Locus 16 — The Resurrection of the Dead
always see it. Hos. 13[:14], "I will deliver them from the hand of death, I will redeem them from death. I will be your death, O death; I will be your destruction, O grave."
Ezek. 37[:12], "Behold, I will open your graves, My peo that is, the recognition of God and righteousness with out sin and without death.
Is. 65[:17—20], "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be in remembrance and they shall not come to mind. But you shall be glad and rejoice forever in the things I create.
For behold I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people as a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people, and the sound of weeping shall no more be heard in her or the sound of clamor. Nor will there be an infant who does not reach maturity there, nor an adult who does not reach old age. For the young boy will die at the age of one hundred years, but the sinner will be punished for one hundred years." ple, and lead you out of your sepulchers." This state ment is also pertinent here, Ezek. 33[:11], "As I live, I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he might be turned and live."
Pertinent here also are all the passages from the prophets regarding the eternal reign of Christ and the saints.
From Ps. 16[:9 ff.], "My flesh also will rest in hope.
You will not leave my soul in hell nor give your Holy One to see corruption." For when the prophet speaks about Christ, he is also including His members. For he knows that through Christ the kingdom'of sin and death
Some passages are clearer than others. But they all testify that there will be a future renewal of the whole creation, and the godly will have everlasting joys. [Is.
65:19,] "The sound of weeping shall no more be heard in her," and therefore they shall be without sin and death. Again [v. 20], the infants and the adults shall live forever; but "the young boys who are a hundred years and the sinners who are a hundred years," that is, those who persevere in godlessness, they shall be punished.
And because these passages teach that the church will undergo afflictions before the resurrection, and that it must first be glorified after the resurrection and after the renewal of the whole creation, the prophets clearly testify that the kingdom of Christ is spiritual and that it cannot be an earthly dominion before the resurrection, as the Jews and the Anabaptists imagine. is destroyed. Ps. 22[:26], "The poor shall eat and be filled, and they who seek Him shall praise the Lord.
Their hearts shall live forever and ever." Psalm 33[:22
LXX], "The death of sinners is very evil." And thus since sinners are not punished in this life, they must be pun ished afterwards. And on the other hand, Ps. 116[:15],
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Therefore, it will be well with the saints after this life. To the same point pertains the passage [Ps.
34:19], "Many are the tribulations of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver them from them all." In Psalm 49 the fortunate godless are compared with the afflicted godly. This passage teaches that in death the condition of each of these is changed. In regard to the ungodly it says [vv. 14 and 19], "Like sheep they are laid in the grave and death shall feed on them ... and they shall never see light." On the other hand, in regard to the godly it says [v. 15], "But God will redeem the soul from the power of the grave when He receives me." In the same way a comparison with Ps. 4[:7-8] is helpful,
"They abound in wine and grain. In peace I will lie down and sleep."
Is. 25[:7 ff.], "And He will destroy on this mountain the appearance of the binding strips with which all peo ple were bound and the shroud that covers all nations.
And He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face, and He will take away the reproach of His people from the whole earth." This passage also teaches clearly that death is to be abolished and the people of God deliv ered from shame and tears, that is, from sin, death, and persecutions. And what he says at the beginning,
"the appearance of the binding strips," he also under stands as death, because dead people were custom arily bound in strips of cloth when they were buried.
These bindings or bonds are taken away, that is, death is taken away.
Here are pertinent also all the statements re garding the eternal kingdom of Christ. Job 19[:25 ff.],
"I know that My Redeemer lives, and on the last day I shall arise from the earth and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God, whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another." This is a remarkable passage which testifies that we truly will receive again the same body but in a renewed state, as Paul teaches [cf. 1 Corinthians 15].
Likewise it teaches what eternal life will be like, that is, the knowledge of God.
Is. 24[:21 ff.], "It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will visit upon the host of heaven and upon the kings of the earth. They shall be gathered together as prisoners in a pit and they shall be shut up in prison.
And after many days they will be punished. And the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed when the Lord will reign...." Is. 35[:10], "Those who have been delivered and redeemed by the Lord shall come into Zion with praise and everlasting joy." Is. 9[:6], Christ is called "the everlasting Father," that is, the giver of ev erlasting life. Dan. 12[:2], "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame," so that they may
Christ argues from the passage in Moses, "I am the God of Abraham... therefore Abraham lives" [Matt.
22:13, citing Ex. 3:6], that therefore Abraham lives, be cause God does not concern himself about things which are nothing.
Similarly, we can convincingly argue also from the promises and examples in which this article of eter nal life is in a sense* indirectly involved. For example,
God promises that He will preserve Abraham and the
other saints [Gen. 15:1], "I am your shield." And the saints in this life are terribly afflicted and seem to be forsaken, although they still are of genuine concern to God. Therefore a new life remains in which the saints will be glorified after this life. They will keep their eyes fixed on this new life, remembering that all injuries, trou bles, and calamities are to be disregarded and in no way to be compared with the great reward [which awaits them]. of some earthly kingdom, but of a kingdom of righ teousness and eternal life. They saw that the church in this life was going to continue in the remnant of sin and afflictions, just as they saw that Abel was killed and Abraham was commanded to kill his own son as a sac rifice. In this type they clearly understood that the seed which had been promised would be the sacrifice.
Enoch and Elijah were taken to God while still living, as the text clearly says about Enoch [cf. Gen.
5:24]. And these actions are a clear testimony of eternal life. For if they were merely put out of existence they would not be with God. For to walk with God is to live with God in a certain kind of divine life. Therefore, these examples are more valuable than if the promise were only given by words without any examples. Nor is there any doubt that the holy patriarchs fully explained the promises as well as these examples.
