Is there life after death?

October 28, 2023

A widespread belief in Christianity is after you pass away, your soul or spirit immediately goes to heaven if you are a believer in Christ or to hell in eternal tormenting for unbelievers. Does the Bible support these teachings? This writing will explain what a soul truly is according to the Bible, contrary to popular folklore.

What is a soul?
On the sixth day of creation, God created Adam from the dust of the ground and gave him the “breath of life.” By this, man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). The soul is both body and spirit. A body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26). Clearly, the Bible teaches that we are souls, not that we have souls. Souls are subject to death, as man is mortal (Job 4:17). Only God is immortal (1 Timothy 6:15-16), which also eliminates the idea that unbelievers are tormenting in hell for eternity. Those who have endured through the Great Tribulation and are saved at the second coming of Christ will be transformed and given glorified bodies in an instant (1 Corinthians 15:52). Immortality is a gift from God and given to those in the body of Christ at the first resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:53).

What is death?
Throughout scripture, it is clear that death is a form of sleep and unconsciousness until the resurrection (Job 14:12-13; John 5:28, 11:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15). After death, your spirit returns to God, who gave it to you initially (Ecclesiastes 12:7), and He stores it until either the first or second resurrection (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29). The elect of Christ will receive glorified bodies during the first resurrection, which will be given immortality (Philippians 3:20-21). The wicked will rise in their corrupt and earthly bodies at the second resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50; Revelation 20:5), which will be subject to the second death at the event of hellfire (Revelation 20:9, 20:14).
While resting in the grave, the dead are unconscious and cannot interact with the living (Psalm 115:17; Ecclesiastes 9:5). Any attempt to talk with the dead is direct communication with devils, who are deceiving in their appearance (2 Corinthians 11:14). Teaching that the dead are alive and active is a belief of mediums and sorcerers, who God commanded to be put to death in the days of Moses (Leviticus 20:27). This is how serious God views the teachings on the state of the dead. The idea that souls live after death comes from ancient Greek philosophy and spiritualism, which God warned against for the people living in the Last Days (1 Timothy 4:1).

Reincarnation
Another popular teaching in some man-made religions is that people become new humans or animals after death. Sadly, one-third of people worldwide view this belief as fact. However, since the dead aren’t living or active (Ecclesiastes 9:5), reincarnation is impossible. Jesus warned of many false Christs rising in the last days (Matthew 24:5). In the past few decades, there have been many claiming to be Jesus Christ reincarnated. Jim Jones, Hogen Fukunaga, and Jey Rence Quilario are a few of many who claimed to be Christ reincarnated. Jesus explained that He will come in the clouds with all the holy angels at His second coming (Matthew 16:27, 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 1:7). His feet will never touch the ground. The angels will gather the elect and take them to Christ in the clouds to go to heaven for the Millennium (Matthew 24:31). Therefore, anyone who claims to be the Christ and is walking on the ground of the earth can be rejected without a doubt (Matthew 24:24-26).