Risen from the Dust
Are you searching for biblical answers about hell, heaven, and the Resurrection of the Dead?
Hell, what does the bible really say on this subject?
Hell: There is more than one hell in the bible. A current temporary hell, and a future eternal hell.
Do people go to Heaven when they die?
Heaven: Heaven is a real place, and the souls of the faithful have been going there from the beginning, even before the New Testament.
What does it mean to say that Christians have eternal life?
Spiritual Death and Life: There is physical life and death, but there is also spiritual life and death. Everyone dies in the flesh, but true Christians never die spiritually.
Does the bible say that heaven is literally in outer-space, and hell is literally underground?
Gateways: The bible teaches that hell and heaven are not of this world. However, it also describes the earth and sky act as "spiritual gateways" to heaven and hell.
Does the bible support the traditional view that we have a spiritual soul dwelling within a flesh body?
Spiritual Souls: Both the Old Testament and the New Testament teach that we have spiritual souls dwelling within our flesh bodies.
Do people go to heaven and hell, or do they fall asleep when they die?
Souls in Heaven and Hell: People's souls leave their bodies and go to either hell or heaven when they die. The dead continue to exist in either hell or heaven.
What is the Resurrection of the Dead, and who takes part in it?
Resurrection of the Dead: All souls, good and evil, will partake in the Resurrection of the Dead. In the Resurrection of the Dead, they will receive an eternal place in the world as new spiritual beings.
In the resurrection of the dead, do people literally rise out of their graves?
Spiritual Bodies: The dead will not literally resurrect from their graves, but instead be changed into spiritual bodies.
When does the bible say that the Resurrection of the Dead will take place?
Resurrection Timing: The Resurrection of the Dead is a future event. The saints will resurrect when Jesus returns, on the Day of the Lord. The rest of the dead will resurrect after a time known as the millennium.
What is the millennium, and what will the world be like during the millennium?
Millennium: The millennium is a future thousand year period, when Christ and his Kingdom will reign over the world. It is after Jesus returns but before the final judgment.
What is the Lake of Fire, and will the wicked suffer there forever and ever?
Lake of Fire: The Lake of Fire is a future hell-like place of damnation. The wicked will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire, not eternally tormented.
Christians generally believe in life after death. Yet there are so many different explanations of what the bible says about heaven and hell, that we can't keep track of them all. If we're all reading the same bible, then why are there so many interpretations?
The most popular view is that when a person dies they are judged, and go to heaven or hell forever. This view is often presented as being the correct orthodox view. Yet this ignores key passages in the bible. The bible describes a future resurrection of the dead, a judgment day, a return of the saints, and a new heavens and earth.
The other main Christian view focuses heavily on the resurrection of the dead. According to this view, when a person dies they cease to exist as a person. The dead enter a state of sleep until they are resurrected and judged. In other words, there is no immediate afterlife, only a final resurrection that leads everyone into eternal life or damnation. As with the other view, there are scriptures that it struggles to explain.
Like many biblical controversies, each side has a set of verses that they use in support of their belief, and also verses that are used against them. Also like many biblical controversies, there are certain key revelations that are being missed on both sides. These missing pieces keep both sides from arriving at a view that is coherent with all the scriptures.
The bible describes two different afterlives. There is an immediate afterlife for those who have passed on, and there will also be an eternal afterlife at the end of the world. There is a current temporary heaven and hell, but also an eternal heaven and hell. One afterlife is pre-resurrection, and relates to faith, but the other is post-resurrection, and relates to works. People's inability to rightly-divide between them creates much confusion and division.
The resurrection of the dead should be understood as the transition between these two different afterlives. People will be resurrected into their places in the eternal afterlife. In the resurrection, every soul will pass through Christ and into the eternity. Every soul will receive either eternal life in the Kingdom, or eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire.
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