WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?

A friend asked me one day how I explained two things: the Seventh-day Adventist teaching about the death and assumed resurrection of Moses and Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). As I considered how best to answer these questions, I realized one must first lay a foundation for understanding death from a biblical perspective. In this study I will build a case for the orthodox Christian view of death; then I will deal with the two questions my friend asked.

Breath or being?

The word translated "spirit" in English is the Greek word pneuma in the New Testament and the Hebrew word ruach in the Old Testament. Most of us grew up being told that these words usually mean "breath" when used in the Bible. These Greek and Hebrew words certainly can mean "breath" or "wind" in the right context, but that's not how they are usually used in the Bible.

In proper biblical hermeneutics, context always determines the meaning of a word.

According to Zodhiates' well-respected Greek lexicon The Complete Word Study Dictionary, when "spirit" [pneuma/ruach] is used in the Bible, it usually has one of the following three meanings:

1. Man's immaterial nature which enables him to communicate with God, who is also spirit.

2. An incorporeal, immaterial being, such as an angel.

3. The Holy Spirit.

Try an experiment to test the context of "spirit". Read the following verses and substitute the word "breath" every time you see the underlined words "spirit" or "Spirit":

Proverbs 20:27 – The spirit [ruach] of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

Romans 8:15-16 – For you have not received a spirit [pneuma] of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit [pneuma] of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit [pneuma] Himself testifies with our spirit [pneuma] that we are children of God.

Hebrews 12:9 – Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits [pneuma], and live?

John 3:5-7 – Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit [pneuma] he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit [pneuma] is spirit [pneuma]. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'"

Simply put, "spirit" does not usually mean "breath" as used in the Bible. The suggestion that it does is a falsehood that not only violates context, but it also violates at least three essential Christian doctrines:

1. The new birth. I listed John 3:5-7 last in the above list in order to highlight its essential message of the Gospel. If we boiled the Bible down to its most basic essence, it is this: man sinned and experienced spiritual death. Since then we have all been born dead in our sins, separated from God, and in need of a Savior. Jesus paid the price for our sin and offers us life and relationship with God. When we come to faith, our dead spirit is regenerated and is now able to commune with God's Spirit. Our dead spirits are born again of the Spirit, and we have eternal life as a present possession. The new birth is not merely metaphor; it is the essence of salvation and is central to the Gospel message. If we interpret our spirits to be mere "breath", we have destroyed the reality of a new birth and spiritual life. To say that our "breath" is born again is contrary to what the Bible teaches and is destructive to our understanding of what it means to be saved.

2. God's being. Insisting that pneuma/ruach mean "breath" in the Bible violates the Christian concept of God's being. God is pure spirit—an incorporeal, immaterial being. That's what Jesus says in John 4:24: "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." In fact, Jesus is reinforcing the same teaching he delivered to Nicodemus in chapter 3. He is implying that because God is spirit, those who worship him must have a spirit that is alive to do so. Once again, if you insert "breath" into what Jesus is saying, His words become complete nonsense.

3. The identity of the Holy Spirit. Insisting that pneuma/ruach mean "breath" in the Bible infringes upon the personhood of the Holy Spirit. "Holy Spirit" is hagios pneuma in the Greek. So if we insist that pneuma must mean "breath" we end up with the "Holy Breath". This interpretation would be closer to the Jehovah's Witness' idea that the Holy Spirit is merely a force than the Biblical teaching that He is a person.

What happens when we die?

The next logical question is, "If our spirit is not merely our breath, what happens to the body and the spirit when we die?"

The condition of the body at death is not the same as the condition of the spirit. The Bible often refers to death by the euphemism "sleep". However, that euphemism is only applied to the body, never to the spirit. "Sleep" describes the appearance of the body at death, but not the state of the spirit. "Sleep" further promises that the body will rise again.

According to Scripture, at death the spirit departs the body and returns to God where it is consciously with the Lord. At the second coming God will bring those spirits of the departed saints with Him when He comes and raise up for them imperishable bodies in the resurrection.

Look at the following texts:

At death the spirit departs the body.

