Acts 2:27 has helped perpetuate the false doctrine of a soul separate from the body. When the writers of the New Testament used words they knew the meaning of the words and chose carefully. They didn’t invent new definitions and often made references to the Old Testament. When they did so, they used the Old Testament meaning for the Hebrew words (using a Greek word to convey the meaning) referenced  in their writings. That method must be used to find the meaning of Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  (It is obvious from reading many commentaries that the commentators have differing ideas of the verse.) The Greek companion word for nephesh is psuche pronounced: psoo-khay' and means life (body, creature, being). Next is the word hell or Hades-pronounced  hah'-dace, better translated grave which gives the correct understanding.

Next is the word corruption which refers to the flesh decaying. Acts 2:27, using the Hebrew understanding the Greek equivalents would read, Because thou wilt not leave my body (Self) in the grave, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One [body] to see decay. His (Jesus) body was not left in the grave (rose on the third day) and while in the grave, his body did not see corruption or decay which would have been the usual occurrence for other dead bodies. Thus David’s prophecy in Acts 2:27 spoken by Peter was a true statement in reference to Jesus Christ. This would have been a good place for Peter to have said to be comforted since David’s soul was in heaven. But he didn’t, and the reason is that Peter knew that the meaning of the soul. Neither does it mean that Jesus went somewhere while the body was in the grave.

Now here is the dilemma faced by those who believe in “soul flight” at death. It concerns the state of the criminals on the cross to begin the discussion concerning the abode of the soul at death. Jesus died before they died so that means, if “soul flight” is valid, that he went to Paradise before the criminal to whom he made the promise. If the thieves died soon after the breaking of the legs and the one went to heaven, was Jesus there to greet  him? Another issue now enters the scene. Jesus could not have been at the same time, both in heaven and in the part of the unseen nether world (called Hell) which some claim is where Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison based on I Peter 3:19. If he went there, he wasn’t with criminal in Paradise and conversely, if he went to Paradise, he couldn’t have been in Hell. Which one is the truth, Paradise or Hell? The answer is that neither one is correct. A coma in the wrong place and mistranslations have given rise to the false doctrine of “soul flight” at death.

 Jesus told John in Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Hell is the grave and death is penalty for sin and Jesus holds the keys to both. He told Peter after Peter told Jesus that he knew that he was the Son of the living God in Matthew 16:18-19 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The word gates refers to the grave being guarded by the power of death and no one can pass from death to escape the grave. Jesus gave Peter the keys [to the lock] to unlock the gate guarding the grave. What is that gate that will be unlocked? It is death and the gospel of Jesus Christ revealed on Pentecost is the key that will unlock and defeat the power that death holds on each human in the grave.

The next lesson will examine I Peter 3:19 and the spirits in prison. What is the meaning of the words Peter used in the verse?

© 01-29-2012 DEC

                                Next Lesson The Criminal on the Cross Part IV