JESUS DID NOT DIE SPIRITUALLY (Pt.4: Conclusion)

We will attempt to conclude this series today. I have been truly amazed at how many people believe Christ suffered in Hell to atone for man’s sins. Here is one E-mail I received:

“If Jesus did not suffer in HELL, then he didn’t fully take our punishment for sin. I do not wish any more of your heresy. PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM YOUR MAILING LIST!!!!”

Another wrote in response: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

(I kept waiting for the rebuke, but it never came.)

In this concluding article, I would like to call the reader’s attention to the words of Christ on the Cross:

Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Jesus gave “up” His “ghost” or “spirit.” (These two words refer to the same thing.) It is true that “up” does not mean that the spirit of Christ went to Heaven at that time. This can be proved from the Old Testament:

Genesis 25:8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

Abraham also gave “up” the ghost. Yet, while his body was in the grave, his ghost went “down” to Paradise in the center of the earth:

Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

As a side note, Lazarus did not go to a “place” called “Abraham’s Bosom.” Lazarus went down to Paradise and rested upon Abraham’s literal bosom (John 1:18, Isa.40:11). It is therefore obvious that Abraham was present in his spirit, even though his body was dead. Jesus also went immediately down to Paradise in His spirit:

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The body of Christ was laid in the tomb. What then was the “me” that was in Paradise that very day? It was the whole inward being (soul and spirit) of Jesus. It was an inward man that could talk and fellowship with the thief on the cross.

From these observations, one can see that the Father did not “kill” the spirit of Christ when Jesus committed it to Him! The Romans could not kill the spirit of Christ on a tree. Only God can kill a spirit or soul. Can one honestly believe that when Christ committed His spirit into the hands of the Father, that such meant the Father was then to kill it? Of course not. How then can it be maintained that Jesus died “spiritually”?

Notice some other words of Jesus on the Cross:

Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Immediately after Christ uttered these words He committed His “spirit” into the Father’s hands. It therefore follows that only the “body” of Jesus was “forsaken” by the Father. Jesus was forsaken only in the sense that His BODY was broken (and His Blood made an offering for sin) by being placed into the hands of sinful men to murder. Jesus uttered the words of the very Psalm that reveals that He was NOT forsaken by the Father in His spirit immediately after His physical death:

Psalms 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

The above Psalm plainly states that Jesus did not think the Lord would forsake Him. It does show that the wicked would think He was forsaken; yet He trusts in His Lord in spite of their taunts. That is why the very next words out of Christ’s mouth were:

Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Psalms 31 appears to be a prophetic reference to this event:

Psalms 31:5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

This very Psalm goes on to reveal the Lord’s faith at death:

Psalms 31:12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
14 But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.
23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

The Lord Jesus was indeed a righteous, sinless Servant all the way to His death:

Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

The holy spirit of Jesus was therefore accepted by the Father and preserved in Paradise with the thief who believed and made a good confession. In His righteousness, Jesus trusted the Father and gave up the “ghost” to His hands. His physical body was broken and His blood was shed for sin. Nevertheless, His precious spirit and soul were not slain and divided (Heb.4). They were in Paradise until they were united with His physical body.

In conclusion, notice one final passage:

Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

There is nothing about “spirit” or “soul” there. Other than His “flesh”, there is “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus”!

From: KA Update #26 pt.2 (8-2-99)