Dr. Bennet Lawrence Refutes the Doctrine of Immortality on Earth
Dr. Bennet Lawrence examines 5 'proof texts' commonly used by the Immortality on Earth preachers
1. Introduction:
The Doctrine of Immortality on earth also known as “Everlasting life on earth” is a new teaching spreading like forest fire in recent years. This teaching originated and was quite popular in South Africa but is recently found even in our own backyard, in a few churches in Chennai and other Indian cities. This teaching of Immortality on earth states that when a person believes in Christ he/she receives life from God to the extent that he/she need not experience physical death anymore. The preachers of this new teaching suggest that by believing in this doctrine the believer can skip physical death. The immortality preachers further state that one generation must overcome physical death inorder for Christ to come in all glory (Second Coming). In the below subtitles we shall look at some of their claims and their veracity through careful analyses of the Scripture.
2. Jn 6:49-50: “Not Dying”
Jn 6:49-50 is used by the immortality preachers to stress the point out that Jesus preached immortality on earth. For them, the one who believes in Jesus will not die as he/she will be made immortal in salvation. Jesus says in 6:47, “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” In addition, in 6:48 Jesus identifies himself as the ‘bread of life.’ In 6:49, he says that the forefathers of the Jews ate Manna in the wilderness and they died. However, the one who eats “the bread which comes down out of heaven” WILL NOT DIE but have eternal life (6:50). Jesus further says in v.51 that “if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.” Thus, for the immortality on earth preacher if anyone believes in Jesus he/she will not die but will live forever. For him, the word “die” in 6:50 should not be taken as figurative (eternal death not physical death) but it should be understood literally. One must read few verses before and after 6:50. The same concepts mentioned in 6:47-51 are repeated again in 53-54 which give more clarifications.
Though all these verses mentioned above say similar things, v.54 is the key as it gives more information about living and not dying of vv.47-48. Jn 6:54 says that “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” How? Jesus answers by saying, “I will raise him up on the last day.” My sincere question here is this: how could Jesus raise the one who does not die? (6:50)? If he is not dead he cannot be raised. He must be raised on the last day he must be dead. If so, the phrase “he will not die” does not necessarily mean physical death but eternal death. Therefore, 6:50 should mean like this: “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die, i.e., the eternal death.” The book of John is known for its use of similies and metaphors. One must not literally understand the metaphors which may distort the interpretation. In addition, context determines the meaning rather than the verse taken out of its context.
John is known for his frequent use of imageries, metaphors and similies, etc. Let me show this from this passage itself. Jn 6:50 says that the one who eats the bread will not die. In this verse alone many metaphors are used. Jesus is the Bread. Eating the bread is believing in Jesus Christ (v.40). And how about the verb “to die?” For the immortality preacher this word should be read literally. If this should be read literally how about 6:35? Jesus says in 6:35 that “I am the bread of life he who comes to me will not be HUNGRY and he who believes in me will never be THIRSTY.” If “dying” in 6:50 should be understood literally then we should understand 6:35 also literally. Do the immortality preachers get hungry and thirsty? Then they must not teach about immortality! If “to die” in 6:50 should be taken literally then “hunger” and “thirst” in 6:35 should also be taken literally. If 6:35 should not be taken literally then 6:50 should not also be taken literally.
In addition, in this chapter many times John relates eternal life with raising up the dead on the last day. In 6:39, Jesus says, “This is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me [the believers] I lose nothing, but raise them up on the last day.” Jn 3:16 says that “whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Most immortality on earth preachers use this verse. However, in light of 6:39 this verse should mean something like this: The believing one has eternal life as Jesus will raise him up on the last day. The same thought is explicated better in 6:40: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day.” By believing in Jesus the believer has eternal life, as Jesus himself will raise him up on the last day. Thus, eternal life in Jn 6:40-54 is about resurrection and not about “not dying.” Every verse must be read in its immediate context and in its overall context of the book, not devoid of its context.
The context of 6:49-50 does not suggest that the believer will not die at all. The context suggests that eternal life is connected with the raising up of the dead on the last day. John mentions the raising up of the dead in this passage alone for four times (Jn 6:39, 40, 44, 54). Therefore, the one who believes in Jesus Christ will have eternal life that they will be raised up again on the last day. The similarity (parallelism) of v.50 and 54 validates this hypothesis better. If one eats the bread (Jesus’ flesh and His blood) he will not die in the sense that he will not have eternal death as he will be raised up from death on the last day.
