to all christians(only): Paul says "to be absent of the body is to be present with the lord":?

Question

does that mean if your not saved you go STRAIGHT to hell upon death?

Answer 1

Although many try to disregard Paul as being a man we need to remember that it is just as much the Word of God as was any other book of the Bible. Peter confirmed that Paul was authentic.

Now when Paul said to be absent from the body, present with the LORD, Paul indicated that his spirit would immediately be with the LORD. In another place, Paul said for him to die would be gain. If he were just "sleeping" in a grave somewhere, this would not have been gain to Paul.

Before the death and resurrection of the LORD, those that trusted in GOD (they looked forward to this event) were taken to "paradise" because the price had not been paid. This is shown in Luke 16) During the 3 days Christ was in the grave, He took these saints to heaven. Now those that die without trusting GOD are not in Hell yet but they are in a place of torments. They will be cast into hell after the White throne Judgment. You can picture this as a person who is arrested for a crime. They are sent to "jail" first where they await a trial. Upon being convicted at this trial, they are then sent to prison. Needless to say, the jail would not be pleasant either and I would not want to be in either place.

There is one sure way to avoid this...trust in Jesus...

Answer 2

No he means that to put off our old selves, our flesh and the lusts thereof, we will be present with the Lord (because only the Lord can give us the power to be in that condition)

Read the other books of Paul, you will see a common theme.

Answer 3

You ask 100 questions you get 100 different answers. Absent from the body and present with the Lord, means if you are in Christ when you die, you go on to be with him in Heaven. When you die physically, you get burried in the ground 6 feet under, but you soul and your spirit if you are a christian departs your body at death and goes into the pressence with the Lord. The bible says, the wages of sins is death, but to those who trust in Jesus it is eternal life, meaning you pass from death into life eternal. That is what appositle Paul means when he says To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Death should not be feared if you know where you are going. If if have a relationship with Jesus in this life, and you have repented of your sins, you can be sure that at the point of death you will depart to be with the Lord. You will have all of your 5 sences, like seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling etc when you die. Jesus said if you believe in me you will never die. He said even if you die, you shall live. Many people who have had near death experiences who were christians experienced Christ when they left their bodies, and were in Heaven and described Heaven as the most beautiful place you can ever imagine. Some of them were given a choise of they wanted to stay or go back. Most people what to stay. Others choses to go back as they have children to look after, or an important Job to do. And yes you do go to Hell if you die without Jesus in your life. Hell is not a nice place what I here from People who have experienced it first hand. It is a place of sheer torment of demons, fire, total darkness and hopelessness, heat so hot you feel like you are going to die, a thirst so great you start screaming for water because it feels like you will die if you do not get any water, and sorry to tell you but there is not water in Hell. So you do not want to go there. Avoid at all costs, it is not worth the risk. Repent of your sins and tell God you are sorry for the sins you have commited, and ask Jesus to cleans you of all unrightiousness, And spend time with him as much as possible and ask him to help you go through life living for him, as there is nothing he cannot or will not do for those that love him.

Answer 4

because man is made up of flesh & spirit (& soul)
so there is always a clash among them...

what Paul is saying is you should crucify your flesh & live by the spirit
(because he says we should live by faith, not by sight)

so why when he says "we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord"
it means that you are living by the flesh

so the opposite should be true, for he said he would prefer to be "away from the body and at home with the Lord" meaning to live by the Spirit is to be away from the body & be close to the Lord

Answer 5

No.

No one goes to hell or heaven until after the second coming. You shouldn't even bother listening to Paul anyways. He was a sexist caveman.

1Tim 2:11 - Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

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Answer 6

I have always questioned this concept as well. Do we rest when we die, or do we go straight to heaven. I know that the rich man was in hell when he asked Abraham for a drop of water. Also...there is no such thing as purgatory.

Answer 7

Yes, Christians don't need to worry about dying as much as suffering. Christians have hope; but if your not saved you can have a chance also because the Bible promises this also; Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Also if your a sinner or atheist or agnostic you still have hope by this; Matthew 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. Mark 9:41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

Answer 8

Your body is flesh flesh craves for things of the world that are wicked, and sinful, so to be absent from your flesh rather it's through fasting and praying or meditation you are killing your flesh and thinking and walking in your spirit and not your flesh.

Paul also said "I die to myself daily" this is also speaking of killing your flesh.

Answer 9

I don't see anything about hell in that quote. Sounds like the meditation technique of raising yourself out of the physical to become closer to the spiritual.

Answer 10

Paul is saying that he who live for the flesh serves money, not God, but he who lives for God, not the flesh shall be with him and saved, Go in Christ