Auxano Ministry
By the grace of God I am what I am:
1 Cor. 15:10a
God’s Gospel
Hades is the Devil
In God’s Word believing appropriates what is available right now. In God’s Word hope is believing for that which is not yet available but promised by God. Genuine hope is only directed toward God because God is the God of Hope. God of Hope is a genitive of origin, all authentic hope is directed toward a promise of God.
Wrong doctrine concerning hades, has stolen the hope of the return of Christ in the lives of God’s children in the Administration of Grace. The Administration of Grace began around 45 A.D. and will continue until Christ returns to gather together that which is called the Body of Christ.
In the previous teaching we looked at tartaroo and abyssos and we saw that hell was an inaccurate translation, abyssos should always be translated abyss. It was a place to confine devil spirits and even the Adversary, God never spoke of people being in the abyss.
We will continue our study of hell by considering a few questions which will be followed by what the Bible, the Word of God, has to say about sheol and hades and other areas pertaining to the death of man and the return of Christ.
What exactly is the doctrine of hell to the orthodoxy, the mainstream, of Christianity?
Who is responsible for saddling Christianity with this ungodly doctrine?
What is the Mythology of Hades?
What does God compare to this mythology?
The Doctrine of Hell 1
•
Everyone will exist eternally either in heaven or hell.
Everyone will exist eternally either in heaven or hell.•Everyone has only one life in which to determine their destiny.
Everyone has only one life in which to determine their destiny.•Heaven or hell is determined by whether a person believes (puts their trust) in Christ alone to save them.
Heaven or hell is determined by whether a person believes (puts their trust) in Christ alone to save them.•Hell was designed originally for Satan and his demons.
Hell was designed originally for Satan and his demons.•Hell will also punish the sin of those who reject Christ.
Hell will also punish the sin of those who reject Christ.•Hell is conscious torment.
Hell is conscious torment.•Hell is eternal and irreversible.
Hell is eternal and irreversible.How we Learned of Hell
The current Christian doctrine concerning hell was officially formulated by Jerome, considered the translator of the Latin Vulgate, he used the Latin word inferni (inferno) 87 times in the Old Testament and 24 times in the New Testament in the 4th century and Augustine, teacher of the Immortality of the Soul in the 5th century. The word hell came to be in the eighth century, 725 A.D., after Hel the Norse mythological name for their land of the dead.
Augustine’s immortality of all souls became official Church doctrine at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. But this doctrine began with Tertullian in the second century. He even quoted Plato to back up his claim of the immortality of the soul. It was continued by Origen in the third century. The spiritual dark ages began in the second century and continued until the 16th century. For more than a thousand years the only “Christian” voice was the Roman Catholic Church, and it was overrun with Greek philosophy and Greek mythology.
Why is the immortality of all souls so important to the false teachers of the doctrine of hell? Because you cannot have an eternal hell unless you give unbelievers an immortal soul. God gives immortality to those who believe in Christ and are alive when Christ returns. God offers incorruption to those who died as a member of the Body of Christ. But God does not offer immortality to those who rejected Christ.
Finally, we also have learned this evil doctrine from the many who ignorantly proclaim these pagan Greek philosophies and mythologies as God’s Word in our day and time.
What is the Mythology of Hades? 2
In Greek mythology Hades is the god of the underworld, the realm under the earth that uses his name, the land of Hades. All the dead souls (psyche/psuche) go to hades. At death the psyche/psuche is separated from the corpse and sent to Hades. Hades is the brother of Zeus but is referred to as the unseen god because only the dead see him. He is considered the god of wealth as he controls all the wealth of the mineral deposits in the earth. The land of Hades is surrounded by five rivers which represent Greek emotions. The Styx (hatred), Acheron (pain), Lethe (forgetfulness), Phlegethon (fire), Cocytus (wailing).