3. John 11:25-26: “He will Never Die”
Jn 11:25-26 is a key passage used frequently by the immortality preachers. In Jn 11:25-26, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25 reiterates the things mentioned in Jn 5:28-29. The ones who believe in Jesus Christ, though they may die they will raise again.
However, 11:26 says that the one who believes will never die. It was already shown that in John the word death need not mean a literal death. To validate this point we must see 11:25 again: The one who believes though he dies will raise again. The very next clause says that the ones who believe will never die. It seems like John is contradicting himself in 11:25 & 26. How could this believing one may die in v.25 and will never die in v.26. Thus, according to v.26 the one who believes will never die. However, according to v. 25 though he may die he will live. How is this possible? The immortality preachers would neglect v.25 and concentrate on v.26. However, a good interpreter of the Bible must take the whole context into consideration.
If v. 25 is taken into consideration then one must assume that dying is a possibility for the believers. If dying is a possibility for the believer then the “never dying” in v.26 need not be literal death. It could have figurative meaning as found in Jn 6:50. In 6:39, 40, 44, 50 & 54 Jesus established the idea clearly that death is compulsory as the believer will be raised again to life. In addition, 5:29 and 11:25 stress again that resurrection of the dead believers is the possibility. If believers can die then the emphatic negation, that believer will never die should not mean literal death. It should be figurative as it is in 6:50.
If for argument sake we assume that this was literal then the immediate context suggests that Martha believed in Jesus (11:27). As Martha believed in Jesus she should have lived eternally without dying. However, Martha is nowhere to be found alive while 11:26 promised that she will never die. If so, either 11:26 must be wrong or it must be talking about some other death other than the literal death. We have seen the earlier verses, like in Jn 6:35-54 that dying is not to be interpreted literally but figuratively. Thus, 11:26’s use of death should also be considered as figurative usage than the literal one. Thus, one cannot assert that the believer will not literally die forever based on Jn 11:25-26.
4. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18: Life Manifestation
Immortality on earth preachers take 2 Cor. 4:7-18 as a proof text for immortality on earth. 2 Cor. 4:10 says, “[we] always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” Through this verse they say that the life of Jesus or life itself is being manifested in Paul’s and his companions’ bodies. Interestingly, the immortality preachers miss something here. First, the death of Jesus works in Paul and his companions as Paul says we are “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus” (v.10a) so that “life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies.” This means, for life has to be manifested death must be manifested first. This is why one must read the whole verse and not just the part of it. Paul clarifies this in the next two verses. In 4:11, he says they are being delivered to death “so that life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Through this, Paul says clearly that for life to manifest in the mortal flesh, i.e., for immortality, death must first be manifested in them. But the immortality preachers only concentrate on life part of the verses doing selective hermeneutics. Interestingly, both the verses talk about death first as the criteria for the manifestation of life.
In addition, Paul also shows in v.12 that death works in us so that life may be granted to the Corinthian believers. For life to come to the believers Paul and his companions may even have to die. This in no way means immortality on earth. These verses strongly speak of mortality and death which were imminent for Paul and his companions so that eternal life (life of Jesus) may be granted to him and to his companions and to the Corinthian believers. Therefore, these verses do not speak about immortality but about eternal life, life after death.
The immortality preachers do not even stress v.14 at all where Paul clearly says that God “who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.” Please note the deliberate use of future tenses in “will raise us” and “will present us with you.” V.14 indicates three things. 1. Paul and his companions will die. 2. Paul and his companions will rise again. 3. The Corinthian believers will also rise again together with Paul as he says God ‘will present us together with you” (v.14).
This thought is taken further in v.16. where he says. “therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” Paul should not lose heart because though the outer man, the body, decays by dying the inner man, the spiritual man, “is being renewed day by day” (16). Thus, though the body dies the inner self is renewed. Thus, this verse also does not talk about immortality but about death. In addition, in v.18, Paul says, “look not at the thing which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Things that are seen is the body, which is temporal and not permanent. The inner self Paul mentioned in v.16 is eternal. Then, Paul clearly shows that “the seen” body dies as it is temporal. Therefore, this verse again does not talk about immortality.
The dichotomy of body and inner self continues in 2 Cor. 5:1 onwards. The immortality on earth preachers say that the “earthly tent” in 5:1 is the body. However, they forget the conditional clause and the presence of “if” in 5:1. If we don’t have “if” in 5:1 it appears like this: “we know the earthly tent which is our house (body) is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” This seems to suggest that our earthly body had already been torn down and that we have a building from God, an eternal body from the heavens. However, the presence of “if” makes the first part conditional for the realization of the second part of the verse. This means, unless the earthly tent is torn down, the building from God, will not come to realization. This again means, unless the earthly body is torn down, dead, the glorified body cannot come down. Thus, 5:1 again talks about dying as the condition for immortality and eternal life.
