Soul
Sleep And The Bible
Do
We Remain Conscious After Death? Or Does the Bible Teach Soul Sleep?
.
It’s not clear how disembodied beings could
sleep because sleeping involves a physical body, and second, the mind continues
to be active while asleep, as our dreams demonstrate. Every reference in
Revelation to human beings talking and worshiping in Heaven prior to the
resurrection of the dead demonstrates that our spiritual beings are conscious,
not sleeping, after death
by Randy Alcorn
“Then the dust will return to the earth, and
the spirit will return to God who gave it.” - (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
“Finally, the poor man died and was carried by
the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his
soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the
far distance with Lazarus at his side. The rich man shouted, “’Father Abraham,
have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’” - (Luke 16:22-24)
“Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will
be with me in paradise.’” - (Luke 23:43)
“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would
rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the
Lord.” - (2 Corinthians 5:8)
At death, the human
spirit goes either to Heaven or to Hell.
Christ depicted Lazarus
and the rich man as conscious in Heaven and in Hell immediately after they
died.
Jesus told the dying thief on the cross, “Today
you will be with me in paradise.”
After their deaths,
martyrs are pictured in Heaven, crying out to God to bring justice on Earth.
These passages make it
clear that there is no such thing as “soul sleep,” a long period of
unconsciousness between life on Earth and life in Heaven.
The phrase “falling
asleep” has confused some.
Given the passages that
show ongoing consciousness after death, “falling asleep” is a euphemism
for death, describing the body’s outward appearance.
The spirit’s departure
from the body ends our existence on Earth.
The physical part of us “sleeps”
until the final Resurrection, while the spiritual part of us relocates to a
conscious existence in Heaven.
“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw
under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and
for being faithful in their testimony. They shouted to the Lord and said, ‘O Sovereign
Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this
world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?’” (Revelation 6:9-10)
Nearly everyone who
believes in soul sleep believes that souls are disembodied at death.
In the first place, it’s not clear how disembodied beings could sleep because sleeping involves a physical body, and second, the mind continues to be active while asleep, as our dreams demonstrate.
For more elaboration on this subject, see the book Heaven.
Randy
Alcorn (@randyalcorn)
is the author of fifty-some books and
the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries.
https://www.epm.org/resources/2015/Mar/23/soul-sleep/
You might also like:
Here Today and Gone
Tomorrow
Ray Conniff
CLICK HERE . . . to view complete playlist . .
.
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/01/here-today-and-gone-tomorrow-ray-coniff.html
