What Happens to People When They Die?

The comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said “According to most studies, people’s number-one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two! Now, this means to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” That’s a humorous take on this issue but I don’t think it is true to say that if you gave the people a choice between the two – death or public speaking—that most would choose death. Most would probably choose the public speaking.

But, whether the fear of death is number one or number two, it is nevertheless a great concern for a large part of society, both for believers and unbelievers. In fact, the fear of death can become so severe that it represents a psychiatric disorder known as thanatophobia. Some specific fears of dying include fear of pain and suffering, fear of the unknown, fear of non-existence, fear of eternal punishment, and fear of loss of control.

Concern about the process of our death such as, lingering illness, pain, suffering, loss of control, is normal and is not being addressed here. But, what happens after death is the focus of this article as we seek a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the events after death. So, let’s see what the Bible teaches about what happens to people when they die.

The Bible teaches that a human being consists of two distinct but inseparable (in this life) parts, namely, body and soul (or spirit – a discussion of the distinction, if any, between soul and spirit is for another time). The physical body is the “material” (i.e., consisting of matter or substance) part of a human being and the soul is the “immaterial” (i.e., having no matter or substance) part. The living human being is not made of two parallel parts or two separate parts but a human being is one living being made of two distinct but indivisible (during life) parts. What is impossible during a human being’s life becomes possible at death when the material body separates from the immaterial soul. The body returns to the earth from whence it came while the disembodied soul returns to God from whom it was given (See, Gen. 2:7).

According to the Westminster Confession of Faith, “The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption: [Gen. 3:19; Acts 13:36] but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence [i.e., an essential quality of existence], immediately return to God who gave them: [Luke 23:43; Eccl. 12:7] the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies” [Heb. 12:23; 2 Cor. 5:1, 6, 8; Phil. 1:23; Acts 3:21; Eph 4:10; Rom. 8:23] (WCF 32.1). And of course, the “full redemption of their bodies” will occur on Judgment Day when Christ returns, and the general resurrection of all human beings takes place immediately followed by the judgment of the wicked and the salvation of the elect.

The majority view among Protestants regarding the state of the soul after death holds that there is a continued and conscious existence of the soul after its separation from the body at death. “The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness [Heb. 12:23], and do immediately pass into glory [Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:6, 8; Phil. 1:23]; and their bodies, being still united to Christ [1 Thess. 4:14], do rest in their graves, till the resurrection” (WSC 37). So, at death, the disembodied souls of believing Christians are immediately glorified and made perfect and taken into the presence of Christ in heaven, fully conscious, and in a state of rest (Rev. 14:13), where they wait for the full redemption of their bodies at the second coming of Christ (Phil. 3:20, 21).

This state in which the disembodied souls await the redemption of their bodies is referred to as the Intermediate State. Paul writes of this intermediate state in Philippians 1:21-23. He teaches about being in union with Christ in this life but acknowledges that his death will bring an even fuller communion with the Lord. And far from dreading death, Paul looks to death as a time when he will be in the presence of Jesus in heaven and he awaits that time with joy though he wants to remain in this life until God is finished with him.

The moment a human being dies, the disembodied soul instantaneously goes either to heaven or to hell depending on whether they are a believer or not where the souls remain until the general resurrection on Judgment Day at the second coming of Christ. There are no second chances (Heb. 9:27) or early removals. Therefore, the theological fictions of purgatory and the rapture held by some of our Christian sisters and brothers, we believe, are unsupported by Scripture.

When human beings die, the disembodied souls of the righteous go immediately after death [Luke 23:43] to heaven where they continue the communion in glory with Christ that the righteous had in this life [2 Cor. 3:18] and which shall at last be perfected at the resurrection [1 Thess. 4:17] when Christ returns on the Day of Judgment (WLC Q 82). The disembodied souls of the wicked go immediately to hell at death where they await bodily resurrection and the eternal, condemning judgment and wrath of God on Judgment Day.