Subject: The State of the Dead

Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998

From: Kim Andreas

To: William Kilgore

In response to your letter:

>I find great fault with your Bible study on what happens when we die. For one, >"Gehenna" and the Lake of Fire are ONE & THE SAME = the final >destination of the wicked.

I agree about Gehenna. I stated so in my study. I also explained some of the Jewish beliefs concerning it.

>Also, Luke 16 is a POOR basis for your doctrine, and can easily be shown to be >a parable.

I take consideration of the WHOLE Word of God in my studies. I believe from studying the Greek and Hebrew on this subject that my findings from the Word are true.

>Third, the idea that the state of the righteous dead has somehow CHANGED >since the cross is sheer NONSENSE and has no basis in Scripture (in Acts 2, >for example, Peter affirms that David has STILL "not ascended into the >heavens." Rather, Peter says, he is STILL "dead and buried."). Man was >created by God a UNIT, not "3 in 1". Read GENESIS 2:7 ... body + breath >(i.e., the "spirit") = "soul" (i.e., "being" = the WHOLE PERSON). The dead >(both righteous AND wicked) SLEEP until the resurrection, as so often is >affirmed in Scripture! There is much more that I could say here and I welcome >your comments or questions.

First I must say that I still believe we are 3 part beings: spirit, soul and body. 1st Thes. 5:23 backs this up for one. Without going into my whole study again, I think I stated clearly how only the body awaits redemption after this physical death. As we receive Jesus, we are at that moment redeemed spiritually.

Mark 12:23-27 states how God is not the God of the dead but the living! The physical body is the only thing that dies to a born again believer; and that will be redeemed at Christ's coming!! I truly don't want to seem dogmatic, but this is what I believe the Word to confirm.

Love in Christ

Kim Andreas