Eph 847 7/4/88
A. Definition.
1. There are five categories of life.
a. Biological life.
b. Soul life.
c. Spiritual life.
d. Life after death.
e. Resurrection life.
2. Each category is found in the Scripture, and therefore must be understood as a part of Bible doctrine and Biblical theology.
B. Biological Life.
1. Biological life begins at conception when twenty-three male chromosomes fertilize the female ovum.
2. There are three stages of biological life in the womb.
a. Blastocyst.
b. Embryo.
c. Fetus.
3. Biological life is the means of transmitting the old sin nature.
4. Since biological life is not human life but is the means of transmitting the sin nature, God is therefore not the author of sin, as alleged by those who say there is life in the womb.
5. The virgin pregnancy of Mary followed by the virgin birth is the basis for the humanity of Christ coming into the world totally apart from having a sin nature.
6. The function of biological life includes at least three stages of activity which are mistakenly construed as human life, but are not.
a. Bodily motility is a muscular contraction caused by mechanical, electrical, and chemical stimuli.
b. Neurogenic function is the beginning of the function of the nerve cells. Therefore, it is muscular response to nerve stimulation.
c. Reflex motility is the functional state of the sensory nerves and their endings, plus the function of intermediary and motor nerve cells.
7. However, the fetus is not a human being until there is soul life.
8. Biological life in the womb is not human life.
9. Human life or soul life does not exist until the point of birth when God imputes to the format soul the spark of the life (NESHEMMAH in the Hebrew).
10. Biological life in the womb must therefore not be confused with soul or human life created by God at birth.
11. Biological life has mother dependence in the womb.
12. For a detailed study of biological life in the womb, see the Doctrine of the Origin of Life.
C. Soul Life.
1. Soul life is where human life begins.
2. Soul life is provided by God at birth, Job 33:4; Eccl 12:7; Isa 45:2.
3. The sin nature is a part of biological life, as noted in Rom 6:6, 7:14; Gal 5:16; Eph 2:3. In these passages, the word “flesh” (SARXZ in the Greek) indicates the body but not the soul (PSUCHE in the Greek).
4. Without soul life, biological life does not become a human being.
5. Biological life originates with our parents; soul life originates from God at birth. 6. Only Adam and the woman were given biological and soul life simultaneously at original creation. This is because neither Adam nor the woman were ever inside the womb. There was no womb at creation and no soul life in a womb.
7. Soul life begins at the point of physical birth as one of two real imputations from God.
a. God imputes human life to the format soul at birth; therefore, God gives human life.
b. God imputes Adam’s original sin to the genetically-formed old sin nature. 8. A real imputation emphasizes the affinity between what is imputed and the target of that imputation.
9. As a result of the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the genetically-formed sin nature, soul life includes spiritual death. Spiritual death has four basic characteristics.
a. Total depravity, which is the source of both moral and immoral degeneration.
b. Total separation from God, which means the need for regeneration and eternal life.
c. Total helplessness of mankind to attain eternal salvation through his own works, human merit, or human effort. Salvation is by faith alone. When something is added to it, there is no salvation.
d. The status of dichotomy, which means mankind is born with a human soul and body, but no human spirit. The human body emphasizes the continuation of biological life; the human soul emphasizes the beginning of human (soul) life at birth.
10. Soul life continues forever either in heaven or in hell, depending upon your attitude toward Jesus Christ, Jn 3:18, 36.
11. In physical death, the soul does not die but departs from the body. For the believer, the soul is absent from the body and face to face with the Lord, 2 Cor 5:8. For the unbeliever, the soul enters Torments, a compartment of Hades, waiting for the termination of human history and the Last Judgment.
D. Spiritual Life.
1. The termini of spiritual life are two-fold.
a. Spiritual life begins at regeneration, the moment when a person believes in Jesus Christ.
b. Spiritual life terminates on earth with either the death or resurrection of the believer, whichever occurs first.
