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[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:17) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Our topic is: "Can I Inherit Immortality?" Here's Rick and Julie.

[Rick] (0:19 - 0:26) Welcome, everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a longtime contributor.

Julie, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

[Julie] (0:35 - 0:38) 1 Corinthians 15:53: "For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality."

[Rick] (0:38 - 1:25) What does it mean to be immortal? In Greek mythology, Zeus, Athena and Apollo were among their immortal gods, those who lived forever and had powerful influence over the mortal world.

When someone achieves extraordinary levels of greatness in their field, they're often spoken of as being immortal. In American baseball, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays are "immortalized" by the way they played the game. These examples show us that immortality can be applied to mean someone or something as never dying, be it in a physical or an intellectual sense.

How does the Bible define immortality? As we explore this question, we will see a clear and focused reasoning emerge that elevates what immortality is and who will have it.

[Julie] (1:25 - 1:58) In the dictionary, the adjective "immortal" means "imperishable." When it's a noun, it means "a person whose fame is lasting," like you said about the famous Babe Ruth, who's long deceased. The words "immortal" and "immortality" don't appear in the Old Testament, but the New Testament definitions are interesting, and they're going to help us figure out who is given immortality.

There are two similar words. The first is "athanasia." That means "deathlessness," and it's a compound word derived from two words meaning "not" + "death."

[Rick] (1:58 - 2:10) The word that it's derived from literally means "death" or "dying." What you're saying, Julie, is this is exactly the opposite. One is "death" and "dying."

The other is NOT "death" and "dying."

[Julie] (2:10 - 2:27) Exactly. Now, the second word, "aphthartos," that's translated as "immortal" into English as well. It means "incorruptible, imperishable, undecaying." It's also one of these compound words derived from the words "not" + "perishable" or "undecaying."

[Rick] (2:27 - 3:24) Same exact formula, if you will. "Undecaying" is the opposite of "decaying." Think about it like a withering plant.

When it dries up, it gets so dry that you touch it and it just crumbles into nothing. That's decaying. Put the word "not" in front of it, and it's "not decaying."

It is healthy. It is vibrant. It is full of life.

We've got these two words. We see them as very, very, very important together to define what immortality in scripture is. The two words mean the INABILITY to die and the inability to degrade--

two different aspects. Let's use one scripture to dramatically define the New Testament's meaning of immortality. The Apostle Paul in this scripture is comparing the sadness and ruin of sinful human nature with the unspeakable glory of the divine nature.

We're going to look at 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to go through several verses. We're going to start with 1 Corinthians 15:50.

[Julie] (3:25 - 3:51) This is from the King James Version: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." We've got these "corruption" and "incorruption."

These are opposites in Greek. Incorruption is "not" + the word for "corruption." Not being able to decay or wither, like we talked about. It's "not" "aphthartos," or in this case, the noun form "aphtharsia."

[Rick] (3:51 - 4:34) I'm glad you're saying the Greek words and not me--just saying. All right, but here's the point of this verse 50; flesh and blood can't inherit God's kingdom.

Corruptibility can't inherit incorruptibility. That's the formula the Apostle just puts out in front of us as an introduction to us understanding actually what immortality is. Let's go a little bit further now.

Paul's next statement dramatically shows is, this change from corruptible to incorruptible is possible, and this change is also promised. Let's stay with 1 Corinthians 15. Let's now go to 1 Corinthians 15:51-52:

[Julie] (4:34 - 4:54) "Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible

(that's "aphthartos," not being able to decay) and we shall be changed." Literally, it means "to make different, to transform."

[Rick] (4:54 - 6:03) Again, you're seeing something happen, and there is a massive disconnect between what was and what will be. That which dies from corruptibility is raised incorruptible because a change happened. This is obviously a miraculous transformation that leads to spiritual life.

Here's the point that's beginning to emerge here; it's very clear. The first scripture was, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom..."

HUMANITY CAN'T GO TO HEAVEN AS HUMANITY. Human nature is separate and distinct from spirit nature, which, as we will see in a few moments here, is separate and distinct from the nature of God. You can't mix and match.

