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Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Whoa! Where did you get this? What about "reincarnation"? How can you tell people that "once you are dead, it is over" without teaching about what happens when you die? You just destroyed your entire argument.
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You don't have to have the details of what happens after death to refute reincarnation. "It is appointed unto man once to die; after that the judgment." (somewhat paraphrased) The problem is that verses do not prove anything to someone who does not believe. And if someone thinks they believe in Christ and the scripture, that one verse should set them straight if they thought otherwise. If not, I'm not sure what to say.
But, if they think they might come back to life to live here on this earth and get another crack at it all, what does that do to their salvation?
Once again, you throw out a somewhat extreme example and assert that you need to be able to teach them about what happens when they die. It seems that the only clear word is that you die, then face judgment (one way or the other). Much of any "teaching" on other things in between is sort of speculative.
The need is for belief in Christ and his gospel. It is not for theological analysis of what happens after death beyond what is clearly stated. And, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4, don't go beyond what is written. Let the words of scripture speak for themselves. They do not need embellishment or improvement to deal with those who believe in reincarnation. They just need to get to the heart and mind of the person to believe in and follow Christ.
I'm not saying that there is no value in persuading a believer that still holds to reincarnation. But the value is not "life-changing" in the ultimate sense. It probably will help them toward sanctification now since
now will probably become more important.
But scavenging the little actually written about what is after death and before the New Jerusalem (or at least the rapture) to build a more robust teaching on the subject does not appear to be important. It surely did not rise to the level of a teaching for Jesus. Or even for Paul. Referring to 1 Corinthians 15 only asserts that there is a resurrection. And it gives a fleeting hint at the nature of the new body we will receive then. But it says nothing about between now and then (after death).