Perhaps the most important question of all time, to a lot of people, is, What happens after we die? Is there life after death? This question has puzzled mankind since Adam, and there are many different theories suggested. Here are a few below, mostly from groups Americans are familiar with:
1
Atheists: Nothing happens after you die. You don’t have a soul or spirit, so your body decays, and that’s all there is.
Buddhists and some other Eastern religions: You are reincarnated into a different creature. You simply go on living in a different form.
3Jehovah’s Witnesses: You don’t have a soul or spirit, like the atheistic view. However, you live on in the perfect memory of God. In the resurrection, God will re-create you to be once again the exact person you were, character flaws and all. Saved people will live forever on a paradise Earth, a re-created Garden of Eden. A top crew of 144,000 Christians actually go to heaven. While most say they are not in the 144,000, they’re satisfied about a paradise Earth awaiting them.
Even among professed Christians, there still are different answers.
Seventh-day Adventists: You have a soul, and when you die, your soul sleeps, until the resurrection, when it’s awakened and then it joins your body and goes to heaven or hell
5Roman Catholics: If you’re classified as a saint, your soul goes directly to heaven. If you’re a “regular” Catholic, you can expect to go to purgatory. It is neither hell nor heaven, but it’s where somebody who will ultimately have salvation can be purged of their sins. In medieval Catholicism, it was viewed as almost like hell, full of torture and suffering. But supposedly, they believed, after they spent a time there (whose length depends on what kind of person you were), they could go on to heaven. Modern Catholicism has taken much of the sting out of purgatory—now it is viewed as not pleasant, but the cleansing from sin can be done without the torture and suffering—for most people. But someone who isn’t, by Catholic definition, a Christian, they go directly to hell after they die.
Most Protestants: whether liberal or evangelical, they believe that a saved Christian, once he dies, his soul goes straight to heaven. His body goes to the grave, and will rejoin his soul at the resurrection. Unsaved souls go to hell. Liberal protestants believe that most people will be saved, while evangelicals have leaned toward a fewer number, though less assertive about that lately.
As you can see, views differ even among those who claim to be Christian. And surprisingly, the view of a denomination changes over time--which it shouldn't, relying their view on an unchanging Bible. Now you may argue that the differences are expected, since no scientific evidence can be obtained to prove one or the other. You may even believe the current cultural icon statement: “Whatever you believe is true for you.” But the hard reality is, if you claim to be Christian, you’re covenanted to the Bible as God’s infallible Word on the subject. And God is rather clear in the Bible on this subject, as He would be, since Scripture claims in various places that He loves His children—so He would tell us “where we’re moving to.”
So, let’s study what the Word says on the “moving” issue. Let’s promise ourselves that what the Scripture says is more important than what our church says. That’s because, unfortunately, NONE of the six theories above is correct—not even the mainline Christian ones. That’s because the correct doctrine of the intermediate state has either been warped or lost. But it’s definitely in Scripture. Studying that is the ultimate focus of this blog.
In a nutshell, here is the overall spoiler summary, before I narrow the focus: When we die, our bodies go to dust, but our souls live on. Those souls don’t immediately go to heaven or hell. They all go to an intermediate state called hades. Now, you must throw out meanings that you may have in your head about this word "hades," and accept Scriptural indication as, simply, a waiting place, the temporary realm of the dead. Hades is not hell. Hell is a different Greek word. Hades is divided, in Scripture, into two parts. The lower region, where the unsaved souls go, is a dark and gloomy place, where they are suffering in some degree of heat, and keenly aware of the lake of fire nearby—which is where they eventually will be cast (that’s hell). Their temporary time in hades is a time of great sorrow and inner turmoil. It is not as bad as hell—but it is a very hot, painful and anxious place.
In hades also there is a region of the saved, the righteous, who are escorted there by angels. This is called “paradise” and “Abraham’s bosom”—it is a heavenly place, but it’s not the ultimate heaven. The righteous can fellowship with other saved souls (the same cannot be asserted for the unsaved). They feel in some way the presence of Christ—but they are not in heaven, where He is.