Luke 8:53-55 – And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Child, arise!" And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.

James 2:26 – For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

The absence of the spirit is the definition of death.

The spirit returns to God.

Ecclesiastes 12:5-7 – Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street. Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Notice that this text speaks of man, not breath, going to "his eternal home".

Acts 7:59-60 – They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep.

Again, it makes little or no sense to insert "breath" here. Stephen is asking Jesus to receive that immaterial part of him that departs the body when the body sleeps in death.

The spirit is consciously with the Lord.

Revelation 6:9-11 – When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.

Even if there are symbolic elements in this passage, God would not use an example that is a satanic lie to teach something that is true. However much of this passage might be symbolic, it is clear that the Bible depicts departed saints as being consciously in the presence of the Lord.

At the second coming God will bring those departed saints with Him when He comes.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 – But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

I have been to Adventist funerals where verses 13 and 15 are read, but verse 14 is skipped over as if it did not exist. It's inconvenient to Adventist theology to have the departed saints coming with Jesus when He comes.

He will then raise up for them imperishable bodies in the resurrection.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 – For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Corinthians 15:52 – …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.

All of the texts above support the idea that the human spirit is other than breath and survives death. Now we will examine two of the strongest New Testament didactic (teaching) passages dealing with death.

Absent from the body; present with the Lord

We will begin by examining 2 Corinthians 5:1-9.

2 Corinthians 5:1 – For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Paul here uses the symbolism of a tent to represent our current perishable bodies. A tent is not a permanent dwelling. It's easily torn down, just like these bodies. But the good news is that we can look forward to having, at the resurrection, an imperishable body from Heaven that is permanent and will never be torn down.

2 Corinthians 5:2-4 – For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

Those who have departed are said to be "unclothed". The idea that we can be "unclothed" strongly suggests that there is something real there to unclothe, namely our spirit. To be spirit without body is not a natural state. The Christian worldview is not platonic, but very physical. What we look forward to is the final state when we will again be clothed—this time with our imperishable eternal bodies.

2 Corinthians 5:5-9 – Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

This passage is the source of the oft-repeated Christian refrain, "Absent from the body, present with Lord". The plain meaning of the text is clear: when we are in these bodies, we are absent from the Lord. When we are absent from these bodies, we are at home with the Lord. If we don't have spirits, but only breath as Adventist doctrine teaches, how could we possibly be absent from our body and at home with the Lord? The only way Paul's thought makes any sense at all is if we have a real spirit that can be absent from the body and be with Christ awaiting the resurrection.

Notice also two other very important things:

1. Paul says he would actually "prefer…to be absent from the body"! This statement can only make sense if he is consciously with Christ. Paul can't possibly be saying he would prefer to be non-existent or unconscious. Further, Paul is not just looking forward to the second coming and the resurrection because he specifically speaks about a time when he is absent from the body and at home with the Lord. This presence with the Lord can't refer to the resurrection because Paul states he is absent from the body. Paul is describing a conscious existence, absent from the body but present with the Lord, which he sees as preferable.

2. Paul indicates that it is possible to be pleasing (the Greek word is present tense and active voice) to the Lord when in the body or absent from the body. The only way we could actively be pleasing to the Lord when absent from the body is if we are conscious and active in some way. To say that Paul is talking about a non-existent or unconscious state makes his teaching nonsense; rather, he specifically refers to being absent from the body.

To die is gain

Paul's teaching in II Corinthians 5:1-9 is consistent with his teaching elsewhere in Scripture. In II Corinthians we saw that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and that we can continue to be pleasing to the Lord when absent from the body. Philippians 1:21-26 picks up on the same themes, but in a much more personal way. Paul is in prison and possibly facing death.

Philippians 1:21 – For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Paul sees death not as a non-existent state, but as a state that can actually be described as "gain".

Philippians 1:22 – But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.

