God will annihilate the lost. They will not suffer eternal torment.

This is an article in the series on Death, Eternal Life, and Eternal Torment.

While the church traditionally teaches that the lost (the people who are not saved) will suffer eternal torment, Annihilationism is the teaching that the lost will ultimately be put out of existence and not suffer everlasting torture. While other articles in this series discuss the objections to annihilationism, the current article presents the case for annihilationism.


Abstract

This article shows that:

(a) Man after he was created, was not immortal.
(b) When man sinned, he was condemned to death.
(c) The NT teaches pervasively that sinners will be annihilated (destroyed).
(d) Immortality is a gift of God that He will give only to those who believe in Jesus.
(e) The Bible promises that a time will come when evil does not exist anywhere in the universe.


Adam died through disobedience.

God formed man from the dust and breathed into him the breath of life, and man “became a living soul” (Gen 2:7, AV), or “a living being” (NASB or Anchor Bible).

God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or he would die (Gen 2:17). Man, therefore, after he was created, was not immortal.

But the serpent told Eve that God lied and that they would not die. Rather, he said, they would gain knowledge, and lose nothing (Gen 3:4-5). As the story unfolds, we see that Satan was the one who lied. God would not allow sinful man to remain alive indefinitely. God said:

The man … must not be allowed to reach out his hand
and take also from the tree of life and eat,
and live forever
” (Gen 3:22).

Therefore, God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden and placed “the cherubim and the flaming sword” to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24).

When fallen man was not permitted to “live forever” (Gen 3:22), death entered the world. Unless something changes, death would be his end. But something did change:

God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish,
but have eternal life
” (John 3:16).

This article elaborates on two profound principles in this statement:

      • Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ will “perish.”
      • Whoever believes in Him shall have “eternal life.”

Non-believers will perish.

The Greek word translated “perish” in John 3:16 is apollumi. Strong’s concordance explains this word as “to destroy, destroy utterly.” The New Testament frequently describes the fate of non-believers as total annihilation, expressed as dying or destruction. We will show this firstly using examples from Jesus, then from Paul, and then from other apostles:

Matthew 7:13-14

The gate is wide and the way is broad
that leads to destruction
the gate is small and the way is narrow
that leads to life

(Matt 7:13-14).

This presents the two possible outcomes of every person’s life in uncomplicated terms: life and destruction.

Matthew 10:28

Do not fear those who kill the body
but are unable to
kill the soul;
but rather fear Him
who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell

(Matt 10:28).

In this verse, the word “kill” is parallel to “destroy.” In other words, God will do to the soul of the wicked what humans do to the body when they kill it. After a soul has been destroyed, it does not go on to exist in a conscious state. God is able to destroy human beings entirely. Is that not also fairly obvious? How could it be impossible for God to destroy something which He created Himself?

We could try to avoid the annihilationist outcome of this verse by saying that this text merely asserts God’s ability to destroy people, not His intention to do so, but why would Jesus give such a warning if God will not actually “destroy both soul and body in hell?

Matthew 13:39-42

So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire,
so shall it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send forth His angels,
and they will gather out of His kingdom all …
those who commit lawlessness,
and will throw them into the furnace of fire
“ (Matt 13:40-42).

Just as weeds are destroyed in a furnace, evildoers will be rooted out and destroyed in “the furnace of fire” at the end of the age. Fire is often used to symbolize the annihilation of the lost (e.g., Matt 7:19; 3:10). The Baptist added:

He will gather His wheat into the barn,
but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire
”.

(Matt 3:12).

As shown in the article on the arguments against annihilationism, an “unquenchable fire” implies annihilation, for it is a fire that cannot be put out before it consumes whatever is thrown into it.

Paul taught that sinners will perish.

Paul consistently warns sinners that they will die:

Those who practice such things
are worthy of
death” (Rom 1:29-32).

The things of which you are now ashamed …
the outcome of those things is
death” (Rom 6:21; cf. 6:16).

The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

If you are living according to the flesh,
you must
die“ (Rom 8:13).