In Greek mythology there are three judges who decide the fate of the dead by assigning them to their place. The psyche/psuche (souls) selected for Elysium (Isles of the Blessed) are taken to the river Lethe to forget everything of their former life and begin a stress-free afterlife. The Fields of Punishment are for those who have committed crimes. Finally, there are the Fields of Asphodel for those who did not achieve greatness nor commit a crime.
What does God compare to Greek mythology?
God uses the name Hades comparing him to the Devil and that the Devil, like Hades, has the power over the dead.
God does not make a comparison to the psyche/psuche, He does not make a comparison to consciousness, He does not make a comparison to pain or torment, He does not make a comparison to judgment.
____________________________________________________
Let’s begin our study of Hades by looking at the first two occurrences of hades after the resurrection of Jesus, and for that we will go to Acts, chapter 2.
Acts 2:27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [hades = the grave], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:31
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell [hades = the grave], neither his flesh did see corruption.
These are the first two uses of hades in the New Testament after Jesus was resurrected from among the dead. Both refer to what David said in the sixteenth Psalm concerning his own resurrection from the dead.
Psalm 16:10
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [sheol = the grave]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
God will not leave David’s nephesh [Hebrew for soul] in the grave. Because of this his mind could rest in hope, it is a promise from God.
Psalm 49:15
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave [sheol]: for he shall receive me. Selah.
“Redeem” means to ransom or to rescue. God will not leave people in the grave under the power of the Devil. God will “receive” us, to carry us along. Consider this in light of 1 Thessalonians 5.
Since God has tied the Greek word hades to the Hebrew word sheol, let’s discover more of what God has already established concerning sheol in the Old Testament. We begin with the first use of sheol in Genesis.
Genesis 37-33-34
And he knew it, and said, it is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Jacob has just been told his son Joseph is dead! His heart is shattered, his grief overwhelming. Joseph was his favorite son because of his mother. Jacob worked fourteen years to gain Rachel’s hand in marriage. Joseph was Rachel’s first son after years of being barren. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one understands the grief Jacob is confronting, especially when the death is sudden and premature.
Joseph stood before Pharoah when he was 30 years old. He was a slave in Egypt for 13 years before his time in front of Pharoah. This means Jacob lost Joseph when he was only 17 years old. I helped my parents bury their youngest child, from a car accident, while she was still a teenager. The suddenness, the shock, the ache from the inside out, I saw my father carry his grief to his grave. Jacob’s mind, like my father’s, was paralyzed with grief, with sorrow, with regret.
Genesis 37:35
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave [sheol] unto my son mourning. Thus, his father wept for him.
Jacob says he will go to sheol, the grave, grieving for his son, whom he considers to already be in the grave because he is already dead. The best translation for sheol is the grave. Just as the best translation of hades is the grave.
Death is the normal end to a human life due to sin. This is the Devil’s gift to the world, death!
Romans 6:23a
For the wages of sin is death…
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so, death passed upon [eis] all men, for that all have sinned:
Due to sin, death passed, dierchomai in the Greek, to all men. Dierchomai means to travel, either coming or going, down a path to a designated destination. In this case, the path must pass through thanatos or death, upon (eis) all men. Eis concerns motion toward an object with the intent of reaching that object. Due to sin, death reaches all men. Thanatos is the natural end to a human life because of sin.
Psalm 89:48
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
In every administration a person either dies during that administration or walks into the next administration and dies there. The only exception to this is the Administration of Grace. “What man is he that lives, and shall not see death?” The answer is some in the Administration of Grace will never see death.
While Adam was still in the Garden in Eden, God made this declaration concerning humanity.
Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Jacob understood this when speaking about his son Joseph. All men die due to sin and with death they enter the realm of the grave. Once a body is in the grave, it will begin to return to dust, to decompose. David understood the same truth when speaking of his own death in Psalm sixteen. Due to sin, every person’s life will end, and that end is in the sheol/hades, the grave.
