Death and resurrection

CHAPTER 31: Of The State Of Man After Death, And Of The Resurrection Of The Dead

Physical death is the separation of the body and the soul, leaving the body lifeless.  This testifies to the importance of the soul.  Without the soul, the body is dead!  Without the soul, the body decomposes and returns to dust.

The soul, being immortal, lives on.  The souls of those whom Christ has saved go to the presence of the Lord, where they will behold the face of God in light and glory (1 Corinthians 13:12, 1 John 3:2, Revelation 22:4).  The souls of those who die unsaved are cast into Hell, where they remain in torment and darkness until the resurrection.  There is no third option.  There is no “soul sleep.”  There is no “purgatory.”  These are man-made, extra-biblical concepts that are not in the Bible and are therefore not true.

There will be a great resurrection when Christ comes again to pronounce final judgment (Revelation 20).  At that resurrection, God will raise the corrupted bodies from whatever state they are in, of both the saved and the unsaved.  God will transform the corrupted bodies into incorruptible “glorified” bodies (1 Corinthians 15).  These enhanced bodies will last forever.  In these glorified bodies, the unsaved will enter physically into an even greater state of eternal torment in the “lake of fire.”  Conversely, the saved with glorified bodies will enter physically into an even greater state of bliss with God in the New Jerusalem.  Again, there are no other eternal destinations than these.

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