Something has to change if something's going to go from one to the other. Let's continue now. The Apostle Paul continues building his reasoning by adding "deathlessness" to unending existence.

We've been talking about the "incorruptibility" words. Now he's going to add the "deathlessness" word in here and give us an even broader base to understand from. Now we go to 1 Corinthians 15:53.

[Julie] (6:03 - 6:51) This will help because both words for immortality are here along with their opposites. It says: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption (that's that aphtharsia, incorruptible, that's NOT decaying) and this mortal must put on immortality (that's athanasia, that deathlessness, NOT death, the unending existence)."

They must transform from that nature of being able to decay to that which CANNOT decay. They must transform from the nature that dies to the nature that is deathless. He says, "Put this on."

If I put on a coat, that means that there was a time that I wasn't wearing that coat. It strikes me that if a mortal has to put on immortality, there was a time they did NOT have immortality.

[Rick] (6:52 - 8:09) This is a fundamental scriptural baseline of truth. Now we have to understand that what this is saying is, humanity, in all of its greatest possible glory, is mortal. That's why the Apostle Paul says "this mortal must put on immortality."

He just said, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom..." You can't just argue saying, "Well this is just about your body." No, this is about you.

You are mortal. The word mortal literally means "liable to die." We have to understand that this is showing us that the human being--which is the breath of life and the body, which makes up the soul--is mortal.

That's what the Apostle Paul is hammering out to us as he repeats himself. I love the Apostle Paul because he repeats himself a lot, and so do I. I take after him--I try to, anyway.

The point is, he's letting us know that this immortality concept is way beyond what we are naturally able to understand and to naturally have. Let's go a little further in 1 Corinthians 15. The Apostle Paul repeats the equation and then shows the astounding and miraculous conclusion of all of this.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15:54:

[Julie] (8:09 - 8:30) "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Even death dies, and again, immortality means "not death"--the word for "not" + the word for "death." Death is impossibility with immortality.

[Rick] (8:31 - 10:24) That's very, very important. Again, the Apostle says when this corruptible human being--human soul, which is corruptible, which decays and dies--puts on this incorruption--this inability to decay, this mortal, this being that's liable to die, puts on deathlessness--then death itself is no longer an issue. That shows us what immortality means.

Death doesn't matter anymore. It's not something that can touch you in any way, shape, or form. Let's look at this now.

Here's an interesting correlation: Like all spirit beings, human nature--even in its perfect form--is the opposite of God's nature. You're going like, what?

Wait, what do you mean opposite? Well, because humans and spirit beings inherently have the ability to die. I want to pause there.

Spirit beings have the ability to die. Think about Satan. Satan in scripture is very, very clearly destined to be utterly, completely destroyed.

If Satan was immortal, that couldn't happen, okay? But you see it very clearly. Because human beings and spirit beings inherently have the ability to die, that puts us into one category.

On the other hand, there's God. God is self-perpetuating. God is incapable of dying.

It can't happen. There's nothing anywhere that could make that happen. This self-perpetuating, deathless capacity--think about the glory of that.

It would be a very foolish gift to give to untested beings. If God were to have created others and said, Hey, here, I'll give you this inability to die. You think about that and say, Well, why would He do that? Because now they are literally out of His control.

You've got to think about it. That's the difference between God and the rest of creation.

[Julie] (10:24 - 10:52) Yes, He wouldn't have the ability to destroy them if they went wrong, like Satan did. A lot of Christians start with what we believe to be the non-biblical tradition that humans are born with some sort of spark of this immortal divinity. What that does to your thinking is then you have God locked into having to do something with that spark that can't die.

He has to put them somewhere, right? Either heaven or hell or somewhere in between, but that's definitely not what the Apostle Paul is teaching here.

[Rick] (10:52 - 11:28) No, and he's not just alluding to something or hinting at it. He's repeating it again and again and again and again. It's a very clear basis for looking at immortality.

Now here's the next question: Is it possible to become immortal? You've got this mortality, and okay, we get it, everybody can die, and la la la.

But what about becoming immortal? Is it possible? The answer is, yes!