The immortality on earth preacher continues to use 5:2-4 and show how the present body takes up life by using the phrase “the mortal body swallowed up by life” (v.4). In so doing, he also points out that this swallowing of life is done not by unclothing but by being clothing. This unclothing for him is death. Thus, he points out that this body will not unclothe itself, meaning it will not die but the body will be swallowed up by the glorified body in faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, for him, in the salvation event of the believers, the death is unclothed and life is clothed because of which the believers will not die anymore. However, the immortality preacher does not see the importance of the contextual meaning of “unclothed” rather he eisegetes – puts in an alien meaning to that word and says “unclothed” means death.
In 5:2-4, two interesting vocabularies are used, naked, clothed-unclothed. Paul identifies that this house [the body] groans and longs to be clothed with the dwelling from heaven [the heavenly body] (v.2). This “putting on” will not make us found naked () (5:2). Interestingly, the word naked, , was frequently used by the Hellenistic writers who stressed that in death the soul is stripped () away from the body as the body is left behind in the material world, while the soul alone goes to the afterlife. (Plato, Cratylus 403B; ct. Gorias 523, 524; Phaedo 67DE; cf. 81C; Republic IX 577B, Philo Leg. Alles. II 57, 59, Lucian, Hermotimus 7). Paul addressed this problem in 1 Cor. 6 & 15. In 1 Cor. 6 & 15 the Corinthian believers seemed to believe that the body will not go to heaven as it will be stripped off and thus they seemed to have presumed that they can do anything with the body. Thus, Paul in 1 Cor. 6 & 15 argued vehemently that in resurrection event the mortal body will be transformed to the immortal body (1 Cor. 15:39-44). For this reason, Paul seems to stress this aspect in 2 Cor. 5:2-4 by the analogy of naked and clothed. For Paul, the body is not an element that is stripped off and left behind in this world. It is not unclothed as the Hellenistic writers thought of: soul stripping off the evil body and leaving the mortal body in this world and entering into the afterlife. For Paul, the body is also an integral part of the afterlife that it is not stripped off or unclothed in death but it is swallowed up with the glorified body. Thus, this passage again does not talk about immortality but about the role of the body in its resurrected state after death.
Thus, 2 Cor 4:7-5:4 does not talk about immortality but about death and resurrection where death is an integral part of eternal life. This is stressed again 5:8 & 9 where Paul used the concept of his preference to die with the phrase “be absent from the body.” For Paul, it is better to be absent from the body (5:8). In addition, he wants to please God “whether [by] remaining in this body or [by] being absent from the body” (5:9). Thus, 2 Cor 4:7-5:4 does not talk about life without death but about the death and resurrection where death is an integral part of eternal life. Thus, for Paul, he could please God both by dying and by living. But for the immortality on earth preachers one could only please God by living and not by dying, which is not authenticated in the Scriptures.
5. Dying is Gain: Phil 1:21
The immortality preacher shows the importance of immortality teaching from Phil 1:21 & 22. He points out that for Paul dying is gain (Phil 1:21). However, he identifies that the next verse, v.22 starts with a ‘but,’ which is a big ‘but’ to be missed. For him, this ‘but’ introduces a contradictory statement to that of v.21, which says though dying is gain for Paul (1:21) he wanted to remain in the flesh. Thus, for the immortality preacher living is the better choice for Paul and that as Paul chose to live likewise we must also choose to live and not die.
In Phil 1, Paul talks about his hardships and sufferings. Paul was in imprisonment at the time when he wrote the book (1:7). Though Paul expected to be delivered from the prison (1:19) he says he wants Christ to be exalted in his body both in life or by death (1:20). He says, “according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phi 1:20). For Paul, by both dying and living Christ is exalted. The immortality preacher misses this point. He only concentrates on the ‘but’ of v.22 through which he says for Paul to live was the better choice. However, in v.20 and v.21 Paul says that Christ is exalted even in his death and that dying is gain.
In addition, in this context, it is clear that dying is the better option for Paul. However, at present, he prefers to live for the sake of the Philippian church as he says “But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose” (Phi 1:22). Please note that though he had to stay alive it is called as “fruitful labor” for Paul. This will be fruitful for the church however, it is a labor for Paul (v.22). For Paul, in v.22, even with the ‘but,’ living is not a positive thing. It may bring a positive results for the church but it is a labor for Paul. If living is a labor and dying is a gain how could this be a proof text for immortality on earth?
