After we die, do we go directly to heaven? -Protestants-?

Question

In Protestant faith, do our souls go directly to heaven after we die (assuming we are going up, not down lol) or are in some kind of limbo and go all at the same time as everyone else at the end of life as we know it, at the Lord's coming?

Answer 1

Read Ecclesiastes 9:5. Problem with church people is that they don't read the bible and so they rely mostly on someone that they pay and whom will tell them mostly what they want to hear.

Answer 2

There are a lot of different views on this outside of Catholicism. Many people believe that Paradise and Heaven are two different places, and that we go to Paradise. Much of that is based on Christ's statement to the thief on the cross, "I tell you today you will be with me in paradise." However, should Christ's statement be, "I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise, " or, "I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Translators don't all agree. Plus, is heaven and paradise two different places?

My personal belief is we "sleep" until judgment day. We will not really be aware of anything at all until the Resurrection. My basis for that is pretty weak, too, however. Some of it is just an impression that I get as I read some verses. Paul also talks about some Christians who have already fallen asleep. All I know is that Jesus will take care of me, where ever I may be, and whether or not I am aware of it.

God bless!

Answer 3

no, when we die we will lie in our grave and wait for Jesus to come. The bible says: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that , we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to mee the Lord in the air.And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonianas 4:16-18

Answer 4

My mother and I discuss this here and there. We are of protestant faith, but she studies with people from different denominations periodically, so she's done a little "research," if you will.

I've come to understand that the bible tells us that we are layed to rest, and we do so until the second coming. After we've passed, we go into a sleep state. That's it. And our Earthly bodies continue to rest until we, as baptized Christians, are awakened again to be saved.

At least that's how I've come to understand it.

Answer 5

Those who are awarded life in heaven as kings and priests, are raised up instantly after death. Those who do not receive that reward, remain sleeping in death until Jesus resurrects them back to life here on earth, where they will have the opportunity to live forever where terrorism, wars,sickness, pain, sorrow and even death itself, will be no more. I myself, have the hope of living forever here on earth
Revelation 21:4 Psalm 37:9-11 Isaiah 2:4

Answer 6

When it comes to future things, and things dealing with death and afterlife the Bible is not completely clear, but there are some statements that help. There is a statement by Paul that says that "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". This seems to indicate that when we die we go directly to be with the Lord. It is not our soul that goes to be with the Lord, it is our spirit. The soul is the part of us that sins and cannot be with God, because "the soul that sins, it shall die." But our spirit which has been born of God cannot sin and therefore is able to be with God. When Christ returns we will all be given new perfect immortal bodies to go with our eternal spirit. (I Cor 15). People who are not believers their soul and spirit goes to a place called Hades where they will remain until the judgment. Believers used to go there also but once Christ died for our sins, we now go directly to be with Him.

Answer 7

You are refering to what theologians call "the intermediate state" - This iis an interim period between the individual’s death and the Second Coming and resurrection. There are several views on the intermediate state:

(1) Soul Sleep. Those who hold this view suggest that upon physical death, the soul enters an unconscious state of limbo – it “sleeps” - until the resurrection of the body. Support for this view is found in the many references in the Bible that refer to physical death as a “sleep,” and of dead individuals – especially believers - as having fallen “asleep.” But when the Bible says a person is “sleeping” in relation to death, we must understand that it is speaking metaphorically and not literally.

(2) Purgatory: This is a Roman Catholic doctrine. It proceeds from the view that salvation is a gradual process of sanctification over time and very few people can be accepted directly into Heaven at death, since nothing unclean may enter God’s presence (Rev. 21: 27). The principal support for the doctrine of Purgatory is found in two passages, one from the Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 12: 39 - 45) and the other from the New Testament (1 Corinthians 3:15 ). But the idea of purgatory flies in the face of the once-for-all totally sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sins

(3) Instantaneous Resurrection: based on their exegesis of 2 Corinthians 5: 1 – 9, some scholars have posited the view that beleivers are resurrected immediately after death - in a new dimension of course. This is involved and I cannot go through the argument here.

(4) The soul of the righteous go to heaven, while the souls of the wicked go to hell: This is the view that is held by the great majority of Protestants.

If we belong to Him, our souls go to be with Jesus when we die.the apostle Paul clearly expected to be with the Lord Jesus (who is in heaven) after he dies: “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5: 8). He stated his preference to exit this world in death in order to be with the Lord in heaven again to the Philippians: “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Phil. 1: 23). The writer to the Hebrews also intimates that the “spirits of righteous men made perfect” are in the presence of God and His holy angels (Heb. 12: 23). Several heavenly scenes depicted in the book of Revelation show the souls or spirits of departed saints praying and worshipping in the presence of God (Rev. 6: 9 – 11; 7: 9 – 10). But perhaps the strongest evidence that the souls or spirits of the redeemed indeed go to be with Christ in heaven is Jesus’ statement to the penitent thief: “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise” (Lk. 23: 43). That Paradise is to be identified with heaven is clear from Paul’s reference to a vision given him early in his ministry, in which in one instance he says that he was caught up even to “the third heaven,” and in another that he was caught up into “Paradise” (2 Cor. 12:2-4). It appears from these passages that for the believer to be in the intermediate state is to be with Christ in heaven.

Except for unbeleivers' sould gong directly to hell, I hold to this view - beleivers' sould go to be with Christ after they physically die. The souls of the wicked dead, I beleive are held in a place called "Sheol" - the place for the dead.

Answer 8

To be absent of the body is to be in the presence of the Lord. God is not limited by time or space. I'm not sure if we will be 'popped forward' in time or go be with Him in heaven until that time comes - but when we die, we are with Him.

Answer 9

The limbo you speak of is known as purgatory, and, as far as I know, is strictly a Catholic belief. Life is what you make it; my suggestion is that instead of worrying about what happens after death, live your life to the fullest.

Answer 10

Well according to Protestants they are the only ones up there.