2 Samuel 12:22-23
And he [David] said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
David and Bathsheba conceived a child while Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, was still alive. The child became extremely sick, and David prayed to God for the child’s life. But after seven days the child died and entered the realm of the grave. After the child died, David said he would join his child in the grave, but his child would not be coming back to the land of the living.
Acts 13:35-36
Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep [idioma of change of words -figure of Speech], and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
Sleep is used for a person’s time in the grave. The same figure is used in Thessalonians and the Gospel of John and other places.
In Genesis chapters 1 and 2 we learned that God designed man as a three part being of body, and soul, and holy spirit. God did not design the human body to die. Death was a “gift” from the Devil when Adam sinned, by obeying the words of the Devil. However, God takes care of all aspects of a person when they die.
1Thessalonians 5:23
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s take a closer look at this verse.
“And” is translated from the Greek word de, a conjunction. Normally de sets a thing in contrast, although it can also be translated with the word “and” to bring something into correspondence. So, we look to the context for clarity. The context coming in to verse twenty-three is a list of things Paul wants the believers to do, Paul exhorts (parakaleo = to call to one’s side, in order to produce an effect); pray without ceasing, prove all things, rejoice evermore, in everything give thanks, quench not the spirit, abstain from all appearance of evil, which when connected to verse twenty-three with the word “and” turns the list into works a believer must do for the God of peace to be with him. Therefore, to not make this a list of works I would use the word “but” to set this list in contrast with the God of Peace being with you.
Next, the word “very” is translated from the Greek word autos. Autos is a pronoun and should be translated as a pronoun. I have used the pronoun Himself for autos.
Then we have the phrase “the God of peace.” Genitive of origin meaning all genuine peace originates with and comes from God. Consider Romans 5.
Romans 5:1
Therefore, being justified by faith [pistis = believing], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
The God of peace is with a believer because of our identification in Christ. The God of peace is with a believer every moment of every day. There is no list of works for God to be with one of His children.
Then we have the word “sanctify” from the Greek word hagiazo and in this case refers to being set apart. I think set apart is better than sanctify, “to make holy,” because God is literally taking something and setting it aside until a later date, a later time.
Next, we have “wholly” from the compound Greek word holoteles. Olos means all or completely and telos which means the end of something or the termination. It is speaking of the end of a life. Here you can see the dual application to believer and unbeliever. God will set apart who you are, body, and soul, and spirit, the complete you.
Then we have the phrase “I pray God” there are no Greek words for these words because they were added to the text to make it seem like an uncertainty. If you know God’s Word none of this is an uncertainty, it is what will occur if your life ends before our Lord returns.
Then we have the words “your whole.” Your is a pronoun and whole is another compound Greek word holokleros. This word sets the entire verse like a rich jewel. Again, holo is from olos and means all or completely but this time it is linked with kleros which means the lot you have obtained or your portion. It is speaking of what you have accomplished with and for God in your lifetime. The Greeks and the theologians are all concerned about the psyche/psuche, well, for all people God will take care of your psyche/psuche.
God will preserve who you are until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word “preserve” is from the Greek word tereo which means to guard, or to care for.
The essence of 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is…“But the God of peace Himself, set you apart completely and the complete portion [from your life] your spirit, and soul, and body be cared for and guarded blameless [not faultless and not even sinless] unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Consider these verses with Psalm 49:15.
In light of 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 you would expect that what you have accomplished will be cared for until Christ returns to gather his Body and we all stand at the bema to have our lives tried by God’s righteous fire.
1 Corinthians 3:9-11
For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Some have the mistaken belief that this applies only to leadership, but that would be an error. Everyone will at least build in their own life and many will build in the lives of others.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
I have unscriptural(ly) referred to this as the great bonfire in the sky. Why? Because a bonfire is generally a time of celebration and even though some things of our lives are being burnt away, we will be in the presence of God, and Jesus Christ, and the rest of the Body of Christ! That is cause for celebration! All our unrighteous aspects are lovingly cleaned away by God’s purifying fire and our Lord Jesus Christ.