Paul re-emphasizes this concept in 1:23. He says, he is hard-pressed in both directions to die or to live. Please note that for Paul, both are equal options to choose while the immortality teachers would say dying is the curse and a less desirable one. But for Paul dying is an equal option to the living if not more desirable one, according to 1:23. Moreover, in the next phrase “having desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.” Paul says that dying is not just an equal option but a better option as it is the most desirable one for Paul. Death is most desirable one, for Paul, because in 1:23 he says that by dying he will be with Christ. However, for the sake of the Philippians he had to live a little longer (1:24). This does not mean that living is the better option than dying as the immortality preachers suggest. Living is a less desirable one for Paul as it is labor-some. However, to die is gain and it is more desirable as it paves ways for him to be ultimately close with Christ. Paul does not say in Phil 1:19-25 that the believers need not die. Just because Paul had to prefer living for a little longer as a fruitful labor for the benefit of the church in Philippi we cannot make a doctrine saying that Paul in fact was not desiring death he was considering living without dying as though living is the ultimate blessing. Immortality on earth preachers miss this important aspect of this teaching of Paul in Phil 1, i.e., “Dying is gain.”
6. 1 Th 5:23: “Body be Preserved”
1 Th 5:23 is one other passage another the immortality on earth preacher uses to prove immortality. It says “Now… may your spirit, and soul and body be preserved completely without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This passage is used to show that our “body soul and spirit will be preserved until the coming of the Lord” which means we will not die. The preacher who brags himself of reading the whole chapter must learn to read the whole verse and not just a selection of it. Please notice that in the whole verse the above mentioned clause is just a part of it. The whole verse suggests that God will sanctify the Thessalonian church entirely, and that the body, the soul, and the spirit of the Thessalonians will be preserved without any blame at the coming of the Lord. The immortality preachers take out the phrase “without blame” out of their equation as it is against their hyper-grace teachings. For them, body, soul and spirit must be preserved and so the Christians need not die. This is not what is mentioned by Paul. Paul emphatically says that body, soul and spirit must be kept (or preserved) blameless (or without sin) until the coming of the Lord.
Paul talks about how to keep oneself holy in this context where he says with imperative that “abstain from every form of evil” (5:22). In v.23, Paul says that they must be sanctified and also that their body, soul and spirit be preserved without any blame (without any sin) until the coming of the Lord. The emphasis is not on the preservance of the body until the coming of the Lord. The emphasis is that the whole human being: the body, should and spirit will be preserved holy until the coming of the Lord.
This is validated in its context, in 4:13-5:8 where Paul addresses the problem of the dead people in the church. Like the immorality people some of the Thessalonian believers were worried about the dead people in the church. Paul says in 4:13 that “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” The Thessalonian believers were worried about those who are asleep, the dead. To them Paul says in 4:13-14 that the dead will raise again and that they will precede the ones who are living. Please notice in v.15, Paul says “we, who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep” (4:15). One must note that Paul does not say, “we who are alive will remain until the coming of the Lord.” Paul says “we, the ones alive and remaining until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have died.” This passage says something important. According to Paul, in this passage, until the dead are raised again the living ones will not precede the dead ones in realizing the immortality (4:15). The dead ones must raise again and then only the living ones “will be caught up together with them” to meet the Lord in the air (4:17). It does not say that the living will be transformed into immorality and will not die. The living will be caught up in the midair together with the dead ones who are raised to meet the Lord on the last day. Thus, 1 Thess 4 & 5 again trumps the false teachings of the immortality preachers to show that ‘immortality on earth’ or ‘life without death’ are not given until the dead are risen. As the dead are not risen yet we do not yet possess immortality in the absolute sense.
7. Conclusion:
It is obvious from the above Scriptural analyses that the so-called doctrine of immortality on earth does not hold water when the concerned passages are closely studied in their context. Some preachers are lured into this doctrine as it is attractive and controversial. Indian churches did not equip the next generations in theological education. Thus, a few preachers are lured away into erroneous teachings like immortality on earth. This does not mean that they are not sincere. It is our sincere prayer that these preachers would see God’s word and come back to us and have fellowship with us.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Dr. Arren Bennet Lawrence, holds a Doctor of Philosophy & Master of Theology from Asia Graduate School of Theology Manila, Philippines. He presently serves as the Principal of Salt & Light Bible College, Chennai and also teaches at the Hindustan Bible Institute & College, Madras University – Department of Christian Studies and in local churches.