No one can cross from one region of hades to the other—the unsaved may recognize somebody in the saved group, but can’t “switch sides” no matter what. There is no opportunity for salvation beyond death. THIS life decides your fate for eternity, my friend. No purgatory to "work things out."
Hades, again, is temporary--until the resurrection of everyone for the Judgment. At Christ’s return, hades is emptied. All will be judged. In Judgment the body is miraculously put back together and joins the soul. Then God sends His obedient children to heaven, and the rest to hell—for eternity. Thus, after temporary hades, heaven and hell are for eternity.
So no one goes straight to the final destination when they die—they go to a “waiting place,” they go to one of the two sectors of hades. Scripture is clear—hades is not for the purpose of changing final destination. Your final destination is fixed during this life. We are now “probies,” as it were. Our life on earth’s main reason is a testing period for where we spend eternity.
Let’s get to Scripture to back up this summary. I will focus on the intermediate state, hades. The most detailed explanation of life just beyond the grave is found in Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus. See Luke 16:22-31, where Jesus says:
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
What do we see?
1) They can see one another and talk to one another— the rich man in the lower region of hades can see how nice the previously poor man has it now in the good section—and Abraham talks to him. Thus, it’s reasonable to conclude they’re both in the same place, but in seriously different environments.
2) The previously poor man is in “Abraham’s bosom.” He is “comforted.” The rich man is “afar off”—a “great gulf fixed”-- in another region. Yet they’re in the same place. The rich man in the suffering region then becomes the focus of Scripture. He is “in torments.” He “cries out” in agony. Thirst is a serious problem, since a flame is nearby.
3) He is well aware of his previous life, since he remembered his brothers and wanted to see them saved. This adds to his mental anxiety while there.
4) As vv 27-31 show, there is no way that someone in the lower region can warn those still alive. Thus, seances would be meaningless, today as well as then.
5) Jesus is tough on the man who is eventually to be cast to hell:
a. He is willing to let him suffer, acknowledging as He does, “you are tormented” --without relieving him.
b. When the man complains of his suffering, Jesus even taunts him, reminding him of the reversal of roles for the two of them—and telling him, too bad, he can’t change his fate.
c. Abraham, too, lacks empathy as well .
For those who want to cast these verses aside: This is not a parable (since it has named Lazarus, and parables don’t give names). This is God’s truth for the intermediate state, what happens right after we die. Other things He says in Scripture are consistent with this doctrine, as we’ll see below.
Other supporting Scriptures for the intermediate state:
1. Luke 23:43 records Jesus’ words on the Cross to the dying and just-saved thief alongside:
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
So, if the saved poor man’s first stopover after death, from Luke 16, is “Abraham’s bosom,” as we saw above, and if the first stopover for the just-saved thief is in “paradise,” we have to conclude that paradise is another name for Abraham’s bosom. Paradise is not another word for heaven. We also surmise that Abraham’s bosom, or paradise, is in hades. Neither person goes directly to heaven. They both go to hades, the intermediate state. Jesus was in hades too. Remember, that’s not hell.
2. Matthew 12:40 and parts of Acts 2:22-27:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs…you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him: Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.27 For You will not leave my soul in hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
As we also proved above, Jesus did not die and go straight to heaven; nor did He go to hell, called “gehenna” in Greek, the lake of fire, a different Greek word. As it clearly says here, His death would be followed by a short time “in the heart of the earth;” that doesn't sound like heaven, right? Hades is located deep in earth. His soul did not remain in hades long—three days and nights.
Perhaps your Bible uses "hell" when it should be called "hades." It also uses "hell" in some versions for Greek "gehenna" and "tartarus." Those, however, are three separate places, so the English words should be different, rather than combining them all as "hell." Blame William Tyndale. He took three Greek words, meaning different things, and translated them all "hell" in English. A proper modern translation would catch this.
These truths about the intermediate state were so universally believed by the earliest Christians (they knew their Greek) that it became part of the original Apostles’ Creed: I believe in God the Father Almighty…and in Jesus Christ…was crucified, dead and buried. He descended to hades (the Greek word); on the third day rose from the dead…Jesus did not go to hell, but gave hope to the waiting godly souls in hades.
