And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul...

[orbiter]

Peace in Christ

Fear not those who kill the mortal body.

We can still die in this mortal body by the hand of unbelievers as in the case of the 1st century Christians who were martyred/slain for the Word of God and for their receiving/holding of the testimony of Jesus.

Mat 10:28 KJV
(28) And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Their mortal bodies were slain but the souls of them were not.

Rev 6:9-11 KJV
(9) And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
(10) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
(11) And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

IF…..IF….IF (a conditional statement here) our earthly house of this tabernacled were dissolved….meaning we can still be killed by others for our faith.

2Co 5:1 KJV
(1) For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The scoffers will hear the word of Truth….the good news of our salvation in this earth now…and will question “where is the promise of His coming?” Where is the age-lasting life in this earth for all have died off. The church fathers have fallen asleep and those after them. All things continued as they were from the beginning of the creation. Everyone has mortally died.

2 Pe 3:3-7 KJV
(3) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
(4) And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
(5) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
(6) Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

They are willingly ignorant of their current condition. They are under the wrath of God still and the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven upon the ungodly as they perish from this earth in the fire of His wrath. But the salvation of Jesus saves us from the wrath to come as we shall continue to live here. We shall not die but have an age-lasting life.

(7) But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

His Spirit will not always strive with man….with those who continue to live after the flesh. If we continue to live after the flesh, we shall die in this mortal body as judgment.

Gen 6:3 KJV
(3) And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

 

[Reasonably Sane]

Mat 10:28 KJV
(28) And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Exactly. But Jesus actually did not say "hell". He said "Gehenna". And it was a real place outside Jerusalem with which the listeners were familiar. It was used metaphorically. This verse is one of the reasons I abandoned my belief in the fate of the lost being eternal, conscious torment. They will be killed, ended, by God. The body dies, and then the person/soul occupying it dies - via He who has the ability to do that.

 

[BobRyan]

Peace in Christ

Fear not those who kill the mortal body.

We can still die in this mortal body by the hand of unbelievers as in the case of the 1st century Christians

True.
Our body can also die of age, disease, accident , clashing with enemies et

Mat 10:28 KJV
(28) And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Their mortal bodies were slain but the souls of them were not.

true.
But that does not of itself define immortality because it is God who arranges that all humans have a soul and that it is the part that is not killed at the first death.

The Bible still states that 'man is mortal'. Having a body that can die - makes us mortal
The result at death is that the part that does not die goes into the "dormant state" of 1 Thess 4:13-18

1 Thess 4:
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

Rev 6:9-11 KJV
(9) And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
(10) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
(11) And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Even in the symbolism of Rev 6 where all souls are piled up under an altar -- they are told to "rest a little while longer"

Rev 6: 11 "And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until..." NASB

2Co 5:1 KJV
(1) For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 Cor 4:
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Cor 5:
For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked.