It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.

When people fail to take note of the overwhelming evidence, and refuse the basic facts of the scriptures, they will be biased and incapable of seeing any possibilities beyond what they have learned from men and tradition. – Elwin Roach

Life Beyond Grave

In the Bible, Peter states that some of Paul’s writings were hard to understand. 2 Peter 3:16

We pray that the Holy Spirit would open up God’s Word to us. Who knows the mind of Christ? No one does unless we seek Him for understanding. His thoughts are far away from our thoughts. It’s impossible to understand why He does what He does and to know His way.

Who can know or who is just to give Him advice? As we seek Him, He’ll open up His will for us in our lives. We always have to ask for understanding in all things.

God gives to us the understanding of  Scripture verses at the time He sees fit that we need it.  A little here, and a little there.  That’s the reason you can read a certain verse over and over and one day the meaning is all of a sudden revealed.

This Great Book that God gave us through his prophets, is different from any book on the face of the earth. You don’t just read the Bible; the Bible reads you!

Traditions and beliefs are also passed down from one generation to the next, and sometimes that hinders our understanding of the Bible, as God meant it to be understood.

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Someone has said that a text without its context is a pretext, and I believe it.

A basic principle of Bible study is to search the truth on any given subject from all the texts in the Bible. It is true that you can prove almost anything you want to prove by using a single text of Scripture. That’s why it’s so important to bring together all text on a specific subject. That may involve a 90 or more verses! And even then, there still might be some confusion, because 3 or 4 of those ninety texts can always seem to contradict the rest.
So should the few verses that deviate from the rest be thrown out because they don’t match up with the others? No way! They should be scrutinized in the context of the surrounding verses, and also be compared to rest which are in agreement. Only then will it be clear that the Very quickly it will be discovered that the vagueness of meaning only occurs in the mind, and that the Bible totally agrees with itself and doesn’t  contradict itself what so ever.

This is the one subject that I believe has been misunderstood.  We were taught, just as most people that at the moment of death, a person’s immortal soul goes to either Heaven or hell. Where they end up depends on if they were  a righteous person or a wicked sinful person (that has never accepted Jesus as their Lord/Savior, doesn’t believe that Jesus Christ is the begotten Son of Almighty God and hasn’t truly repented & turned away from their sins).



Jesus

We were taught that our physical bodies are temporary, but our spirits and souls are immortal or eternal and continue to live after death.  Is it possible that most people misunderstand what the Bible teaches about this? There are scripture verses that can easily be misunderstood to claim this idea, but they are not very clear. Where did this idea first begin? Genesis 3:4

• People have gone to heaven, but only as exceptional cases.

• What happened at the moment Jesus died? Matthew 27:50-53

These were righteous people who had died once.  Only the wicked die twice. Since these saints could not suffer a second death, what happened to them after they were resurrected?  Ephesians 4:8

These were the people resurrected with Jesus! They were no longer captives to death; they were captives to Christ. How could they die again? They couldn’t, because that would have been a second death. So they must have been the ones that Jesus took back to heaven with Him. Perhaps these are the twenty-four elders of Revelation 4 and 5.  We read in Revelation 5:9 how they praised Christ with these words: “thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kingdom and tongue and people and nation.”

Choices and Decisions

Jesus said this, “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. John 3:13

Did Jesus actually mean that He was the only one who has been to heaven? Not at all, we know for a fact that God took Enoch and Elijah to heaven without dying.

This verse must be read in context to understand it clearly.  Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about the subject of being born again.

Nicodemus didn’t understand the subject of conversion, and Jesus reacted with surprise. Then He said to Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

In other words, Nicodemus would have a harder time accepting Christ’s words about heavenly things because no man had ever been there to come back and report on it. Jesus alone had come from there to testify about those heavenly things, and Nicodemus would have to accept it purely by faith. The question was: who is qualified to testify of those spiritual, heavenly truths? Jesus said, “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye received not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things. And no man hath ascended up to heaven.”

Do we go straight to heaven when we die? Jesus said,”When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”  John 14:3

In 2 Corinthians 5:3 Paul says,”If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.” What exactly does he mean? The NLT translates it this way: “we will not be spirits without bodies.”

When is Jesus returning?  Why would he need to come back for His people if they were already in heaven, and have been there since the day they died?

