{"id":90743,"date":"2021-03-12T05:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T10:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/"},"modified":"2023-10-07T22:55:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T02:55:21","slug":"out-of-body-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of Body Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">2\nCorinthians 12:1-7: It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come\nto visions and revelations of the Lord. <strong><sup>2<\/sup><\/strong>I knew a man in\nChrist above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or\nwhether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to\nthe third heaven. <strong><sup>3<\/sup><\/strong>And I knew such a man, (whether in the\nbody, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) <strong><sup>4<\/sup><\/strong>How\nthat he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is\nnot lawful for a man to utter. <strong><sup>5<\/sup><\/strong>Of such an one will I glory:\nyet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. <strong><sup>6<\/sup><\/strong>For\nthough I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the\ntruth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he\nseeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. <strong><sup>7<\/sup><\/strong>And lest I should\nbe exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was\ngiven to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I\nshould be exalted above measure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">References to &#8220;out-of-body\u201d and \u201cnear-death\u201d experiences are numerous and subjective. According to one poll, one out of ten people claim to have had an out-of-body experience, and there are many different types of the experiences claimed. They range from involuntary experiences to \u201castral projection&#8221; in which a person voluntarily tries to leave their body behind and ascend to a spiritual plane where they believe they obtain truth and clarity.&nbsp; Some Christians claim to have had such an experience.&nbsp; Is there any substance to such claims?&nbsp; Can people have such experiences?&nbsp; If so, what qualifies the experience to be of a Christian nature?&nbsp; To determine the Biblical answer, we look to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">&nbsp;<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Historical Context: 2 Corinthians 1:1 identifies Paul as the author very\nlikely written approximately A.D. 55-57.&nbsp;\nThe church in Corinth\nbegan in A.D. 52 when Paul visited there on his second missionary journey. It\nwas then that he stayed one and a half years, the first time he was allowed to\nstay in one place as long as he wished. A record of this visit and the\nestablishment of the church is found in Acts 18:1-18.&nbsp; Referring to a letter lost to us, Paul\nexpresses his relief and joy that the Corinthians had received his \u201csevere\u201d\nletter in a positive manner. That letter addressed issues that were tearing the\nchurch apart, primarily the arrival of self-style (false) apostles (2\nCorinthians 11:13) who were assaulting Paul\u2019s character, sowing discord among\nthe believers, and teaching false doctrine. They appear to have questioned his\nveracity (2 Corinthians 1:15-17), his speaking ability (2 Corinthians 10:10;\n11:6), and his unwillingness to accept support from the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians\n11:7-9; 12:13). There were also some people who had not repented of their\nlicentious behavior (2 Corinthians 12:20-21).&nbsp;\nPaul was overjoyed to learn from Titus that the majority of Corinthians\nrepented of their rebellion (2 Corinthians 2:12-13; 7:5-9). The apostle\nencourages them, expressing genuine love (2 Corinthians 7:3-16). Paul also\nsought to vindicate his apostleship, as some in the church had questioned his\nauthority (2 Corinthians 13:3).&nbsp; He ends\nhis epistle by describing the vision of heaven he was allowed to experience and\nthe \u201cthorn in the flesh\u201d he was given by God to ensure his humility (chapter\n12).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Grammatical Usage: <strong>1) <\/strong>\u201cVisions\u201d in the Greek is \u201coptasia\u201d meaning \u201cto see, coming into view\u201d; <strong>2) <\/strong>\u201crevelations\u201d is \u201capokalupsis\u201d meaning \u201ca specific expression of the mind of God\u201d in this case exclusively for Paul; <strong>3) <\/strong>\u201cthird heaven\u201d is \u201couranos\u201d meaning \u201cto lift\u2026to heave up\u2026the eternal dwelling place of God and angels.\u201d\u00a0 It should be noted that three heavens in Paul\u2019s thinking included A) the earth\u2019s sky; B) stellar; C) God\u2019s dwelling place. <strong>4) <\/strong>\u201cParadise\u201d is \u201cparadeisos\u201d which has its root as an oriental word meaning \u201ca wall around\u201d where Persian kings could feel safe and in the Greek may be translated as \u201cthe sum total of blessedness.\u201d <strong>5) <\/strong>\u201cUnspeakable\u201d in the Greek is \u201carrhetos\u201d meaning \u201cwords to sacred to be uttered.