Where do we go when we die?

[TaliOrlando]

Do we go directly to heaven or hell?

Some say we go to sleep or something but does that mean we go blank during that point in time until the rapture?

Kind of confused on this one?

Thanks!

:thumbs:

 

[standingfirminChrist]

There is no such thing as soul sleep.

Paul encouraged his readers by telling them that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

What a wonderful promise!

This is further affirmed by the Lord Himself as He hung on Calvary's cross. After one thief asked the Lord Jesus to remember him when He entered His kingdom, Jesus replied, "I tell you, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise."

He is faithful who promised!

 

[David Lamb]

There is no such thing as soul sleep.

Paul encouraged his readers by telling them that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

What a wonderful promise!

This is further affirmed by the Lord Himself as He hung on Calvary's cross. After one thief asked the Lord Jesus to remember him when He entered His kingdom, Jesus replied, "I tell you, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise."

He is faithful who promised!

I agree, SFIC, and praise God indeed for His faithfulness to His glorious promises!

 

[billwald]

I die every time I fall asleep.

 

[Andre]

I am torn on this one. I think that a case for "sleep" can indeed be made. However, a case can also be made that we enter a conscious state immediately after death. I lean slightly to the "sleep" position and think that "today you will be with me in Paradise" does not necessarily connote a conscious state. And "to be absent from the body and present with the Lord" works with the "sleep" position when seen phenomenologically. To make a comparison: "To put my head on the pillow at midnight in a tired state is to be present with the chirping birds and sunlight streaming through the window at 8 AM.

There are too many texts which refer to the dead as "sleeping" for people to discard the "sleep" position too readily. And the distinguishing feature of sleep is unconciousness.

Besides, even if heaven is a conscious state entered immediately after death, the scriptures do not, I think, treat this as our final destination. Our final destination is in a distinctly embodied state on a renewed and transformed earth.