God will care for and guard the spirit, and the psyche/psuche of all who die, and the bodies of all who die, until it is their turn to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Remember, God knows the end from the beginning, He knows the correct place to hold the fulness of a person’s life. The sequence of resurrections God gives in His Word is first the gathering of the Body of Christ, then the Resurrection of Life, also called the Resurrection of the Just, then later, the Resurrection unto Damnation.
Matthew 16:27
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Judgments will begin to take place with the return of Christ, not at the moment of death. Theology went with mythology for judgment at the time of death.
Jude 1:14-15
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
We have already seen that every person will die because of sin, but there is something in the Administration of Grace that changes “everyone dies.” We have started to see that when a person dies the body goes to the grave to decompose and return to dust. We have begun to see that judgments will occur when Christ returns, not at the moment of death. Now we have also seen that a person’s life, at death, will be set apart by God to care for who you were in your lifetime, until it is time for you to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. But there is so much more to see.
Psalm 146:4
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
God says there are no thoughts in the grave, it is a time of unconsciousness. The Hebrew word translated “perish” is abad. Abad means to vanish or to perish. When a person breathes his last breath, he returns to the earth, he goes to the grave and there are no thoughts in the grave. Hard to have torment when you have no thoughts.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the [their] memory of them is forgotten. Also, their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.
As a man takes his last breath, he leaves the land of the living and enters the realm of the grave. In the grave there is no knowledge, no wisdom, no passion, no emotions, no thoughts for the one who has died is in a state of unconsciousness. The Hebrew word translated “anything” is yada and it means to experience or to perceive. The body returns to the earth. The consciousness, the mind of the individual, comes to an end.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave [sheol], whither thou goest.
The body is placed in the ground [or a cave, a sepulcher, a urn, the ocean] to return to the earth and the mind no longer has any mental activity. The realm of the grave is a realm of immediate unconsciousness. Most who have died will not realize that they died until after they are raised from the dead.
Psalm 16:8-10
I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [the grave]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
David would not be moved from his Lord and because he trusted in God’s Word, while he was still alive, his flesh could rest in hope. His flesh would experience corruption when it was in the grave, but while he was alive, he could have rest, meaning to dwell, in hope.
What was his hope?
To be released from the grave.
Who had the power of the grave?
In Greek mythology it was Hades.
Hebrews 2:14
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.
The Devil holds the power, kratos, which means exerted power. The Devil wants to keep everyone in the grave. Without any thoughts, any experiences, with complete unconsciousness by those in the grave, all praise, all glory, all thankfulness to God would cease. The Devil would have accomplished his goal of Isaiah fourteen to steal the worship toward God. He almost succeeded in Genesis when he caused a great flood on the earth, but there was a man for God named Noah.
Acts 2:22-23
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
When the Adversary crucified Jesus, when Jesus took his last breath, Jesus died, as the punishment for sin, Jesus was the sin offering and Jesus entered the realm of the grave. The realm of the grave, a place of no knowledge nor wisdom. A place without experiences or events. Jesus would be like this for seventy-two hours.
Before his death, the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign.
Matthew 12:38
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Jesus answered with the only sign they would receive.
Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so, shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
For three days and three nights Jesus was in the grave, but was he alive or dead? The account of Jonah appears to say Jonah was alive.
Matthew chapter twelve helps us along in finding answers. Two words in this verse become immediately important. “As” is a word of comparison, as in the figure of speech simile, a comparison by resemblance. “So,” the second word, is used to form a conclusion, taking the place of therefore, “so shall the son of man be…” The comparison and the conclusion of Jesus is that what happened to one, happened to the other, along the lines where God makes a comparison. What is God comparing? Three days and three nights of death, in a grave.
Acts 3:15
And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
God is convinced Jesus was dead when He resurrected him.
Galatians 1:1
Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
Romans 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.
God knows Jesus was dead, therefore Jonah was also dead for three days and three nights. But what about his prayer?
