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Death and the Intermediate State

Summary: (top)

Death is not natural, but is a result of sin. Even though believers are seen as righteous in God's sight, we will still die for several reasons: first, the application of salvation is a process that is still occurring - believers have not tasted all the benefits that God by grace will bestow (the removal of death will come in God's time). Second, Death is not a punishment for sin for Christians, but rather is a part of the suffering that is a tool employed by God to sanctify us. Also, since God has chosen for this world to continue imperfectly for a time, death becomes a part of obedience for a Christian, to live and die according to God's will. As believers, our own death is to be viewed with joy as we are going to be with our father in heaven.

When believers die, the Bible clearly teaches that our souls will go immediately to be with God, leaving the physical body behind (the teachings of purgatory and "soul sleep", which do not agree with this statement, are unbiblical and therefore incorrect). The OT indicates that the souls of OT believers went immediately to be with the Lord upon death, just as NT believers' have and will. The Bible is very clear that non-believers will be raised in the body and subject to judgement, condemnation and punishment. It is also clear that the the circumstances of someone cannot change after they die - it is not possible to travel between heaven and hell.

Introduction: (top)

The theology of death and the intermediate state is tough for many to study, as there are not many people who have not had loved ones who have died that weren't Christians, and therefore feel grief at the judgement they face. In contrast is the joy with which believers can view their own death (though mixed with sadness for the knowledge of the grief that their death may cause others), and in-between is the confusing emotions over the death of a fellow believer: joy at their departing to be with the Lord, grief at their absence in this world.

Within this study, I mention a few popular misconceptions concerning 'the intermediate state'. I do this to emphasise the true teaching by removing possible misinterpretations. I have not attempted to totally justify the reasons why these unbiblical teachings are considered unbiblical as this is not a detailed apologetics page - it is an introduction and overview of the doctrine of death and the intermediate state.

The Biblical Teaching:

Why Do People Die? (top)

First, it must be remembered that death is not natural - we were not created to die: "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1 Cor. 15:26).

Paul tells us in Romans that "...the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23) - that is, death comes as a result of sin. And indeed we see that in the account of the fall of mankind, Adam sins and so is destined to die (Gen. 3:22). It is often now asked, "but if believers are saved through Christ, why must Christians still die?" There are several points for consideration here, and so have been listed below:

First, the application of salvation is a process that is still occurring - believers have not tasted all the benefits that God by grace will bestow - receiving perfect bodies and being perfect spiritually are obvious examples. These, and the removal of death will come in God's time, and as Christians we can trust that God knows what He is doing: "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'" (1 Cor. 15:54)
Death is not a punishment for sin for Christians: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1).
Death is a part of suffering that is part of this world, and suffering is a tool employed by God to sanctify us: "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Heb. 12:10)
Since God has chosen for this world to continue imperfectly for a time, death becomes a part of obedience for a Christian, to live and die according to God's will: "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Rev. 2:10b)
As believers, our own death is to be viewed with joy as we are going to be with our father in heaven!: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far" (Phil. 1:21-23).

The Time After Death: (top)

What happens when believers die? (top)

When believers die, the Bible clearly teaches that their souls will go immediately to be with God, leaving the physical body behind.

Jesus said to the man on the cross next to his, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)
"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Cor. 5:6-8)
"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." (Heb. 12:22-24) (Emphasis added.)
(John, speaking of a vision of the spirits of slain believers in heaven): "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?'" (Rev. 6:9-10)

What does not happen when believers die? (top)

(i.e., misconceptions regarding the time after death.)

Purgatory: The teaching of purgatory is based on passages from apocryphal (that is, non-biblical but authoritative to some) texts, inferences from a few verses (e.g. Matt. 5:26; 12:32; 1 Cor. 3:15; 2 Tim. 1:18) in the Bible (which are certainly not anything like clear teachings on purgatory!) and teaching based on tradition. The teaching of purgatory says that there is time spent after death but before the places of eternity, where a person's spirit can work towards becoming more like God (sanctified). As such, those who have died can be prayed for, and prayed to. However, there is no support for the teaching of purgatory in the Bible - those few verses mentioned above are in no way indicative of purgatory in themselves - none of them entertain the idea and it is quite simply false reasoning to say that they do. Furthermore, purgatory adds works to salvation and makes the unwary believer unsure of their total salvation in Christ; whereas Christians are given assurance that when they depart, they will go to be with Christ (Phil. 1:23) - for salvation is by grace, through faith, not by works (Eph. 2:8-9).
An intermediate state of unconsciousness (the 'soul-sleep' theory): This theory teaches that the time between the death of a believer and the return of Christ sees that believer's soul 'unconscious' for the period - so that for every believer who dies, it appears to them that Christ instantaneously returned (although the events of the world have continued and many more may have died since). This gains support from those those passages of the Bible where death is referred to as 'sleeping'. However, it is better to understand that 'sleeping' in the Bible will often be a synonym for death, as death is just like sleeping to a Christian - it is just a temporary thing - it is not permanent, just like sleep. Obviously this theory too is totally incompatible with the passages above that mention 'awake' souls with the Lord before His return (e.g. Heb. 12:22-24 & Rev. 6:9-10).

What happened to Old Testament believers when they died? (top)

Since Christ's work of redemption had not yet taken place, it was sometimes suggested that OT believers were in a state of 'limbo' until Christ's work was complete. Not much is mentioned in the Bible regarding the immediate fate of OT believers, but we can draw some interesting points, which indicate that the souls of OT believers went immediately to be with the Lord upon death, just as NT believers' have and will:

Enoch and Elijah were both taken from this earth by God - in the account of Elijah's ascendency, it specifically says that he went to heaven: "As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind" (2 Ki. 2:11, see Gen. 5:24 for Enoch).
Jesus pointed out to His hearers that God is still the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and God is not the God of the dead (and therefore some consciousness of these must be alive and in a relationship with God): "But about the resurrection of the dead - have you not read what God said to you, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." (Matt. 22:32)

What happens to non-believers when they die? (top)

The Bible is very clear on the fate of those who will not put their trust in God:

They will be raised in the body (i.e., physically) for judgement:

Paul said, "...and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." (Acts 24:15)
"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books... If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:12,15).

They will be condemned to eternal punishment (Jesus, referring to Himself (the Son of Man) and those who disobeyed, on the day of judgement): "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels... Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matt. 25:41, 46)

Can the circumstances of someone change after they die? (i.e., is it possible to travel between heaven and hell)? (top)

The parable of Jesus concerning Lazarus and the rich man plainly indicates that this is not a possibility: "...The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'" (Luke 16:22-26)
Eternal destination is based on this life, not on the next: "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favouritism." (Rom. 2:5-10).