Paul also taught that the lost will be destroyed:

The wicked would “reap corruption” (Gal 6:8);

The end of the “enemies of the cross,
is destruction” (Phil 3:18–19; cf. 1:28; 1 Cor 3:17).

On “the day of the Lord …
destruction will come upon them suddenly” (1 Thess 5:2-3).

Those who do not know God …
will pay the penalty of
eternal destruction

(2 Thess 1:8-9)

Examples from other apostles

It is no different in any other New Testament book. Peter wrote:

The day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7);

False teachers who bring upon themselves “swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). “Their destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:3).

The “destruction” of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the Lord turned the inhabitants of these cities “to ashes,serves as “an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter” (2 Peter 2:6).

And James wrote:

God “is able to save and to destroy” (James 4:12).

When sin is accomplished,
it brings forth
death” (James 1:15).

He who turns a sinner from the error of his way
will save his soul from
death” (James 5:19).

Even the Old Testament, although it does not speak so plainly about eternity, says that judgment day shall come “burning like a furnace” and “every evildoer will be chaff.” The judgment thus “will set them ablaze” (Mal 4:1).

Death is the opposite of Eternal Life.

In many of the examples above, the fate of the lost is described as “death.” But that is not the first and temporary death that faces all people. Rather, it is that awful and irreversible death that only sinners will suffer, which Revelation refers to as “the second death” (Rev 20:14; cf. 20:6; 21:8). We can see this in the many texts that contrast “death” with “eternal life:

He who … believes Him who sent Me,
has eternal life, and …
has passed out of death into life
” (John 5:24).

You are slaves … either of sin resulting in death, … (or)
enslaved to God … the outcome, eternal life.
” (Rom 6:16, 21-22; cf. 5:21))

The wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life” (Rom 6:23; cf. 8:13).

Our Saviour Christ Jesus abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light
” (2 Tim 1:10).

The last verse does not refer to eternal life, but the combination of “life” and “immortality” has the same meaning.

The one who sows to his own flesh
will from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the Spirit
will from the Spirit reap eternal life
” (Gal 6:8).

Corruption” in this verse has been translated from the Greek word phthoraStrong’s concordance defines this word as “destruction, corruption.”  1 Corinthians 15:42 uses this word to describe our existing bodies as “perishable.

The contrast in these passages between “death” and “eternal life” is quite incompatible with the contrast between eternal life in happiness and eternal life in torment that the traditional teaching presents.

Traditionalist Response

The traditionalist response is to claim that “destroy,” and similar words in Scripture should not be taken literally. However:

When the verb apollumi (destroy) is used elsewhere in the synoptic Gospels to refer to the actions of one person against another (e.g. Matt 2:13, Mark 9:22), it always refers to someone literally killing another.

In 2 Peter 3:6-7, Peter writes that the world of wicked people living at the time of the flood was “destroyed,” and the world is now reserved for fire until the day of the “destruction” of ungodly men. Peter used the same Greek word to describe what the flood did to those living long ago and to describe what God will do in the future to the lost. In one instance, he used the verb form of the word, and in the other, the noun form. Fair exegesis suggests literal total destruction, i.e., cessation of existence.

Conclusion

While the traditional view is that “the evil ones … shall be made immortal – but only to be tormented in the everlasting fire” (Belgic Confession; article 37), when all the biblical evidence is assessed, it becomes clear that the fate of the wicked is annihilation.

The Bible is packed with affirmations that the lost will be annihilated (destroyed). The risk is that we have become so accustomed to these statements that we simply don’t notice them anymore. We should allow these texts to say what they say, and not subconsciously filter them out.

Whoever believes in Him
shall have Eternal Life.

This is the other profound principle from John 3:16. Scripture sees immortality as something that belongs to God alone (I Tim 6:16; cf. Rev 4:9). Our only hope of immortality is in Christ. For example:

You (the Father) gave Him (the Son) authority over all flesh,
that to all whom You have given Him,
He may give eternal life” (John 17:2).

We believe in Him FOR eternal life“ (1 Tim 1:16).