1. Introduction:
The Doctrine of Immortality on earth also known as “Everlasting life on earth” is a new teaching spreading like forest fire in recent years. This teaching originated and was quite popular in South Africa but is recently found even in our own backyard, in a few churches in Chennai and other Indian cities. This teaching of Immortality on earth states that when a person believes in Christ he/she receives life from God to the extent that he/she need not experience physical death anymore. The preachers of this new teaching suggest that by believing in this doctrine the believer can skip physical death. The immortality preachers further state that one generation must overcome physical death inorder for Christ to come in all glory (Second Coming). In the below subtitles we shall look at some of their claims and their veracity through careful analyses of the Scripture.
2. Jn 6:49-50: “Not Dying”
Jn 6:49-50 is used by the immortality preachers to stress the point out that Jesus preached immortality on earth. For them, the one who believes in Jesus will not die as he/she will be made immortal in salvation. Jesus says in 6:47, “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” In addition, in 6:48 Jesus identifies himself as the ‘bread of life.’ In 6:49, he says that the forefathers of the Jews ate Manna in the wilderness and they died. However, the one who eats “the bread which comes down out of heaven” WILL NOT DIE but have eternal life (6:50). Jesus further says in v.51 that “if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.” Thus, for the immortality on earth preacher if anyone believes in Jesus he/she will not die but will live forever. For him, the word “die” in 6:50 should not be taken as figurative (eternal death not physical death) but it should be understood literally. One must read few verses before and after 6:50. The same concepts mentioned in 6:47-51 are repeated again in 53-54 which give more clarifications.
Though all these verses mentioned above say similar things, v.54 is the key as it gives more information about living and not dying of vv.47-48. Jn 6:54 says that “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” How? Jesus answers by saying, “I will raise him up on the last day.” My sincere question here is this: how could Jesus raise the one who does not die? (6:50)? If he is not dead he cannot be raised. He must be raised on the last day he must be dead. If so, the phrase “he will not die” does not necessarily mean physical death but eternal death. Therefore, 6:50 should mean like this: “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die, i.e., the eternal death.” The book of John is known for its use of similies and metaphors. One must not literally understand the metaphors which may distort the interpretation. In addition, context determines the meaning rather than the verse taken out of its context.
John is known for his frequent use of imageries, metaphors and similies, etc. Let me show this from this passage itself. Jn 6:50 says that the one who eats the bread will not die. In this verse alone many metaphors are used. Jesus is the Bread. Eating the bread is believing in Jesus Christ (v.40). And how about the verb “to die?” For the immortality preacher this word should be read literally. If this should be read literally how about 6:35? Jesus says in 6:35 that “I am the bread of life he who comes to me will not be HUNGRY and he who believes in me will never be THIRSTY.” If “dying” in 6:50 should be understood literally then we should understand 6:35 also literally. Do the immortality preachers get hungry and thirsty? Then they must not teach about immortality! If “to die” in 6:50 should be taken literally then “hunger” and “thirst” in 6:35 should also be taken literally. If 6:35 should not be taken literally then 6:50 should not also be taken literally.
In addition, in this chapter many times John relates eternal life with raising up the dead on the last day. In 6:39, Jesus says, “This is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me [the believers] I lose nothing, but raise them up on the last day.” Jn 3:16 says that “whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Most immortality on earth preachers use this verse. However, in light of 6:39 this verse should mean something like this: The believing one has eternal life as Jesus will raise him up on the last day. The same thought is explicated better in 6:40: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day.” By believing in Jesus the believer has eternal life, as Jesus himself will raise him up on the last day. Thus, eternal life in Jn 6:40-54 is about resurrection and not about “not dying.” Every verse must be read in its immediate context and in its overall context of the book, not devoid of its context.
The context of 6:49-50 does not suggest that the believer will not die at all. The context suggests that eternal life is connected with the raising up of the dead on the last day. John mentions the raising up of the dead in this passage alone for four times (Jn 6:39, 40, 44, 54). Therefore, the one who believes in Jesus Christ will have eternal life that they will be raised up again on the last day. The similarity (parallelism) of v.50 and 54 validates this hypothesis better. If one eats the bread (Jesus’ flesh and His blood) he will not die in the sense that he will not have eternal death as he will be raised up from death on the last day.
3. John 11:25-26: “He will Never Die”
Jn 11:25-26 is a key passage used frequently by the immortality preachers. In Jn 11:25-26, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25 reiterates the things mentioned in Jn 5:28-29. The ones who believe in Jesus Christ, though they may die they will raise again.