Remember, there had to be a massive change. When we look at this, we see that Jesus, according to scripture, was the first to have this privilege. Let's look at 1 Timothy 6:13-16:

[Julie] (11:29 - 12:30) "I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he (Jesus) will bring about at the proper time— he (Jesus) who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light (God), whom no man has seen or can see. To him (Jesus) be the honor and eternal dominion.

Amen." It says he "dwells in unapproachable light." Well, we know that God is that light. 1 John 1:5 says: "This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

Jesus was given immortality after his resurrection--that inability to die--he was given it as a reward for his faithfulness.

[Rick] (12:30 - 12:36) He is elevated to this state of, you can't do anything with him.

[Julie] (12:36 - 12:38) Proved himself worthy of that position.

[Rick] (12:39 - 13:08) Right. Because of that ultimate loyalty, God puts him in that position and says, I can trust you with everything for all of eternity beyond the counting of time. That's what immortality really brings us.

It's scary almost to think of the heights and the power of such things. As you mentioned, because of his sacrifice, Jesus had been exalted by God to heights never before achieved. Let's just look at a couple of scriptures that help us to see that.

Philippians 2:9-11:

[Julie] (13:08 - 13:38) "...God highly exalted him (Jesus), and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Ephesians 1:20-21 describes this as being at God's "right hand"..."far above all rule and authority and power and dominion." This is the most immense power in the universe.

[Rick] (13:38 - 15:01) In Philippians, it talks about his having a name above every name, and in Ephesians it talks about being at His right hand above it. You're seeing these different scriptures that say there's a difference here, there's something to be looked upon and to be honored and reverenced, because this is God's plan for how this works. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the one who has this ultimate awesome power.

Now the next question is: Okay, God and Jesus--we're good-- who else can have this honor? That door is open!

According to scripture, that door is open. Again, as we go through these scriptures, this can be almost a little bit scary and overwhelming to think about as we're describing how lofty this is. Who else can have this honor?

Those called to follow Christ who answer that call and who actually live that call. What does that mean? I want to stress before we even start this that we are not for a moment suggesting that someone who comes and says, "Hey, I'm saved, Jesus has forgiven my sins," is in line for this kind of reward.

That's a beautiful place to start, but if we end where we start, we have not fulfilled what's needed. Let's go through some of the things that are needed. We're looking about answering and living that call.

Let's look at 1 Peter 1:3-5:

[Julie] (15:01 - 15:52) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible (that's that word for not corruptible, not able to decay like that plant) and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." This is saying that now the most faithful ones are given an incorruptible inheritance, this immortality.

Now, if I inherit a million dollars, that means I didn't already have that million dollars. It's given to me. It's not the million dollars versus the million dollars -- not corruptible versus incorruptible.

[Rick] (15:52 - 16:41) In this scripture, those who answer and follow Christ, who answer and live that call, according to God's abundant mercy--first point; you don't deserve it. That's the key. You don't deserve it.

I don't deserve it. We can't deserve it! It's God's abundant mercy, this lively hope that comes through the begetting of God's spirit.

That's what puts us in position for this, but that's just the beginning. Let's go a little further. Living this call means the purifying of our lives in accordance with God's Word, God's will, and God's way every day.

Let's look at 1 Peter chapter 1. Let's go down several verses, 1 Peter 1:22-23:

[Julie] (16:41 - 17:05) "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Rick, here's those opposites again. You've got the not corruptible--not being able to decay--versus the corruptible.

[Rick] (17:05 - 17:24) You've got to go from one to the other. How do you do that? The answer is, you've purified your souls in obeying the truth.

Now obeying the truth doesn't mean just signing the contract and saying, "Okay, I hereby declare I'm going to obey the truth" and I put my name on that contract and put it away and go do whatever I want.

[Julie] (17:24 - 17:26) In whose truth? Is it my truth?

[Rick] (17:26 - 18:13) Right, right, right. It is "the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love," through God's spirit. It's God's truth written in God's Word.