Christ Jesus … has destroyed death and has
brought life and immortality to light
” (2 Tim 1:9-10)

For similar statements, see also John 10:28; Rom 2:5-8; 6:23; 1 Cor 15:42, 50, 53, 54; Gal 6:8; 1 John 5:11; Titus 1:2; 3:7 and 1 Tim 6:12. The Bible teaches that immortality is NOT something which people already have, but a gift of God that He will give only to “those who persevere in doing good” (Rom 2:7) on “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5). (For a discussion, see Man is judged by his deeds.)

The tragic consequence is that if you reject the Gospel, following the pattern of Adam and Eve when God denied them access to “the tree of life” (Gen 3:22-24), you will not receive immortality, but the death which God warned Adam about. 

Traditionalist Response

Traditionalists agree that people do not have inherent (essential) immortality independent of God. Humans do not have souls that are immune from divine destruction. The idea that God made something that He cannot destroy is illogical. In fact, even the immortality that the saved will one day receive is not immortality in this strong sense. It will be immortality through the sustaining power of God.

However, based on texts that seem to teach eternal torment, traditionalists respond that God will make the lost immortal, as per the Belgic Confession quoted above. Traditionalists argue that God will keep sinners in existence endlessly in order to punish them.

But this goes right against what the Bible teaches, for the Bible makes it clear that sinners will die and that immortality is a gift that only the saved will receive. Therefore, the traditional interpretations of verses that seem to teach eternal torment must be incorrect. The evidence for eternal torment is discussed in three articles:

In my view, the evidence for eternal torment is weak. Actually, I concluded that if one understands the symbolism of Revelation and that Jesus quoted Isaiah 66:24, then the evidence for eternal torment becomes evidence for annihilation. On the other hand, I believe that the evidence for destruction, as presented in the current article, is strong.

Keep in mind that the evidence for annihilation is thematic arguments rather than proof texts. The arguments that sinners will be destroyed and that eternal life is only available through Jesus Christ are themes that are developed throughout the Bible; not solely derived from one verse per argument or anything like that. The evidence for eternal torment, in contrast, dare I say(?), is based on isolated texts.

The Biblical vision of Eternity

Above, two broad biblical themes that support annihilationism have been discussed, namely:

    • The lost will be destroyed.
    • Immortality is only available through Christ.

The current section presents a third theme in support of annihilationism, namely that a time will come when evil will not exist anywhere in the universe.

The example of the flood

As an illustration, recall the biblical account of the flood of Noah’s day. God said:

I will wipe mankind, whom I have created,
from the face of the earth …
for I am grieved that I have made them
” (Gen 6:7-8).

This shows how God deals with the problem of sin, namely, by destroying all people except the chosen few, who become the inhabitants of a new world. This illustration is relevant because Peter used the flood as a picture that foreshadows God’s final punishment of the lost (2 Peter 3:3-13).

God will be All in All.

The teaching that people and fallen angels will be tormented throughout eternity contradicts the Bible’s teaching that eternity will be a place of perfect unity and peace everywhere:

The fullness of the times, that is,
the summing up of all things in Christ,
things in the heavens and things on the earth
” (Eph 1:10)

In other words, God will bring everything in creation—not only the saved—together under Christ. A time will come when there will be no people who are not part of His kingdom. 1 Corinthians 15 also discusses the End:

Then comes the end,
when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father …
then the Son Himself also will be subjected
to the One who subjected all things to Him,
so that God may be all in all
” (1 Cor 15:24, 28).

When God is all in all, His enemies are no more.

“At the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW,
of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father
” (Phil 2:10-11; cf. Rom 14:11)

Revelation 21 contains the following profound statement:

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
for the first heaven and the first earth passed away …
3 … I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, …
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
and there will no longer be any death;
there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain;
the first things have passed away.”
5 And He who sits on the throne said,
“Behold, I am making all things new.”

Traditionalists propose an Eternal Dualism.

Perversely, instead of a glorious universal kingdom unblemished by any stain, defenders of the doctrine of eternal torment teach that creation will forever be divided into an ugly dualism of happiness and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 8:12) as multitudes suffer endlessly. 

