I found this substack article insightful. It offers a compelling reconciliation of the Apostle's Creed with Jesus' promise to the penitent thief that He would be with him in paradise. Be blessed!
Simply put. When one dies they “sleep” until their resurrection. They neither go to heaven or hell. There are 3 resurrections in the Bible #1 the Firstfruits who have died in the faith, who become the Bride of Christ at His(2nd)Coming then the rest who have died (all of mankind who were never called) lived not again until the end of the millennium, which is the 2nd resurrection, is when all will have their first opportunity to know the Truth of God to accept Christ as their Saviour and to choose or reject the symbolic Tree of Life. The 3rd resurrection is for all who have rejected their Firstfruit calling (and the 50% of the Laodiceans who do not repent in the coming Great Tribulation) and are cast into the lake of fire, which is the 2nd death, to be as if they never were. Not in an eternal life in hell, that is a diabolical myth! That has been concocted by a false traditional christianity!!!
Now, when Christ died he was dead ( slept) for 3 days & 3 nights as prophesied. And then Resurrected, he had not yet ascended to the 3rd Heaven to be received unto God the Father.
The “thief” will not meet with Christ in “paradise” until he is resurrected when he comes up in the 2nd resurrection, After Christ has reigned 1000 years as the King of Kings over the whole earth when The Kingdom has been established for a Millennium. It’s all 100% Scriptural and each in their own order. Prove all things….
“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”
Unfortunately there are a lot of misconceptions here. Do we trust the Bible or do we prefer imaginary stories?
The strange idea that Jesus was still alive when he was dead is without biblical merit.
We know from 1Pet 3:18 what happened.
> For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.
He died as flesh. He was raised in the spirit. Between the two he was dead, having surrendered his spirit to the Father at his death.
v19 in which he went and proclaimedd to the spirits in prison
He went to the spirits in prison in the spirit in which he was raised. AFTER he was raised, not before.
That’s one matter, there are several more but we’ll see what happens next.
Do we care for truth out of the Bible or are we willing to make it up as we go?
Wayne Grudem, one of the premier theologians of our time, states very clearly that the Bible doesn’t say anywhere that “he descended into hell”. When Jesus tells the thief on the cross that “today you will be with me in paradise”, every other use of that word paradise in scripture means “heaven”, not some less-tormenting place in hell! When Jesus says “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”, (Luke23:46) he clearly has the expectation that he will be reunited with his father now, not in 3 days from now. Please see more details in Wayne Grudem’s book: “He did not descend into Hell: A Plea to follow Scripture instead of the Apostles Creed.”
4 commentaries that I referenced say that Eph 4 is a reference to when Jesus went from the the heavenly realm to the earth and took on flesh in the incarnation. 🤷🏼♂️
Michael, great clarification... I just shared it.
Hey thanks Jim! Hope you’re doing well brother
I found this substack article insightful. It offers a compelling reconciliation of the Apostle's Creed with Jesus' promise to the penitent thief that He would be with him in paradise. Be blessed!
Great examination of the subject
I’ve never heard an explanation like this. It’s so helpful. Thank you!
🌐 ☦️ 🪨 🎣 ✨⛪
The devil, death and hell took the bait.....
....Jesus smashed the gates⛓️🚪 & locks! 🔓🗝️
🎶 CHRIST IS RISEN from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs, bestowing LIFE! 📯🎵 🔔 📖 📣
Haha that’s impressive!
4th century 🌍
Simply put. When one dies they “sleep” until their resurrection. They neither go to heaven or hell. There are 3 resurrections in the Bible #1 the Firstfruits who have died in the faith, who become the Bride of Christ at His(2nd)Coming then the rest who have died (all of mankind who were never called) lived not again until the end of the millennium, which is the 2nd resurrection, is when all will have their first opportunity to know the Truth of God to accept Christ as their Saviour and to choose or reject the symbolic Tree of Life. The 3rd resurrection is for all who have rejected their Firstfruit calling (and the 50% of the Laodiceans who do not repent in the coming Great Tribulation) and are cast into the lake of fire, which is the 2nd death, to be as if they never were. Not in an eternal life in hell, that is a diabolical myth! That has been concocted by a false traditional christianity!!!
Now, when Christ died he was dead ( slept) for 3 days & 3 nights as prophesied. And then Resurrected, he had not yet ascended to the 3rd Heaven to be received unto God the Father.
The “thief” will not meet with Christ in “paradise” until he is resurrected when he comes up in the 2nd resurrection, After Christ has reigned 1000 years as the King of Kings over the whole earth when The Kingdom has been established for a Millennium. It’s all 100% Scriptural and each in their own order. Prove all things….
What are your thoughts on the risen dead that were seen on the earth at that time?
Oh, I believe it for sure. I am just curious about the reason for it.
Scripture helps to explain this ….
“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”
1 Peter 3:18-20
Psalm 16 and Zechariah 3 read together says a lot to clarify what Jesus did over the 2 days. Yes, Sheol but wasnt left abandoned there (Ps 16) because He has a meeting to attend the next day (Zech 3). http://ungrammaticalmessage.com/2024/06/11/zechariah-3-what-happened-after-jesus-died/
Unfortunately there are a lot of misconceptions here. Do we trust the Bible or do we prefer imaginary stories?
The strange idea that Jesus was still alive when he was dead is without biblical merit.
We know from 1Pet 3:18 what happened.
> For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.
He died as flesh. He was raised in the spirit. Between the two he was dead, having surrendered his spirit to the Father at his death.
v19 in which he went and proclaimedd to the spirits in prison
He went to the spirits in prison in the spirit in which he was raised. AFTER he was raised, not before.
That’s one matter, there are several more but we’ll see what happens next.
Do we care for truth out of the Bible or are we willing to make it up as we go?
Wayne Grudem, one of the premier theologians of our time, states very clearly that the Bible doesn’t say anywhere that “he descended into hell”. When Jesus tells the thief on the cross that “today you will be with me in paradise”, every other use of that word paradise in scripture means “heaven”, not some less-tormenting place in hell! When Jesus says “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”, (Luke23:46) he clearly has the expectation that he will be reunited with his father now, not in 3 days from now. Please see more details in Wayne Grudem’s book: “He did not descend into Hell: A Plea to follow Scripture instead of the Apostles Creed.”
Perhaps Grudem, ironically, needs to read more systematically.
Thanks for the scripture Phil.
4 commentaries that I referenced say that Eph 4 is a reference to when Jesus went from the the heavenly realm to the earth and took on flesh in the incarnation. 🤷🏼♂️