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Literal Application: I\nmust go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to see\nGod and gain a message from the Lord. <strong><sup>2<\/sup><\/strong>I know a man in Christ\nwho fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven \u2013 God\u2019s dwelling place.\nWhether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know\u2014God knows. <strong><sup>3<\/sup><\/strong>And\nI know that this man\u2014whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know,\nbut God knows\u2014 <strong><sup>4<\/sup><\/strong>was caught up to complete blessedness. He\nheard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. <strong><sup>5<\/sup><\/strong>I\nwill boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except\nabout my weaknesses. <strong><sup>6<\/sup><\/strong>Even if I should choose to boast, I\nwould not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so\nno one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. &nbsp;<strong><sup>7<\/sup><\/strong>To\nkeep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great\nrevelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to\ntorment me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Contextual\nInterpretation: There was controversy as to Paul\u2019s authority as an\napostle.&nbsp; What he relates in vs. 2-4 is\nthe greatest evidence that God actually chose him and not Matthias (Acts\n1:15-26) or some other person to replace the apostate Judas Iscariot. &nbsp;There was no doubt that the other eleven\nApostles had been chosen by Jesus from a larger group of disciples, all of whom\nhad known Jesus personally (Lk. 6:13-16).&nbsp;\nSaul of Tarsus was the only exception and he now proceeds to say that\nhe, too, \u201cexperienced\u201d Jesus from whom he received his commission to preach and\nteach.&nbsp; In fact, he had an experience\nthat none of the other Apostles had \u2013 he went to theological seminary in Paradise, the third Heaven, where Jesus sits at the right\nhand of God (Lk. 23:43).&nbsp; Therefore, Paul\nrelates an out-of-body experience.&nbsp; Temporal and spatial sensations were\nabsent.&nbsp; The reality of his state is\n\u201ccaught up\u201d or the Greek verb \u201charpazo\u201d used in 1 Thes. 4:17 of saints at the\nRapture.&nbsp; The experience contributes to\nPaul\u2019s conviction that, \u201cout light and momentary troubles are achieving for us\nan eternal glory that far outweighs them all\u201d \u2013 2 Cor. 4:17.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In the\nverses preceding this passage, Paul lists his &#8220;boasts&#8221; or the things\nthat, if he was counting on works and good deeds to secure his salvation much\nless position, would get him into Heaven. &nbsp;Unfortunately, the Corinthians were impressed\nwith such \u2013 including the fantastic.&nbsp; In\nv. 1 Paul may glory in his experience given that he did not seek it, deserve it\nor do anything to bring it about (a clue as to its validity and repudiation to\nthe Corinthian mindset).&nbsp; It was totally\nthe work and grace of God.&nbsp; Though he\nseems to be referring to a third party, scholars agree that he is speaking of\nhimself in the third person in relating this experience. Therefore, he is\nincluding this apparent out-of-body occurrence in his list of boasts, but only\nbecause he is forced to do so. It is instructive that Paul insists that he is\nnot going to boast about this experience as someone might derive a higher\nopinion of him than is deserved \u2013 a clue as to the validity of others and their\nexperience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The\nresult of this experience is that Paul now knew as much theology as the other\nApostles (Gal. 2:1-10)and the\nmystery of gentile inclusion was made clear (Rom. 11:25; Eph. 3:1-7).&nbsp; In truth, only the resurrected Lord (Ps. 2:7,\n8) could have said what Paul heard and was told to preach.&nbsp; Paul scores heavily against his enemies in Corinth.&nbsp; Not one of them could boast of this\nexperience, nor could they have known that the divine plan of salvation was to\ninclude the uncircumcised Gentiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">This\nexperience proved a <em>unique<\/em> revelatory experience in keeping with\nPaul&#8217;s <em>unique<\/em> calling as the &#8220;apostle to the Gentiles&#8221; (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Gal.%202.7-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gal. 2:7-9<\/a>). Given the fact that Paul had a\nsignificant ministry ahead of him, it thus cannot be taken as representative of\na near-death experience.&nbsp; However, it\ndoes fit the common definition of a vision as noted in v. 1 and experienced by\nprophets of old.&nbsp; The Apostle John later\nhad the same experience (Rev. 4-5) and, at the second coming, every member of\nthe Body of Christ will have this experience (1 Thess. 