The Father YHVH and His Son which true Christians have.

2 Cor 6:16   And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
17   Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18   And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

     Paul quoted the above three verses from passages in The Old Testament Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The above is directly from God’s Ten Commandments first given through His servant Moses to His people Israel. Notice here, the apostle Paul made this a Christian Doctrine of Christ’s Church which shall be God’s future and eternal Israel, both a spiritual and a physical Israel in His Kingdom to come.
Some will then say about this, “Well, I don’t see a problem with inviting peoples of other faiths to my Christian Church.” I’m not saying Christians should totally close theirselves off from the world, and nor did Paul or our Lord Jesus teach that. This subject is about joining outside doctrines of the world, even pagan doctrines from other faith systems, in with Christian Doctrine, and still trying to call it Christianity. Our Heavenly Father had a word for those type of places that do that; He used the Hebrew word Beth-aven, which means a house of vanity (Hosea 10). Let the Bethavens go on and deny God’s Holy Writ and try to supplant It with their own truth. But those who remain true to Christ Jesus are not to be swayed by them. Let them say our belief on The Father and The Son is outdated, backward, of the dark ages, etc. In time The Savior Jesus Christ will end their murmurings against true Christians who refuse to fall away to the antichrist/false messiah which the world religious leaders are preparing all nations to worship (Rev.13:11 forward)

Peace be unto you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey

There are several important tools for the English speaking student which will help in getting the most accuracy from The Word. These tools are necessary for the serious student. The goal is what The Old and New Testament Manuscripts teach, not just only the many Bible translations based on The Manuscripts.

King James Authorized Version of 1611

     Although there are many Bible versions for the English speaking student, a 1611 King James Authorized Version should be the ‘final word’, in English. It is somewhat difficult for the new student using the King James Version, however, with time and practice, and the use of study tools, it will be found that the King James is the most reliable translation in English. Since understanding our Father’s Message is the ideal, no other Bible version is recommended for English speaking students. Any other version than the King James Authorized Version of 1611 which is solely used, will take away from the importance of using a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. (If you’ve read my letter on the Massorah, you might be asking yourself about the Companion Bible. The Companion Bible is not a new translation. It contains the King James Authorized Version of 1611.)

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

     This reference gives the English student the ability to take the King James Bible back to the original language manuscripts that the King James translators used. Dr. James Strong performed a great service in providing this work to English speaking students. If you know how to use a standard dictionary, then you can use a Strong’s Concordance. It’s not that difficult.
     It is important, however, to get a Strong’s Version which contains the Hebrew and Greek dictionary Lexicons, for that is where the meat is. Don’t settle for any other version. Another note on getting a copy of a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. There are some new and improved Strong’s editions of late that edit out some of Dr. James Strong’s original work. Beware of that working also. Don’t settle for less than the ‘original’ Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance version that has not been edited.
You may be asking why a Strong’s is important. The original King James Version of 1611 contained a letter of introduction to King James and to the reader pointing out some of the imperfections dealing with that translation. I believe you can still obtain a copy of the original Old English first edition King James Version of 1611, with the italicized words and margin notes, from Thomas Nelson Publishers in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

The Companion Bible

     This is the 1611 King James Version study Bible which I highly recommend. It is not a new translation. As a matter of fact, It contains more of the items in the original King James than any other later printed version. The Companion Bible has outlined ‘structures’ based on the topics of each Biblical Book and Chapter, along the side margins. The structure outlines follow the Biblical Chapters and verse sections so that the student can always follow the current object and subject within Scripture. These structures are from The Holy Spirit, because their ‘order of appearance’ happens in only one form of literature known to man, our Holy Bible.
Another important item contained in The Companion Bible is the Massorah notes. The Massorah are notes within the most reliable original Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts (the manuscripts handed down from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the prophets). These original manuscript notes in Hebrew are found along the sides, top and bottom, and in-between the columns of Hebrew manuscript text. The Massorah has two parts; one to tell the scribe of the Hebrew texts whether their hand written copy is in good order, and the other contained footnotes on the interpretation of Scripture. The Massorah, when consulted, insured the one true understanding of many Old Testament Scriptures.
     Only one English speaking Christian scholar, C.D. Ginsburg, was allowed to compile the Massorah from all the most reliable Old Testament Hebrew manuscripts (they were dispersed in many countries) in a very rare work called, The Massoretico Critical Texts. Many of these Massorah notes are contained in only one study Bible today, and that is The Companion Bible. This version of the 1611 King James also has a wealth of information in the Appendixes that took years of study. This is truly a magnificent Work and only appeared in print again around 1990. I highly recommend It.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon

     Remember all those genealogies in The Word? They have messages too, otherwise God wouldn’t have put them there. The Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon will help in translating Biblical names and places.  Some parts of God’s Word are almost impossible to grasp in the King James without translating the names back to the original languages. Once translated, the message becomes obvious.
For example:  In the Book of Ezra, the House of Judah was returning to Jerusalem out of the captivity of Babylon for 70 years.   When Ezra the prophet got to Jerusalem with the people, he noticed there were no Levite priests that returned, so he sent back word to get Levitical priests.  It was a sad state, because even many Levites, who were commanded to remain pure in their bloodline, had taken wives of the nations and mixed with the Canaanites during the Babylonian captivity.  One particular Levite priest that returned to Jerusalem was named ‘Mahli‘.  The reference Brown Driver & Briggs translation of this Levite priest Mahli is ‘Machliy‘ in the Hebrew, meaning ‘sick‘.   Do you think that’s a coincidence?  Here’s the translation from the Hebrew of another of the Levite priests who returned. Sherebiah, a Levitical priest who returned with Mahli, is ‘Sherebyah‘ in the Hebrew, meaning “Jehovah (Yaweh) has scorched”.  Each of these brought their brethren with them, and you’ll also find that two hundred and twenty Nethinims (given to Temple service), who were of the nations returned along with them. These Nethinims were non-Israelite slave Temple workers assigned to the Levites;  according to God’s Law they weren’t supposed to even be allowed near the altar, and here they were doing the priest’s chores.

Computer Bible Software

     I recommend Bible software written by Biblesoft.  They sell Bible reference software in modules, so you can get what you need, then add on more modules later.  They have all the references mentioned above, and more, except The Companion Bible.  One particular module called The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge is outstanding.   With it you can do a context search from a Biblical verse that will bring up other parts of The Bible based on the subject of that verse, or chapter;  not just on the key word you did the search from.  You can have multiple windows open, compounding search on top of search, and the number of windows open at one time is only limited by computer memory.

The premier Bible Software program is Logos. While it is fairly expensive you get a very large number of resources with it.

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

   This is another reference that will help in translating Biblical names, nouns, and places.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words

     A monumental work by W.E. Vine, which helps the Bible student to learn the meanings of Biblical Hebrew and Greek words.  Many of these are individual ‘word studies’ contained within this work by Vine. An excellent study tool to parallel with Dr. James Strong’s Concordance for The King James Authorized Version of 1611.

The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English

     The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, Sr, the editor and translator, is a copy of the Hebrew Massoretic text manucripts first set in 1866 by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Greek text of The New Testament is the Received Text set by Stephen Austin and Sons for the Trinitarian Bible Society in 1976. It is based on The New Testament in the Original Greek According to the Text Followed in the Authorized Version, edited by F.H.A. Scrivener as published in 1894-1902.
     To better explain just what The Interlinear Bible is, here’s a Preface note from Jay P. Green, Sr. The Interlinear Bible:

     “An interlinear Bible is the next best thing to a formal course in the Hebrew and Greek languages. Until now, however, an interlinear Bible has not been available to students of Scripture who speak English. Through the use of The Interlinear Bible, one can utilize the lexicons, word books, and other aids published during recent decades. One need only learn the Hebrew and Greek alphabets (see page viii), the work of a few hours.” (From The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, Sr., Preface notes.)

by Dave Ramey