“Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.” -D.L. Moody
Being a pastor for quite awhile means that I have come face to face with death far too many times. So many funerals. I know that during the passing of a loved one we start to ask questions that we never asked before. Which means we need to know what the Word of God says. With that said, here is what I believe the Bible teaches about life after death, for both the Christian and the non-Christian.
• BELIEVERS OF JESUS CHRIST
o When a believer dies their soul immediately is taken to heaven. (2 Corinthians 5:6–8) The believer does not remain in uncertainty or unconsciousness. Scripture teaches immediate presence with Christ. “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Stephen, at the moment of death, prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Jesus Himself said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46). The child of God rests in the Lord’s presence (Revelation 14:13). For the believer, death is not a doorway into darkness, but into the presence of the Savior.
o Our human body, upon death, stays here on earth. The body returns to the ground from which it was formed. “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Solomon wrote, “and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Death separates body and spirit, but it does not end personal existence. (Daniel 12:2, John 5:28-29)
o At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ the bodies of believers will be resurrected and reunited with their souls. (1 Corinthians 15:50–54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17) This resurrection will be bodily and glorious. “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42). Christ “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20–21). “The dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16), and together with living believers they will meet the Lord and always be with Him.
• UNBELIEVERS
o When an unbeliever dies, they go directly to a place of conscious torment called Hades. (Luke 16:19–23) Jesus described the rich man who “in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes” (Luke 16:23). This passage shows awareness, memory, and suffering. It is not sleep or annihilation. “The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing” (Proverbs 14:32). “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
o Hades is not the final dwelling place of unbelievers; the lake of fire is. (Revelation 20:11–15) “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14). God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31). Jesus said, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). The lake of fire is the final and eternal judgment. I totally understand how difficult this doctrine is to embrace. I accept it because I believe the Bible teaches it. Here are SIX ARTICLES that will help you think through it and some of the objections to it:
o At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ the souls and bodies of unbelievers will be reunited. Upon their judgment they will be cast into the eternal lake of fire. (John 5:29) Jesus declared, “those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29). Daniel wrote, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10). Their resurrection leads to judgment and eternal separation.
OTHER TRUTHS
• There is no soul sleep. The idea that we are waiting in the grave for the Second Coming of Jesus. (Luke 23:43) Jesus told the thief, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Paul desired “to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:23). These verses show immediate conscious fellowship with the Lord after death.
• There is no purgatory. Scripture teaches the complete sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). Because Christ’s sacrifice is fully sufficient, there is no additional purification needed beyond what He has accomplished.
• Old Testament believers went directly to be with God when they died. (2 Kings 2:11; Psalm 16:10; Matthew 22:32) Enoch “walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol” (Psalm 16:10). Jesus affirmed, “He is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32). God has always been the dwelling place of His people.
If you would like to talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ I would love to hear from you!
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