Hello, everyone.
In this video, we’ll lay the groundwork to understand the truth about the two resurrections mentioned at John 5:28, 29. This will enable us to recognize how the meanings we give to words like life, death, and resurrection can bias our interpretation of Jesus’ teachings about salvation.
We’ll begin by reading those verses:
“…an hour is coming when all those in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out — those who have done good to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28–29, Berean Literal Bible)
Let’s now look at how different religious traditions have interpreted these words:
Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox teach a single general resurrection at what they view as the end of human history, followed by Final Judgment, sending the righteous to heaven or purgatory, and the wicked to hell.
Mainline Protestants (Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed) similarly expect one general resurrection, with eternal life in heaven for the righteous and eternal torment for the wicked.
Evangelicals and Fundamentalists believe in two resurrections: one to eternal life in heaven at Jesus’ return and another of the wicked after his thousand-year reign, leading to final damnation in hell.
Seventh-day Adventists believe in two distinct resurrections. One to life in heaven when Jesus returns, and the other after the thousand-year rule of Christ in which the wicked are raised to be destroyed eternally. They don’t believe in eternal torment.
Unitarian/Universalists tend to interpret these passages metaphorically or morally, not tied to literal resurrections or final judgment.
Christadelphians believe the two resurrections apply only to those who’ve heard the gospel, not to the world of humankind in general throughout the ages.
Jehovah’s Witnesses effectively believe in three resurrections:
The first resurrection to life is divided into two distinct resurrections. Part 1 is to immortal life in heaven, and part 2 to eternal life (under certain conditions) on earth. Those making up part 2 of the first resurrection are written in God’s Book of Life, but only in pencil. Their names can be erased if they fail to keep their faith during the thousand years.
The second resurrection occurs throughout the Thousand Years. These are unrighteous people who are progressively resurrected to judgment. Some will gain everlasting life; others will not.
Across all these interpretations, religious bias shapes how Jesus’ words are understood. Those who believe in an immortal soul have had to create a punishment other than death. So, they call it everlasting torment or Hell.
In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, that religion teaches that only 144,000 have a heavenly salvation hope. So, they must invent an earthly hope to account for the salvation of faithful people who died before Christ as well as the millions of their “other sheep” class alive today.
Why don’t religious leaders realize their interpretations are based on doctrinal bias? Could it be that their loyalty isn’t to the God of truth? Jesus said that our Heavenly Father is seeking people who want to worship him in spirit and truth. (John 4:24) That implies that the majority of worshippers do not work with spirit and truth. What then are they guided by?
Paul divides worshippers into two classes:
“But a physical man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot get to know [them], because they are examined spiritually. However, the spiritual man examines indeed all things…” (1 Corinthians 2:14, 15 NWT)
The irony is that the physical man does not know he is a physical man. He thinks he’s spiritual. He declares himself to be anointed with God’s spirit as the faithful and discreet slave of Jesus.
However, the truly spiritual person examines all things. His or her loyalty is to the God of Truth. Spiritual people love truth more than they love their own ideas, or the religious beliefs of their family and community. Nevertheless, bias and preconceptions can creep up on us in ways that we are not consciously aware of.
For instance, if you ask any person what life or death means, they probably think it was a silly question, because the answer seems obvious. But as we’re going to see, it isn’t.
Let’s start with John 5:21
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. (John 5:21 BSB)
Notice that Jesus is speaking in the present tense. Notice also the apparent redundancy. He says the Father raises the dead and then gives them life?! Is there any other way to raise the dead but to life? Apparently, there is.
Jesus next says:
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:24, 25 BSB)
The dead can’t hear anything. They’re dead. So, he’s not talking about the dead, or is he? Are we viewing death as the physical man views death or as a spiritual person does? It is vital that we understand what death and life is if we are ever going to fully understand what Jesus says next:
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:28, 29 BSB)
In the Bible there are two definitions for death and the dead; two definitions for life and the living. If you are watching this video right now, you are alive obviously but are you really alive?
To help explain that, consider this passage from Genesis where Yehovah God tells Adam:
“You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16 BSB)
There came a day when Adam and Eve did eat of that forbidden fruit. Did they die that day as God said they would? Yes, they did, because God cannot lie. They didn’t die physically for many years, but like an electronic device that is unplugged and running on batteries, it was only a matter of time before their life force ran out. Cut off from God’s spirit, they were dead on that very day.
Whose definition of life and death and indeed any other Bible term matters most? Yours, mine, or God’s? Obviously, God’s definition is what takes precedence. So, any other definition is secondary to His. Thus, there is no need for us to say spiritual death or spiritual life when referring to God’s definition. Those terms are not even found in Scripture. If we say the dead or the living, or death or life, by default, we’re talking about the real and enduring meaning of those states of being.
I’ve learned from many discussions that people tend to put the qualifier on God’s definition as if it were secondary. When the physical man says that someone died, he means death as the average joe on the street understands it. But if he’s referring to God’s view of death, he qualifies it as “spiritual death”. I think we should be looking at it the other way round. We need to think of death as God sees it and if we need to distinguish, we put the qualifier on physical death. This adjustment to our thinking fits with the spiritual person’s way of viewing things.
This happened in the first century. They adjusted their thinking and that was conducive to understanding the full depth of Scripture.
To demonstrate one instance where that happened, we can look at the account of the resurrection of Lazarus. In trying to get his disciples to understand hidden realities, Jesus said:
“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” (John 11:11 NLT)
His disciples didn’t understand, so Jesus had to state it plainly that Lazarus had died.
But when Jesus came to resurrect Lazarus, which isn’t the same as giving him life—remember, there’s life and there’s physical life—he said to Martha, Lazarus’ sister:
“I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25, 26 NASB)
Before we knew Jesus and before we received the adoption by the spirit, we were living in death. We were the walking dead. Now, if we die physically, we don’t really die. We just sleep. That is the point Jesus is making, and his disciples got it eventually, once the Spirit came upon them to lead them into all the truth. That happened first at Pentecost.
We see the evidence of that in various verses throughout the Christian Scriptures. For instance:
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:6 ESV)
Notice there is no need for him to say they’ve died, because the Christians knew that they were alive in God, because he is the God of the living and not of the dead. (Mark 12:27)
Now that we have this refined understanding, we’ll look at the real meaning of death and life, and resurrection, good and evil, righteous and unrighteous and apply that knowledge to what the two resurrections truly represent and how they are fulfilled.
Join me next time when we delve deeper into those subjects. Thank you for your support.