John 8:51-53 AMP 51 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone observes My teaching [lives in accordance with

My message, keeps My word], he will by no means ever see and experience death. 52 The Jews said to Him, Now we know that You are under the power of a demon (insane). Abraham died, and also the prophets, yet You say, If a man keeps My word, he will never taste of death into all eternity. 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, and all the prophets died! Who do You make Yourself out to be?
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John 10:27-28 AMP 27 The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages. [To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand.
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John 11:24-26 AMP 23 Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again. 24 Martha replied, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live; 26 And whoever continues to live and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) Me shall never [actually] die at all. Do you believe this?
-----------------------------Read John 8:51-53 in the Amplified version. What is your interpretation?

I have been wrestling with John 10:27-28 and John 11:24-26 since I had read Brians interpretation of death and I believe it was Ricks reply. I have been trying to find a version that actually expresses these verses as they are quoting it and have not found it. The gist of Brians thesis if I understand it correctly is that living in relation to and out of our inner feeling Christ nature (which that much I can easily fathom), we will not taste or experience physical death. I would love to be able to see that in these scriptures, but I can not. I believe that is a very long stretch and reading into the words more than was originally spoken by Christ. The word used for death here does refer to physical death. The Greek thanatos. But in understanding the death Jesus was talking about, I have to consider the original language that Jesus was speaking to his audience in, that would have been Aramaic (or possibly Hebrew). The concept of death as expressed by the Greeks and the Jews were not

identical. To the Greeks, death was simply the termination of physical existence. The Old Testament understanding of death, besides including physical death, embraced the idea of separation from God. Spiritual death is referred to consistently through the OT. Even though this is true, I dont believe Spiritual realities were of any significance to the Pharisaic mind set or ruling classes of Jesus day. There may have been an OT-Hebrew language and customs that bound them as a people, but the politics and concepts of their original faith had become more Greek or secular. Essentially spiritually divorced from God - Dead - but they didnt know it. When one is Spiritually dead, a concept of Spiritual Life is absurdity. Now having said this - I do not believe that I will ever taste or experience death. I may, and am quite confident that I will most likely shed this body. But my life is not solely composed of this physical carcass. I would also have no objection that this body be raised from physical death, or even maintained beyond what might be considered normal life spans - into eternity if that were possible. But to gather that as a valid premise based on these scriptures has not been proved. John Wimber in explaining why many people did not receive healings expressed his idea that we are in transition in experiencing the Kingdom - Weve had our D-Day but the war is not over yet. I do believe in Gods operations in physical healings, signs and wonders (as well as the exercise of the rest of the gifts), but they are not our toys to play with. I do believe God does and has raised the dead in our current days. But that does not counter the effects of the Fall (sin) as it still effects the all of creation. Our bodies are part of that creation. We are in a battle to work out Gods purposes, but we are not the generals. Im getting carried away. Hope I interpreted sufficiently. Bob