Don't go anyplace else. That's where we get it, and then we can expand and learn to understand it. It is living a life that continually works at purifying one's very being, because that's how we honor and reverence God. That's really what this all comes down to.

You can see that this immortal gift is not just like, here, you seem like a nice person, you can have this. This is work for your entire life. Let's go a step further.

Living this call means pursuing victory in Christ with firm discipline every day, in every way, without exception. This is hard. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 9:24-25.

[Julie] (18:13 - 18:44) The Apostle Paul asks us this: "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." These are those same opposites.

These are the same Greek words for "corruptible" and "incorruptible" (immortality). Now they're described in English as "perishable" and "imperishable" (same immortality).

[Rick] (18:45 - 19:55) You think about the scripture in Revelation 2:10. It says, "...Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." The wreath would be placed on the head of the winner. The Apostle is showing us this "crown of life" is this imperishable crowning of life that is never-ending, that becomes deathless.

In the scripture, he says "run in such a way that you may win." Folks, if we're looking at saying, "Hey, am I in line for immortality?? How can that possibly be?"

Here's the question we have to ask ourselves: How is my Christian training coming? What is my Christian discipline every single day of my life?

Do I just go to Sunday and get all dressed up and start to feel good and feel holy on Sunday, then by Wednesday it's all gone? That is not being focused and trained the way an athlete is. The greatest athletes in the world stand head and shoulders above everyone else in their training and their discipline.

That's what the Apostle Paul is saying. That is whom immortality is given to, those who follow Christ with that kind of zeal. It doesn't end there.

It's even bigger. Living this call means no longer living by our human thoughts and our human desires. Let's look at Romans 12:1-2:

[Julie] (19:56 - 20:17) "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

[Rick] (20:18 - 21:25) There's so much in this particular verse. "Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice..." --that means everything I am about needs to be laid on the altar before the Lord God and said, Okay, here is me.

What would you have me to do with me? When He says, go down that road--if I say I really don't like that one so much... that's not a conversation,

that is an obligation! We want to be clear on that. The scripture says it's our spiritual service of worship.

We OWE that if we have said, I am following in Jesus' footsteps. Be transformed, changed, metamorphosized by the renewing of your mind. Your mind used to think this way;

allow God's spirit to have it think this way. That's how you move forward. That's the road toward immortality.

It is only truly given to those who are called according to His purpose, who answer that call. God gives them the spirit and says, Come, follow My son, and here's how to do it. Now what about everybody else?

[Julie] (21:26 - 21:26) Yes.

[Rick] (21:26 - 22:04) Because what we just described is not something that you're going to have just lining up to say, oh, oh, pick me!

JULIE:

Yeah, It's a very small amount of people. RICK:

What about everybody else? Where do they fit in with this whole thing?

Well, there's really, really good news. It's a little bit different, but it's really, really good news. The good news is: Through Jesus, everybody else is given the gift of eternal life!

Now, we didn't say immortal life. We said eternal life. How do we know?

Why are we making a distinction? Because Jesus told us to do that. Let's look at John 3:16-17.

[Julie] (22:05 - 22:43) Here's probably one of the most quoted scriptures in the world, but have we ever given a lot of thought as to what it means? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

For God did not send the son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him." Okay, so they won't perish, they'll have eternal life. "Eternal" here means "perpetual."

It's an adjective of a word that means "age-lasting." It's different from a mortality that lasts forever. It's immortal.

It's age-lasting. What do we do with that?

[Rick] (22:44 - 22:51) That's a good question because "perpetual" means it never stops. If something is perpetual, it just keeps on going, going and going. Well, that's pretty good.

[Julie] (22:51 - 22:52) Sounds like a long time.

[Rick] (22:53 - 24:04) Then you add some more. Then you add some more.

What's the difference, immortal versus eternal? Living perpetually is different than having deathlessness. According to the Bible, according to the scriptures that we just read, when a being is immortal, they cannot die, and they cannot decay, and they are self-perpetuating.

Can't die, can't decay, self-perpetuating... that's immortality! When a being has eternal or perpetual life, they CAN live forever.

Okay, let's pause there. That's important. Yes, eternal life means eternal.