All people will be judged, but not at death.  Paul says “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31.

Paul says plainly that a specified time is set for the judgment of the world.  Jude 1:14, 15

Do wicked people or “the lost” go directly to hell when they die? 2 Peter 2:9, Job 21:30, 32

The Only Way

Don’t be quick to navigate from this page!

To understand this subject, you must realize that God is not restricted by time. God is commonly portrayed as being eternal; however, there is more than one way to understand the concept of “eternal.” On the one hand, God may be thought of as “everlasting,” which means that God has existed through all of time. On the other hand, God may be thought of as “timeless,” which means that God exists outside of time, unconstrained by the process of cause and effect.

The idea that God should be eternal in the sense of timeless is partially derived from the characteristic of God being omniscient even though we retain free will. If God exists outside of time, then God can observe all events throughout the course of our history as if they were simultaneous. Thus, God knows what our future holds without also affecting our present — or our free will.

• Satan lied to Eve about death, this subject is more important than many think

In the end-time Satan will again use sorcery–as he did in Daniel’s day to deceive the world. – Revelation 18:23

Angel of Death

Sorcery is supernatural, and claims to receive its power and wisdom from the spirits of the dead. Exodus 7:11, 1 Samuel 28:3-25, Daniel 2:2, Acts 16:16-18
Posing as godly loved ones who have died, saintly clergymen who are now dead, Bible prophets, apostles or disciples of Christ – 2 Corinthians 11:13, and even Christ himself; Satan and his angels will deceive billions. Those who believe the dead are alive, in any form, will most assuredly be deceived.

Satan deceived  and convinced 1/3 of the angels in heaven to follow him

How much easier is it to deceive mere mortals! The only weapon against this deception is the “Sword of the Spirit”, the Word of God!

Thirty percent of the Bible is prophecy, and a lot of that prophecy has already been fulfilled. The Lurker injects into the minds of people that the Bible isn’t the Word of God, but just a book written by men.  If you do believe the perfect Word of God, Satan will do everything in his power to stop you from studying it.  When he notices you begin to follow God’s perfect plan for your life, he will bring all sorts of troubles your way, and try to choke out the Word that is in you! Matthew 13:19

Satan

The Devil persuades many people that there is no heaven, hell, God, or judgment. He causes many to believe he doesn’t even exits. The truth is that he is here now on the earth along with the 30% of the angels that were in heaven, and now are here as his demons. These same demons are the ones tricking people into believing that their relatives are here speaking through psychics and mediums.

The answer to these questions are answered in the Bible:

• What happens when a person dies?

The body turns to dust again, and the spirit goes back to God, who gave it. The spirit of every person who dies–whether righteous or wicked–returns to God at death.  Ecclesiastes 12:7

• Doesn’t a person go immediately to heaven or hell at the moment of death?

No, people do not go either to heaven or hell at death. They go to their graves to await the resurrection day.  John 5:28, John 5:29

For the dead, time stands still! To the person that has died, it will seem as though no time at all has passed at all. It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 1 Corinthians 15:52

Imagine this, you’ll arrive in Heaven at the same moment as all of your dead relatives and friends. You’ll arrive in Heaven at the same moment as Jesus’ disciples, King David, etc.

• Are Souls being punished in hell today?

There are no souls in hell today. The Bible says that God reserves, or holds back, the wicked until the day of judgment to be punished.  2 Peter 2:9

• What is the “spirit” that returns to God at death?

The spirit that returns to God at death is the breath of life. Nowhere in all of God’s word does the “spirit” have any life, wisdom, or feeling after a person dies. It is the “breath of life” and nothing more.  James 2:26, Job 27:3

Note: The “soul” or “spirit of life” isn’t the same thing as the Holy Spirit, neither is the “breath of life” the same as the regular air we breathe.

This breath or spirit is the special, life giving power of God which makes the body a functioning organism.

• What about what Jesus said? “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. John 11:25

This refers not to the first death of which all people die Hebrews 9:27, but to the second death, which only the wicked die and from which there is no resurrection. Revelation 2:11; 21:8

• What about your “soul”?

A soul is a living being. A soul is always a combination of two things: body+ breath. A soul cannot exist unless body and breath are combined. God’s Word teaches that we are souls.  Genesis 2:7

• Does your soul live forever?

