BACK TO THE BIBLE: THE QUICKENING OF THE BODY
Quickened: Made alive again.
Quickening: Making alive again.
Christ's dead body was quickened - we were quickened with Him. We shall be quickened.
IT'S NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SAY IT IS
BUT IT'S ALWAYS WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS IT IS
1. RESURRECTION
The hypothesis of the human spirit being raised from the dead, or of someone being spiritually raised from the dead does not take into account that every verse in the New Testament talking about resurrection / being raised from the dead is talking about the resurrection of the human body from the dead.
There are absolutely no verses in the New Testament talking about a spiritual resurrection.
Likewise with being quickened (made alive again from the dead):
2. QUICKENING
Let's first compare what is written in Genesis 2:7 with what Solomon said about what happens to the one whose body dies:
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 [chay] soul [nephesh]."
Ecclesiastes 12:7a
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
When Jesus raised a young girl from the dead, we read in the Bible that "her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat." (Luke 8:55).
The above occurred before the dead body of Christ was quickened and raised by the Spirit of God.
The hypothesis of the 'quickening' of the human spirit is based on misinterpreting some of the passages below.
"Fool ! That which you sow is not quickened [zoopoieo], except it die." (1 Corinthians 15:36)
"..except it die.":
Paul was answering the question: "How are the dead raised [egeiro]? With what kind of body [soma] will they come?" (1 Corinthians 15:35), and he was talking about the resurrection of the body from death/the dead.
When Jesus died, His Spirit did not die: His soul went into hades (Acts 2:27), where by the Spirit he preached to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:18-20),
and His dead body, being quickened [zoopoieo] (made alive by the Spirit), was raised from the dead.
So take note of the Greek words [syzoopoieo] and [synegeiro] in the following verses, so we can check to see which other New Testament verses use the same words:
Colossians 2:12-13
"Ye are buried with him in baptism, wherein also all of you are risen with him [synegeiro] through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him [egeiro] from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him [syzoopoieo], having forgiven you all trespasses."
It's talking about the positional reality in Christ of those who belong to Him.
The words [syzoopoieo] and [synegeiro] used in Colossians 2:12-13 (quoted above) are the same words used in Ephesians 2:4-6:
Ephesians 2:4-6, like Colossians 2:12-13, is talking about the positional reality in Christ of those who belong to Him:
"If then ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life [zōḗ] is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life [zōḗ], shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4).
(i) The word zoopoieo (quickening, being made alive) is being applied to the mortal body in all the above verses.
(ii) The words egeiro, synegeiro and anastasis - whenever they are referring to resurrection from death - are always referring to the resurrection of the body in the New Testament. (Each and every New Testament verse using one of those three words in reference to resurrection from death, as well as the word anístēmi, is quoted HERE).
The words are referring to the positional reality in Christ of those who belong to Him.
PASSING FROM DEATH TO LIFE
The soul/spirit passes from death to life, it is not "raised" from death to life: Jesus said,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed [G3327 metabaino] from death unto life." (John 5:24).
G3327 μεταβαίνω metabaivnw metabaino {met-ab-ah'-ee-no}
from 3326 and the base of 939; to change place:--depart, go, pass, remove.
BORN OF THE SPIRIT
Everlasting life is given to us in Christ when we are born of the Spirit of Christ - in Christ, in whom is life and who (among human beings) alone possesses life in Himself - and whose Spirit of (everlasting) life comes to dwell in those who have been born of His Spirit, when they are born of the Spirit, and:
"If Christ's Spirit is in you,
1. your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit (of Christ) is your (eternal) life [zoe] because of (Christ's) righteousness.
2. Moreover, if the Spirit of the one who raised [egeiro] Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised [egeiro] Christ from the dead will also quicken [zōopoiéō] your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:10-11).
Therefore,
"When the Messiah, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4).
PAST TENSE / PRESENT TENSE
Ephesians 2:4-6:
"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins,
(1) He has * syzōopoiéō (quickened together with) Christ, (by grace ye are saved);
(2) and has * raised us up together (synegeírō)
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6).
* The word has in Ephesians 2:5-6 is past tense: Christ has (past tense) been quickened and raised, and those who belong to Him have been (past tense) quickened and raised together with Him.
Colossians 3:3 tells us that "we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God", and Romans 8:10 tells us that "our bodies are dead because of sin".
Colossians 2:13 (KJV) says, "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses."
"If then ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life [zōḗ] is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life [zōḗ], shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4).
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What we should understand is that the consistent message in the above scriptures is that Christ's dead body has (past tense) been quickened and raised from the dead, and those who belong to Him have been (past tense) quickened and raised together with Him, because His Spirit is in them.
The New Testament is not talking about the quickening (making alive) of the human body by the Spirit of God in one passage, and the quickening of the human spirit by the Spirit of God in another. The New Testament is always consistent. There is never any contradiction.
Quickening does not mean only "making alive". It refers to making something alive again that was dead/had died.
It's the quickening of the body that is also being spoken about in all the following verses. The word zōopoiéō (quickening by the Spirit) is used in each verse:-
* The only passage in the New Testament that speaks of a "natural body" and a "spiritual body" is 1 Corinthians 15:44 where Paul, speaking about the resurrection of the body from death says,
"It is sown a body, natural [Greek: sōma psychikós], it is raised a body, spiritual [sōma pneumatikós]. There is a body, natural [sōma psychikós], and there is a body, spiritual [sōma pneumatikós]."
* The word psychikós is from the word psychḗ (soul / life / mind).
* The word pneumatikós is from the word pneûma (spirit / breath).
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth (anagennáō) into a living (záō) hope THROUGH the resurrection (anástasis) of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3).
The hope that Peter is talking about is the confident assurance of the resurrection of our dead bodies (at the time of the return of Christ) - even after we have died.
Despite (and contrary to) the doctrine / theology taught in many main-stream Christian churches,
- There is no such thing as the quickening of the human spirit (or of a 'dead' human spirit) mentioned anywhere in the New Testament.
- There is no such thing as a spiritual resurrection (or the resurrection of a 'dead' human spirit) mentioned anywhere in the New Testament.
- What is indeed spoken about in the New Testament, is being born of the Spirit, and the eternal life, which is in Christ, being given to us through "Christ in us, the hope of glory"; and
- The dead body is spoken of in the New Testament as being quickened and raised from the dead. The New Testament does not teach that we are given eternal life through the (so-called) "quickening of the human spirit".
"Fear not; I am the first and the last:
I am alive to the Ages of the ages [Greek the aeons of the aeons], Amen;
and I have the keys of hades and of death."
(Revelation 1:17-18).
The word zao in the above verse refers to the fact that the Word of God in whom is eternal life [zoe] became flesh and lived [zao] in a human body, died and rose again from the dead, and is alive [zao] in His body forever (i.e has immortality) because unlike created human beings who die, He has eternal life [zoe] in Himself.
Eternal life [zoe] is only given to created human beings through "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). It follows that if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ in him, he does not have eternal life in him; and without being born of the Spirit of God, created human beings simply have no eternal life [zoe] in them.
"If Christ's Spirit is in you,
(1) your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit (of Christ) is your (eternal) life [zoe] because of (Christ's) righteousness.
(2) Moreover, if the Spirit of the one who raised [egeiro] Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised [egeiro] Christ from the dead will also quicken [zōopoiéō] your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:10-11).
"For the law of the Spirit of the life [zoe] (which is) in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)
"When Christ, who is our life [zōḗ], shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4).
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