4:13-18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Scriptural Comparison: Two important reasons why we should turn to the Bible as we try to\nunderstand this phenomenon are <strong>1)<\/strong>\nthe Bible is the supreme authority in guiding the lives of believers. It\nconveys what God declares essential for humans to know about truth, including\nhow to please Him. Therefore, whatever the Bible has to say bearing on out-of\nbody\/near-death experiences must be thoroughly and objectively examined; <strong>2)<\/strong> we must turn to the Bible because\nadvocates <em>also<\/em> turn to the Bible to support their interpretations of\nthis phenomenon.&nbsp; Since many of them\nbelieve in the universality of all religions, they naturally seek passages from\nas many religious texts as they can find that seem to parallel the\nout-of-body\/near-death experience, including one particular biblical account\nthat they assert describes such experiences.&nbsp;\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Advocates\nclaim to find this in <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Acts%209.3-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Acts 9:3-6<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Acts%2026.12-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">26:12-23<\/a>, which respectively relate Paul&#8217;s\nencounter with Christ on the road to Damascus\nand Paul&#8217;s own account of his experience.&nbsp;\nThere are, however, glaring distinctions between Paul\u2019s experience and\nmodern claims.&nbsp; <strong>First and most importantly, <em>Paul did not have a near-death\nexperience on this road.<\/em><\/strong> Some people have asked how we know that he\ndidn&#8217;t. The best answer comes from Paul himself when he later elaborates on the\nincident, offering further details to King Agrippa without once mentioning that\nhe had died (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Acts%2026.2-29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Acts 26:2-29<\/a>). <strong>Another difference is that the light\nblinded Paul<\/strong>, while in modern reports the light does not visually impair\npeople&#8217;s eyes.&nbsp; Clearly Paul is\nexperiencing a real, spiritual situation.&nbsp;\nIt should be noted that spiritual warfare, however, is a battleground\nwhere it is often difficult to identify the enemy. Frequently Satan disguises\nhimself as a beloved friend. Deception has always been his way, and it has been\na deadly weapon in his arsenal evident since he used it in the Garden of Eden.\nIndeed, Paul warned Timothy that &#8220;in later times some will abandon the\nfaith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons&#8221; (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/1%20Tim.%204.1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1 Tim. 4:1<\/a>). Of course, the most evil\ndeception is when the Devil appears to be God. Again, Paul&#8217;s words ring true:\n&#8220;Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light&#8221; (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/2%20Cor.%2011.14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2 Cor. 11:14<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Beyond\nPaul&#8217;s conversion story, advocates are hard pressed to enlist other biblical\naccounts of out-of-body or near death experiences.&nbsp; They have alluded to Paul&#8217;s discussion of\nspiritual bodies (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/1%20Cor.%2015.35-52\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1 Cor. 15:35-52<\/a>) and Jesus&#8217;\nself-declaration as &#8220;the light of the world&#8221; (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/John%208.12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John 8:12<\/a>). Neither of these biblical\npassages, however, were intended to illuminate the mysteries of an\nout-of-body\/near-death experience, just as Paul\u2019s confession in 2 Corinthians.&nbsp; In context, the &#8220;spiritual bodies&#8221;\nPaul writes of in 1 Corinthians 15 are the bodies believers will possess <strong>after<\/strong> they have been resurrected at the\ntime of Christ&#8217;s second coming. Jesus&#8217; declaration that He is the light of the\nworld pertains to the spiritual illumination He brings to the world \u2014 it has no\nnecessary relevance for the near-death experience.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">There\nare several cases in the Bible in which people have returned from the dead:\nElisha restored the Shunammite boy back to life (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/2%20Kings%204.8-37\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2 Kings 4:8-37<\/a>); Jesus healed a ruler&#8217;s\ndead daughter (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Matt.%209.18-26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matt. 9:18-26<\/a>); and\nJesus raised Lazarus from the dead (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/John%2011.38-44\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John 11:38-44<\/a>). Seven persons <em>were<\/em> raised from the dead, however,\nduring thousands of years of biblical history. These were unique situations in\nwhich God acted for particular reasons at strategic points in history \u2014 such\nreanimations are hardly commonplace! More importantly, none of these seven\npeople is said to have returned with a report of the afterlife. These incidents\ndo not contradict the teaching of Jesus in Luke 16.&nbsp; What is critical to understand is the Bible\nclearly teaches the reality of life after death. It also plainly states,\nhowever, that \u201cman is destined to die <em>once<\/em>\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Heb.%209.27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heb. 9:27<\/a> &#8211; emphasis added); indeed, the\nwise woman from Tekoa pictured the finality of death by stating, \u201cLike water\nspilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/2%20Sam.%2014.14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2 Sam. 14:14<\/a> niv). In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus\ntaught that the dead do not report back to the living (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Luke%2016.26%E2%80%9331\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Luke 16:26\u201331<\/a>).&nbsp; Therefore, anyone claiming a literal trip to\nheaven or hell is biblically unsound.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">One\nbiblical account that <em>does<\/em> deserve comment is the stoning of Stephen (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Acts%208.54-60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Acts 8:54-60<\/a>). In this story Stephen looks\nup to heaven and sees the glory of God and Jesus. But what must be noted is\nthat Stephen had this vision <em>before he was stoned<\/em> \u2014 that is, he was\nnot dying when he saw Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A\nvoluntary out-of-body experience, or an \u201castral projection,\u201d is a different\nstory. A person trying to achieve an out-of-body experience in order to connect\nwith spirits or the spirit world is practicing the occult. There are two forms\nof this: <strong>1) <\/strong>the \u201cphasing\u201d model is\nwhen the person tries to find new spiritual truth by accessing a part of the\nmind that is &#8220;shut off&#8221; during everyday life. This practice is\nconnected to Buddhism or postmodernism and the <strong>belief that enlightenment is achieved from looking within oneself; 2)<\/strong>\nthe other form, called the \u201cmystical\u201d model, is when the person tries to exit\nthe body entirely, <strong>their spirit\ntraveling to another plane that is not connected to the physical world at all.<\/strong><br>\n<br>\nThe Bible explicitly warns against occult practice, or sorcery, in Galatians\n5:19-20, saying that those who practice it will not inherit God&#8217;s kingdom. <strong>God&#8217;s commands are always for our good, and\nHe commands us to stay far away from occult practices because there is great\npotential, when trying to access the spiritual world, of opening oneself up to\ndemons who can tell us lies about God and confuse our minds. <\/strong>In Job\n4:12-21, Eliphaz describes being visited by a lying spirit in a vision that\ntells him God does not regard humans and that He doesn&#8217;t care for us, which is\nfalse! <strong>The phasing model is also futile,\naccording to Scripture. Jeremiah 17:9 says &#8220;the heart is deceitful above\nall things and desperately sick; who can understand it?&#8221;<\/strong> and 1\nCorinthians 2:1-5 says &#8220;When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with\neloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.\nFor I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him\ncrucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My\nmessage and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a\ndemonstration of the Spirit&#8217;s power, so that your faith might not rest on men&#8217;s\nwisdom, but on God&#8217;s power.&#8221; <strong>It is\nfutile to search for infinite wisdom inside the finite mind of man.<\/strong><br>\n<br>\nHow do we reconcile this <em>process <\/em>of\ndying and departure of the soul with Paul\u2019s proclamation that believers are\neither \u201cat home in the body\u201d and \u201caway from the Lord,\u201d or \u201caway from the body\u201d\nand \u201cat home with the Lord\u201d?&nbsp; Biblically\nspeaking, to be \u201caway from the body\u201d is to be physically dead and, for the\nChristian, to be with the Lord. Paul, here, seemed to be considering the two\nextremes of life and death,not the gray area <em>between<\/em> life and death. His\nstatement does not logically exclude the possibility of an in-between state in\nwhich, while dying, the soul is <em>separating<\/em>\nfrom the body \u2014 a state that Paul seemed to have encountered himself.&nbsp; Considering both the scientific and biblical\nevidence and remembering that we \u201csee in a mirror dimly\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/1%20Cor.%2013.12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1 Cor. 13:12<\/a> nasb), we can best understand these experiences as the soul\nentering the \u201cshadow of death\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Ps.%2023.4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ps. 23:4<\/a>).&nbsp;\nActually, the phrase \u201cshadow of death\u201d is a mistranslation.&nbsp; The Hebrew \u201csalmawet\u201d is not a compound of\n\u201cshadow\u201d and \u201cdeath\u201d but is based on the root \u201c\u2018lm\u201d, meaning \u201cdeep\ndarkness.\u201d&nbsp; Shadows are never an image\nfor sinister darkness in the Bible.&nbsp;\nRather, in the heat of Palestine,\nshadows are preeminently an image for protection or refuge, especially that\nwhich Yahweh provides.&nbsp; The Bible distinguishes between this \u201cshadow of\ndeath\u201d and \u201cdeath\u201d itself, suggesting two <em>different<\/em> realms: \u201cHave the gates of death been opened unto\nthee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Job%2038.17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Job 38:17<\/a>) Could the \u201cshadow of death\u201d be\nthe gray area between life and death in which an experience occurs \u2014 a realm\nwhose \u201cdoors\u201d can be \u201cseen\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Job%2038.17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Job 38:17<\/a>) and whose \u201cvalley\u201d or \u201cland\u201d can\nbe \u201cwalk[ed] through\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Ps.%2023.4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ps. 23:4<\/a>) \u2014 but from which return is possible?&nbsp; The Bible affirms this process.\nRachel\u2019s death as she gave birth to Benjamin occurred \u201cas her soul was\ndeparting\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Gen.%2035.18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gen. 35:18<\/a> nasb), not <em>when<\/em> it departed. This suggests that her soul departed over\na period of time and not instantaneously.&nbsp;\nAgain, this explains Paul\u2019s experience as well as John\u2019s and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Meetings with God in the Old Testament were uniformly accompanied with\ngreat fear and a \u201cfalling down\u201d (e.g., <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Gen.%2017.3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gen. 17:3<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Exod.%203.6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Exod. 3:6<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Josh.%205.14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Josh. 5:14<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Ezek.%201.28\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ezek. 1:28<\/a>). Those confessing\nout-of-body-experiences, on the other hand, uniformly feel \u201clove,\u201d \u201cjoy,\u201d\n\u201ceuphoria,\u201d and \u201cpeace\u201d in the presence of the \u201clight.\u201d God instructed Moses,\n\u201cNo one may see me and live\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Exod.%2033.20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Exod. 33:20<\/a> niv),\nand Paul wrote that God \u201clives in inapproachable light, whom no one has seen or\ncan see\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/1%20Tim.%206.16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1 Tim. 6:16<\/a> niv). A <em>direct<\/em> encounter with God during an out-of-body-experience, face-to-face meetings with Jesus\nChrist, are unlikely.&nbsp; The Trinitarian\nview of God holds that one God exists in three distinct persons and that each\nof these three persons is fully God, not part of God. We are to be baptized \u201cin\nthe name [not names] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Matt.%2028.19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matt. 28:19<\/a> niv).\nSince His earthly ministry, Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the\nFather in heaven (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Heb.%201.3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heb. 1:3<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Heb%208.1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">8:1<\/a>) and out of sight of the living.&nbsp; The explanation lies with the spirit beings encountered\nare angels, which are known to change shape and appearance at will; to serve as\nmessengers, comforters, and protectors; to escort the dead and dying (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Luke%2016.22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Luke 16:22<\/a>); and \u201cto serve those who will\ninherit salvation\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Heb.%201.14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heb. 1:14<\/a> niv). But again, angels can also deceive\n(since some have fallen), appearing as \u201cfamiliar spirits\u2026capable of adopting\n\u2018familiar\u2019 images and characteristics (e.g., religious figures, deceased\nrelatives, etc.)\u201d; even Satan, at times, \u201cmasquerades as an angel of light\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/2%20Cor.%2011.14%E2%80%9315\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2 Cor. 11:14\u201315<\/a> niv) \u201cso as to mislead, if possible,\neven the elect\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/Matt.