3. John 14:1-3:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Note the underlined phrase. This proves that when the righteous die, they do not go immediately to heaven to be with Jesus. No, He has to “come again” and pick us up, and then we go to heaven. If we were already in heaven, He would not have to “come again” to get us. No, we are in the heart of the earth, in hades, waiting for “pick up.” The pick up will be better than ziplining, better than being an Amazon drone, I’ll bet.
4. John 5:28-29:
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Thus, both groups will “come forth” to the Judgment at the same time (your denomination may not believe this "judgement at the same time" idea--even though it seems explicit here). So hades will be emptied all at once. If we’re already in heaven, as often taught, the resurrection would be no big deal--since we're "already there." But it IS a big deal. It gets us from hades to heaven, not from heaven to heaven with a body.
Hopefully these many Scriptures will be convincing. But, you ask, if all the six groups and theories I named at the beginning are wrong, are there any groups who still believe this Scriptural way that I'm laying forth? Well, many Mennonites, some Brethren, some Amish, some in the Restoration movement, some conservative Anglicans still teach it right.
The fact is, teaching on the intermediate state has gotten dropped because it tried to get as far away from the Catholics’ false teaching on purgatory. Purgatory teaches that (a) the Intermediate State can cleanse your sins and (b) it can change final status. Double False. Scripture shows that hades (the real Intermediate State) does not change final status, as we saw in Luke. The sincere pleadings of the rich man were greeted coldly. The rich man encountered Jesus not as merciful, but as Judge. Remember, few are saved (Matthew 7:14). We are shocked and sometimes uncomfortable about seeing this "negative side" of God. But He doesn't think as we do. We cannot imagine, for instance, how deep is God’s hatred about sin. If you’re unsaved when you go into hades, you’re unsaved when you go out. Period. There is no Scriptural basis for “cleansing from sin” in that state either. The idea that you can purge your own sin is completely false and anti-Biblical, as Scriptural points out, and I point out in many blogs. Jesus has done that cleansing from sin for us. The “works vs faith” argument was what kick-started the Reformation—a just movement in its beginning, but it went to wrong theology on some points to get away from looking Catholic.
The fact is, teaching on the intermediate state has gotten dropped because it tried to get as far away from the Catholics’ false teaching on purgatory. Purgatory teaches that (a) the Intermediate State can cleanse your sins and (b) it can change final status. Double False. Scripture shows that hades (the real Intermediate State) does not change final status, as we saw in Luke. The sincere pleadings of the rich man were greeted coldly. The rich man encountered Jesus not as merciful, but as Judge. Remember, few are saved (Matthew 7:14). We are shocked and sometimes uncomfortable about seeing this "negative side" of God. But He doesn't think as we do. We cannot imagine, for instance, how deep is God’s hatred about sin. If you’re unsaved when you go into hades, you’re unsaved when you go out. Period. There is no Scriptural basis for “cleansing from sin” in that state either. The idea that you can purge your own sin is completely false and anti-Biblical, as Scriptural points out, and I point out in many blogs. Jesus has done that cleansing from sin for us. The “works vs faith” argument was what kick-started the Reformation—a just movement in its beginning, but it went to wrong theology on some points to get away from looking Catholic.
Next, Catholicism teaches that there is a special status for those classified as “saints”—they get to go straight to heaven. Everybody else has to go to purgatory to “work off” their sins. False. Scripture is clear that everyone saved is a saint. There are no “status” Christians. Philippians 1:1 says:
Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.
If saints are only the “status” Christians, why is Paul calling every Christian a “saint,” and, oh yes, let’s not forget the bishops and deacons. How do you explain that?
John Calvin, who formulated many Protestant doctrines (not my favorite person, as I have a blog on him), dropped the intermediate state doctrine. So both Catholics and most Protestants have it wrong. You’ve got to read Scripture for yourselves, folks.
If you want to know more about what Scripture really says on How Do You Get Saved, so you can graduate from earth to heaven during this “probie” status, you need to know that Catholics and many Protestants have that wrong too. I have a blog just on salvation, and another on initial and final salvation. Smarter, though, would be to read the Gospels over and over, noting what Jesus says on that very subject. He is quite clear.
Acknowledgement: David Bercot, CD, “Life After Death.” Scroll Publishing
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