CREMATION – IS IT A SIN?
TRADITION
What to do with a dead human can be a very sensitive issue and one where emotions will almost always override logic. Dealing with a dead human body is an emotional issue because we are in love with this physical world, and because we have great difficulty thinking beyond worldly thoughts. Most of us have been conditioned by our culture to believe that we honor the memory of a person by spending lavish sums of money in caring for the corpse of the deceased. In many ways, dead is an emotional issue because most of us have a love-hate relationship with our body. We say that we are a Christian and the flesh is not important, but we spend inordinate sums of money, and most of our attention, on keeping our body alive. We love our body so much that we view our body as being who we really are; and, when we are dead we want people to honor our body. After all, isn’t that what we did to mom and dad, aunt and uncle, grandma and grandpa? Thus, our attention to the dead body of our loved one is generally driven by pure emotion: there is no logic involved what-so-ever.
Now, I am not implying that spending lavish sums of money caring for the body of a loved one is wrong: as long as you realize it is not a scriptural requirement. To start with, there is neither scripture to support our lavish treatment of a dead body nor is there scripture to support the expense of encasing it in steel and concrete. When someone shows you scripture about honoring the body it always is dealing with a living body: the temple of the Holy Spirit. Yes, to willfully allow our living body to become filthy and disease ridden is dishonoring the temple of the Holy Spirit. For as long as our body is occupied by the Holy Spirit we are bound by scripture to care for our body and make it a living sacrifice unto God. But once the spirit leaves our body it becomes just another mortal body, with no link to the New Testament requirements.
WHO ARE WE?
To start with, we need to recognize that we are of two natures: physical and spiritual. Our physical nature is our body and it is mortal. Our spiritual nature is our soul and spirit, which are immortal. Thus, we cannot fully understand death unless we address it from both a physical and spiritual perspective.
From scripture, we know that our physical nature, our biological body, is no different than any other biological body. Our biological body is made up of earthly material (dust): “the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7) Now, this dust of the earth is simple elements such as: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Scripture also tells us that our body will return to the dust (earthly elements) from which it was made. We can go through all kinds of gyrations and employ numerous human manipulations but we cannot stop the word of God. For God said: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19) There is nothing unique about the human biological body and it is subject to decomposition just as any other biological body is.
We need to recognize, however, that our physical nature, our biological body, is special. Our body is special because it is an earthly vehicle for our spiritual nature, our soul and spirit. This brings us to a very important point: our biological body is not who we are. If our body is who we really are, then God must hate all people who are born deformed and crippled. But it is not so! The physical body is simply a biological vessel in which our soul and spirit temporally resides. Paul said: “we have this treasure (soul and spirit) in jars of clay (our body), to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) So you see, who we really are is not something the eye can see. My spirit and my soul are who I really am. Thus, we cannot understand death until we first fully understand the difference between our physical nature and our spiritual nature. Our body is mortal and it will perish but our spirit is immortal. (1 Corinthians 15:42) Peter said: “… you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:23-25)
OUR CONFLICT
Look at it this way, our body is a physical structure design to house our spirit. Yet, herein lays the problem; we only know the body! We foolish humans pamper the body, which is worthless, and we ignore our soul, which is priceless. We tend to forget that our spirit reaches out to God but our flesh reaches out to Satan. Paul told the Galatians: walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; thus, the spirit and the flesh are at war with each other. We forget that if we yield to the desires of the flesh we will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:16-21) Thus, our body is a constant source of distraction in our spiritual walk with Jesus. Paul told the Romans: that it is the sin, which dwells in his flesh, that is the reason he does what he does not want to do. In his spirit he wants to do what is good but in his flesh he is led to do that which is wrong. Thus, his mind becomes a battle ground in the war between his flesh and his spirit. (Romans 7:7-25) Peter put it this way: Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (I Peter 2:11) This warfare between our flesh and our spirit is because our flesh is earthly but our spirit is heavenly. Think about this for a moment, our body is nothing more than an earthly physical structure, which is highly subject to the influence of Satan. It is hardly suited as the dwelling place for our spirit!
Yes, once again I will agree that our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit but when we die the spirit leaves our body. Peter said that as long as he was in his body (tent) he was going to do the Lord’s work but that he expected to be leaving his body (tent) in the near future. (2 Peter 1:13-14) Please take note of Peter’s refereeing to a tent when he was talking about our body. A tent is a temporary structure, and it is of little value: as compared to a house built of stone. In fact, our spirit does not even like being in our body and it longs for the time it is to leave our body. Paul said: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” (Philippians 1:21-24) Paul also told the Corinthians that our bodies are but a tent that we live in here on earth. Our spirit does not like this earth tent, and it longs to be in a heavenly tent where we will be with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-10) Listen to Paul; he is a source of great authority. The only value our body has is that of a temporary dwelling place for our spirit and the Holy Spirit. When the spirit leaves the body it becomes worthless and returns to the natural elements from which it was created.