However, 11:26 says that the one who believes will never die. It was already shown that in John the word death need not mean a literal death. To validate this point we must see 11:25 again: The one who believes though he dies will raise again. The very next clause says that the ones who believe will never die. It seems like John is contradicting himself in 11:25 & 26. How could this believing one may die in v.25 and will never die in v.26. Thus, according to v.26 the one who believes will never die. However, according to v. 25 though he may die he will live. How is this possible? The immortality preachers would neglect v.25 and concentrate on v.26. However, a good interpreter of the Bible must take the whole context into consideration.
If v. 25 is taken into consideration then one must assume that dying is a possibility for the believers. If dying is a possibility for the believer then the “never dying” in v.26 need not be literal death. It could have figurative meaning as found in Jn 6:50. In 6:39, 40, 44, 50 & 54 Jesus established the idea clearly that death is compulsory as the believer will be raised again to life. In addition, 5:29 and 11:25 stress again that resurrection of the dead believers is the possibility. If believers can die then the emphatic negation, that believer will never die should not mean literal death. It should be figurative as it is in 6:50.
If for argument sake we assume that this was literal then the immediate context suggests that Martha believed in Jesus (11:27). As Martha believed in Jesus she should have lived eternally without dying. However, Martha is nowhere to be found alive while 11:26 promised that she will never die. If so, either 11:26 must be wrong or it must be talking about some other death other than the literal death. We have seen the earlier verses, like in Jn 6:35-54 that dying is not to be interpreted literally but figuratively. Thus, 11:26’s use of death should also be considered as figurative usage than the literal one. Thus, one cannot assert that the believer will not literally die forever based on Jn 11:25-26.
4. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18: Life Manifestation
Immortality on earth preachers take 2 Cor. 4:7-18 as a proof text for immortality on earth. 2 Cor. 4:10 says, “[we] always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” Through this verse they say that the life of Jesus or life itself is being manifested in Paul’s and his companions’ bodies. Interestingly, the immortality preachers miss something here. First, the death of Jesus works in Paul and his companions as Paul says we are “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus” (v.10a) so that “life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies.” This means, for life has to be manifested death must be manifested first. This is why one must read the whole verse and not just the part of it. Paul clarifies this in the next two verses. In 4:11, he says they are being delivered to death “so that life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Through this, Paul says clearly that for life to manifest in the mortal flesh, i.e., for immortality, death must first be manifested in them. But the immortality preachers only concentrate on life part of the verses doing selective hermeneutics. Interestingly, both the verses talk about death first as the criteria for the manifestation of life.
In addition, Paul also shows in v.12 that death works in us so that life may be granted to the Corinthian believers. For life to come to the believers Paul and his companions may even have to die. This in no way means immortality on earth. These verses strongly speak of mortality and death which were imminent for Paul and his companions so that eternal life (life of Jesus) may be granted to him and to his companions and to the Corinthian believers. Therefore, these verses do not speak about immortality but about eternal life, life after death.
The immortality preachers do not even stress v.14 at all where Paul clearly says that God “who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.” Please note the deliberate use of future tenses in “will raise us” and “will present us with you.” V.14 indicates three things. 1. Paul and his companions will die. 2. Paul and his companions will rise again. 3. The Corinthian believers will also rise again together with Paul as he says God ‘will present us together with you” (v.14).
This thought is taken further in v.16. where he says. “therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” Paul should not lose heart because though the outer man, the body, decays by dying the inner man, the spiritual man, “is being renewed day by day” (16). Thus, though the body dies the inner self is renewed. Thus, this verse also does not talk about immortality but about death. In addition, in v.18, Paul says, “look not at the thing which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Things that are seen is the body, which is temporal and not permanent. The inner self Paul mentioned in v.16 is eternal. Then, Paul clearly shows that “the seen” body dies as it is temporal. Therefore, this verse again does not talk about immortality.
The dichotomy of body and inner self continues in 2 Cor. 5:1 onwards. The immortality on earth preachers say that the “earthly tent” in 5:1 is the body. However, they forget the conditional clause and the presence of “if” in 5:1. If we don’t have “if” in 5:1 it appears like this: “we know the earthly tent which is our house (body) is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” This seems to suggest that our earthly body had already been torn down and that we have a building from God, an eternal body from the heavens. However, the presence of “if” makes the first part conditional for the realization of the second part of the verse. This means, unless the earthly tent is torn down, the building from God, will not come to realization. This again means, unless the earthly body is torn down, dead, the glorified body cannot come down. Thus, 5:1 again talks about dying as the condition for immortality and eternal life.
