Not Fearing Death Takes:
- Truth
“Someone will ask, “How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?” You fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies. And what you plant is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up. God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body.And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies. The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.” 1 Corinthians 15:35-42 GNT
Two Types of Foolishness:
- Those who choose not to believe because it is too difficult
- Those who choose to stay ignorant by not studying the Bible and what it has to say about death and the afterlife
- Knowledge
“This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong. When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body. For the scripture says, “The first man, Adam, was created a living being”; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit. It is not the spiritual that comes first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven. Those who belong to the earth are like the one who was made of earth; those who are of heaven are like the one who came from heaven. Just as we wear the likeness of the man made of earth, so we will wear the likeness of the Man from heaven.” 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 GNT
- Understanding
“What I mean, friends, is that what is made of flesh and blood cannot share in God’s Kingdom, and what is mortal cannot possess immortality.Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed.For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die.” 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 GNT
Eternal Salvation Must be Understood in Three Tenses:
- Past tense = Justification
“Therefore, since we have beendeclared righteous (Justified) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2 CSB
- Present tense = Sanctification
“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being madeholy.” Hebrews 10:14 NIV
- Future tense = Glorification
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transformour lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Philippians 3:20-21 NIV
- Confidence
“So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!” “Where, Death, is your victory?Where, Death, is your power to hurt?”Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets its power from the Law.” 1 Corinthians 15:54-56 GNT
- For the believer death is just a door way (2 Corinthians 5:8)
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” Psalm 116:15 NIV
- Focus
“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21 CSB