According to the Bible, souls do die! We are souls, and souls die. Man is mortal  -  Job 4:17.  Only God is immortal, 1 Timothy 6:15 and 1 Timothy 6:16. The idea of an undying, immortal soul goes against the Bible, which teaches that souls are subject to death. Ezekiel 18:20, Revelation 16:3

• How much does one know or comprehend after death?

The Bible says that the dead know absolutely nothing!  Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10 and Psalms 115:17

• Your spirit (The root word in Greek is “pneuma”), “breath of God” returns to God.  (death is the opposite of creation)
• Man doesn’t have a soul,  man is a living soul.

Solomon, who God gave more wisdom than any other man ever had, or ever will have, had this to say:

Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  Ecclesiastes 12:6,7

Not once in the Bible is a human being’s soul referred to as being immortal or undying, this idea is unbiblical. The idea that the soul is immortal was first introduced by the greatest liar of all time.  Genesis 3:4

Jesus, nor the thief on the cross went to paradise the day they died

Sunday morning Jesus said to Mary, “I am not yet ascended to my Father.” John 20:17. This shows that Christ did not go to heaven at death. Also note that the punctuation of the Bible is not inspired, but was added by men. The comma in Luke 23:43 should be placed after the words “to day” rather than before, so the passage should read, “Verily I say unto thee to day, shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Or, “I’m telling you today–when it seems that I can save no one, when I myself am being crucified as a criminal–I give you the assurance today that you will be with me in paradise.” Christ’s kingdom is set up at His second coming (Matthew 25:31), and all the righteous of all ages will enter it at that time (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) and not at death.

Doesn’t the Bible speak of the “undying,” “immortal” soul?

No, the undying, immortal soul is not mentioned in the Bible. The word “immortal” is found only once in the Bible, and it is in reference to God (1 Timothy 1:17).

At death the body returns to dust and the spirit (or breath) returns to God.
But where does the soul go?

It goes nowhere. Instead, it simply ceases to exist. Two things must be combined to make a soul: body and breath. When the breath departs, the soul ceases to exist because it is a combination of two things. When you turn off a light, where does the light go? It doesn’t go anywhere. It just ceases to exist. Two things must combine to make a light: a bulb and electricity. Without the combination, a light is impossible. So with the soul; unless body and breath are combined, there can be no soul. There is no such thing as a disembodied soul.

Does the word “soul” ever mean anything other than a living being?

Yes, it may mean also (1) life itself, or (2) the mind, or intellect. No matter which meaning is intended, the soul is still a combination of two things (body and breath), and it ceases to exist at death.

Can you explain John 11:26, which says, “And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die”?

This refers not to the first death, which all people die (Hebrews 9:27), but to the second death, which only the wicked die and from which there is no resurrection (Revelation 2:11; 21:8).

Matthew 10:28 says, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul.” Doesn’t this prove that the soul is undying?

No, it proves the opposite. The last half of the same verse proves that souls do die. It says, “But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The word “soul” here means life and refers to eternal life, which is a gift (Romans 6:23) that will be given to the righteous at the last day (John 6:54). No one can take away the eternal life that God bestows. (See also Luke 12:4, 5.)

Doesn’t 1 Peter 4:6 say the gospel was preached to dead people?

No, it says the gospel “was” preached to those who “are” dead. They are dead now, but the gospel “was” preached to them while they were yet living.

What about the souls crying out from under the altar in Revelation 6:9, 10?
Doesn’t this show that souls do not die?

No. This cry was figurative, as was the cry of Abel’s blood (Genesis 4:10). The word “soul” here means people (or living beings) who had been slain for their faith. Surely no one believes that souls who die literally lie under the altar, nor do people believe that the righteous beg God to punish their enemies. Rather, the righteous beg for mercy for their enemies, as Christ did on the cross (Luke 23:34).

Doesn’t the Bible say Christ went and preached to lost souls in hell between
His crucifixion and resurrection?

No, the Bible passage in question is 1 Peter 3:18-20. The preaching was done “by the Spirit” (verse 18) in Noah’s day–to people who were then living (verses 19, 20). The “spirits in prison” refers to people whose lives were in bondage to Satan. (See Psalm 142:7; Isaiah 42:6, 7; 61:1; and Luke 4:18.)