It’s not clear how heaven could ever truly be happy if it co-exists alongside an eternal hell. How could we enjoy our new existence when we know that fellow human beings — and perhaps our loved ones — are being tormented with no hope that the pain will ever stop? 

God is Love.

The central revelation of God in the New Testament is that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). How could a loving God keep the damned in existence for the sole purpose of torturing them? And this pain is without hope of ever being terminated or relieved. Does this seem like the sort of thing the Father of Jesus would do? Is this view really compatible with a God whose heart was expressed in Jesus’ dying prayer, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)? The teaching of eternal torment presents God as the cruelest being that we are able to conceive; retaliated on his foes with this sort of unmitigated, insatiable vengeance.

Some say this should not be used as an argument in this debate, but our salvation depends on our faith or trust. How could we trust God if this is what He is like? God so loved the world … If God torments His enemies with an insatiable vengeance, why did Christ teach that we must love our enemies (Luke 6:35)? Do we exist in an incomprehensible dualistic creation in which what is good for God is bad for man?

Conclusions

When non-Jews became allowed to become Christians without first becoming Jewish proselytes (See Early Church History), it was generally accepted in the Hellenistic (Greek) philosophical tradition that people have immortal souls. This is one of the Hellenistic ideas that came into the church with the influx of Gentiles. It became a traditional teaching of the church; not because it is taught by the Scriptures, but because it was the established view of the Gentiles who became Christians. And since people are assumed to have immortal souls, the church had to develop an understanding of what will happen to the lost in eternity. In this regard, the texts that seem to talk about eternal torment provided a solution. Thus, the dominant view of hell, throughout Church history, is that the lost will suffer unending torment.

But behind this, we must see Satan’s hand. Continuing his first lie to the human race; “You surely will not die!” (Gen 3:4), Satan managed to convince the church that God will keep people alive for all eternity with the sole purpose of tormenting them. This is what the church has come to accept as gospel truth. Since man becomes like the god he worships, this teaching has helped Satan to convert the bride of Christ into the antichrist; killing millions of God’s true people over the centuries, namely those people who resist the church’s blasphemous teachings.

Transversal Conclusions

Conclusions relevant for other discussions include the following:

      • The New Testament describes the fate of non-believers as total annihilation.
      • The death that the New Testament warns about is the second and irreversible death.
      • In the traditional view, “the evil ones … shall be made immortal – but only to be tormented in the everlasting fire” (Belgic Confession; article 37).
      • Immortality is a gift of God that He will give only to those who believe in Jesus.
      • In eternity, evil will not exist anywhere in the universe.

Other Articles

In 1 Corinthians 15, are the dead in heaven as conscious immortal souls?

This is an article in the series on Death, Eternal Life, and Eternal Torment.

PURPOSE

Most Christians believe that, when Christ returns, His people will be resurrected with wonderful new bodies. However, most Christians also believe that all people have immortal souls, and that, between death and resurrection, their souls will exist in heaven without bodies but fully conscious.  But the lost will be tormented in hell after death and for all eternity.

I agree that the Bible teaches an immaterial part of each human being survives death. Stephan, for example, just before he died, said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

The immaterial part of man also returns to the body when the person is revived from death.  Elijah, for example, prayed that the child’s soul may return to him.

Sometimes the Bible refers to that immaterial part as the person’s “soul” and sometimes as “spirit.” In the Bible, similar to modern English, the words “soul” and “spirit” both have a wide range of meanings. Consequently, both ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ are sometimes used to refer to the immaterial part of the human being. 

ETERNAL TORMENT

But I do not agree that the lost are or will be eternally tormented, for I do not believe that the immaterial part of humans is immortal.  For example, Jesus said that God is able to destroy both body and soul in hell (Matt 10:28). And Paul consistently warns that sinners will die. For example: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). This refers to eternal death. In the end, God will be “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28). This does not allow for an eternal hell where creatures curse God. For a further discussion, see Eternal Life and Eternal Torment

STATE OF THE DEAD

I also do not agree that the Bible teaches that, after the death of the body, the immaterial part of the person continues to exist consciously in heaven.  

