Q. Recently, I lost my mother whom I loved very dearly. I have been comforted by the knowledge that she is now in heaven, but a friend told me that she is in the grave,, and this has troubled me. What is the real truth?

A. I sympathize with you in the loss of your mother because some years ago I lost my mother. However, according to the Bible, your friend is correct. Man does not have an immortal soul as commonly taught by many today. In I Timothy 6:16 it says that God only has immortality, and I Corinthians 15:53 tells us that at the Second Coming of Jesus “this mortal must put on immortality.”

The Bible tells us that death is as a sleep. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). Paul again says "we shall not all sleep" (I Corinthians 15:51). Jesus, referring to the dead Lazarus said, "Lazarus sleepeth" (John 11: 11). The Scripture also says "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).

That is why the New Testament is full of the glorious hope of the second coming of Jesus. Paul referred to it as the "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). Peter calls it the "day of the Lord" (2 Peter 3: 10). Jude writes of the "mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life") (Jude 21). John refers to the "first resurrection"' (Revelation 20: 6).

This understanding has greatly stimulated my own personal efforts for the hastening of the coming of Jesus, for I soon want to see my mother again and spend eternity with her. We will soon have the privilege, if we are faithful, to meet our dedicated loved ones who have passed into the graves. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17).

Vol.7 No.3

Q. Recently my brother lost his wife and little daughter in a tragic car accident. They weren't church members, but I believe they were good people. Do you think they will be in heaven?

A. There will be many people in heaven who have never heard the name of Jesus. They lived up to the best light they had and allowed the Spirit of God to control them. Remember, God has made provision for every one to know something about His love through nature (see Romans 1:20). Your sister-in-law-and niece may have sincerely lived up to what they knew to be right and allowed the love of God to transform their lives. But only God can ultimately judge this.

You will find the best answer to this by accepting Jesus into your life and preparing for His soon return. If your sister-in-law and niece come up in the resurrection of the righteous you will not miss a grand reunion (1Thessalonians 4:13-18). If, for some reason unknown to us, God judges differently, then you will have the opportunity of knowing for yourself just why He made that decision.

Vol.12 No.5

Q. Can you shed some light on a difficult text? “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins. . . being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (1 Peter 3:18–20). Who are these spirits and when did Christ preach to them?

A. Without careful study, this passage seems to support the immediate life after death concept. However, if the text is treated literally, the meaning becomes even more obscure. Did Jesus descend into hell, limbo, or purgatory at His death? No Bible passage confirms this. Psalm 16:10 plainly teaches just the opposite.

Notice also that the preaching occurred prior to the flood. So, the text cannot support that Christ went to preach to spirits after his death, either.

We must search other Bible texts for the understanding of this passage.

In Psalm 142:7, David uses the term “prison” to refer to afflictions: “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name.” Solomon uses the term in reference to a king’s foolishness (Ecclesiastes 4:13, 14). Isaiah represents spiritual darkness as a prison (Isaiah 42:7).

The Bible sometimes refers to the dead as “prisoners” of the grave. (See Job 4:18.) Yet these are prisoners that cannot hear. The “spirits in prison” cannot be dead for Christ wouldn’t preach to dead, unhearing people.

The most logical conclusion is that through the Holy Spirit, Christ sent a message by way of His prophet Noah to the antediluvians who were imprisoned in spiritual darkness.

Q. In Revelation 6:9, 10, the prayer of the martyred souls under the altar seems to indicate that at least some people go to heaven upon death.

A. In vision John heard the souls of slain saints crying under the altar to God: “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

The expression used is symbolic. A similar symbolism is recorded in Genesis concerning the blood of the first martyr, Abel. “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10).

Beyond any reasonable doubt, these souls of Revelation are not literal disembodied humans, but they symbolize martyred saints who cry against their persecutors.

Q. If the dead are still sleeping in the grave, how do you explain Christ’s promise to the dying thief, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)?

A. Christ’s response to the repentant thief has led many to believe that he accompanied Christ to heaven that very day. But before we draw hasty conclusions, let us analyze the statement of Jesus in the light of what actually happened.

Jesus Himself emphatically declared that He had not gone to the Father until after His resurrection on Sunday. (See John 20:17.) If we assert that the repentant thief went with Jesus the day of crucifixion, we contradict Jesus who denied going to His Father until later.

We must also remember that New Testament Greek had no punctuation marks. Bible translators made educated guesses when adding punctuation. Place the comma after the word “today” and Jesus’ words take on a different meaning. The thief is being assured today—immediately—that Jesus will forgive him and that on the resurrection day he will be raised as a citizen for the kingdom of heaven. (See John 5:28, 29 for Jesus’ plain statements about the resurrection.)