How going somewhere with the spirit can be initiated

Summary:

In the Bible, there are accounts in which people are going somewhere with their spirit while being absent in their body, that is, their body are not where their spirit goes. 

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People can go somewhere with their spirit while absent in their body:
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There are several different ways that this can be initiated, that is, going from not experiencing this to experiencing this.

In the Bible there are explicit accounts in which a person is taken by God to experience this, that is, they are PASSIVE and it happens to them. 

However there are also accounts that may be compatible with the idea that someone can be ACTIVE and do it by their own agency.

You can find more details below:

One can passively be brought somewhere (by God ultimately):

Ezekiel 8:

It is written: "(the) hand of the LORD came upon me. And I looked, and, behold, a likeness of a Man; from His waist and as far as below fire, and from His waist upwards as an appearance of amber. And HE STRETCHED (THE) LIKENESS OF A HAND, and TOOK ME BY THE CROWN OF MY HEAD, AND (THE) SPIRIT LIFTED ME UP between the earth and between the sky, and BROUGHT ME TO JERUSALEM IN A VISION OF GOD, to the porches of the gate of the inside" (Ezekiel 8:3-4).

Ezekiel 11:

It is written: "(THE) SPIRIT TOOK ME UP, AND BROUGHT ME INTO (THE) LAND (OF THE) CHALDEANS, to the captivity, IN A VISION BY (THE) SPIRIT (OF) GOD" (Ezekiel 11:24).

Ezekiel 40:

It is written: "(THE) HAND (OF) THE LORD CAME UPON ME, AND BROUGHT ME IN A VISION OF GOD INTO THE LAND (OF) ISRAEL, and put me upon a very high mountain, and upon it as a building of a city before (me)" (Ezekiel 40:1-2).

2 Corinthians 12:

Paul wrote: "I-know (a) man in Christ, fourteen years ago, WHETHER IN (THE) BODY, I-DO NOT KNOW, OR OUTSIDE (OF) THE BODY, I-do not know. God knows, (that) SUCH (A ONE WAS) SNATCHED-AWAY [passive voice in the Greek] TO (THE) THIRD HEAVEN. And I-know such (a) man; WHETHER IN (THE) BODY OR APART-FROM THE BODY, I-do not know. God knows that HE-WAS-SNATCHED-AWAY [passive voice in the Greek] INTO PARADISE" (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

God inviting someone to actively go somewhere by their own agency?

God may command someone to actively go by their own agency in the spiritual realm. For example it is written: 

It is written: "I-saw, and behold, (there was an) opened door IN HEAVEN, and the first voice which I-heard speaking with me like (the sound of a) trumpet saying, “GO-UP [Active voice in Greek, imperative mood in Greek] HERE and I-will-show you (the things) which must take-place after these (things)”." (Revelation 4:1). 

In this passage John was commanded (as evidenced by the imperative mood) to "GO-UP" (Revelation 4:1) actively by His own agency (evidenced by the use of the active voice for "GO-UP").

 

Actively going somewhere by one's own agency?

The following passages are not necessarily referring to going somewhere in the spiritual realm, but they will still be highlighted as they may show a principle of initiating something by one's own agency that may be compatible with the practice of going somewhere with the spirit. 

 

1 Corinthians 5:

Paul wrote: "I, BEING-ABSENT [active voice in the Greek] (IN) THE BODY BUT BEING-PRESENT [active voice in the Greek] (IN) THE SPIRIT, have already JUDGED [active voice in the Greek]" (1 Corinthians 5:3).

Paul here is the one actively being absent in the body and the one actively being present in the spirit, the same way he is the one actively being the one who already judged the situation.

Even though this verse may be reasonably primarily interpreted as Paul's expression of his deep connection with his mind to his audience far away from him in the body (and not necessarily attempting to describe an out of body experience he had), yet the argument here is that such was made by Paul's own agency and that by inference such may be compatible with going there with his spirit out of his body. 

Colossians 2:

Paul wrote: "even though I-AM-ABSENT [active voice in the Greek] (IN) THE FLESH, NEVERTHELESS I-AM [active voice in the Greek] WITH YOU (IN) THE SPIRIT, REJOICING [active voice in the Greek] and SEEING [active voice in the Greek] YOUR ORDER and the firmness (of) your faith in Christ" (Colossians 2:5).

Paul here is the one actively being absent in the flesh and the one actively being with them in the spirit, the same way that he is the one actively rejoicing and seeing their order. 

Paul was also in the context of writing this letter in prison, as he wrote: "The greeting (of) Paul (by) my (own) hand, remember MY CHAINS" (Colossians 4:18). While Paul could not move in the flesh to see them (as he was imprisoned with chains), he could apparently come to see them with his spirit. 

Even though this verse may be reasonably primarily interpreted as Paul's expression of his deep connection with his mind to his audience far away from him in the body (and not necessarily attempting to describe an out of body experience he had), yet the argument here is that such was made by Paul's own agency and that by inference such may be compatible with going there with his spirit out of his body. 

James 4:

James wrote: "DRAW-NEAR [active voice in the Greek] (TO) GOD" (James 4:9), "Be-humbled IN-THE-PRESENCE-OF (THE) LORD" (James 4:10).

James here wrote that people can be the ones actively by their own agency drawing near to God. God is in heaven. The verse would not suggest to necessarily go with the spirit where God is, but it also would not say that this is not a way to draw closer to God.

Even though this verse may be reasonably primarily interpreted as James inviting his audience to drawing near to God in a moral or relational sense (and not necessarily attempting an out of body experience), yet the argument here is that such can be made by the audience's own agency and that by inference such may be compatible with going there with their spirit out of their body. 

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