Paradise and heaven

#paradise
#heaven

A kind soul sent me a short article saying that paradise and heaven are synonymous. It got me thinking. I don't remember reading such a fable in the Bible. I gave my thoughts...

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Jesus, in his spirit, went to paradise after he died.

Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection.

One who equates paradise as heaven probably hasn't read the Bible for himself; he is just carelessly repeating some shibboleths!

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

Acts 1
¶9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

paradise: paradeisos
heaven: ouranos

By divine inspiration, two completely different words are used; however, worldly-wise men equate the two and make them synonymous! Just like woolly-headed folks equate everlasting as eternal. 

Rev 2:7 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Note carefully: 
- the paradise of God is entered and enjoyed by one that OVERCOMES... it is conditioned by the works of overcoming.
- Heaven is entered completely by grace alone, by the finished work of Christ alone; He alone made a man fit for heaven.

Paradise is for the spirits of the righteous;
Heaven is for the resurrected glorified saints.

Paradise and hell are in the intermediate state; in the realm of time (between death and resurrection); Heaven and the lake of fire are in the eternal state; in the realm of eternity (after resurrection, beyond time)

May our Lord bless you to know these truths from the Scriptures!  Just read the Scriptures closely, the Lord will begin to show you the truth.

John 14
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

*I will come again* - when is that?

UNTIL Christ comes again, we won't be with him where he is (i.e. in heaven) with the Father. Until our resurrection at Christ's second coming, we won't enter into our eternal inheritance in Christ.

1Pet 1
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

That which is reserved in heaven WILL ONLY be revealed in the LAST TIME... i.e. at Christ's coming again.

Does it make sense now?

Declared Righteous by the Righteousness of Christ, not by your faith

Justification is God's free and gracious act of 
imputing Christ's righteousness to the person when
he is in a state of condemnation and death.
Justification by faith is a fiction. 

This meme with the words of the late Mr R. C Sproul stirred a thought.

Without a doubt, you have to say a hearty amen to this statement, "We are righteous by virtue of God's imputing to us the righteousness of Christ." 

It states the truth of the gospel. However, its necessary implication is devastating to a popular reformed doctrine, sola fide, justification by faith alone.

What that statement is declaring, in other words, is simply this, Our justification before God, that is, to be declared righteous by God, is NOT by faith alone (man's act of believing) BUT by virtue of God's imputing to us the righteousness of Christ.

And when does that imputation take place?

The popular protestant reformed folks insist it is when an UNjustified man believes, then he is justified, i.e. justification is by faith alone.

A simple problem with that is this, an UNjustified man is a man still in his native state of condemnation and death; a man dead in trespasses and sins cannot possibly believe.

Another problem is simply this: it is the just shall live by faith, that is, it is the justified ones that shall live by faith; faith is an effect of God's act of justifying the condemned..

One theologian universally respected in his days for his theological soundness said this:

"The reason why any are justified IS NOT because they have faith; but the reason why they have faith IS because they are justified." ~~ Dr John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal Divinity.

The protestant reformed folks insist the very opposite:

"The reason why any are justified IS because they have faith; yes, the reason why they are justified IS because they have faith."

Deformed is probably a more honest designation.

Christ Jesus came to save the lost;

  

Christ Jesus came to save the lost;
- TO SAVE the lost, and nothing less,
- to save THE LOST, and nothing more.

So, who are THE LOST?

The word lost implies ownership, the "lost" has an owner. That which does not have an owner can not be said to be lost, to be separated from the owner. Only that which is separated from its owner can be said to be lost.

Christ came to save that which belongs to Him, i.e., His own, those chosen and given to Christ by God the Father, those that belong to Him. They are His but are separated from Him because of sins, that is, lost. Christ came to save HIS people, every one of them among every tribe, nation, and tongue.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21.

He SAVED HIS PEOPLE from their sins. What did Jesus do to save His people? He lived the life they cannot live, and died the death they deserved. He lived the life of perfect obedience to all the laws of God in the stead of His people, thus securing the righteousness necessary for their justification before God; He bore all the sins of all His people and died the cursed death they deserved, took the full penalty of theirs sins snd suffered the hell of being forsaken by God His Father. He paid the wages of their sins and suffered the full wrath. He conquered death in His resurrection from the dead. He gives eternal life to as many as were given to Him to redeem. He shall return to glorify each one of them.

He SAVED and saved His people to the uttermost. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." John 17:2.

"As many as" means the exact number; not one more, and not one less! To each one of them - all in their native state of sin and death - Christ freely gives them eternal life, at God' 's own appointed time.

The possession of this eternal life enables them to perform spiritual duties required of them.