Likewise in the first sermon cited in Gen. 4[:7], "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do evil, your sin lies in wait until it shall be revealed."
Therefore it is necessary that there remain a second life in which Abel will receive his reward. And this fol lows, that there also remains a judgment of all sins and of all those sins which have not been punished in this life. An example of this universal judgment is the flood, also the iniquity of the Sodomites and of othdr crimes like this, because there is no doubt that God will punish all sins.
The conversation of angels with Abraham and the other patriarchs is also a testimony that there is a life to come. The angels are a sign that we shall be their companions in the eternal life in which they now exist, because they care for us and protect us.
Likewise, the first promise in Gen. 3[:15] makes a prophecy of the abolition of the kingdom of the devil, that is, the abolition of sin and death. Therefore, the nature of man will be taken away. And Jacob proph esied about the Savior of all the nations [cf. Gen. 49:10] whom the patriarchs understood to be the founder not In Num. 23[:10] Balaam says, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last day be like theirs." And in 24[:17], "I see Him but not now, I behold
Him but not near."
Locus 17 The Spirit and the Letter of God. But he was a doubter, whether he was regarded by God, heard by Him, or helped by Him. Thoughts of this kind are without divine light, and they are in conflict with the light of faith. Therefore, they are the shadows of death. But in the case of David, whether he was waging war or making a sacrifice, there was always the feeling of fear toward God and faith which consoled the mind and determined that God truly was present, was guiding and helping his calling. These emotions come from the Holy Spirit and they truly acknowledge God.
They are not the fleeting shadows of. death, but the beginning of eternal life.
When we think about the difference between the Old and New Testaments, between the letter and the Spirit, everything becomes clearer if we keep our minds fixed on the consummation of our deliverance, as we have mentioned above. When we think of the resur rection of Christ and of the others who have been raised, who then were adorned with new and ever lasting glory, we see that the Gospel bestows on those very people who have been raised from the dead also light, wisdom, righteousness, and everlasting life, and it does not show to them the darkness of the death to come.
Therefore, the letter signifies doctrine of what ever kind—thoughts, practices, discipline, and good in tentions—which are without the Holy Spirit, that is, without true fear and without true faith or the confidence which comforts our minds, with the knowledge and in vocation of Christ.
And David prayed for the kindling and increasing of this light when he said in Ps. 51 [:10], "Create in me a clean heart, O God,"that is, a heart which believes uprightly about God, acknowledges the wrath of God and His promised mercy, which determines that we are seen, heard, aided, protected, and preserved by God.
And "right spirit," that is, a steadfast spirit in my inner being, that this new light from God may be steady, not quenched by the devil with his tricks, or by Epicurean or philosophic thoughts in which many wise men are sunk with their eternal doubts. [Ps. 51:11], "Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy
Spirit from me," that is, by Your Holy Spirit guide my counsels and all my emotions, and arouse in me emo tions which are in keeping with Your law, such as fear, faith, love of God, endurance, energy in carrying out my calling, etc. [v. 12], "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation," that is, sustain me with Your comfort in my troubles, that I may not perish broken under shame and sorrows. "Uphold me with Your free Spirit," that is, in crease my strength in my afflictions so that I can bear them and willingly obey You and not depart from You
On the other hand, the Spirit signifies that the Holy Spirit is truly beginning and finally perfecting in our hearts the new light, wisdom, righteousness, and everlasting life which is pleasing to God and burning with the emotions engendered by the Holy Spirit, that is to say, with fear, faith, invocation, and love, and which in eternal life rejoices in the sight of God and celebrates
Him. Then, as Peter says [Acts 2:4 ff, v. 14b], the Spirit signifies fellowship with the divine nature, as it is written in Joel [2:28], "I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh."
The emphasis of the language here is important. When he says "of My Spirit upon all flesh," he uses the word
"My" [to refer to the Spirit] who proceeds by the will of the eternal Father and the Son and kindles light, wis dom, righteousness, and a life which is in accordance with the divine will. Thus Paul is speaking of the Spirit when he says [2 Cor. 3:18], "But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image as by the Holy
Spirit." When in our knowledge of the wrath of God we stand in fear and again are directed by comfort and faith, we find our help in knowing the mercy of God, which is given to us for the sake of Christ, when we deal honestly with God and sense both His wrath and His mercy, and we are kindled with new light by the Holy Spirit. in raging and doubt concerning Your mercy, as Saul did. Thus he seeks, in the first place, the light by which he may truly acknowledge God and the strengthening of the knowledge of Him. Then he seeks renewal and guidance in his actions, and finally comfort and support in his difficulties.
Therefore, since this light was kindled in the mind of David, all his good actions—inward and external, pertaining to the moral, the civil, or the ceremonial law—are actions of the Holy Spirit, and not the letter or shadows. On the other hand, in the case of the hyp ocritical Saul, who is without the light of the Holy Spirit and burdened down with hypocritical or philosophical doubts, all his actions—inward and outward, his good intentions, and his works, whether of the moral or civil or ceremonial law—are the letter and the shadow of death, and not the beginnings of eternal life.
Although Saul the hypocrite and David the reborn both perform similar outward acts, whether of the moral, the ceremonial, or the civil law, as kings or as public officials, yet in their minds there is a great difference.
In the hypocritical Saul, his thoughts about good works and his very actions themselves are dead and dark ened letters, that is, his mind was without a true feeling of the fear of God, without the consolation which should govern his mind, or the trust in the presence and help
This is Paul's meaning in 2 Cor. 3[:6—8], when he calls the Law "the ministration of death," but the