Here are more verses to study

The Wages Of Sin Is Death

Genesis 2:17, Genesis 3:3, 4, Genesis 3:22, 23, Ezekiel 18:4, 20, 26, Romans, Romans 6:23 5:12

King David is not in Heaven yet

Acts 2:29, 34

We return to dust at death

Gen. 3:19, Job 7:21, Job 10:9, Job 17:16, Job 20:11, Job 21:26, Job 34:15, Job 40:13, Psalms 22:15, 29, Ps. 30:9, Psalm 104:29, Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20, Ecclesiastes 12:7, Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2

The Bible calls death a sleep

Deut. 31:16, 2 Sam. 7:12, 1 Kings 1:21, 1 Kings 2:10, 1 Kings 11:21, 1 Kings 11:43, 1 Kings 14:20, 1 Kings 14:31, 1 Kings 15:8, 1 Kings 15:24, 1 Kings 16:6, 1 Kings 16:28, 1 Kings 22:40, 1 Kings 22:50, 2 Kings 8:24, 2 Kings 10:35, 2 Kings 13:9, 2 Kings 13:13, 2 Kings 14:16, 2 Kings 14:22, 2 Kings 14:29, 2 Kings 15:7, 2 Kings 15:22, 2 Kings 15:38, 2 Kings 16:20, 2 Kings 20:21, 2 Kings 21:18, 2 Kings 24:6, 2 Chr. 9:31, 2 Chr. 12:16,

“So Abijah slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 14:1).

“And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign” (2 Chr. 16:13).

“Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 21:1).

“He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 26:2).

“So Uzziah slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 26:23).

“And Jotham slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 27:9).

“And Ahaz slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 28:27).

“And Hezekiah slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 32:33).

“So Manasseh slept with his fathers” (2 Chr. 33:20).

“Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, with kings and counsellers of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor” (Job 3:12-18).

“For now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be” (Job 7:21).

“So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep” (Job 14:12).

“Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death” (Ps. 13:3).

“In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.”

“And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts” (Jer. 51:39, 40, 57).

“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.”

“But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days” (Dan. 12:2, 13).

“He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn” (Mat. 9:24).

“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose” (Mat. 27:52). [Note on the Greek: "bodies" is in the nominative case, while "saints" and the participle "slept" are in the genitive case. This means that it is the saints who are said to be sleeping, not their bodies. It could well be translated, "many bodies of the sleeping saints." So the entire being sleeps, not just the body.]

“And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth” (Mark 5:39).

“And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth” (Luke 8:52).

“These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead” (John 11:11-14).

“And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:60).

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption” (Acts 13:36).

“The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead [Greek: koimao, "be asleep"], she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:39).

“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Cor. 11:30).

“After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

“Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 20, 51).

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep” (1 Thess. 4:13-15).

“And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet. 3:4).

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13).

Does a person have any role at all to play in becoming righteous by faith?  Matthew 7:21

Answer: Yes, Jesus says we must do His Father’s will. In Old Testament days, a person who truly had been converted kept bringing lambs to sacrifice, indicating his sorrow for sin and his whole-hearted desire to let the Lord totally lead in his life.

Today, though we cannot work the miracles needed to become righteous, we must daily recommit to Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:31), inviting Him to control our lives so those miracles can take place. We must be willing to be obedient and to follow where Jesus leads (John 12:26; Isaiah 1:18-20).

Sin causes us to want to have our own way (Isaiah 53:6) and, thus, rebel against the Lord as Satan did in the beginning (Isaiah 14:12-14). Permitting Jesus to rule our lives is sometimes as difficult as having an eye plucked out or an arm torn off (Matthew 5:29, 30), because sin is addictive and can be overcome only by our faith in Jesus and what He did for us at the cross.  Mark 10:27

Many believe that Jesus will take all who profess salvation to heaven, regardless of their conduct. But this is not so. It is a fabrication of Satan. A Christian must follow Jesus’ lifestyle (1 Peter 2:21). The powerful blood of Jesus can accomplish this for us all (Hebrews 13:12), but only if we give Jesus full control of our lives and happily follow where He leads–even though the path may sometimes be stony and rough (Matthew 7:13, 14, 21).

Do Ghosts exist?

What is the Soul and Spirit?