The immortality on earth preacher continues to use 5:2-4 and show how the present body takes up life by using the phrase “the mortal body swallowed up by life” (v.4). In so doing, he also points out that this swallowing of life is done not by unclothing but by being clothing. This unclothing for him is death. Thus, he points out that this body will not unclothe itself, meaning it will not die but the body will be swallowed up by the glorified body in faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, for him, in the salvation event of the believers, the death is unclothed and life is clothed because of which the believers will not die anymore. However, the immortality preacher does not see the importance of the contextual meaning of “unclothed” rather he eisegetes – puts in an alien meaning to that word and says “unclothed” means death.
In 5:2-4, two interesting vocabularies are used, naked, clothed-unclothed. Paul identifies that this house [the body] groans and longs to be clothed with the dwelling from heaven [the heavenly body] (v.2). This “putting on” will not make us found naked () (5:2). Interestingly, the word naked, , was frequently used by the Hellenistic writers who stressed that in death the soul is stripped () away from the body as the body is left behind in the material world, while the soul alone goes to the afterlife. (Plato, Cratylus 403B; ct. Gorias 523, 524; Phaedo 67DE; cf. 81C; Republic IX 577B, Philo Leg. Alles. II 57, 59, Lucian, Hermotimus 7). Paul addressed this problem in 1 Cor. 6 & 15. In 1 Cor. 6 & 15 the Corinthian believers seemed to believe that the body will not go to heaven as it will be stripped off and thus they seemed to have presumed that they can do anything with the body. Thus, Paul in 1 Cor. 6 & 15 argued vehemently that in resurrection event the mortal body will be transformed to the immortal body (1 Cor. 15:39-44). For this reason, Paul seems to stress this aspect in 2 Cor. 5:2-4 by the analogy of naked and clothed. For Paul, the body is not an element that is stripped off and left behind in this world. It is not unclothed as the Hellenistic writers thought of: soul stripping off the evil body and leaving the mortal body in this world and entering into the afterlife. For Paul, the body is also an integral part of the afterlife that it is not stripped off or unclothed in death but it is swallowed up with the glorified body. Thus, this passage again does not talk about immortality but about the role of the body in its resurrected state after death.
Thus, 2 Cor 4:7-5:4 does not talk about immortality but about death and resurrection where death is an integral part of eternal life. This is stressed again 5:8 & 9 where Paul used the concept of his preference to die with the phrase “be absent from the body.” For Paul, it is better to be absent from the body (5:8). In addition, he wants to please God “whether [by] remaining in this body or [by] being absent from the body” (5:9). Thus, 2 Cor 4:7-5:4 does not talk about life without death but about the death and resurrection where death is an integral part of eternal life. Thus, for Paul, he could please God both by dying and by living. But for the immortality on earth preachers one could only please God by living and not by dying, which is not authenticated in the Scriptures.
5. Dying is Gain: Phil 1:21
The immortality preacher shows the importance of immortality teaching from Phil 1:21 & 22. He points out that for Paul dying is gain (Phil 1:21). However, he identifies that the next verse, v.22 starts with a ‘but,’ which is a big ‘but’ to be missed. For him, this ‘but’ introduces a contradictory statement to that of v.21, which says though dying is gain for Paul (1:21) he wanted to remain in the flesh. Thus, for the immortality preacher living is the better choice for Paul and that as Paul chose to live likewise we must also choose to live and not die.
In Phil 1, Paul talks about his hardships and sufferings. Paul was in imprisonment at the time when he wrote the book (1:7). Though Paul expected to be delivered from the prison (1:19) he says he wants Christ to be exalted in his body both in life or by death (1:20). He says, “according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phi 1:20). For Paul, by both dying and living Christ is exalted. The immortality preacher misses this point. He only concentrates on the ‘but’ of v.22 through which he says for Paul to live was the better choice. However, in v.20 and v.21 Paul says that Christ is exalted even in his death and that dying is gain.
In addition, in this context, it is clear that dying is the better option for Paul. However, at present, he prefers to live for the sake of the Philippian church as he says “But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose” (Phi 1:22). Please note that though he had to stay alive it is called as “fruitful labor” for Paul. This will be fruitful for the church however, it is a labor for Paul (v.22). For Paul, in v.22, even with the ‘but,’ living is not a positive thing. It may bring a positive results for the church but it is a labor for Paul. If living is a labor and dying is a gain how could this be a proof text for immortality on earth?