Paul writing1 Corinthians 15 is Paul’s famous resurrection chapter. In it, he addresses challenges concerning his teachings about death. That chapter deals with both the final outcome for the individual human being as well as with the final outcome for the world. Most of it discusses the resurrection of Christians when Christ returns. It addresses both the CERTAINTY of the resurrection as well as the TYPE OF BODY with which God’s people will be resurrected. 

The purpose of the current article is to analyze this chapter to determine whether Paul thought that people have immortal souls that, after death, exist consciously in heaven.

This article, like all others on this website, uses the NASB translation as default.

1 CORINTHIANS 15
– OVERVIEW –

Some Christians (probably ex-Sadducees) challenged Paul and said that there is no resurrection from the dead (1 Cor 15:12). Paul responds by saying that, if there is no resurrection, then Jesus was also not resurrected, and then our sins are not forgiven. Then we only benefit in this life from serving God, for those who have died, have perished (1 Cor 15:17-19). 

If Paul believed that people have immortal souls, he would have stated that in this chapter, but there is no trace of such a thought.  On the contrary, 1 Corinthians 15 claims that:

The dead sleep (e.g. 1 Cor 15:51), which implies that they are unconscious. 

Resurrection means that the dead will wake up, which confirms that they are sleeping and, therefore, unconscious. 

Resurrection also means that the dead are to be made alive (1 Cor 15:20-22), which means they are currently not alive. 

God’s people will become immortal only when Christ returns. In other words, people do not already have immortal souls that are able to exist consciously in heaven after death.

Death is the last enemy which God will abolish (1 Cor 15:26; cf. 54-55). That means that death is not a friend that takes Christians to God in heaven. 


SUMMARY

SLEEP

1 Corinthians 15 describes death four times as “sleep” (e.g., 1 Cor 15:51). Jesus revived two people from death and, in both instances, explained death as “sleep.”  “Sleep” is a metaphor that implies that the person is unconscious.

WAKE UP

1 Corinthians 15 describes resurrection 18 times as egeiró.  The NASB translates egeiró as “raised” (e.g., 1 Cor 15:29) but since the first meaning of egeiró is “to waken” and since this chapter describes the state of the dead as “sleep,” egeiró may be translated as “wake up.” Since Paul says that the entire person wakes up, the entire person sleeps: It is not only the body that sleeps.

PERISHED

Paul wrote: “If the dead are not raised” then the dead in Christ “have perished” (1 Cor 15:16-18). In other words, then they will not be resurrected and there is nothing for us beyond death. As he continues to say, “if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor 15:32). This means that Paul was not aware of an immortal soul, and he did not think that the dead in Christ are in heaven in conscious existence.

MADE ALIVE

In 1 Cor 15:20-22, Paul explains that to resurrect God’s people is that they are “made alive.”  This implies that the person was not alive or existed consciously and immortally in heaven before resurrection.

THE DEBATE

This chapter is a debate about whether the dead are resurrected and with what kind of body they are resurrected. What is important to note is that neither Paul nor his questioners say anything about the conscious existence of immortal souls in heaven. This implies that Paul did not teach this.

IMMORTALITY

According to 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, Christians will only become immortal “at the last trumpet,” namely, when Christ returns. Then “the dead will be raised imperishable, and we (the living) will be changed” because “this mortal must put on immortality.” In other words, we are not already immortal.

THE LAST ENEMY

Greek philosophers explained death as a friend—the liberation of the immortal and divine soul from the prison-house of the corrupt body.  Today, we often read the Bible with that same mindset.  But Paul writes, “THE LAST ENEMY that will be abolished is death” (1 Cor 15:25-26). Death, in other words, is our enemy; not our friend.

THE SOUL

If the soul is not the conscious part of the individual, what is it?  God created all things and continually preserves all things. Similarly, when we die, the soul or spirit goes to God in the sense that He knows perfectly who or what each of us is and He is able to resurrect us exactly as we were, but immeasurably better.

TO DIE IS GAIN.

