Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
- Why send a person off into the afterlife if the resurrection is not believed?
- We die every day for our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Believers in the resurrection of Christ are afflicted.
- We need to be set apart from those who deny the resurrection of Christ.
Why send a person off into the afterlife if the resurrection is not believed? “Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?” 1 Corinthians 15:29 There was a custom, not related to the Gospel of Christ, where people were doing ceremonies for a dead person. It was in preparation for the afterlife. Why do those ceremonies if they don’t believe in the resurrection? They refused to believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected after being dead for three days, but they were doing rituals to help a dead person travel through the afterlife.
We die every day for our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?” 1 Corinthians 15:30 Paul, Sosthenes, the Apostles, and others were risking their life every hour of the day for preaching and teaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why would they do that if they were not fully convinced that Jesus Christ is alive? “I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul affirms he dies every day for the resurrection of Jesus Christ because of the pride and joy he has in the followers of Christ among the Corinthians. We should also affirm the risen Savior for the sake of other believers. We die every day for our belief in the resurrection of Jesus. Our social respect is killed, our worth at the workplace is killed, our esteem is killed, our personal accomplishments are killed, our financial worth is killed, and our thoughts and emotions are brow beaten.
Believers in the resurrection of Christ are afflicted. “If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me?” 1 Corinthians 15:32a. The Romans had a practice of putting Christians in a sports arena and watching them being devoured by lions and other beasts. They would also pit a man against a beast in a fight to the death. Every Christian was in peril of that happening to them, but if it did happen it would have no meaning if the resurrection was not believed. Why would Paul and any other followers of Christ subject themselves to the possibility of such persecution unless the resurrection of Christ is real? Today, the believers of the resurrection of Jesus are like prey fed to the beasts. We are afflicted by those who live to blaspheme God, destroy the name of Jesus, and to trample on the Holy Spirit. They use their uncanny knowledge and heightened intuition, given to them by the thing that has power over physiology, to inflict Christians. They crucify the mind and feelings of those who are not living by the mark of the beast.
We need to be set apart from those who deny the resurrection of Christ. “If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 1 Corinthians 15:32b. If there is no resurrection, there is nothing left to live for except for the things of this world. Today, the governing system is one of humanism rooted in the mark of the beast. They do not believe in anything beyond the human being and have no belief in anything beyond the grave. Their focus is on physical comforts, sensual pleasures, money, and possessions. “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 We need to separate ourselves from those who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Being set apart from them is part of our sanctification and Holiness to be wholly dedicated to God through Jesus Christ.
“Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” 1 Corinthians 15:34 Let’s fill our mind and heart with the knowledge of God, beginning with reading the Bible.
“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1
Spiritual Society in Jesus Christ 
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