1. Didn’t the thief on the cross go to paradise with Christ the day He died.

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

Answer: No! In fact, on Sunday morning Jesus said to Mary, “I have not yet ascended to My Father” (John 20:17). Thus, Christ Himself did not immediately go to heaven at His resurrection. It’s important to note that the punctuation we see in the Bible today is not original. The first English bible with punctuation was printed in 1555-1560. Now note how the comma in Luke 23:43 would be better placed after the word “to day,” rather than before  “to day,” as seen in the KJV above, so that the passage properly reads, “I say unto thee To day, shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

Another way to put this verse that makes sense in the immediate context is: “I’m telling you today—when it seems that I can save no one, when I Myself am being crucified as a criminal—I give you the assurance today that you will be with me in Paradise.”

Christ’s kingdom of glory will be set up at His second coming (Matt. 25:31). The righteous O.T. believers from Adam to Jesus’ “Little Flock” (Luke 12:32) are to be resurrected to ‘Paradise in Heaven’ and return to earth to enter the promised ‘Kingdom on earth’ at that time and not at the time of their death.

2. Doesn’t the Bible speak of a “undying,” “immortal” soul? No! The undying, immortal soul is not mentioned in the Bible. The word “immortal” is found only once in the Bible and that is in reference to God (1 Tim. 1:17), and then also in reference to the saved, in the Rapture they will “put on immortality” (1Cor. 15:51-55)

3. Okay, at death the ‘body returns to dust’ and their ‘breath (spirit) returns to God’; but where does the soul go? The Soul goes nowhere. Instead, it simply ceases to exist for a time.  Remember, two things must be combined to make a “living soul”: the body and the breath (spirit). When the breath departs, the soul ceases to exist. This is just as when you turn off a light, where does the light go? It doesn’t go anywhere. It just ceases to exist. Two things must combine to make a light: a bulb and electricity. Without this combination, light is impossible. So, it is with the soul; unless body and breath are combined, there can be no soul present. Also, there is no such thing as a “disembodied soul.”

4. Does the word “soul” ever mean anything other than a living being?

Yes. Depending upon the context, the word “soul’ may mean also (1) life itself, or (2) the mind, or intellect. No matter which meaning is intended, the soul is still a combination of two things (the body Plus the breath of God), and the soul ceases to exist at death when the Spirit returns to God (Eccl 12:7).

5. Can you explain John 11:26: “Whoever lives and BELIEVES in Me shall NEVER DIE”? This refers not to the first death, which all people die (Heb. 9:27), but to the second death, from which only the unbelievers do eternally die, from which there is no resurrection to life (Rev. 2:11; 21:8). Believers never die after their resurrection.

6. Matthew 10:28a says, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Doesn’t this prove that the soul is undying – Read The Rest Of The Verse. The last half of the same verse proves that souls do die.

Matthew 10:28b continued… says, “Rather fear Him [The LORD} Who Is Able To Destroy [Gk. apollymi, destroy fully, Strong’s] both Soul And Body in hell (Gk. gehenna, the lake of fire).”

Answer: No! The whole verse proves the opposite. The word “soul” here means life and refers to the eternal life, which is God’s gift (Rom. 6:23) that is given to the righteous at the moment one first believes (1 Jn. 5:11-12). No one can take away the eternal “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” that God bestows to every genuine believer. (Lk. 12:4-5.)

7. Doesn’t 1 Peter 4:6 say the “gospel of the kingdom” was preached to dead people?

“For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1 Peter 4:6 (KJV)

Answer: No! Note that it says “the gospel of the Kingdom” “WAS” (past tense) preached to those who “ARE” dead before they died. They are dead now, but the gospel “was” preached to them while they were yet living. See the Amplified Bible version below.

“For this is why the good news (the Gospel) WAS preached [in their lifetime] even [that is,] to the dead, that though judged in fleshly bodies as men are, they might live in the spirit as God does.” (1 Peter 4:6 (AMP)

8. What about Jesus’ so-called parable of “the Rich Man and Lazarus”? See the ADDENDUM that follows in Part 4 of this Study Series.