NOTES ON THE ABOLITION OF DEATH, PART 3

Salvation is the work of God.
Salvation, ultimately speaking, is salvation from the clutches of death.
God might save you from falling in a ditch.
God might save you from a terrible car crash.
God might save you from believing the false doctrines of the modern christian church. But ultimately, salvation is from death.
And only God can pull that off.
Salvation is the work of God. It’s not a shared-cooperative work that God does in conjunction with your freewill. No.
The abolition of death… cannot be done by freewill.
We are totally at the mercy of God concerning these things. He saves us, in His own gracious way, in His own gracious time.
The abolition of death began on Calvary’s hill, with the cross of Christ.
Three days later, the stone was rolled away. It has begun.
“Christ is the firstfruit of them that repose.” (I COR 15:20)
The abolition of death — begun at the cross… is God’s greatest achievement.
Death is the opposite of life.
It is not another form of life. It is the opposite of life.
We are dependent on God for life.
We are dependent on God for the abolition of death.
The abolition of death is the greatest of all the prophecies of the Bible.
“For even as in Adam, all die.”
Not to worry…
So, “In Christ shall all be vivified.”
Don’t be fooled by the “freewillers” in the modern day “church”… who take that little word “ALL” and tuck it BEFORE the word “Christ”… so that it reads…
“All in Christ shall be vivified.”
That is not what it says.
It clearly says “In Christ all shall be vivified.”
The death and resurrection of Christ SAVES all.
It was not done as an “offer” to save you… IF you do the right thing.
It was done to eventually abolish death itself.
God does not “offer” to save, He saves.
Nobody can raise himself from the dead. Beyond the reach of death.
This is God’s work. And God will not share the glory of that work with anyone… even if some claim, they got “saved” by their own freewill.
Salvation is God’s work.
We’re going to have to trust Him about this matter.
When death is abolished, everything changes. Every heart. Every mind. Every doubt disappears.
Romans 5:12 hints at the power of death to cause us to sin.
“…and thus death passed through into all mankind, on which all sinned.” (CLNT)
If we were immortal, we would not steal food. We would not get upset of someone pushed us off a cliff. If we can’t die, we can’t FEAR death. We wouldn’t even fear gossip. Or participate in gossip.
When Adam sinned, death passed through into all mankind. And it is this mortal nature that causes all to sin. It’s not that we were born sinners, it’s that we are born dying. The very day you are born, you begin the dying process. Death passed through. Therefore, you’ll sin.
Every attitude changes when God abolished death.
Paul says that one day… “this mortal will put on immortality.” (I COR 15:54)
Paul says that one day… “death, the last enemy, will be abolished.” (I COR 15:26)
Of course death is an enemy.
But it’s part of the package, until God completes His eonian purpose. (Eph. 3:11)
Until then we must…
…rely on the living God, who is the savior of all mankind, especially believers. (I TIM 4:10)
It’s useless to rely on our own strength. And our own freewill.