I already dismantled that JW belief.
Spiritual does not mean immaterial as those who reject the physical, bodily Resurrection of Christ
Philippians 3:20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
21 who will transform
the bodyof our humble state into conformity with
the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
NASB
Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of Him
who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.
NASB
Believers bodies will be transformed from its current state which is corrupt, sinful mortal to a body like His which Incorruptible, Holy/Sinless and Immortal in the Resurrection as per 1 Cor 15,
Romans 8:11,
Phil 3:21.
And when we compare the above with Paul in these passages below we see that the body(soma) in the context is a real material body which is physical in the Resurrection but controlled completely by the Spirit in the afterlife.
pneumatikos: spiritual
Original Word: πνευματικός, ή, όν
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: pneumatikos
Phonetic Spelling: (pnyoo-mat-ik-os')
Definition: spiritual
Usage: spiritual.
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon- belonging to the Divine Spirit; Used 26 times in the N.T.
a. in reference to things; emanating from the Divine Spirit, or exhibiting its effects and so its character: χάρισμα,
Romans 1:11; εὐλογία,
Ephesians 1:3; σοφία καί σύνεσις πνευματικῇ (opposed to σοφία σαρκικῇ,
2 Corinthians 1:12; ψυχική,
James 3:15),
Colossians 1:9; ᾠδαί, divinely inspired, and so redolent of the Holy Spirit,
Colossians 3:16; (
Ephesians 5:19Lachmann brackets); ὁ νόμος (opposed to a σάρκινος man),
Romans 7:14; θυσίαι, tropically, the acts of a life dedicated to God and approved by him, due to the influence of the Holy Spirit (tacitly opposed to the sacrifices of an external worship),
1 Peter 2:5; equivalent to produced by the sole power of God himself without natural instrumeutality, supernatural, βρῶμα, πόμα, πέτρα,
1 Corinthians 10:3, 4 ((cf. 'Teaching' etc. 10, 3 [ET])); πνευματικά, thoughts, opinions, precepts, maxims, ascribable to the Holy Spirit working in the soul,
1 Corinthians 2:13(on which see συγκρίνω, 1); τά πνευματικά, spirithal gifts — of the endowments called χαρίσματα (see χάρισμα),
1 Corinthians 12:1;
1 Corinthians 14:1; universally, the spiritual or heavenly blessings of the gospel, opposed to τά σαρκικά,
Romans 15:27; (
1 Corinthians 9:11).
b. in reference to persons; one who is filled with and governed by the Spirit of God:
1 Corinthians 2:15 (cf. ); (); ;
Galatians 6:1; οἶκος πνευματικός, of a body of Christians (see οἶκος, 1 b. at the end),
1 Peter 2:5. (The word is not found in the O. T. (cf. Winers Grammar, § 34, 3).
Natural(psychikos) body
Spiritual(pneumatikos) body
1 Corinthians 15:44
it is sown a
natural body, it is raised a
spiritualbody.
Below we see how Paul uses and contrasts the words natural (psychikos) and spiritual (pneumatikos) below;
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
14 But a
natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually appraised.
15 But he who is
spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.
Paul is clearly contrasting the unsaved with the saved with the natural man and spiritual man. One is controlled by the natural or the flesh while the other is controlled by the spirit/spiritual- Holy Spirit. Just like in
1 Cor 15:44 where Paul is contrasting the natural body that is controlled by the flesh with the spiritual body that is controlled by the Spirit. Both are real physical bodies but the difference is one is controlled by the flesh which is carnal and the other is controlled by the Spirit and is spiritual. One has the appetites and desires of the flesh while the other has appetites and desires controlled by the Spirit. Hence a spiritual body is one that is controlled by the Spirit of God in the Resurrection.
Paul’s usage below of spiritual(pneumatikos) in 1 Corinthians 10 where he calls the rock, food and drink spiritual it does not mean an immaterial rock, food and drink but a real Rock, Manna and Water which were with the Israelites in the wilderness wanderings.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 and all ate the same
spiritual food;
4and all drank the same
spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a
spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
Now Paul drives home the point of our new literal physical bodies below in heaven from the text in 2nd Cor 5 below;
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven
, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present
bodies, and we long to put on
our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on
heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in
these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on
our new bodies so that
these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
You see there is no bodiless spirit men in heaven unclothed (no body) but indeed with a heavenly body (like Jesus) has now in heaven which is flesh and bones like He said His Resurrected body was to His Disciples.
Spiritual is used to describe these physical things:
the spiritual man
he who is spiritual
the spiritual rock
the spiritual food
the spiritual drink
the spiritual songs
the spiritual house
the spiritual things
the spiritual body
1 Corinthians 15:38-41
But God gives it
a body as he has determined, and to each kind of
seed he gives
its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same:
Peoplehave one kind of flesh,
animals have another,
birds another and
fish another. 40 There are also
heavenly bodies and there are
earthly bodies; but the splendor of the
heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the
earthly bodies is another. 41
The sun has one kind of splendor,
the moon another and
the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
A summary of the bodies mentioned above are all PHYSICAL in nature
1- people
2- seed
3-animals
4-birds
5-fish
6- heavenly - the sun, moon and stars
7- earthly- all inclusive 1-5
So as we can see BODY above are all PHYSICAL in nature.
These Greek Lexicons agree that soma is physical just like Paul declares in
1 Corinthians 15
Every Greek Lexicon and Dictionary agrees that the Resurrected BODY(SOMA) is physical and not immaterial.