From the perspective of the experience of the living, time elapses between death and resurrection. But from the perspective of the dead, who are not aware of time, resurrection follows immediately after death. Therefore Paul could write, “to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

– END OF SUMMARY –


SLEEP

1 Cor 15 describes death four times as “sleep.” For example:

We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed
” (1 Cor 15:51; cf. 6, 18, 20). 

In this, Paul simply follows Jesus’ teaching.  The Old Testament several times refers to death as sleep, but when Jesus walked this earth, the Jews, generally, did not think of death as sleep.  However, Jesus revived two dead people, and in both instances, He purposefully explained death as “sleep:”  

After Lazarus died, Jesus said to His disciples: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep” (John 11:11).  The disciples responded that if Lazarus sleeps, he will get better.  “Jesus then said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead’” (John 11:14).

In the account of Jesus raising the little girl, He said to the mourners, “the girl has not died, but is asleep” (Matt 9:24).  The people did not understand, and they laughed. 

In other words, Jesus purposefully explained death as “sleep.”  “Sleep” is only a metaphor, but it implies that:

Firstly, the person STILL EXISTS;

Secondly, death is a TEMPORARY condition from which the person will awake; and

Thirdly, the person is fully UNCONSCIOUS. 

After the last thought of the dying person, the next conscious thought will be in the new and powerful resurrected body, at the return of Christ.  The person, therefore, experiences the transition to the resurrection body as instantaneous.  It is therefore completely valid for Paul to say he will be with the Lord immediately after his death (Phil 1; 2 Cor 5).

WAKING UP

1 Corinthians 15 describes resurrection 18 times as egeiró.  The NASB translates the Greek word egeiró as “raised.” For example:

The dead will be raised imperishable” (1 Cor 15:52; cf. 15, 16, 29, 32, 35, etc.). 

But Strong’s Concordance defines egeiró as “to waken, to raise up.” And the first meaning of this word, in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, is ”to arouse from sleep, to awake.”  Since 1 Corinthians 15 uses “fallen asleep” for death (1 Cor 15:6, 18) and “sleep” to describe the state of the dead (1 Cor 15:51), and since the primary meaning of egeiró is the opposite of “fallen asleep,” egeiró may be translated as “wake up.”

Although 1 Cor 15 uses egeiró many times, it never says that bodies wake up.  Paul always says that “the dead will be raised” (1 Cor 15:52).  “The dead” refers to the entire being of the person; not a part of the person.  Since the entire person wakes up, it is the entire person that sleeps after death. 

PERISHED

Paul wrote:

16 … if the dead are not raised,
not even Christ has been raised;
17 and if Christ has not been raised,
your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only,
we are of all men most to be pitied. (1 Cor 15:16-19)

The Greek word translated as “perished” is apollumi.  Strong’s Concordance defines it as “to destroy, destroy utterly.” 

Paul’s point is that “if Christ has not been raised,” then our sins are not forgiven and then, also and then the dead in Christ “have perished.” In other words, then they will not be resurrected. They have been destroyed utterly. Then there is nothing for us beyond death.  

Obviously, Paul was not referring to the body only, for we all know the body perishes at death. He was saying that THE ENTIRE BEING—body, soul, and spirit—HAS PERISHED.

He repeats the thought in verse 19 by saying that, then, “we have hoped in Christ in this life only.” He again repeats the concept when he writes:

If the dead are not raised,
let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die
” (1 Cor 15:32).  

In other words, if the dead are not raised, then there is no existence after death. Then, death is the end. This means that:

(1) The entire human being is perishable. Paul was not aware of an immortal soul.  

(2) Paul did not think that the dead in Christ are in heaven in conscious existence; and

(3) In contrast to most Christians today who put their hope in the immortality of the soul; in the hope that they will go to heaven at death, Paul put his hope in the resurrection.

MADE ALIVE

In 1 Cor 15:22, Paul uses the phrase “made alive,” as a synonym for “resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor 15:21) and for “raised from the dead” (1 Cor 15:20):

As in Adam all die,
so also in Christ all will be made alive.
” (v22).

It is not the old, natural body that is made alive, for that body has returned into dust; never to return.  It is, rather, the entire person that is “made alive.” 

