Questions and Answers
Q: How do people truly know if God is calling them?
—G.M., Republic of Ireland
A: Your question is important, because nothing is more important than God’s calling. Consider the majesty and greatness of what it means. The apostle Peter referred to this magnificent calling in his first letter:
"... You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10, emphasis added throughout).
Peter’s inspired description of the Christian calling helps us to comprehend the majesty of God’s salvation. This great calling is made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins and the forgiveness He made freely available.
The apostle Paul underscored Peter’s approach by describing the Church (those chosen ones whom God has called out of this world) as a spiritual building joined together and growing into a holy temple in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20-22).
However, it is God the Father who initially calls His chosen ones out of this world of spiritual darkness into His marvelous light (John 6:44,65). One of the signs that God may be calling you is that you are beginning, however gradually, to truly understand the Scriptures with a depth and dimension that you never experienced before. You have begun to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:10-11).
If God is calling you, you also will have awakened to the need for change in your personal life, to bring it into line with the godly standards and values shown in the Scriptures —"to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1, New International Version). The Bible refers to this process as repentance. Luke called it "repentance to life" (Acts 11:18).
Obviously there is much more to this miraculous process of the Christian calling than we can cover here. To learn more, request our comprehensive booklet that explains how acceptance of that calling ultimately leads to salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. This free booklet, Transforming Your Life: The Process of Conversion, expounds these concepts in much greater detail. The title of the first chapter is: "Who Are God’s ‘Called, Chosen and Faithful’ People?" We encourage all of our readers to request or download this crucial booklet.
Q: If we go to "sleep" after death, awaiting a resurrection,
what happens to a person who is cremated?
—T.D., Raleigh, North Carolina
A: The Bible does indeed use the analogy of sleep to describe the state of the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 15:51, etc.). Those who have died are totally unaware of the passage of time and feel no pain or sorrow (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10). They will be "awakened" at the time of the resurrection. But this does not require that their physical bodies persist until that time.
Scripture reveals what happens to our physical bodies after death. Genesis 3:19 tells us that we will return to dust. If moisture and air are present, even our bones will eventually disintegrate. In the final analysis, there is no difference between the dust of decomposition and the ashes of cremation.
Neither will have any effect whatever on God’s sure promise to resurrect all human beings in due course according to His plan and purpose (1 Corinthians 15:22; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:4-6,11-14)—which must include those who have been cremated.
Faithful Christians will be resurrected with spirit bodies (compare 1 Corinthians 15:35,45,49). The rest of mankind who died in past ages, beginning with the nation of Israel, will be reconstituted in the flesh (see Ezekiel 37) before being offered immortality.
On the overall questions of death and the future, you’ll find more details spelled out in our free booklets What Happens After Death? and Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?
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