%2024.24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matt. 24:24<\/a> nasb). Biblically based spiritual\ndiscernment is a must in order to avoid being deceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>Conclusion: An\ninvoluntary out-of-body experience, like the Apostle Paul&#8217;s, should be treated\nin the same way as a dream in the life of a Christian\u2014an unexplained phenomenon\nthat may make a good story, but does not give us truth in the form of new\nrevelation. <strong>The only place we find\nabsolute truth is in the Word of God. All other sources are merely subjective\nhuman accounts or interpretations based on what we can discover with our finite\nminds.<\/strong> The book of Revelation, or John&#8217;s vision, is an exception to this,\nas are the prophecies or visions of the Old Testament prophets. <em>In each of those cases, the prophets were\ntold that this was a revelation from the Lord, and they should share what they\nhad seen because it was directly from the mouth of God.<\/em>&nbsp; We are also told that no more is to be added\nto the Word of God (Dt. 4:2; 12:32; Pr. 30:5-6; Gal. 1:6-12; Rev. 22:18-19). &nbsp;(The first \u201ccanon\u201d was the Muratorian Canon, which was\ncompiled in A.D. 170. The Muratorian Canon included all of the New Testament\nbooks except Hebrews, James, and 3 John. In A.D. 363, the Council of Laodicea\nstated that only the Old Testament (along with the Apocrypha) and the 27 books\nof the New Testament were to be read in the churches. The Council of Hippo [A.D.\n393] and the Council of Carthage [A.D. 397] also affirmed the same 27 books as\nauthoritative which closed the Canon to addition.) &nbsp;&nbsp;Whatever\nsort of out-of-body experience we are talking about, the main point to remember\nis that an out-of-body experience will give us neither truth nor knowledge. If\nan involuntary out-of-body experience occurs in the life of a Christian, the\nbest approach would be to consider it in the same category as a\ndream\u2014interesting, perhaps, but not a source of truth. Christians are to find\ntruth only in the words of God, as Jesus prays in John 17:17, &#8220;Sanctify\nthem in the truth; Your word is truth.&#8221;&nbsp;\n<strong>Therefore, if the message of the\nbeing of light, the interpretation of the near-death experience, or the\nlifestyle that results from the experience contradicts the teachings of the\nBible, then that particular experience should not be accepted as valid.<\/strong>&nbsp; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n\nIn addition, there are some accounts that provide\nelaborate and fantastic details concerning heaven and hell that go far beyond\nScripture. When unreservedly accepted, these reports function as extra-biblical\nrevelation about the nature of the world beyond. This can easily weaken\nScriptural authority while diluting the divinely revealed content of Christian\nfaith with the feeble projections of human imagination. The best protection\nagainst such error, if we are to hold that some of these experiences may, in\nfact, be genuine is to maintain that <em><strong>only\nthe Bible can be trusted absolutely as a revelation of heavenly realities.<\/strong><\/em><em>&nbsp; <\/em>We cannot draw any conclusions\nabout individual cases without first taking what has been reported about the\nexperience and the message and examining this report under the light of God&#8217;s\nWord. According to this test, any doctrine that denies the judgment of God is\ncondemned. But any testimony that glorifies Jesus Christ as the only Lord and\nSavior is worthy of our serious consideration (<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.logos.com\/passage\/nkjv\/1%20Cor.%2012.3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1 Cor. 12:3<\/a>). \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 Corinthians 12:1-7: It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[526,534],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Out of Body Experience - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Out of Body Experience - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2 Corinthians 12:1-7: It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-12T10:38:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-08T02:55:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\"},\"headline\":\"Out of Body Experience\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-12T10:38:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-08T02:55:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/\"},\"wordCount\":3734,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Issues &amp; Answers\",\"Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/\",\"name\":\"Out of Body Experience - Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-12T10:38:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-08T02:55:21+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/out-of-body-experience\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"width\":514,\"height\":259,\"caption\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\",\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/author\/pastor_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Out of Body Experience - Grace Evangelical Free Church","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Out of Body Experience - Grace Evangelical Free Church","og_description":"2 Corinthians 12:1-7: It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. 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