Strong's Concordance
sóma: a body
Original Word: σῶμα, ατος, τό
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: sóma
Phonetic Spelling: (so'-mah)
Definition: a body
Usage:
body, flesh;
HELPS Word-studies
4983 sṓma –
the physical body.
NT:4983) is "the body as a whole, the instrument of life," whether of man living, e. g.,
Matt 6:22, or dead,
Matt 27:52;
or in resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:44; or of beasts,
Heb 13:11; of grain,
1 Cor 15:37-38; of the heavenly hosts,
1 Cor 15:40.
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
More proof soma(body) is physical
as in Greek writings from Hesiod down, the living body: — of animals,
James 3:3; — of man: τό σῶμα, absolutely,
Luke 11:34;
Luke 12:23;
1 Corinthians 6:13, etc.; ἐν σώματι εἶναι, of earthly life with its troubles,
Hebrews 13:3; distinguished from τό αἷμα,
1 Corinthians 11:27; τό σῶμα and τά μέλη of it,
1 Corinthians 12:12, 14-20;
James 3:6; τό σῶμα the temple of τό ἅγιον πνεῦμα,
1 Corinthians 6:19; the instrument of the soul, τά διά τοῦ σωματου namely, πραχθεντα,
2 Corinthians 5:10; it is distinguished — from τό πνεῦμα, in
Romans 8:10;
1 Corinthians 5:3;
1 Corinthians 6:20 Rec.; ;
James 2:26 (4 Macc. 11:11); — from ἡ ψυχή, in
Matthew 6:25;
Matthew 10:28;
Luke 12:22 (
Wis. 1:4 Wis. 8:19f;
2 Macc. 7:37 2Macc. 14:38; 4 Macc. 1:28, etc.); — from ἡ ψυχή and τό πνεῦμα together, in
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (cf. Song of the Three, 63); σῶμα ψυχικόν and σῶμα πνευματικόν are distinguished,
1 Corinthians 15:44 (see πνευματικός, 1 and ψυχικός, a.); τό σῶμα τίνος,
Matthew 5:29;
Luke 11:34;
Romans 4:19;
Romans 8:23 (cf. Winer's Grammar, 187 (176)), etc.; ὁ ναός τοῦ σωματου αὐτοῦ, the temple which was his body,
John 2:21; plural,
Romans 1:24;
1 Corinthians 6:15;
Ephesians 5:28; the genitive of the possessor is omitted where it is easily learned from the context, as
1 Corinthians 5:3;
2 Corinthians 4:10;
2 Corinthians 5:8;
Hebrews 10:22(23), etc.; τό σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν, the body of our humiliation (subjective genitive), i. e. which we wear in this servile and lowly human life, opposed to τό σῶμα τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ (i. e. τοῦ Χριστοῦ), the body which Christ has in his glorified state with God in heaven,
Philippians 3:21; διά τοῦ σωματου τοῦ Χριστοῦ, through the death of Christ's body,
Romans 7:4; διά τῆς προσφοράς τοῦ σωματου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, through the sacrificial offering of the body of Jesus Christ,
Hebrews 10:10; τό σῶμα τῆς σαρκός,
the body consisting of flesh, i. e. the physical body
Without the bodily resurrection which was permanent one has no Savior and you are still dead in your sins according to the Apostle Paul.
1 Corinthians 15:17
Many deny Jesus was Resurrected and Ascended into heaven bodily( a human body with real flesh and bones) and are still dead in their sins even though they might claim to be a christian. That is an oxymoron.
Luke 24:37-43
37 But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 "See
My hands and
My feet, that it is I Myself;
touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have
flesh and
bones as you see that I have." 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it before them.
John 20:24-25
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in
His hands the
imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of
the nails, and put my hand
into His side, I will not believe."
John 20:27-28
27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see
My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into
My side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
There is one Mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus. (
1Timothy 2:5) post ascension.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.(
Hebrews 13:5) Changeless, Immutable. Jesus was a man when He walked this earth, when He Ascended and when He will return again at His 2nd Coming.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
1 Corinthians 15:14-18
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.
In Heaven.... Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Look up the meaning of the word soma below, it always means a physical body in relation to anthropos(man).
His Body.....Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Matthew 27:52-53
52 The tombs broke open and the
bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
Philippians 3:20-21
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly
bodies so that they will be like his glorious
body.
1 Corinthians 15:44-45
44 it is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual
body.If there is a natural
body, there is also a spiritual
body.
Paul said in
1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ be not risen your faith is in vain and you are still dead in your sins- an unbeliever who is lost. Those who deny the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus such as the JW's who teach that Jesus is now a spirit based being fit into this camp. They deny the resurrection.
If we look at what Paul is saying in this passage, it is that corruptible flesh and blood shall not enter the kingdom. Paul says corruptible does not inherit the incorruptible. Paul is not saying the resurrection body will not have flesh but what he declares is that the resurrected body will not have perishable flesh. Remember in Luke Jesus said see here My hands and feet, touch Me a spirit/ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Peter, Paul and John all agree that Jesus still had flesh well after His ascension. 1 John being the last of the books of the three Apostles declared that Jesus having come in the flesh and those who deny this are the spirit of antichrist. John makes it clear that the Incarnation was permanent. Jesus is forever both God and man. This is what Paul teaches in the whole 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. The glorious physical bodies that we will have in the resurrection. We will have incorruptible bodies just as Jesus now has in heaven.
hope this helps !!!