In fact, Paul is so eager to be with the Lord that he can barely choose which possibility he prefers, living or dying. Also note that there is no indication at all that the options are living on in the flesh or being non-existent. Rather the most natural way to understand Paul's dilemma is to understand the possibilities as living on in the flesh or living on in the spirit.Philippians 1:23 – But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

Both possibilities, living on in the flesh or living on in the spirit, are desirable to Paul. Paul knows that if he remains in the flesh he will be able to continue his work and serve the fledgling church. He also knows, however, that being with Christ is a far better thing. The only way that being with Christ can be considered better than continuing on in this life is if it is a conscious existence with Christ.

Philippians 1:24 – …yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

Again, ask yourself, "What is the direct contrast to 'remain on in the flesh'?" The most direct contrast is to "depart in the spirit".

Philippians 1:25-26 – Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

As badly as he wants to depart and be with Christ, Paul instead accepts that he will remain and continue the work. This entire passage, including the choice Paul faces, is predicated upon the biblical teaching that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. As Christians, it is very comforting to know that to die is gain—to be in the very presence of our Lord.

What about Ecclesiastes 9:5?

"The dead know nothing." We have probably all heard that phrase dozens of times, and most of us believed that that was the definitive statement on the state of the dead. But what does this partial quote from Ecclesiastes 9:5 really mean when examined in context?

First we must consider the context of the immediate passage. Then we must consider the context of the book, the contextual implication of the type of literature, its context within its testament, and lastly its context within the whole Bible. Only then can we say that we have examined the context of the text. As we trace the context of Ecclesiastes 9:5 through each ring of the hermeneutical spiral it will become evident that this passage, as we were taught it, was ripped from its context at every level of the hermeneutical spiral.

Context is everything

Read Ecclesiastes 9:1-9 to see the passage in which verse 5 is embedded. The context of the passage is that the dead have no more part in anything "under the sun" (i.e. anything that is done in this world). Christians do not believe that the dead are roaming the earth as spirits. Christians do not believe in ghosts or seances or any other form of spiritualism. The dead are either with the Lord or in Sheol awaiting judgment. They are not here on earth "under the sun," and they are no longer directly involved with the activities of this world.

Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon (or in the voice of Solomon) during his apostasy. The context of the entire book is the futility of life apart from God. The Hebrew word translated variously as "futile", "meaningless", or "vanity" is used 33 times in the book of Ecclesiastes, and each time it conveys the idea of hopelessness. Several passages recommend that the reader live it up: eat, drink, and be merry because this is all there is. Several passages suggest there is no difference between the destinies of the righteous and unrighteous dead.

Christians, however, don't believe that life is meaningless, and they certainly don't believe that there is no difference between the destinies of the righteous and the unrighteous. Is Ecclesiastes teaching falsehood? Absolutely not! Rather, Ecclesiastes is intended to teach us about the hopeless outlook of life apart from God, not about the state of those who have been made alive in Christ.

Furthermore, Ecclesiastes is part of what is known as "wisdom literature" which is not usually intended to be didactic doctrinal literature. Because wisdom literature is designed to portray certain truths about life in memorable, picturesque ways, we need to be very careful in drawing our doctrine primarily from wisdom literature. Rather we should use didactic passages to interpret wisdom literature.

The entire Bible is inspired; the entire Bible is true (2 Tim. 3:16); but Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God (Hebrews 1:1). The teachings of Jesus and his apostles made plain things that were mysteries in the Old Testament. This fact does not mean that the New Testament corrects the Old, only that it provides more information that expands and clarifies many things that were not fully known in the Old Testament. Some examples of things that were either mysteries or partial mysteries in the Old Testament but were more fully revealed in the New include the nature of God's Messiah, the Trinity, the Church, resurrection, and death. We have a much clearer picture of death in the New Testament than in the Old, so we must use the New Testament as our foundation for our doctrine of death.

When we begin with the solid foundation of very clear teaching that is given to the New Testament Church, we are able to interpret correctly the Old Testament, including the wisdom literature. Conversely, when a doctrine has been based largely on Old Testament wisdom literature, it is suspect because it is not grounded in the revelation of the Lord Jesus as explained in the teaching of the New Testament.

