2 Corinthians 5:8

In the Scripture Study below, Pastor Mark Driscoll discusses what happens to our soul and body when we die. Here, I'd like to offer a brief summary of what I have learned about the subject so far from my own Bible studies.

Before Jesus conquered death on the Cross, the souls of those who died a God-fearing people departed from their bodies and went to a place called "Abraham's Bosom" (Luke 16:19-28). It was a place of comfort in Sheol (or Hades in Greek). They could not be with God in Heaven because their sins have not yet been washed clean through Jesus' blood.

After Jesus conquered death on the Cross and shed His blood to cleanse all from sin (aka, our scenario today), the souls of those who died a follower of Jesus also depart from their bodies. But because they are declared righteous through Jesus, their souls go immediately to Heaven to be with Jesus.

What about those who were in Abraham's Bosom? Well, before Jesus ascended to Heaven, he went to Abraham's Bosom to take the souls of the saints with Him to Heaven (Ephesians 4:8; 1 Peter 3:18-20), because their sins were also washed clean by Jesus' blood.

When Jesus returns to reign on Earth as King of kings, our souls will be reunited with our resurrected body.

What about followers of Christ who are still alive when Jesus returns? Well, it depends on which return we're talking about. Jesus will have a secret return for His followers (aka, the Rapture) to remove His people from God's judgment on Earth during the Tribulation. During the Rapture, we will be caught up to be with Jesus and be changed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). That is, we will not die a physical death but be translated to Heaven like Enoch. There are two major differences between our translation and Enoch's: 1) We meet up with Jesus in the clouds first; and 2) we get our resurrected bodies during the translation.

The above is what I know to be solidly supported by Biblical teaching, through especially the Apostle Paul.

Below, I discuss issues that I am still unsure of myself:

Those who miss the Rapture will suffer through the Tribulation, and a large number of Christians will die during that period because the Anti-Christ will kill all who do not follow him (Revelation 13). To be honest, I'm not sure what happens to their souls and bodies when they die during the Tribulation. My current understanding is that their souls will immediately go to Heaven to be with God, but they won't get their resurrected bodies until Jesus' public return, when Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives. This hypothesis obviously needs to be solidified with more Scriptural studies. I also am not sure what happens to the bodies and souls of Christians who survive through the Tribulation and get to witness Jesus' landing on the Mount of Olives. And I'll just stop my speculations here, because whether there will be any Christian survivors through the Tribulation is a debate itself. There are respected pastors and Biblical scholars who support either side of the coin: 1) There will be no Christian survivors; 2) There will be Christian survivors (Zechariah 14:16). From my limited research, I cannot find Scriptural evidence for the prior (but that doesn't mean there isn't; it could simply mean I haven't done enough research). However, it's hard to explain Zechariah 14:16 if there are to be no Christian survivors. Despite these details, let us not forget the big picture: All who die in Christ will receive eternal life with Jesus in new bodies. How we all get to that point may be slightly different, but we will all end up with Jesus in our resurrected bodies.

Below, excerpts from Scripture Study by Pastor Mark Driscoll

April 19, 2012

2 Corinthians 5:8

“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” 

Death is a reality that we all must face.

This reality has led most people to ask this one simple question: “What happens when we die? Where does our soul, the immaterial part of our being, go?”

In 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul addresses this fundamental question, offering hope in the face of our fear of death.

Context of 2 Corinthians 5:8

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, Paul writes about what it means to live by faith as we wait for the return of Jesus, where heaven and earth will be restored and we will receive our resurrection bodies.

In verse 1, Paul assures the Corinthians that if we die, if our “tents” (i.e., our bodies) are destroyed, all is not lost. One day we will be fitted with our “heavenly dwelling” (5:2). While we wait for this day and time, we “groan” in our present bodies in anticipation of the day when death is “swallowed up” by life (5:4). Until then, we walk by faith and not by sight (5:7). Paul caps off this discussion, saying, “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (5:8).

The question some have is: what does Paul mean by being “away from the body and at home with the Lord,” which he says elsewhere is “far better” (Phil. 1:23)?

The Value of the Body

Clearly Paul refers to something that happens after we die but before Jesus returns. Theologians often refer to this period of time as the “intermediate state.” Before looking at a few different views on the intermediate state, I believe it’s important to put to rest the popular image of heaven as a place in the sky where our souls go and we escape from the body, playing harps in our diapers on fluffy white clouds. This is not the biblical picture of heaven.

Throughout the Bible, physical creation is given great value. God created the earth and called it good. He gave us bodies and called them good. God even showed the value of the body through the incarnation, when Jesus became human. 

The message of the Scriptures is clear: the goal of salvation is not some ethereal existence but a restored physical creation. According to the Bible we are longing for the new heavens and earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1), i.e. not a disembodied existence. This is why Paul says we long to be clothed (2 Cor. 5:4). We long for the resurrection of our bodies.

Death creates an unnatural existence, a body with no spirit. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s a necessary evil for the present age, not our ultimate destination.

