The Immortal, Incorruptible Christian

A picture of a decomposing pig as an illustration of the corruption of a body after death. So it is also with a dying soul.

My dear readers, I am certain that all of you have experienced the reality that not everything is as it seems. Is it not true that sometimes, after looking back, we question, "How could I have allowed myself to be so duped by something that should have been so obvious? I have told people and myself in particular that I now have so much guilt for knowing deep down that what I was experiencing was just not right, but I went along anyway, just not to be contrary. On numerous occasions recently, I woke up in the middle of the night and realized almost immediately that God had something to say. Last night at about 3:30, the thought came to me from Isaiah 48:10, "I have refined you, but not as silver, I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction." Not exactly the kind of thing you want to hear any time, let alone at 3:30 AM.

The Immortal, Incorruptible Christian Can Shrink In Shame

So what is the furnace of affliction? Many years ago, I was sitting in front of an associate pastor, telling him about the guilt I felt because I had not done more for God. He said, I appeared to be thrown back to my Roman Catholic days. Justification by faith alone makes no room for guilt, because we are forgiven of ALL sin. However, last night a thought entered my mind, which I pressed God for the correct answer. He sent me to 1 John 2:28, emphasis added, "Now, little children, abide (remain) in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."

In the context of these chapters, the Apostle is continually using ideas that separate the children of God from the world, such as, "...now many antichrists have appeared; ...They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." (2:18-19). Nevertheless, in 2:27 we have these thoughts from John, "As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides (remains) in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, (and if you do your Greek study homework, it says,) ...and just as it has taught you, you shall remain in Hm." Therefore, the anointing that we receive from Jesus remains; God is faithful. However, John's concluding remark is, "...just as it has taught you..." His thought is pregnant with the possibility that to the extent we reject the true teaching because of a false teacher or we have become part of an institution that rejects the truth, and we go along, then we shall not consistently remain in Him.

The Immortal, Incorruptible Christian Must Be Responsible

The above point made by the Apostle is consistent with the Apostle Paul to, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). The child of God who remains a child (dependent upon the God he needs for EVERYTHING) as he grows to maturity to bear fruit and make disciples, teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded, will have little to no reason to shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. Unfortunately, the institutions that we call church today are just that, the hierarchy of professional teachers, doctors of divinity, and association heads. At the end of it all, there is the call to ministry and the call to the pew. Therefore, the immortal, incorruptible Christian must disciple others, not to be saved but because they are saved, and because they are faithful and abiding they will not shrink away from Him in shame.

The Immortal, Incorruptible Christian Alone Has Eternal life

Here's the thing about immortality: it is not mere head knowledge, but as Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." In 1 John 3:6, we are taught, "No one who abides (remains) in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him." "Sins," as stated by John, describes an action happening in the present time, performed by the subject in the active voice and presented as a real fact in the indicative mood. It also shows the action as continuous or habitual, not a completed past event. For these reasons, John continues in verse 9, "No one who is born of God practices sin (as a continual and habitual act as if without a conscience), because His seed abides (remains) in him; and he cannot sin (habitually), because he is born of God." Again, salvation wrought by God cannot end because God is faithful.

Furthermore, the word immortal as found in 1 Timothy 1:17, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, [be] honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." has two possible meanings. The first meaning, "aphthartos" in Greek, is undecaying, i.e., imperishable, incorruptible. The word incorruptible, as found in Romans 1:23, "Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man..." is also aphthartos, the same word with two possible meanings, which in reality is the same meaning. Immortality is to share the eternal life with God, who is incorruptible. When we, as Christian believers and doers, share immortality, we also of necessity share incorruptibility. We will never decay in eternity as our bodies do in this life. Neither will we ever sin because we will never be tempted, neither from without nor from within ourselves.

On the other hand, those chosen by God's sovereign and arbitrary will and saving grace will be mortal in the sense of eternal corruption and decay. These concepts might be exhausting to our constitutions, and very difficult to digest and accept, but that does not make them less true or Biblical. Mortality includes decay and an ongoing corruption. Immortality means incorruptible and eternal. There is no getting away from this reality, and all earthbound people need to hear what they are facing.