[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by awareness

So it was an ad hominem by the admin ... great UntoHim ... and cute. It hurt. Are you out to hurt me out here?

Yeah, that was a flat out ad hominem and I thought I could just slip that by as if it was only Harold and I conversing here. Below the belt - deduct 10 points from UntoHim. Sometimes I want people to admit that they don't believe the Bible is the absolute, inerrant Word of God in the same way that I do. But that should NOT be a litmus test for participation on this forum, especially for someone who's been around as long as Harold.

Ok, back to 1 Corinthians 15:45.

Let me try it this way folks. I apologize in advance for the poor fellow that invented the flow chart, but I think this might be a way for me to try to explain how this particular verse should be interpreted.

1. spirit.
2. life-giving spirit.
3. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
4a The first man Adam became a living soul (being)
4b the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1. Within the immediate context ,(1 Cor 15:42-46) there is plain and clear indication that Paul is speaking of a "spiritual body" and not the person of the Holy Spirit. This is NOT to say that the Holy Spirit is not a concern of, or in the general purview of the apostle when writing this wonderful, mysterious statement!

2 & 3. I only have 2 years of biblical Greek under my belt, and I cannot even begin to understand why Paul would use this term (ζῳοποιέω) in conjunction with the "spiritual body" he is speaking of. I have read numerous commentaries over the years and I have not found any satisfactory interpretation of what is meant here by "life-giving". Is the Holy Spirit involved with this life-giving? Ya sure ya bettcha! Of course He is! But this does not mean that we have to make the same theological leap that Witness Lee did and say that Jesus Christ became the Holy Spirit.

4a & 4b. The first account is given to us in Genesis 2. The "life-giving" was the very breath of God breathing life into man who was formed from the dust of the ground. That initial impartation was apparently not the impartation of the "eternal life" of God. (That was contained in the Tree of Life). This initial impartation made man "a living soul".

Man was made, at the very least, a dual-part being (soul and body), and this initial impartation involved both the soul and the body, but because of the Fall, the body, or flesh, of man became subject with all of creation to "the bondage to corruption" (Rom 8:21). According to the teaching of the apostles, when we believe on the Lord Jesus, our "souls are saved", however the "redemption of our bodies" will be at some future point. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, through his resurrection has already entered this glorious "state of being", and is in fact a forerunner of those of us who will receive the same "spiritual body".

Once again, there is a LOT of theological meaning and implications to all of this. But I don't think that God would leave us just hanging out in the wind without having any way to know what our future will be. The truth is here. It has always been here for us.