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Event | Unbeliever | Believer | Description |
Born Again | No | Yes | The first birth is physical birth. The second birth is spiritual and occurs when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ.1 Only believers are "born twice." |
1st Death | Yes | Yes | The first death occurs at the end of one's physical life. |
1st Resurrection | No | Yes | The first resurrection is a category and occurs in stages, beginning with the resurrection of Christ (1Cor. [[15:20|bible.67.15.20]]) and ending with the resurrection just prior to the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. [[20:5-6|bible.87.20.5-87.20.6]]+). Only believers participate in the first resurrection.2 See Order of Resurrection. |
2nd Resurrection | Yes | No | The second resurrection occurs at the end of the Millennial Kingdom at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. [[20:11-13|bible.87.20.11-87.20.13]]+). Only unbelievers participate in the second resurrection. See Order of Resurrection. |
2nd Death | Yes | No | The second death is after the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. [[20:14-15|bible.87.20.14-87.20.15]]+). As there is eternal life beyond this present life for the faithful, so there is eternal death beyond the death of the wicked.3 The second death is commonly known as hell.4 |
Notes
1 Luke [[15:24|bible.63.15.24]], [[32|bible.63.15.32]]; John [[3:3|bible.64.3.3]], [[7|bible.64.3.7]]; Gal. [[6:15|bible.69.6.15]]; 1Pe. [[1:3|bible.81.1.3]], [[23|bible.81.1.23]]; 1Jn. [[2:29|bible.83.2.29]]; [[3:9|bible.83.3.9]]; [[5:1|bible.83.5.1]], [[18|bible.83.5.18]].
2 "The order of events in the resurrection program would be: (1) the resurrection of Christ as the beginning of the resurrection program (1Cor. [[15:23|bible.67.15.23]]); (2) the resurrection of the church age saints at the rapture (1Th. [[4:16|bible.73.4.16]]); (3) the resurrection of the tribulation period saints (Rev. [[20:3-5|bible.87.20.3-87.20.5]]+), together with (4) the resurrection of Old Testament saints (Dan. [[12:2|bible.27.12.2]]; Isa. [[26:19|bible.23.26.19]]) at the second advent of Christ to the earth; and finally (5) the final resurrection of the unsaved dead [the second resurrection] (Rev. [[20:5|bible.87.20.5]]+, [[11-14|bible.87.20.11-87.20.14]]+) at the end of the millennial age. The first four stages would all be included in the first resurrection." -- J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), 411.
3 "As there is a life beyond this present life for the faithful, so a death beyond the death which falls under our eye for the wicked." -- Richard Chenevix Trench, Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1861), 111.
4 The King James Version translates both Hades and Gehenna--the Lake of Fire--as hell. They are actually two different places. The final destiny of the unsaved is the latter, an existence of eternal punishment: "'Vita damnatorum mors est,' [death is a life of punishment] is the fearful gloss of Augustine." -- Trench, Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia, 111.
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