Paul re-emphasizes this concept in 1:23. He says, he is hard-pressed in both directions to die or to live. Please note that for Paul, both are equal options to choose while the immortality teachers would say dying is the curse and a less desirable one. But for Paul dying is an equal option to the living if not more desirable one, according to 1:23. Moreover, in the next phrase “having desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.” Paul says that dying is not just an equal option but a better option as it is the most desirable one for Paul. Death is most desirable one, for Paul, because in 1:23 he says that by dying he will be with Christ. However, for the sake of the Philippians he had to live a little longer (1:24). This does not mean that living is the better option than dying as the immortality preachers suggest. Living is a less desirable one for Paul as it is labor-some. However, to die is gain and it is more desirable as it paves ways for him to be ultimately close with Christ. Paul does not say in Phil 1:19-25 that the believers need not die. Just because Paul had to prefer living for a little longer as a fruitful labor for the benefit of the church in Philippi we cannot make a doctrine saying that Paul in fact was not desiring death he was considering living without dying as though living is the ultimate blessing. Immortality on earth preachers miss this important aspect of this teaching of Paul in Phil 1, i.e., “Dying is gain.”
6. 1 Th 5:23: “Body be Preserved”
1 Th 5:23 is one other passage another the immortality on earth preacher uses to prove immortality. It says “Now… may your spirit, and soul and body be preserved completely without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This passage is used to show that our “body soul and spirit will be preserved until the coming of the Lord” which means we will not die. The preacher who brags himself of reading the whole chapter must learn to read the whole verse and not just a selection of it. Please notice that in the whole verse the above mentioned clause is just a part of it. The whole verse suggests that God will sanctify the Thessalonian church entirely, and that the body, the soul, and the spirit of the Thessalonians will be preserved without any blame at the coming of the Lord. The immortality preachers take out the phrase “without blame” out of their equation as it is against their hyper-grace teachings. For them, body, soul and spirit must be preserved and so the Christians need not die. This is not what is mentioned by Paul. Paul emphatically says that body, soul and spirit must be kept (or preserved) blameless (or without sin) until the coming of the Lord.
Paul talks about how to keep oneself holy in this context where he says with imperative that “abstain from every form of evil” (5:22). In v.23, Paul says that they must be sanctified and also that their body, soul and spirit be preserved without any blame (without any sin) until the coming of the Lord. The emphasis is not on the preservance of the body until the coming of the Lord. The emphasis is that the whole human being: the body, should and spirit will be preserved holy until the coming of the Lord.
This is validated in its context, in 4:13-5:8 where Paul addresses the problem of the dead people in the church. Like the immorality people some of the Thessalonian believers were worried about the dead people in the church. Paul says in 4:13 that “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” The Thessalonian believers were worried about those who are asleep, the dead. To them Paul says in 4:13-14 that the dead will raise again and that they will precede the ones who are living. Please notice in v.15, Paul says “we, who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep” (4:15). One must note that Paul does not say, “we who are alive will remain until the coming of the Lord.” Paul says “we, the ones alive and remaining until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have died.” This passage says something important. According to Paul, in this passage, until the dead are raised again the living ones will not precede the dead ones in realizing the immortality (4:15). The dead ones must raise again and then only the living ones “will be caught up together with them” to meet the Lord in the air (4:17). It does not say that the living will be transformed into immorality and will not die. The living will be caught up in the midair together with the dead ones who are raised to meet the Lord on the last day. Thus, 1 Thess 4 & 5 again trumps the false teachings of the immortality preachers to show that ‘immortality on earth’ or ‘life without death’ are not given until the dead are risen. As the dead are not risen yet we do not yet possess immortality in the absolute sense.
It is obvious from the above Scriptural analyses that the so-called doctrine of immortality on earth does not hold water when the concerned passages are closely studied in their context. Some preachers are lured into this doctrine as it is attractive and controversial. Indian churches did not equip the next generations in theological education. Thus, a few preachers are lured away into erroneous teachings like immortality on earth. This does not mean that they are not sincere. It is our sincere prayer that these preachers would see God’s word and come back to us and have fellowship with us.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Dr. Arren Bennet Lawrence, holds a Doctor of Philosophy & Master of Theology from Asia Graduate School of Theology Manila, Philippines. He presently serves as the Principal of Salt & Light Bible College, Chennai and also teaches at the Hindustan Bible Institute & College, Madras University – Department of Christian Studies and in local churches.
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