Jonah 2:2-3
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell [my grave] cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
Now, we need to think with God’s Word. What has God said about thoughts or knowledge in the grave? There are none! So, we know Jonah is not literally praying while he is dead in the fish’s belly.
Jonah is in the sea for a brief time before the fish swallows Jonah. During that time the “…floods compassed me about…” Compassed means these waters enveloped Jonah, they enclosed on Jonah. I grew up on the East Coast, on the Atlantic Ocean. When you were body surfing, if the wave broke on you, your body would get caught in the swirling and violence of the wave. If you did not get out of that before the next wave broke, you could be in trouble. When a wave has you in the power of the wave you are powerless to break its grip.
Then, “…thy billows and waves passed over me.” “Passed over” means to perish, to pass away. Jonah drowned before the fish swallowed him. But his prayer was answered while he was in the fish’s belly because God heard him.
These two verses form the figure of speech exergasia, which is a repeating of a statement to develop the statement.
Jonah 2:2-3
a| I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord
b| and He heard me
a| Out of the belly of my grave [Sheol] cried, I
b| and thou heardest my voice
c| For thou hast cast me into the deep
d| in the midst of the seas
d| and the floods compassed me about
c| all thy billows and thy waves passed over me 3
Jonah prayed and then died before the fish came along to swallow him.
Jonah 2:10
And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Jesus gave the Pharisees the only sign they were going to receive, and they completely did not understand what Jesus had said because they did not understand God’s Word. Our current theologians wanted Jonah to be alive in the fish’s belly. They need someone alive, in the grave, to prove their evil doctrine of hell.
Consider the rebellion of Korah. Korah thought Moses made too much of himself when all the people were holy.
Numbers 16:28-30
And Moses said, hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit [sheol = the grave]; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
So, Moses laid it out for them. If you die a normal death, meaning in old age, then God is with you, but if the earth opens her mouth and swallows you right now, God works with myself and Aaron.
Numbers 16:31-33
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit [sheol = the grave], and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Theology likes to emphasize the word “alive.” They were alive when the earth opened, but they died moments later. These men entered the realm of the grave just as dead as any other person entering the grave. Hebrew word translated “perished” is abad, it means they died. We saw this word earlier in Psalm 146, when a person breathes his last, he has died.
Jude 1:11
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core [Korah].
“Perished” is the Greek word apollymi, which means to kill or put to death. “Gainsaying” is the Greek word antilogia. This compound Greek word means in place of God’s Word or in place of God’s plan. Consider also Luke 16.
Acts 2:23-24
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
The pains of death would be for the realm of the grave to remain in the power of the Devil. The Devil has the power, the exerted power of the realm of the grave. God “loosed the pains of death” the Greek word odin being translated pains.
Odin is used four times in the New Testament and birth pains is a better translation in Acts 2 than pains. It recognizes the figure of speech metonymy. God says there are no thoughts or knowledge, and no experiences in the grave. If these things are not present, then there can be no literal pain or agony in the grave. But there is the suddenness of birth pain associated with being raised from the dead. There is nothing and suddenly God “releases the birth pains” and Jesus is raised from the dead.
It was not possible, dynatos a form of dynamai in the Greek, for the Devil did not have the inherent power to hold Jesus in the grave. “Holden” is krateo, exerted power. It was not within the Devil’s power to exert power over Jesus Christ. The Devil had the kratos over the dead, but God has the power of life, and by the power of God Jesus was raised to eternal life.
So that now…
Revelation 1:18
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [the grave] and of death.
Jesus Christ has the keys to the grave and to death, he holds the power.
John 5:28-29
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
All will hear his voice and be resurrected at their proper time. The Devil’s power over the realm of the grave and the dead has been broken by the inherent power of God.
So where are we now?
God has shown us that all will return to dust, to the earth. That all will come to this end of life, identified as death, because of sin. When we die there will be no thoughts, no knowledge, no wisdom, no work to do while a person is in the grave. In the realm of the grave there is only unconsciousness and corruption of the flesh as it returns to dust.
