where do believers in christ go immediately at the time of death?

Question

do we go straight to heaven, or must we wait unconsciously until the second coming of christ or final judgement.
protestant views only please, you catholics and athiest never know what you are talking about.

Answer 1

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT DEATH

Jesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.—1 Corinthians 15:6.


The Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No. The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death.—John 11:11.
The account of Lazarus also teaches us that the resurrection is a reality, not a mere myth. Jesus raised Lazarus in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses. Even the religious leaders, who hated Jesus, did not deny this miracle.

Think about this too: If Lazarus had been in heaven for those four days, would he not have said something about it?— And if he had been in heaven, would Jesus have made him come back to earth from that wonderful place?— Of course not!

Yet, many people say that we have a soul, and they say that the soul lives on after the body dies. They say that Lazarus’ soul was alive somewhere. But the Bible does not say that. It says that God made the first man Adam “a living soul.” Gen. 2:7, Adam was a soul. The Bible also says that when Adam sinned, he died. He became a “dead soul,” and he returned to the dust from which he had been made. The Bible also says that all Adam’s offspring inherited sin and death too.

The Scriptural teaching of the resurrection, however, is not compatible with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If an immortal soul survived death, no one would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life. Indeed, Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul that was living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. On the contrary, she showed her faith in God’s purpose to reverse the effects of death. She said: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:23, 24) Likewise, Lazarus himself related no experiences of some afterlife. There was nothing to report.

Clearly, according to the Bible, the soul dies and the remedy for death is the resurrection. You enjoy the best sleep ever, until Jesus resurrects you, sometime in the future.

Answer 2

Terry S. is correct. Heaven or hell, is not here yet.

Several people ask this.

You know there are many people who believe that when people die, they go into the ground and they sleep there till the coming of the Lord. Is that true or isn’t that true, Soul Sleep…?
No, it’s not true at all and it’s a very erroneous doctrine.

James 2:26 says, “As the body without the spirit dead…” Where does that spirit go? 2 Corinthians 5:8 says, “Absent from the body… present with the Lord”. That’s why Paul said, “To die is gain”. Now, when the Lord returns in I Thessalonians 4:16-18, he brings the dead with him to come after the dead, for the dead in Christ rise first. What part does he bring with him? – The spirit that left the body, that’s been there to join the body. There is no soul-sleep in this book.

A lot of people use Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 & 2, where there is a great cloud of witnesses, and they think that means that they are sitting in the heavenlies watching us and every move we make. But that is not so. The great cloud of witnesses are the great heroes of the faith of chapter 11. And because of the way they lived, we are to follow their example, but they can not look down from heaven and see what is going on in this earth, if they could it would make heaven hell, because they’d see so much heartache, even among their children and grandchildren, etc.

Now, the Bible teaches that there will come a time when we are like Christ. In Acts 15:18 it says, “known unto God are all His works...” And Christ is the 2nd member of the Trinity, and now in His heavenly body, He knows everything about everything, because He is God. That means He is Omniscient, knowing all things about all things. When we are raptured, then we get bodies and minds like His. That’s why David said in Psalms 17:15, “I shall be satisfied when I awaken with your likeness.” And when we see Jesus we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, I John 3:2. So there’s an hour coming when we get these new bodies and new minds, and then we will be all knowing. And not until then. So nobody in the heavenlies now can see what’s going on.

In Luke 15, whenever anyone is converted upon the earth, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 sinner that repents, because the message is relayed to the angels, and the angels relay it throughout the heavenlies. So that if a mother’s son finds Christ, and one for whom she’s prayed for years, there is joy because the message has been related. It’s not because she knows everything, she won’t until she gets that body, the new glorified body of the resurrection. So, I hope that answers the question, because it is exactly what the Word of God teaches. And oh, Jesus is coming soon, and we’ll have that great mind in the near future.

Answer 3

I am saddened to see that Catholic views are undesired here. I believe you are mistaken, so, according to Ez 3:18, I believe I should still respond.

The Catholic theological perspective regarding what happens after death is as follows: the soul immediately undergoes a particular judgment, in which the entire life is reviewed and all of the actions of the individual are "graded" (judged) and the soul is given supreme clarity to understand the justification for the "ruling." Now, unlike a normal balance, good deeds are not weighed against evil deeds. Any forgiveness that has been granted for evil deeds strikes them from the record entirely. In addition, certain evil deeds are classified as "venial" (lesser) and "mortal" (deadly).[see Paul's epistles for the distinction, if you discard our terminology] If a soul has any outstanding (unforgiven) mortal sins, it immediately progresses to Hell, for all eternity. If a soul has any outstanding venial sins, or temporal punishment (gotta do the time after forgiven) it progresses to Purgatory, the state of "cleansing fire". From there, the soul will reach Heaven, inevitably. If a soul does not enter Purgatory, it progresses immediately to Heaven.

all of the above occur in the *instant* of death. (how can we measure God's time?)

The General Judgment at the End of the World is what Protestants normally speak of. Remaining souls are judged and all souls see with perfect clarity the rest of the souls.

A side note on Confession, the Catholic Sacrament, instituted by Christ during a resurrection appearance, "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained." Also, Confession is necessary on a human level, because the Sacrament is a *guarrantee* of forgiveness, but it is not absolutely essential; forgiveness is obtainable outside of the sacrament, but it would be foolish not to take advantage of such a gift. It is not just a rambling, nonchalant recitation of faults. It is a sincere confession of sins, accompanied by a sincere purpose of amendment (you actually hope to change your life, abandon your old way, put on the New). Forgiveness may be granted by God to a contrite soul, but we humans won't have any concrete evidence of it (at least not in normal circumstances; God can to whatever he wants) but we don't want to be caught dead in mortal sin!

hopefully I have provided an accurate commentary and presentation of doctrine for you. God bless!

Answer 4

The bible says you stay in the grave until Jesus comes. Elijah and Moses are the only two that lived on earth,and are in heaven.Elijah represents the Christians who are alive when Jesus returns. They will never see death. Moses represents those Christians who died and are resurrected when Jesus returns. The bible tells this in so many places. You should never ask someone these things. Check with the Bible always.

Answer 5

Well, I believe that we go to heaven immediatley. Didn't Jesus say to the thief up on the cross that "Today, you will be in paradise with me"? I never did believe that we'd have to lay "sleeping" till the 2nd coming....thats a total waste of time! But still, others have different beliefs, this is just mine.

Answer 6

Absent from the body present with the LORD

Answer 7

Cabo San Lucas.

Answer 8

i believe we go into a limbo type place...reason is this-

revelations says WE ALL will be judged at the white throne judgement- so why would we ago to heaven after we die if we still will be judged???

Answer 9

"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."

At the moment of death, where ever Jesus is, we will be with Him.

Answer 10

absent from the body is present with the lord read your bible