What happens to the righteous when they die? (4)

Read Luke 23:39-47

In additional to the rebuttals to the arguments advanced by those who teach soul-sleep we believe the Bible actually makes a clear statement that the righteous are very much conscious after death.

·        Scripture refers directly to consciousness after death.

o   In Luke 16:19-31, the story of Lazarus and the rich man shows conscious existence in both sides of Hades.  Some may argue this is a parable and thus not meant to teach on our subject.  This story may not be a parable as Jesus does not say it is.  But even if it is, the pattern of parables is that it uses true type situations to make spiritual truth come alive.  Either way it is a true description of the situation.

o   Jesus told the thief on the cross, this day you will be with Me in paradise (Lk. 23:43).  Jesus anticipated they would soon be conscious and together.

o   Paul believed that to depart is to be with Christ (Phil. 1:23).  In 2 Cor. 5:6-9 he taught that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Thus both the body and soul can be separate for a time, and that upon death the soul of the righteous begins to enjoy the presence of our Hope!

o   In Rev. 6:9 the souls of the martyrs are conscious, calling upon God to avenge their blood as they await the arrival of others.  In Rev. 7:9, prior to the resurrection, the righteous engage in conscious worship of God.

o   Later in Revelation (20:4) we read that those conscious souls under the altar are resurrected and rewarded and reigning with Christ.  Again, resurrection is not about souls but bodies.\

·        The resurrection refers to bodies and not to the soul or immaterial person.

o   For example, in the great Old Testament resurrection passage (Psalm 16:10 quoted by Peter and Paul in Acts 2:31-32; 13:35) the language is precise.  His soul will not be left in Sheol, the abode of the dead; He will also not see corruption, a reference to the body which decays.

o   In Matt. 27:52 the bodies of many holy people were raised to life. 

o   The concern with the resurrection chapter (1 Cor. 15) is the nature of the body, not the soul (esp. v35-49).  The short story is that in the resurrection our lowly bodies will be make like His glorious body (Phil. 1:21). 

To quote Vine once again, The early Christians adopted the word koimeterion (which was used by the Greek of a rest-house for strangers) for the place of interment of the bodies of their departed; thence the English word 'cemetary', 'the sleeping place,' is derived.  

The point is that we are not awaiting the awakening of the soul; what we hope for is fashioning of a body fit for eternity, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Cor. 5:1).  We cannot begin to imagine that amazing existence but God will equip the righteous for all He has in store for them in eternity.