The Christadelphian Instructor/Concerning Man
30. What does the Bible reveal concerning man? Answer: The Bible reveals that man is a living soul or creature, originally made of the dust of the ground, in the image of God.
Proof:
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 soul (creature) (Gen. 2:7).
... in the image of God created he him; (Gen. 1:27).
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen. 3:19).
For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. (Psa. 103:14).
... I (Abraham) have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: (Gen. 18:27).
31. Is man an immortal being?
Answer: No; he is mortal. He dies and returns to the dust.
Proof:
But man dieth, and wasteth away: (Job 14:10).
Shall mortal man be more just than God? (Job 4:17).
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; ... all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. (Ecc. 3:19-20).
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah. (Psa. 89:48).
32. Has man an immortal part that lives in death, as held by nearly every religious system earth? Answer: No: that doctrine is one of the many religious lies that have come to be regarded as truth. Man is wholly mortal. God only has immortality. Immortality is something a man has to seek for; it is a matter of promise and hope.
Proof:
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Gen. 3:4).
O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. (Jer. 16:19).
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. (1 Tim. 6:16).
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Tim. 1:17).
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: (Rom. 2:7).
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (2 Tim. 1:10).
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; (Titus 1:2).
And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. (1 John 2:25).
33. May not man's life be immortal though his body is mortal? Answer: Man's life is not in himself. It is the power of God by which he lives, and which returns to God when man dies. If God were to gather it all to Himself, man would perish from the universe.
Proof:
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. (Psa. 36:9).
Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (Acts 17:25).
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:10).
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Ecc. 12:7).
If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; (Job 34:14).
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? (Isa. 2:22).
34. Has man, then, no conscious existence in death? Answer: Man has no existence of any kind in death. He is dead -- entirely dead for the time being, and knows no more than if he had never been born.
Proof:
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing... (Ecc. 9:5).
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: (Psa. 6:5).
... there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Ecc. 9:10).
... His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. (Psa. 146:3-4).
For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. (Isa. 38:18-19).
... Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. (Job 10:18-19).
35. Why is man in his present mortal and evil state? Answer: Man is mortal because of sin. It is God's law that sinners must die. Adam, our first father, sinned and was sentenced to death before he had any children. Death began with him, and came to us through him. We receive the nature that he had after he was condemned to die. We thus inherit his sentence of death. Besides this, we are all sinners ourselves.
Proof:
For the wages of sin is death; (Rom. 6:23).
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, (Rom. 5:12).
...Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen. 3:17-19).
For as in Adam all die. (1 Cor. 15:22).
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; (Rom. 5:18).
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Rom. 3:23).
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves (2 Cor. 1:9).
36. Does God intend that the human race shall always be subject to its present evil state?
Answer: No: he purposes to take away sin from the earth altogether, and to cause death to cease.
Proof:
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. (Hosea 13:14).
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. (Isa. 25:8).
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Rev. 21:4).
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (1 Cor. 15:26).
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29).
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (2 Tim. 1:10).
37. Will God bring about this great change without any reference to whether men please Him or not?
Answer: No: the work will be thoroughly done in righteousness. As death came by sin, so life will come by obedience.
Proof:
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Rom. 5:19).
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Rom. 3:21-22).
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (1 Cor. 6:9).
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18).
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal. 6:7).
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:20).
38. The Scriptures declare that "there is none righteous, no not one." How then can salvation come, if it is to depend on righteousness? Answer: The state of man, left to himself, is what the Scriptures describe. But God has not left man to himself. He has interposed in his affairs, and opened a way of righteousness in which He invites men to walk. God has brought righteousness near through Jesus Christ and asks men to lay hold of it by faith in him.
Proof:
And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. (Isa. 59:16).
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Jesus) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (Rom. 5:18).
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Cor.1:30).
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Rom. 10:3-4).
39. How can men who have been sinners lay hold on the righteousness of God in Christ? Answer: Because God calls on them to repent, and offers to forgive their sins if they believe in Jesus and put on his name.
Proof:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30).
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: (Acts 13:38).
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isa. 55:7).
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38).
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12).
40. Are such saved by faith in Christ alone? Answer: No. Faith justifies from all past sins, and ensures peace with God: but works are requisite to retain His favour and secure acceptance at the last.
Proof:
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Rom. 5:1).
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (1 Cor. 10:12).
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Rom. 8:13).
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. (2 Peter 2:20).
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. (James 2:24).
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (Rev. 2:5,23).