At the same time, it’s the way it is, for now. There is not a lot of Scripture on the intermediate state, so its exact nature is not clear. Although this is the case, there are three general views as to what happens in the time between when we die physically and the resurrection, all of which have their own variations.

View #1: The Dead Go to Purgatory

The Roman Catholic Church believes that those who have already been perfected in this life go immediately to heaven, while those outside the church go to hell, but a third category exists for those in fellowship with the church who remain imperfect.They do not pass go to heaven, but rather go to purgatory. In purgatory, these imperfect people are “further purified from sin until they are ready to be admitted into heaven.”

This view is based in part on a passage from the book of 2 Maccabees—a book Catholics hold to be Scripture, whereas Protestants do not—that talks about sacrifice being offered for the sins of the dead (2 Macc. 12:43–45). Some passages in the New Testament, such as 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, are appealed to for validity, but to no avail.

Since this doctrine is primarily based upon a text not considered to be a part of the Protestant Bible, and also appears to add something to the redemptive work of Jesus, Protestants have rejected this view.

View #2: The Dead Go into a “Soul Sleep.”

This view stems in part from the tendency of the New Testament to use the Greek word koimaomai, “to sleep,” to describe those who have died (Matt. 27:52; Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:6; 1 Thess. 4:13).

According to Wayne Grudem, “This doctrine has been taught occasionally by one person or another in the history of the church, including some Anabaptists at the Reformation. . . . In fact, one of John Calvin’s first writings was a tract against this doctrine, a doctrine that has never found wide acceptance in the church.” The use of “sleep” in the New Testament is more of a metaphorical way of saying that for believers death is not the end. There is simply no solid biblical evidence that believing souls go to sleep until Christ returns. And Jesus’ words on the cross in Luke 23:43 to the criminal beside him imply the opposite: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

View #3: Souls Are Immediately Awake and Present with Jesus.

The third view is the traditional Protestant position on the subject. This view is the teaching that when someone dies, their soul continues to live in the presence of the Lord in an “intermediate state,” but without their final resurrection body that we will receive when Jesus returns.

There are questions about exactly what this will be like: “the Scriptures nowhere give a detailed description of the intermediate state, as its focus is always on the final consummation at the Parousia [i.e., Second Coming]. . . . Paul simply states that Christians will be with Christ as they await the Parousia.”[1]

Our present text, 2 Corinthians 5:8, is critical for this view. Paul has said in 5:4 that he does not want to be “unclothed” —he longs for his resurrection body and the consummation of all things in Christ. Now, however, Paul encourages the Corinthians that if they do die before Jesus returns, they will still go to be with him. They will be away from their body and at home with Jesus.

In Philippians 1:23 Paul said that this is “far better” than being on earth. So, “on the one hand, there is a sense of burden in prospect of the nakedness of disembodiment (vv. 3–4). But on the other, there is a confident preference to be ‘out of the body’ so as to be ‘at home with the Lord.’” In clearer words, if you die as a Christian your soul goes to heaven and when Jesus returns, you’ll receive your resurrected body.

Conclusion

Scripture is clear that the resurrection of the dead is a resurrection of our physical bodies—either to eternal life or to eternal judgment.

As Daniel writes:

At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

However, we live in a transitional time right now. Theologians call this period of time the “already but not yet.” Jesus has already come and won the decisive victory over Satan, sin, and death on the cross, forgiving our sins, and making it possible for his children to reign with him forever. But the consummation of this reality has yet to come. So, right now our bodies groan as they wait for their redemption (2 Cor. 5:2), as does all of creation (Rom. 8:22–23). This is why Paul says he would “rather” be with the Lord. It is not that he wants to be disembodied, per se— it’s that he wants to be with Jesus.

One scholar says that Paul found himself in the midst of a catch-22:

It is not that his teaching on the intermediate state was self-contradictory; rather it was that Paul found himself in an inherently paradoxical situation: no matter what he chose seemed to have drawbacks. Hence, he wanted to live to the Parousia, but the prospect of continuing on in the earthly tent made him groan.

In essence, Paul says, “If I have to choose, of course I want to be with Jesus.” But this doesn’t mean that he didn’t care about his body. He longed to be clothed with final immortality. Thus, at death, because of the intrusion of sin and death into the world, our spirit will be temporarily—and unnaturally—ripped from our body to go be with Jesus. There we will wait for the day when he returns with all his angels in glory to finish what he started.

For Christians, there is much to hope for here. Though death is a reality, it is not the end all. We will be with Christ in spirit, and one day, we’ll be with him in full, resurrected physical bodies that no longer experience the effects of sin such as illness, pain, and death. What is more, those who are in Christ, from the past, to the present, and to the future, will once again be reunited to worship Jesus together in a big family reunion.

Tragically, those who are not in Christ will also be resurrected, but instead of being resurrected to life with Christ, they will be resurrected to judgment in hell. This reality should compel all Christians to earnestly seek to preach the gospel of Jesus to all people in hopes of sparing them such a horrible fate.

Reference

[1] Smith, Ian. “Does 2 Corinthians 5:1–8 Refer to an Intermediate State?” Reformed Theological Review 55 (1996): 14–23.