Subject: Law v Faith. Are Jews Condemened? |
Bible Note: Terrib Let us zero in on these verses. Ephesians 4:7-10 (NKJV) 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." 9 (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) Paul is talking here about the gifts and where they came from so he uses a quote of Psalm 68:18 that explains Jesus' actions one being the giving of gifts to man. However it also mentions Jesus leading captivity captive. It doesn't say the conquered captive it says captivity captive. They (captivity) were already captives and Jesus took them captive and led them as he ascended into heaven. The Jews believed that when the Old Testament saints died they went to Hades. We have to assume this was revealed external to scripture since we know this was in fact the Jewish belief from both oral and written testimony. Further we see this confirmed by the story Jesus related in Luke 16 which conformed exactly to Jewish teaching on death and confirmed that our spirits are aware and alive even in death. If this wasn’t truth then it could be said Jesus used an accepted but false belief in an illustration, in effect adding credence to a false teaching. I don’t think Jesus would perpetuate a falsehood this way. In effect the spirits of the righteous dead were captive by death and confined in Abraham’s bosom where they awaited their savior. Now we know Jesus upon His death ascends into the lower parts of the earth vs9. 1 Peter 3:19 (NKJV) 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, Tells us Jesus preached to those in prison (captivity). Paul tells us to be absent from the body is present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5:8. Now lets us put together what we know. First the dead both righteous and unrighteous go to Hades ( which is often translated hell) the unrighteous to a hot dry place and the righteous to Abraham’s bosom or paradise. Again we know this from Jewish teaching on the subject of death and the fact Jesus used this as an example in one of His illustrations. We know Jesus ascended to the lower parts of the earth. This is where we are told Hades or hell is. We also know Jesus preached while He was there. And we also know the righteous dead are in the presence of the Lord. We also know Jesus eventually ascended into heaven and presently sits at the right hand of God. Therefore the righteous dead had to get from Hades to heaven and every creditable Bible scholar I know points to Eph 4:8 as fruition of that transference. Here is a brief excerpt from the teaching of J Vernon McGee on the subject "When he ascended up on high" refers to the ascension of Christ. At that time He did two things: (1) He led captivity captive, which refers, I believe, to the redeemed of the Old Testament who went to paradise when they died. Christ took these believers with Him out of paradise into the very presence of God when He ascended. Today when a believer dies, we are not told that he goes to paradise, but rather he is absent from the body and present with the Lord (see 2Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). (2) When Christ ascended He also gave gifts to men. This means that He conferred gifts upon living believers in the church so that they might witness to the world. In His ascension, Christ not only brought the Old Testament saints into God's presence, but He also, through the Holy Spirit, bestowed His gifts. At the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit baptized believers into the body of Christ and then endowed them with certain gifts, enabling them to function as members of the body. The Holy Spirit put each of them in a certain place in the body, and He has been doing the same with each new believer ever since. —J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible If room permitted I could supply many more that carry the same understanding. EdB |