Posted on 08/10/2015 6:26:09 PM PDT by imardmd1
Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some hold that after death, everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell. Others believe that at the moment of death, people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still others claim that when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell, to await the final resurrection, the final judgment, and then the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say happens after death?
First, for the believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that after death believers’ souls/spirits are taken to heaven, because their sins are forgiven by having received Christ as Savior (John 3:16, 18,36). For believers, death is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). However, passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 describe believers being resurrected and given glorified bodies. If believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, what is the purpose of this resurrection? It seems that while the souls/spirits of believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, the physical body remains in the grave “sleeping.” At the resurrection of believers, the physical body is resurrected, glorified, and then reunited with the soul/spirit. This reunited and glorified body-soul-spirit will be the possession of believers for eternity in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22).
Second, for those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. However, similar to the destiny of believers, unbelievers also seem to be sent immediately to a temporary holding place, to await their final resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny. Luke 16:22-23 describes a rich man being tormented immediately after death. Revelations 20:11-15 describes all the unbelieving dead being resurrected, judged at the great white throne, and then being cast into the lake of fire. Unbelievers, then, are not sent to hell (the lake of fire) immediately after death, but rather are in a temporary realm of judgment and condemnation. However, even though unbelievers are not instantly sent to the lake of fire, their immediate fate after death is not a pleasant one. The rich man cried out, “I am in agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24).
Therefore, after death, a person resides in a “temporary” heaven or hell. After this temporary realm, at the final resurrection, a person’s eternal destiny will not change. The precise “location” of that eternal destiny is what changes. Believers will ultimately be granted entrance into the new heavens and new earth (Revelations 21:1). Unbelievers will ultimately be sent to the lake of fire (Revelations 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all people—based entirely on whether or not they had trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation (John 3:36).
If that’s Muhammed Ali, he may have a hard time locating where the ring is, poor fellow —
2Cor 5:8 Absent this body and at home face to face with the Lord....
Thanx for putting into words something I .. and I think many others .. have experienced
Bttt
I think that we are all ‘HIS’; otherwise, we couldn’t exist. (”Hear O Israel...”)
Some of us may SEEM to be very separated from him, in our individual, wayward journeys; but we are all HIS.
-JT
My pleasure. Actually, I surprised myself by talking about it at all. I guess I was supposed to.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
The only thing that will ever work is that of Adam. Eve Enoch, Abraham, Sarah Jacob, David, Hezekiah, Daniel, Nehemiah, John Baptist, Blessed Mary, Joseph, Saul of Tarsus, Beloved John, Tertullian, Pierre de Vaux, John Hus, Martin Luther, John Knox, John Wesley and his brothers Charles and Sam, George Whitfield, Billy Sunday, my Dad and Mom, and myself, my children, and brethren of my local independent immersionist Bible-preaching assembly--and that is salvation by persistent faith alone through the Word of God alone, that taught all of us about the Messiah Yeshua/Iesous/Jesus and His work alone one time forever on the Cross of Calvary, and the shedding of His Blood placed on the true Mercy Seat of Heaven to pay for all our sins to obtain reconciliation with my Heavenly Father.
Faith alone it is, in His Faithfulnees, continuing right out into eternity, and that's all. For Biblical evangelicals such as those listed above, that is.
Without it is condemnation to eternal, everlasting corruption and death, since the day our forbears were banished from the Garden and the Tree of Life.
We are all His creation.
We are not all His children. He says so. If we were all, there’d be no need for separation of the wheat from the tares, no neee for hell, no need to believe in Him.
Whenever I get a new face . . . :^)
The word “alone” was added to the Bible by Luther.
And you know what they say about people who add or subtract from the original Bible.
Oops!
He also took some books out....another Oops.
What happens after death? You vote Democrat, that’s what.
Thank you for sharing that and bless you!
Now we see through a glass darkly...
Am always amused by folks trying to tell us what they are only guessing at
How do you explain the churches Paul and Peter oversaw in Corinth, Ephesus and other cities, and his descriptions of the offices of the pastorate, and his saying that a laborer is worth his hire?
You can’t explain it...it’s obvious the early church DID exist, and had pastors, deacons and elders.
Ed
Just as much conjecture as "concise" I'll give it the same conciseness as "...as a thief in the night."
Like those who believe in Purgatory, this is (to me) a valueless pursuit because once our bodies stop functioning, our souls are spoken for and His Will will be done....
Pray that God reveals the eternal TRUTH to you so you know what your death ultimately means for you. Oh death, where is your sting!
God will reveal it to you if you ask.
I’ll pray for you.
God says the truth is planted in ALL of our hearts. We all know the truth of who He is.
There have been previews of death called “near death experiences”.
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