Made alive” implies that the person was not alive or existed consciously and immortally in heaven before resurrection.

THE DEBATE

In this chapter, Paul addresses two challenges to his teachings concerning the dead. Today, in general, Christians put their hope in the immortality of the soul. We must, therefore, note what Paul says here about this.

The first challenge is that some said: “There is no resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor 15:12). These were probably Sadducees that became Christians. These people did not believe in an afterlife. They challenged Paul because he did. But they did not ask about the conscious existence of souls in heaven. This implies that Paul did not teach this.

In response, Paul says that the dead sleep and are made alive when they are resurrected. Contrary to what we might want him to say, he does not mention a conscious existence in heaven between death and resurrection

The second challenge is related and was probably asked by the same people: “How are the dead raised? And with WHAT KIND OF BODY do they come?”  Paul responds that our current bodies are perishable and mortal, while the resurrection body will be imperishable and immortal (1 Cor 15:42, 54). Given the belief today in an immortal soul, we must regard it as profoundly strange that Paul does not mention the immortal soul as a third kind of body. Would that not be a massive omission, given that the purpose of this chapter is to give comfort concerning what happens after death?

IMMORTALITY

“51 … We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor 15:51-53).

Here, Paul describes death as “sleep,” implying an unconscious condition.

That “we will not all sleep” implies that he expected Christ to return within his generation (cf. Matt 23:36; 24:34).  For a discussion of this, see The Lord is coming soon.

Last TrumpetThe main point of these verses, for the current discussion, is that Christians will only become “imperishable” or immortal “at the last trumpet,” namely, when Christ returns (cf. 1 Tim 4:16; Matt 24:30-31). Then “the dead will be raised imperishable, and we (the living) will be changed” because “this mortal must put on immortality.” In other words, we are not already immortal.

It is NOT only the body that is raised immortal and imperishable.  “WE will all be changed” (1 Cor 15:51).  It is, therefore, the ENTIRE HUMAN BEING that will become immortal when Christ returns.

THE LAST ENEMY

He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
THE LAST ENEMY that will be abolished is death
” (1 Cor 15:25-26).

The Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato explained death as a friend—the liberation of the immortal and divine soul from the prison-house of the corrupt body.  Soon after the disciples died, the church, which became increasingly dominated by Greek Christians and by Greek philosophy, adopted this non-Biblical explanation.  Today, we often read the Bible with that same mindset.  However, since “He must reign until He has” abolished death, in the Bible, death is our enemy; not our friend.

Death is also God’s enemy.  Death never was God’s will.  Death is the consequence of rebellion against Him.  When He has “abolished all rule and all authority and power” (1 Cor 15:24) that set themselves against Him and His laws, “death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:14). Then, “there will no longer be any death” (Rev 21:4).

THE SOUL

If the soul is not the conscious part of the individual, what is the immaterial part of human beings that survives death?

God exists without cause but is Himself the Cause of all things.  No being exists unless it is God’s will for that being to exist.  God also continually preserves all things through the power of His Word (Heb 1:3; cf. Col 1:17). In an unexplainable way, He preserves every person every second of every day.  Every thought, desire, or deed depends on God’s continually supplied power, even when we use our God-given abilities for evil purposes:

In Him we live and move and exist
(Acts 17:28; cf. Rom 4:17; Rev 4:11).

The same applies to the person after death. The immaterial part of the person, which we may call the person’s soul or spirit, is the essence of the person, including the character and thoughts. When we die, the soul or spirit goes to God in the sense that He knows perfectly who or what each of us is and He is able to recreate or resurrect us exactly as we were, but immeasurably better.

Christians who trust in the immortality of the soul for life after death do not depend on God for their eternal existence.  In contrast, to trust God and His promise of the resurrection is to depend on God and to trust God for what we cannot do ourselves.

TO DIE IS GAIN.

From the perspective of the experience of the living, time elapses between death and resurrection. But from the perspective of the dead, who are not aware of time, resurrection follows immediately after death. The moment they close their eyes, they are also resurrected. Therefore Paul could write, “to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).


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