Physical and spiritual death is a result of rebellion entering the world. Death is universal, is irreversible, no one can die and return to this world as another person. Death shows mortal frailty and it occurs when God determines it.

The spirit is the God conscious part of man. The soul is the self; capable of knowing one's self. The fleshly mortal body decays and returns to dust. Death is lived out through old age, disease, accidents, violence or a legal penalty. Life is short and knowledge of death affects human attitudes and priorities. God sends the spirit and the soul of the righteous to Paradise. The Righteous are BELIEVERS who have been made right with God because of the belief in His son, Jesus Christ and have made Him Lord of their lives.

The Bible does not teach of souls sleeping after death. In Paradise, believers are at home with The Lord, and have perfect peace awaiting the resurrection of their glorified bodies, fashioned by God, spiritual, incorruptible, and will be imperishable forever. Paradise is located in the Third Heaven.

The Eternal Destiny of a Christian is not a mystery. Christians know by The Spirit of God that they will be in the presence of The Supreme God, Creater of The heavens and earth, off all things. The Spiritual bodies they will receive at the appointed time will not be fashioned after a mortal body, but a heavenly body. It will not get sick, nor grow old, nor grow weary, nor wear out. These new bodies will be like Jesus' resurrected body when He overcame death physically, as well as spiritually for us all. Our spirit and soul will at that time be clothed with the new heavenly body.

Some cults teach that human beings become gods themselves, this is not according to scripture and has never been a belief of Christianity. Believers will be pure like God but we will not be God, or a deity. This new body will be free from corruption and sin, which caused death in our mortal bodies.

Jesus taught that the soul (the conscious self) is aware of faculties and senses, memories, expressions, emotions, and aware of their surroundings after death, whether they are BELIEVERS or not, but unbelievers do not go to paradise. The timing of natural death is beyond control. Unbelievers will be condemned.

Unrepentant people at death face final banishment from God. Death is inevitable but unbelievers die outside of a relationship with God, unforgiven, without hope because of pride and selfishness, relying on themselves. God takes no pleasure in their death.

Unbelievers go to Sheol-hades, no amount of prayer or special baptisms can help them avoid their judgement of the rejection of Christ. Their eternity has been settled in this life. The Bible does not teach the Doctrine of purgetory, nor prayer to those who have died.

The Bible suggests that those who have known of Christ and have then rejected Him through rebellion, seem to be worse off than those who have never heard of Christ, through ignorance in their lifetime. Sheol-hades is not hell. Hell is not occupied yet.

The first to enter hell, the outer darkness, a lake of fire that never burns out, everlasting torment, will be the anti-christ and his prophet, then Satan himself is cast there after the 1,000 year reign of Christ, then those who are judged among the nations when Christ returns and are found to be unrighteous and those from Sheol-hades who are judged at the White Throne Judgement for not having their names recorded in the Book of Life, or in the Book of Remembrance, which is for honouring God's Name. Here they will be sentenced a second death.

Managed by Stefan Kreslin, Last updated 1 November 1998