{"id":228,"date":"2018-04-19T05:50:37","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T10:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/?page_id=228"},"modified":"2019-01-03T06:50:19","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T12:50:19","slug":"death-resurrection-new-life-heaven-forgiveness-and-eternal-life","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/hear\/study\/hidden-mysteries\/symbols-signs-types-allegories-parables-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/death-resurrection-new-life-heaven-forgiveness-and-eternal-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Death, Resurrection, New Life, Heaven, Forgiveness and Eternal Life ***"},"content":{"rendered":"

TESTING TO THE POINT OF DEATH<\/strong><\/span>
\nBeing a son of God is not for wimps. Christians who doubt this fact only need to look at the life and death of Jesus<\/a> for confirmation of the fact that life as a follower of Jesus is hard.<\/span><\/p>\n

They should also consider what Jesus and Paul said about persecution<\/a>. If their life does not line up with the life of Jesus or Paul regarding persecution, discipline and death they should begin to wonder if they are as righteous as they think they are.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jews only need to look at the list of 613 mitzvah<\/a> to be reminded that keeping all of God’s laws is a constant challenge that wears people down physically and emotionally. Christians do not follow the same list of rules, but each denomination has its own package of religious laws that keep people very busy with religious activity (e.g. going to church, praying, volunteering, reading the Bible, etc.). God symbolically equates all this activity with death because it exhausts the physical body but does not result in spiritual life. The only thing that gives spiritual life is the spoken word of God<\/a>. In other words, religious activity does not produce life, but produces death.<\/span><\/p>\n

More examples of death exist in Bible stories about conflict with enemies (e.g. Amalek, the Moabiites, Philistines, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, etc.). Often these encounters result in death by the sword.<\/a> It is difficult for us in these modern days to find meaning in these scriptures, but, if we really believe that all scripture is God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness<\/a>, we will search diligently to discover how to apply them to our personal lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

What we need to learn from these stories of conflict with enemies is that God sent these enemies to afflict and humble his people\u00a0<\/a>because they sinned by not listening to his voice<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

That God would punish his people seems inconsistent with what we might expect from a loving God until we remember that God tests and disciplines those he loves<\/a>. And the reason he does this is to bring them to the point where they willingly choose to stop listening to false prophets and start listening to his voice.<\/a> Therefore, anyone who has a sense of being loved by God should also have a sense of being tested, humbled and disciplined by him. And, people who do not have a sense of being tested by God need to evaluate their relationship with God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Testing occurs in the heart and mind<\/a> when God uses his enemies (i.e. religion) to punish, humble and discipline his people. When we look at the Biblical history of Israelites and Jews<\/a>, we see a cycle of ongoing conflict<\/a> with both internal and external enemies in whom religious motives were always at work to expand their kingdoms. This is all evidence that God was faithful to his promise that he would bring famine, pestilence and the sword on his people <\/a>if they would not listen to his voice<\/a>. And we see the same patterns in the history of Christianity <\/a>from the beginning until the present day. Considering this Biblical record alongside actual history of inter-religious<\/a> and intra-religious<\/a> conflict, it is no understatement to say that being a child of God has never been easy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Evidence that being a son of God is not easy exists in the fact that God is constantly testing<\/a> his people to reveal what is in their hearts<\/a>. And, mindful that all scripture is useful to training in righteousness,<\/a> we should not be deceived or proud to think that God’s testing was limited to Bible characters. He is constantly working to tear down the religious structures of proud religious people so he can rebuild them into humble spiritual houses<\/a> where he lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See Heart <\/a>for understanding of the house where God lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The nature of testing is not well understood. Predictably, religious people think of testing in terms of physical circumstances (e.g. health, finances, relationships, jobs, etc.) that cause trouble and pain of one kind or another which the Bible symbolically calls death. Super-spiritual people tend to characterize testing as spiritual conflict perpetrated by the devil, demons or human agitators. The truth is, however, that God uses religion to create conflict that tests the heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See\u00a0Religion is the Enemy<\/a>,\u00a0Gods at War<\/a>,\u00a0Sibling Conflict<\/a> and\u00a0Religion is Injustice, Slavery, Oppression and Affliction <\/a>for more about how God uses religion to test the hearts of his people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though religious people carry out the testing, God is responsible for all the conflict. <\/a>He allows religion to exist because\u00a0 he knows that, sooner or later, the ever-present competition for power, authority<\/a> and money<\/a> by religious leaders and followers will bring people to cry out to him for deliverance from religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every battle we see in the Old Testament is an example of good versus evil where Israelites are challenged to keep their hearts pure in the face of testing in which they either choose to practice religion or listen to God’s voice<\/a>. Sometimes they choose good (i.e. listen to God’s voice) and win the battle. When they choose evil (i.e. listen to the voices of false prophets), they lose the battle. When they choose good, they are New Covenant disciples. When they choose evil, they are Old\/First Covenant\u00a0 religionists. It is an ongoing cycle of conflict<\/a> that still challenges people. These choices are ongoing replays of the temptations between the Tree of Life<\/a> and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See COVENANT COMPARISONS<\/a> for more about New Covenant and Old\/First Covenant.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, while God is patient <\/a>in allowing religion to enslave and persecute his people, <\/a>he is quietly and invisibly at work disciplining individuals to provide a way of escape<\/a> that delivers them<\/a> from the sin of religion<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