Finally, we should never interpret any passage in such a way that it contradicts something that is taught elsewhere in Scripture. The Bible is remarkably internally consistent. We know that if we ever interpret anything in such a way that it contradicts something else in the Bible, it is we, not the Bible, who are in error. This principle means we cannot interpret Ecclesiastes 9:5 in such a way as to contradict other parts of the Bible including Paul's teaching in 2 Corinthians 5 and Philippians 1.

What about Moses?

One other Adventist teaching many of us believed is that Moses was bodily resurrected from the grave with a perfect, imperishable resurrection body just like we will have some day. The biblical evidence, however, does not point to Moses being resurrected. Here is a summary of the reasons that it is highly unlikely that Moses was resurrected from the grave with a resurrection body:

1. The Bible never says that Moses was resurrected; it only says that God buried him (Deuteronomy 34:1-12).

2. The Bible specifically calls Moses "dead" (Joshua 1:1, 2).

3. The non-canonical work The Testament of Moses, alluded to in Jude 9, does not claim that Moses was resurrected with a resurrection body but that Michael the archangel buried his body.

4. Jesus is the first fruits from the dead, the first to have an imperishable resurrection body, not Moses (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Jesus is the One who conquered death, and He is the first to rise from the grave with a resurrection body.

The rich man and Lazarus

I grew up believing that the idea of conscious existence after death was the first lie Satan ever told when he said to Eve, "Thou shalt not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). Therefore, any teacher, preacher, movie, song, TV show, or book that suggested a conscious existence after death must be satanic in that it was promoting Satan's lie and was introducing us to spiritualism. But if conscious existence at death is Satan's lie and those who teach it are false teachers, what does that say about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Jesus tells a very interesting story in Luke, chapter 16:19-31, about a rich man who died and went to Hades and a poor man named Lazarus who died and went to Abraham's bosom. Read it before we discuss it.

Some try to dismiss this passage by saying, "It's only a parable, and the main point isn't the state of the dead." This may very well be only a parable, but if it is, then it is the only recorded parable of Jesus where he uses a name for one of the characters. Because of this fact, many commentators believe that Jesus is recounting actual events involving people some in the crowd would have known. Let's assume, however, that this is "only a parable".

We can say that Jesus' parables always used true-to-life illustrations to illustrate even greater spiritual truths. Jesus would not use a falsehood to illustrate a truth. Can you imagine Jesus saying, "You know that point I was making? Well, it was a true point, but the illustration I used was absolutely false. In fact, I was using an illustration that is a satanic lie to make my point. My illustration is dangerous spiritualism, but the point is still valid."

It almost feels like blasphemy to write the preceding paragraph, yet that's essentially what those who try to explain away this passage are saying once we peel away all their layers of double talk. We're talking about God in the flesh. Jesus, who is eternally God and cannot lie (Titus 1:2), would not say something that was completely false and thereby mislead generations of Christians. We're talking about the greatest Teacher, Preacher, and Prophet ever to walk among us. This is the illustration He chose, and the people in His illustration are conscious and communicative after death.

This parable isn't "spiritualism". Rather, it reflects a spiritual reality that Christ knew to be true, and the rest of the Bible confirms it. Although I would not want to make a passage like this the primary source of my doctrine, Jesus' illustration fits perfectly with the rest of His teaching and with the didactic teaching of His apostles, so I can accept this story as representing spiritual reality. I don't need or want to explain it away and dismiss it.

Conclusion

I believe we have been guilty of falsely accusing some of our Christian brothers and sisters of spiritualism for preaching and teaching things that the Bible itself preaches and teaches. I know I personally have to repent of such accusations that I have made. My accusations and judgments were made out of my own ignorance, but I bear the responsibility for that ignorance.

Based on contextual Bible study, I now believe that at death I will be consciously with the Lord awaiting the resurrection of my perfect, imperishable body. I don't know exactly what this reality means or what it will be like, but I know that, as Paul said, it will be "better by far" than this life, as rewarding and rich as this mortal existence can be.

I rest in the promise in 1 Corinthians 2:9: "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him."