When you finish counting, you have to keep counting because there's more. That's how far into the future you go. When a being has eternal or perpetual life, they can live forever.

However, they're dependent on some level of nourishment--depending if they're a physical being or a spiritual being--from outside of themselves to continually perpetuate their existence. They don't have the ability to have that life from within themselves. It has to be perpetuated from the outside.

Does that make sense?

[Julie] (24:04 - 24:43) Yes, because that means they're still reliant upon God, and they could die. Death is a possibility, but it won't if you're living the way you're supposed to be living. In this John 3:16-17--those who believe in him "shall not perish, but have eternal life"--

we're talking about after the resurrection. It's not now. It's after the resurrection when they have learned they have the ability to continue to live forever.

Immortality is this rare gift. It's not death. It's deathlessness.

It's not decay. It's incorruptible. We aren't born with it, but we can inherit it at God's discretion.

But there's still blessings for everybody else. It's not just the followers of Jesus.

[Rick] (24:44 - 25:22) The blessings for everybody else are immense! They're forever. You touched on this.

For the world, this gift of eternal life comes through their resurrection, as you said, and through their reconciliation. Going through the Day of Judgment and reconciling the things that had been done and putting themselves in order and learning loyalty to the Heavenly Father and all of those things. That's where the gift of eternal life is born. It comes through working your way into harmony with God's will.

Let's take a look at a couple of scriptures that help us to see this a little bit more clearly; 1 John 2:2.

[Julie] (25:22 - 25:51) This is about Jesus: "...and he himself (Jesus) is the propitiation (that means satisfaction and atonement)

for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." You've got these two groups of people described. You've got "our" sins, which are those faithful followers of Jesus, and "those of the whole world," the everybody else who need to go through, as you said, reconciliation and rehabilitation after they are resurrected.

[Rick] (25:51 - 26:23) It said that Jesus is the satisfaction for both groups. Nobody's left out. You have that opportunity to be raised and to walk on that "highway of holiness" that is mentioned in Isaiah 35.

Isaiah 35 is a wonderful chapter to look at to get a sense of what this earthly resurrection, this earthly kingdom looks like. We're just going to touch on two verses that help us to see what eternal life is built upon. Let's look at Isaiah 35:9-10:

[Julie] (26:24 - 26:44) "No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; these will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransomed of the LORD (that's everybody!) will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads.

They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

[Rick] (26:45 - 29:19) In this description, it's describing this "highway of holiness." It is the way where the world lives, and it's not a literal highway, but it's a figurative sense of the world learning to be reconciled, to be honoring to God the Father and Jesus His son. You have this incredible promise for eternal life, earthly, because that's what Adam was built for.

That's what Adam was created for. So the world goes back to that. When we ask the question: Can I inherit immortality?

My answer to that is: Well, let's think about it for a second. Are you just trying to get something for free, or are you looking at walking in Jesus' footsteps and sacrificing your own will and putting things in order and doing what God would have? If you've been called, have you answered that call?

Has God given you His spirit? Then yes, yes, you can inherit immortality! When we look at immortality in God's plan, the ability to have a self-perpetuating spiritual life, I don't know about you, but Julie, it's mind-boggling.

You look at this and you go, Man! In God's ultimate wisdom, this gift is only given to the very few who are called by God through Christ to, like we said, a self-sacrificing life, a following in Jesus' footsteps. There is no other path, there is no other way towards that immortality! That's it.

God's plan of wisdom and love offers eternal life--not immortal, but perpetual life--for all others who will prove faithful to His ways after their resurrection and the Day of Judgment. Bottom line here is: God's will is to have all of His creation live eternally in perfect harmony. The spiritual creation, the earthly creation is all to live eternally and in perfect harmony.

That's where God is bringing us, and that's why in the New Testament we have immortality being introduced to us as an important aspect of the inheritance of those who follow Christ, because their job is to be reconcilers for those who need the reconciliation. They will be with Jesus in heaven. What a gift!

What a gift. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners.

We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode: "Can I Find Balance When Overwhelmed With Anxiety?" (Part 1)

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