DEATH<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhen God says he is a consuming fire<\/a> and a refining fire<\/a>, he is referring to the power of his spoken voice to resurrect Old\/First Covenant religionists from the death of religion to new life as New Covenant disciples. He is also referring to the spiritual work he accomplishes in people through religious conflict that he uses to refine (i.e. test)<\/a> and reshape<\/a> them to conform them into his image (i.e. write his laws on their hearts through the teaching of his spirit<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See Religion is the Enemy, <\/a>Gods at War, <\/a>Model Warriors, <\/a>and Sibling Conflict <\/a>for more about religious conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the fact that God only looks\u00a0 at the heart<\/a>, we know that his purpose in testing is to prove what is in the heart of people<\/a> (i.e. are they Old\/First Covenant religionists or New Covenant<\/a> disciples.) We know this because “heart” is a Biblical code word for the New Covenant.<\/span><\/p>\n

This testing\/proving will always be difficult (i.e. a slow death) in the short run, but will be good for God’s people in the long run, and even leads to faith and salvation <\/a>which are code words indicating the establishment of the New Covenant<\/a> in the heart of a believer. God calls his kind of testing discipline. No child of God escapes his discipline if they want to be righteous.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In Biblical language, the disciplinary process is symbolized as death that leads to resurrection and new life.<\/span><\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See Two Deaths<\/a> for more about death.<\/span><\/p>\n

Religious people who interpret the Bible literally always think about death and resurrection in strictly natural terms. Sadly, this religious perspective causes them to totally miss what God is trying to teach them about the inner life of the heart. The truth is that Biblical references to death and resurrection are not about physical death and resurrection but about spiritual death and resurrection which are terms that are, admittedly, very difficult to understand.<\/span><\/p>\n

To understand spiritual life and death, we must be mindful of the fact that God, being spirit, does all of his work in the spiritual realm of the heart which cannot be observed. That means that neither the death nor the resurrection can be observed with natural abilities like eyes or ears. Instead, the death and resurrection with which God is concerned and is active is in the realm of the hidden life of our heart<\/a> that only he can see<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the simplest possible terms, spiritual death has two meanings<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Death “from: practicing religion:<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
Death “to” the practice of religion:<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  1. Spiritual life that comes from listening to God\u2019s spoken voice is available only to people who do not listen to the voices of false prophets. Until they learn to listen to God’s voice, they are spiritually dead.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. False prophets are signature features of religion<\/a> and religious laws<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Therefore, there must be a death (i.e. end) to the practice of listening to false prophets.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. And there must eventually be an end to the practice of religion for anyone who wants to be spiritually alive.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    In summary, for New Covenant disciples, the first death means the end of the strong affections<\/a> they had in their hearts for their religious leaders (i.e. idols). It also includes death to the practice of religion taught by those idols. New life (i.e. resurrection, rebirth) is the inner life they enjoy<\/a> when their heart comes alive to the ability to hear God’s voice<\/a> and obey his spiritual laws<\/a> written on their hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n

    STUDY TIP: See Religion is Idolatry<\/a> for more about idolatry.<\/span><\/p>\n

    These are not easy concepts to comprehend for Old\/First Covenant religionists because they have not gone through the death and resurrection process. The following statements summarize their condition:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    <\/td>\n\n