We have seen that God will carry the completeness of a person’s life to be cared for by Him until it is time for that person to stand before the judgment seat of Christ after he returns.
Psalm 89:48
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
The grave has power. Man cannot deliver himself from death or the grave. Even animals will go to the grave.
Psalm 49:12
Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
Psalm 49:14
Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
When man takes his last breath, he dies.
When man dies, he has no more thoughts or knowledge.
When man dies, he enters the earth and returns to dust.
When man dies, God will care for his psyche/psuche and his spirit.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
God’s gift of holy spirit was only upon some individuals in the Old Testament. That it was upon tells you it was not eternal life spirit but rather was conditional. It was only upon the individual during the particular need or for a particular time. Therefore, God’s gift of holy spirit is not the spirit spoken of in Ecclesiastes chapter twelve.
The spirit spoken of in Ecclesiastes is the spirit of man, the characteristics of God imprinted upon the soul of man when God made man in His likeness.
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The body returns to dust, the mind and heart, the psyche/psuche, are cared for by God, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Earlier I spoke of those in the Administration of Grace that will not die.
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 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.
Some in the Administration of Grace will be alive when Christ returns to gather the Body of Christ. These will put on immortality because flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. How could God make the Old Testament statement, “all men die,” knowing this was coming for the Administration of Grace? Because the Administration of Grace was a secret kept in God Himself. Nothing is known of the Administration of Grace before the Apostle Paul speaks of this secret or writes the revelation of this secret. The Hope.
This is the administration that is the purpose of all the Ages.
Ephesians 3:11
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
We can walk with the power of Christ!
We can walk with the believing of Christ!
It is God in Christ, in each one of us!
Had the Adversary known what God planned, he would not have crucified our Lord.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
First, the Adversary did not realize what God had arranged in our identification in Christ, and second, he lost his power over the dead. God could not release His secret in the Old Testament, or the Adversary would have known and not crucified our Lord. Also, all the people in that administration died or walked into the next administration and died.
But what about those who do not believe God, those who did not trust in Christ, what happens to them, do they have immortality? Did Augustine get the immortality of all souls correct?
All men go to the grave when they die. All men will face corruption as they lay in a grave. There will be no pain or suffering for the unbeliever, but the punishment for the unbeliever is eternal.
2 Peter 3:13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
How could we have a hell, as described by Christian theology, in the third heaven and earth if it is a heaven and earth where only righteousness dwells?
2 Thessalonians 1:9
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
“Punished,” dike in the Greek, means a judicial decision, and it is by a righteous judge, Jesus Christ. The judge will issue a “everlasting destruction” and that means it is an eternal decision. From the “presence of the Lord,” and “from the glory of his power.”
The Lord must refer to God since they were in the presence of Jesus as their judge. They will eternally be out of the presence of God and from the glory of His power. In their rejection of God and His Word they were allowed life but not eternal life. Consider Cain, who was of the seed of the serpent, but God still allowed him his physical life, but there will be no eternal life for him.
Understand from this point forward the correct translation, in the Bible, of sheol/hades is the grave, context for certain occurrences might call for a word other than the grave. But the hell of mythology, when applied to the life, death, resurrection, judgment of a child of God is a lie from the pit of hell!
God offers the living world hope for what happens when they die, Christian theology has completely corrupted the name Hades into the word hell. Christian theology has completely corrupted the doctrine of the grave into an instrument of fear to exercise control over people.
The definition of the word hell means to hide or to cover. The only thing Christian Theology hid and covered with their doctrine of hell is the accuracy of God’s Word in the Administration of Grace.
____________________________________
1. What the Bible Says About Hell | Bible.org
2. The Underworld - Greek Underworld | Mythology.net
3. Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, page 400, E.W. Bullinger
© Auxano Ministry 2023
God's Gospel Series
