What the reader should understand is that Dave is FORCED and
BOUND by his love of the preterist doctrine, to deny that the
body which is sown, is the one raised (1 Cor. 15), that our
"vile body" is the one "changed" to the likeness of Christ's
(Php. 3:21), and that he is a "fool" for not discerning it is
only that which "die[s]" that can be "quickened" (1 Cor.
15:36). Why?
Simple. If Dave allows, under any circumstances, that the
resurrection is, in fact a resurrection of the body which died
and was sown, it instantly and irreparably destroys his entire
system of preterist beliefs. The saints bodies did not come
out of the grave in A.D. 70, and haven't at any time since!
Futurists do not deny a spiritual quickening, or it's
importance. It's just they don't deny there is also a bodily
resurrection, like preterists.
1) The quickening mentioned in Ephesians is entirely
spiritual, and has no effect on your body whatsoever:
Ephesians 2
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and
sins;
Futurists do not deny or minimize the importance of this
quickening, simply by acknowledging there will also be a
bodily resurrection!
2) The Bible also speaks of a resurrection of the physical
body which died and was sown in the ground.
1 Corinthians 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?
13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is
Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain.
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.
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.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable.
[1 Christ was not an unbeliever before he rose from the dead.
His resurrection was therefore not the resurrection of a
spiritually dead soul, but of the body in which He died.]
[2 Christ rose bodily, from the grave, in a glorified
transformation of the body that was sown. He showed the
disciples His hands and feet, and asked Thomas to thrust his
hand into His side (John 10:25-27). The body that died is the
one which rose, transformed, into a new and glorious,
spiritual body, yet had "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39).
[3 Our hope of being raised is based on the model of Christ
being raised, and that was a physical, bodily resurrection of
the body that died, yet which was transformed.]
[4 Look at verse 19! People who were already believers had
the "hope" of the resurrection! They were already spiritually
quickened, yet they still hoped to be raised from the dead!
They were not, at that point, hoping to be raised from
spiritual death, but from physical corruption!]
35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and
with what body do they come?
36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except
it die:
[1 The question, right here, is with what kind of "body" do
the dead rise? The answer is, You "fool". Not only is it the
body which dies, which is quickened, it "is _NOT_ quickened",
"_EXCEPT_ it die" (emphasis mine). You can't "raise"
something from the dead, IF IT ISN'T DEAD. A spiritual,
glorified body was NEVER DEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE. Therefore,
such a glorified body COULD NOT BE RAISED FROM THE "DEAD".]
[2 It is "that which thou sowest", which is quickened. Did
you get that? The body you put in the ground, IS the body
which is made alive! If the body that you sowed just lay
there corrupting, while a second, completely different body is
added, then that is NOT WHAT YOU SOWED.
Dave talks about some "shell" that falls away, as if the body
is only the shell of the seed. But is that what the passage
says? No, the body IS the seed, not the "shell" of a seed.
When you put a "seed" into the ground, it is the "seed" which
transforms into a plant. You dont' have a second plant body
coming out of nothing, while the seed lay dormant in the
ground!
Yet that's the idea Dave, is proposing, is that the dead body
never does rise! Rather, he claims a second, spiritual body
that's invisible, constitutes the resurrection body, and that
the first one just continues to lay there corrupting in the
grave. To do so, he has to invent ideas, change the meaning
of things, and insert words into the passage which aren't even
there!
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:
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.
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.
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:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
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.
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.
[1 AGAIN AND AGAIN, it says "IT IS SOWN...IT IS RAISED". It
_IS_ the "BODY" which is sown into the ground, which is raised
(emphasis mine)!
Dave tries to confuse the fact that the resurrected body is
different than it was when it was sown, with the lie that it
is therefore a completely different, second body, while the
first one lay corrupting in the grave! That's not what the
passage says! When you plant a seed, the seed doesn't lay
there dormant and dead, while the plant grows out of nothing
at all, in a separate location! It IS the seed itself, which
is sown, which transforms into a new kind of plant body!
[2 Even here in Corinthians 15, it says our resurrected body
will be like Christ's resurrected body. We shall "bear the
image" of the heavenly. Throughout 1 Corinthians 15, Christ's
resurrection serves as a model and basis of hope for the
resurrection of people who were already, spiritually, new
creatures!
3) Our resurrected bodies will be LIKE Christ's resurrected
body:
Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may
be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself.
[A) It is our "vile body" that shall be "changed". It doesn't
say a second, completely different body will be added, while
the vile body lay corrupting in the grave, but that our "vile
body" shall be "changed".]
[B) Our "vile body" shall "change" and " be fashioned "LIKE
UNTO" Christ's body! That means our current, vile bodies will
be changed and transformed into a glorified, spiritual body,
which is LIKE UNTO Christ's glorified spiritual body.
[C) There is absolutely no basis, whatsoever, for the idea
that the resurrection of believers will be so radically
different from Christ's, as to not even include the
resurrection of their dead body!]
3) Christ rose in a glorified version of the body in which He
died, including "flesh and bones":
Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:
handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as
ye see me have.
[Christ rose in a glorified version of the body in which He
died. The fact it is a spiritual body doesn't mean it cannot
also have "flesh and bones", be visible, and be touched and
felt by humans. And it was! Our body will be like His!]
Conclusion:
1) There is _ABSOLUTELY_ *NO* mistaking the fact it is the
"VILE BODY" in which you "DIE", and which is SOWN in the
ground, which is QUICKENED, and CHANGED to a new, glorious
body. "Thou fool"...there cannot be a quickening, or
resurrection of something, UNLESS _IT_ DIE. It _MUST_ be the
"BODY" which "DIE", which you SOW into the ground, which is
"CHANGED" and "RAISED", or else it ISN'T A RESURRECTION FROM
THE DEAD!
2) This body will be "like" Christ's, bearing the image of the
heavenly, and will therefore include "flesh and bones", just
as His did.
3) Preterism _MUST_ deny the dead body sown in the ground is
the one raised, because THERE WAS NO MASS BODILY RESURRECTION
IN A.D. 70, and there are STILL BELIEVERS DYING ALL THE
TIME!!! If preterists allow there is a bodily resurrection of
the dead bodies out of the grave, their whole system of lies
becomes exposed and comes crashing to the ground! Preterists
are FORCED and BOUND by the love of their own system of lies,
to deny the body sown is the one raised from the dead,
regardless of what the Bible says, no matter what lies they
have to tell to sustain their pet heresy!
--
Christ died for our sins, and God raised Him from the dead.
Rely on this work alone to escape hell and receive eternal
life (Jn. 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:1-3; Eph. 2:8-10; 2 Thess. 1:8-9).
.
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