AFTER DEATH
If we are going to fully understand death then we must recognize what it is that happens to the physical body of a human after death. It decays and returns to the native elements (dust) from which it was formed. Stop, lay aside your raging emotions and think logically about this for a moment. The twelve Apostles are dead and their bodies have turned to dust; the bodies of Christians who were eaten by wild beasts in Rome became excrement and eventually turned to dust; and Christian soldiers whose bodies were blown into little pieces and scatter across France have all turned to dust. Rain water has percolated through your great, great grandmother’s grave and it picked up the oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and other elements of her body, and carried them to the sea. Every human body will eventually be returned to the earth because that is exactly what God said would happen.
Now do not be depressed about the loss of your earthly body. For we know that when our physical body is destroyed, we have a new spiritual, eternal body from God. (2 Corinthians 5:1) Think back when Saul went to the witch of Endor to have her call Samuel back from the dead. (1 Samuel 28) Samuel appeared in the form of a human and not that of a ghost. Also, remember when Jesus told us about the Rich Man and Lazarus? (Luke 16:19-31) The Rich Man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool the Rich Man’s tongue. The Rich Man and Lazarus were certainly not some ghostly apparition, as the Hollywood movies and TV shows would have us believe. Both the Rich Man and Lazarus were spiritual physical bodies but not biological physical bodies. So you see, upon death, upon the destruction of the mortal body, we are given a spiritual body. That spiritual physical body must look a great deal like our biological physical body because we can see from scripture that the individual is recognizable.
One might ask about the physical biological body of Jesus. Most assuredly Jesus died and his body was place in a tomb. Just as assuredly, the tomb was empty on the third day. We also know that scripture records a number of appearances of Jesus to different persons, at different times and places after His tomb was found empty. We also know that the body Jesus was in was recognizable, it functioned like a natural body, but this body also exhibited some very supernatural characteristics. The question then becomes: was Jesus resurrected in His old body or a new body? Scripture tells us that Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:20) In other words, what happened to Jesus is exactly what will happen to everyone in the last days. In the last days, when Jesus returns, the dead shall return to the earth in their spiritual physical bodies and those of us who are still alive will have our biological physical bodies transformed into spiritual physical bodies. I would propose to you that the physical biological body of Jesus was transformed into a spiritual physical body and that He was resurrected in His spiritual physical body.
It will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52) Paul told the Thessalonians: “we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Then we who are alive, who are left, 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.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)
WHAT WE PUT IN THE TOMB IS NOT WHAT IS RESURRECTED
I have said all of this that we might come to see what our natural body really is, and then to ask ourselves: does it really matter how you legally dispose of a dead natural body? Let us be truthful with one another. All mortal bodies will eventually decay and become like dust in the earth. Cremation is simply a faster process of turning the body back into natural elements than rotting. All bodies will eventually become just elements of the physical world and the path they take to becoming dust is irrelevant. A body can rot in a casket; a body can be eaten and turned into excrement; or a body can be turned into ashes: the transformation has no effect on the spirit. Our earthly body is made of physical material, which the spirit does not care for, but our future heavenly body will be made of spiritual material, which is compatible with our spirit. Paul explained this to the Corinthians when he said: “what you sow is not the body that is to be.” Paul goes on to explain that there is mortal flesh and there is spiritual flesh. He makes the statement: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:35-49) The natural body of Jesus was hung on the cross but Jesus was bodily resurrected in His spiritual body. Now do not misunderstand what Paul is saying; the resurrected Jesus was not a spirit. His spiritual body was a physical body and functioned much like his natural body (Luke 24:42-43; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; Matthew 28:9; John 20:25; John 20:27) but it was made of spiritual incorruptible material. Think of it this way, God created our natural imperfect world and he will eventually create a new perfect earth. In the same way that our natural body was created out of the old natural-earth material our resurrected bodies will be created out of new perfect earth-material, which Paul would call spiritual material. Therefore, it does not matter what happens to our old bodies because that old natural imperfect material cannot exist in the ‘new perfect earth.’
So you see, what we do with a dead human, as long as it is legal, it is mostly irrelevant. Of course, we neither want to treat a dead body in a way that dishonors the memory of the departed nor adds to the grief of those left behind. We must remember, however, that God will resurrect us to a newness of life where our soul and spirit will be united with our body that has been resurrected from the new spiritual earth. We certainly do not know how God makes all of this impossible; but then, we do not know how God created us in the first place. With God all things are possible. The most important thing is that we have placed out trust in the salvation of Jesus Christ and that we are born again.
CREMATION IS NOT A SIN
Please understand that I, in no way, propose to challenge a person’s desire to spend lavish sums of money on disposing of the deceased. My intention is simply to share with you my understanding of scripture. We know from the realities of decaying bodies, and the natural process of mineral movement with ground water, exactly what will eventually happen to a dead body. In my humble opinion, there is also more than sufficient scriptural evidence for us to say that, eventually after death, the natural physical biological body, which is made up of dust, will become nothing more than dust, which is scattered across the landscape. But, we do not have to worry about this earthly body because when we are dead we get a new spiritual body. While we are in Abraham’s bosom we will be in our spiritual body and when Jesus returns to call us to be with Him in the air we will be resurrected in that spiritual body. Those who are alive will have their physical biological bodies transformed into physical spiritual bodies. Thus, if a person wishes to honor the traditions of their fathers through internment of the biological body that is perfectly fine; but, it is also just as fine to do so through cremation.
