Of Death, Sin, and Immortality

By Jeffrey D. Dean, sr.

It has come to my attention that some whom I have previously associated with in the
past, on the internet mostly, do not believe that Yahshua Messiah actually died and rose
again from the dead on the third day. You can imagine my shock to learn that they could
take this stand and it took me so long to notice it. It led me to desire to post this little note
among my other writings so that I could emphatically state that I believe in the LITERAL
death and resurrection of Yahshua Messiah! I believe there is a clear promise in the
Torah, the Tanakh, and in the New Testament that he who lives obedient to the Father in
ALL ways shall have immortality as his reward. (Not just spiritual immortality by being
preserved in God’s memory through the spirit but PHYSICAL IMMORTALITY).

I believe there is coming a day when those who dwell on the earth and are in obedience
to the will of the Father shall be rewarded with immortality and that immortality is
MESSIAH’S immortality. If Messiah were at this moment lying in the grave, having
returned to the dust, there would be NO HOPE for this immortality I describe, for if the
MASTER who showed us true obedience was allowed to go to the grave and return to
dust the servant is NOT greater than the Master! Kenneth Copeland, who came very
close to understanding this principle, once taught that if we believed the WORD OF
GOD as written we would not die of old age! This created quite a stir among
evangelicals. One rebuttal minister stated, “Kenneth Copeland is going to die just like the
rest of us.” This rebuttal manifested that particular minister to be a FALSE PROPHET,
for, how he know that Kenneth Copeland is not a member of the generation and group
who “shall not sleep” but “shall be changed?” In point of fact, there is a generation of
believers who shall obtain the resurrection of Messiah while yet alive and shall never
taste of death (if one believes the scriptures).

If Messiah HIMSELF went to the grave and turned to dust and was not truly immortal
after emerging from his tomb, then there is NO PROMISE that those who achieve his
obedience through faith shall also obtain this immortality while still alive! The entire
letters to the Corinthians (which are based upon this premise) are discredited if Messiah
did not literally die on a tree and resurrect 3 days later. I wanted to publicly state this so
that there is NO confusion. The entire New Testament becomes NULL AND VOID if
Messiah did not truly die, did not truly rise from the dead, and did not truly ascend to
Heaven (going where the angels themselves reside, wherever that is). Common sense
dictates that you can question the basic Christian teaching of the Divinity of Christ and
still the body of the New Testament is not affected. You can question MANY of the
basic tenants of Christianity and not damage the New Testament at all. If you deny the
DEATH and the RESURRECTION of Messiah, you completely ERADICATE the New
Testament and here’s why:

The Gospel accounts clearly state that Messiah died and rose again. If that is a LIE you
have to discard the ENTIRE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS for they are all BASED UPON that
one fundamental lie. Any writings that come after (Acts, the Epistles) all back up that
FUNDAMENTAL LIE, some of those letters are based ENTIRELY UPON the claim that
Messiah died and rose from the dead! If that claim is a lie then the authors of the epistles
are proven liars (or at least the epistles themselves are proved to be doctored forgeries).
You cannot, at that point trust ANYTHING written therein. Without the literal death and
resurrection of Messiah the entire New Testament is completely discredited. I don’t
know how anyone who truly believes that the death and resurrection are lies can even
read, much less quote the New Testament! They are better off discarding it completely
and returning to the Torah and converting to Judaism.

Why is it such a serious error to deny the death and resurrection of Messiah? If Messiah
did not die he is not Messiah (and raise from the dead), the scriptures cannot be trusted
because ALL of the scriptures concerning Messiah predicted that he would die and rise
from the grave! Furthermore, if Yahshua did not die he did not pay the price to purchase
YOU! To deny his death you deny his LORDSHIP over you! I which case what right
does he have to claim you as a servant? You would owe him NOTHING!

If Messiah merely lived, preached, was placed in a coma for 3 days, left for dead (but
wasn’t dead) rose from his tomb then climbed a mountain somewhere, only to climb
down the other side and disappear, live to a ripe old age, then die (this is the picture some
are painting of him) then for the LOVE OF ALL REASON what edict or demand is there
that I follow him and call him my King? Apparently he was not without sin (because it is
because of sin that we all go to the grave). This is CLEARLY stated in not only the
Torah and the Tanakh but the New Testament as well! Being that Messiah is currently
dead he must have been a sinful human being, (being that he was left eventually to rot in
the grave rather than being resurrected as the apostles all claimed). In which case, he
never died for ME, he never paid a sacrifice specifically for me (some say he only went
through the suffering of a crucifixion, not a death). If this were true, what do I owe him?

What right does he have to demand my allegiance 2000 years later? It makes no sense at
all.

Finally, Messiah is the only begotten Son of the Living God, and yet (according to them)
he rots in the dust of the earth. This is the most illogical thing of all! (Keep in mind
there is no scriptural evidence that Christ is God because he’s the “Son of God” that is
the trinity heresy enforced by Rome). Messiah, being the Son of the living God is not
going to be left rotting in a tomb somewhere! (This was clearly stated in all the
prophecies concerning Messiah).

Basically, those who deny the death and resurrection deny that Messiah is the “begotten
of the Father,” they deny his Kingship, they deny his right to the inheritance, the deny
that he is the “lamb of God” and most importantly they deny the ministry of the Holy
Spirit, for Messiah himself made it clear that without his death he could not send the
Comforter. He who denies the death and resurrection has put their own soul in mortal
jeopardy for they have stated that Messiah Yahshua has NOT paid the price and they do
not belong to HIM!

Jeffrey D. Dean, Sr.