2. The plan of God for the spiritual life is the protocol plan of God.
3. The protocol plan is designed by God for only the Church Age under three categories.
a. Every believer is a new spiritual species and therefore must be under a plan.
b. Every believer is royal family of God and is therefore under the protocol plan of God.
c. Every believer is body of Christ on earth which demands a modus operandi. 4. The status quo of spiritual life is trichotomy, having a human body which is biological life, a human soul within the body, and a human spirit which is spiritual life.
5. There are two concepts of spiritual life.
a. The concept of living and dying, Phil 1:20-21. See the Doctrine of Life and Death.
b. The concept of progress in the protocol plan of God includes the life beyond gnosis, Eph 3:19 (see the Doctrine of Life beyond Gnosis), and the life beyond dreams, Eph 3:20 (see the Doctrine of Life beyond Dreams).
E. Life After Death.
1. Physical death terminates biological life.
2. The physical death of the believer is the sovereign decision of God related to His omniscience, wisdom, and grace policy.
3. Therefore, the physical death of the believer is God’s victory.
4. While the believer has control over his life for the execution of the protocol plan of God in time, he has no control over the time, place, or manner of his physical death.
5. The death of the believer is a matter of the integrity, wisdom, and sovereignty of God. 6. God is perfect; therefore, His wisdom is perfect. God is perfect; therefore, His sovereign decisions are perfect. All decisions from the sovereignty of God are made in perfect wisdom.
7. Therefore, the time, place, and manner of the believer’s death is strictly God’s decision. Therefore, it cannot be argued against or become the basis for any bitterness or any negative human reaction.
8. Apart from the Rapture generation, all believers will experience physical death.
9. The death of the believer is always God’s grace and God’s victory. This principle applies to all Church Age believers, both winners and losers.
10. In dying, God has saved the best until last.
11. The death of the Church Age believer is being absent from the body, face to face with the Lord.
12. Rev 21:4, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning or crying or pain, for the first things [things related to human life] have passed away.”
13. At physical death, only biological life is terminated. But both soul life and spiritual life continue after death and therefore form the life after death in heaven rather than on earth.
F. Resurrection Life.
1. Jn 11:25, “Jesus said to her [Martha], `I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.’”
2. 1 Cor 6:14, “Now God has not only resurrected our Lord, but will also resurrect us through His power.”
3. The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now available to every believer to execute the protocol plan, Eph 1:19-20. This same power is also involved in our resurrection.
4. Through our Lord’s substitutionary spiritual death on the cross, Jesus Christ has provided for us eternal life.
5. Eternal life becomes a far greater reality in resurrection life, which is the life of eternity.
6. The physical death of our Lord was unique in His trichotomous separation. His body went into the grave, His spirit went into the presence of God the Father in heaven, and His human soul went to that compartment of Hades called Paradise.
7. The resurrection of our Lord is the work of the omnipotence of God.
a. The omnipotence of God the Father returned His human spirit to His body in the grave.
b. The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit returned His soul from Hades to His body in the grave.
c. Jn 10:17-18 says that our Lord could have resurrected His own humanity. But because of the doctrine of kenosis, our Lord did not raise Himself from the dead.
d. The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now available to every believer for the execution of the protocol plan of God.
8. For the Church Age believer, resurrection life begins at the Rapture.
9. During the Tribulation on earth, the Church Age believer is resurrected and will have a resurrection body forever.
a. The first event will be the Judgment Seat of Christ, when every believer is evaluated for His spiritual life only.
b. The result of the Judgment Seat of Christ will be two categories of believers.
(1) Winners or invisible heroes will receive the distribution of their escrow blessings for the eternal state.
(2) Losers, those who failed to execute the protocol plan of God, will enter the eternal state in a resurrection body minus the distribution of their escrow blessings. Losers do not lose their salvation, but they do lose their escrow blessings. However, because escrow blessings are irrevocable, they remain on deposit forever as a memorial to lost opportunity for the execution of the protocol plan of God in time
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© 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.
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