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The Doctrine of Soul Sleep

Some groups of evangelicals and what have you teach the doctrine that when a born-again Christian dies he/she falls into what is called "soul sleep" until the "last day" or better yet, the resurrection. (It’s sad, but Adventists as well as the Witnesses adhere to this) I would not divide with a Christian brother or sister on this but I would be lying to say that it is true. I believe that it is clearly revealed in the Bible that a born-again believer is immediately in the presence of the Lord at death. The "soul" and "spirit" are separate from the body. The body can die but the spirit remains until we receive our resurrected glorified body. (Philippians 3:21) Let’s look into God’s unbroken Word and see what it says.

Let’s start with the OT and work our way to the NT. If the soul, spirit, and body were one in the same then when one dies, or ceases to exist, the other two would be in the same boat so to speak. In 1 Samuel 28 we read of Saul’s visit to the witch at Endor. Saul sought a woman with a familiar, or demonic spirit. It is apparent from this that the witch did not intend to call up Samuel but one of her own "familiar" spirits to speak for Samuel. She was terrified when Samuel actually appeared to her. The point here is this: Samuel’s body still lay decaying in the grave but yet his spirit was there. He conversed with the witch and Saul but his body was still dead. Now if the soul sleep doctrine is indeed a fact then Samuel’s body should have been resurrected. Although the account doesn’t say that Samuel disappeared I am sure that he did for God allowed him to give those words to Saul about the upcoming Philistine onslaught that would overtake Israel.

In Ecclesiastes 12:7 we read, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Although there is nothing said about the body there it will become plain as day (as we go further) that the body and spirit are separate. We will not receive our resurrected bodies until the last day but the spirit returns immediately to God. (NOTE: Adventist apologists lean heavily on Ecclesiastes, but some scholars contend that it simply describes Solomon’s apostasy and shouldn’t be used to determine doctrinal views. The above verse contradicts all their points about Ecclesiastes anyway.)

In 1 John 5:11-13 we read, "And this is the record, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life. These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." The Greek word "aionios," translated "eternal" means "perpetual." This indicates to us that "eternal life" is the present possession of every believer.

In John 11 Jesus is preparing to resurrect Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had already been dead for some time and Martha tells Christ that if He had been there Lazarus would not have died. Jesus tells her that he will rise again. (v.23) Martha thought he was talking about the resurrection at the last day however. (v.24) Jesus then lays it out for us in the next two verses. He indicates that "he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live…. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." Now He also included Lazarus in that statement but Lazarus was physically dead. That makes it very precarious for one to still contend that there is a soul sleep when Jesus specifically states that a believer, such as Lazarus, will NEVER die when we know that Lazarus was indeed physically dead. From those passages it is impossible to make a viable argument for the doctrine of soul sleep. In contrast we know that the unbeliever is just as dead as someone that has set up permanent residency at the cemetery. (Ephesians 2:1) "Nekros," translated "dead" indicates something "dead" or "a corpse." Just think of any unbeliever that you know personally. They are physically alive but according to God’s Word they are as dead as dead can be. In John 5:24-25 Jesus says, "He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life." The Greek "aionos" is used here also, translated as "everlasting."

In 2 Timothy 1:10 we read that Jesus Christ has abolished death and brought life and "immortality" to us. Immortality is the present possession of every believer. The Greek "aphtharsia," translated "immortality" means "unending existence." The point is very clear. We can tie in Romans 2:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 to this verse also. "Aphtharsia" is used in Romans 2:7 also and "athanasia," meaning "deathlessness" is used in 1 Corinthians 15:53-54.

In Philippians 1:21-24 Paul tells us that being with Christ is far better. "To live is Christ, TO DIE IS GAIN." Now what would Paul gain with what would be now a 1,900+ year soul sleep? Paul wanted to be with Christ and the only way that could be accomplished would be death, which did not scare him at all. Paul obviously thought that he would be with Christ immediately. Living in the flesh was Paul’s "fruit of my (his) labor." Now if that was the fruit of his labor and being with Christ is far better, then I ask again, what would Paul possibly gain with a soul sleep? It is obvious from this that he would immediately be with Christ. This is also plainly stated in 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Hebrews 9:27. "… To be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord…. it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Not every verse in the Bible is easy to interpret but I think the doctrine of soul sleep has no foundation. God didn’t hide the truth from us in some cryptic code.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God can "divide(ing) asunder (the) soul and spirit, and the joints of the marrow…." God can separate these three things. We, like God, are a trinity. We are spirit, soul, and body. Let’s look at some more verses that show that the spirit and body are not inseparable. In Luke 8 Jesus raises a young girl from the dead. After she is raised in verse 55 it says, "AND HER SPIRIT CAME AGAIN…." I don’t see any allegorical meaning in that. Her spirit, as indicated in such passages as 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Ecclesiastes 12:7 had gone back to whom had created it. Jesus being the Creator raised her from the dead and her spirit came back to her. 

One must also note that "pneuma" is used in Luke 8:55 and not "psuche," if it was the latter the Soul Sleep advocate would have a case. Those who disagree still might contend that in context her "spirit" was just sleeping while her body was dead. While this may be the case (it doesn't necessarily indicate an "active" separation from the body), the accumulating evidence will render a verdict against the soul sleep crowd.

In Acts 7:59 Stephen was being stoned by the Jews and he says in verse 59, "… Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Obviously Stephen believed that he would be with Christ immediately. Lastly, words from Christ Himself. While Christ was on the cross the thieves threw insults at him initially. However, one of them had a change of heart. He asked Jesus to remember him when he comes into His kingdom. Jesus replied, "Verily I say unto thee, TODAY shalt thou be with me in paradise." Now some people attempt to finagle the wording here to suit their position. For example, they might change it to "Verily, I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise." If you paid attention the only change was the comma. It was moved to AFTER TODAY in the second example of Luke 23:43. However, if you look at it as it is in the SECOND version Jesus would be speaking redundancy. Whenever Jesus said the words "verily I say unto you" He didn’t have to qualify them–qualification was unnecessary. That would be like Jesus saying, "Verily I say unto you, that is today I am saying to you." You can see the redundancy in that statement, that verse calls into question the doctrine of soul-sleep.

Moreover, Jesus gave His spirit up to the Father in verse 46, but His physical body lay in Joseph of Arimathaea’s tomb for three days and nights. But He gave His spirit up to the Father and it was in heaven. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 we read, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God BRING WITH HIM…Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up TOGETHER WITH them in the clouds…" The Greek preposition "sun," which means "together with" is specifically used in verse 17 indicating that the believers that are alive at the time will be caught up in the air with the dead in Christ. As indicated in verse 14, Christ will bring those physically deceased with Him. They are already with Him and are not participating in some "soul sleep."

In Luke 16 we have the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Soul Sleep advocates will be quick to point out that this is a parable, thus it can be employed to display a literal truth (that you will be tormented in the afterlife if you haven’t come to terms with Christ) but the Rich Man and Lazarus (and Abraham) weren’t really alive.

V. 23-24 read: "In Hades [The Rich Man] lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’"

The Greek "oduano" translated "agony" means "to grieve." The Rich Man is in "sorrow," he is "tormented and vexed" in this place. The reasons for this are clear, he is very thirsty and wants Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue. Lazarus, who is depicted as having a literal finger to dip in water–is asked to go to the Rich Man and quence his literal thirst. To insinuate that this is all metaphorical is quite a stretch indeed.

In closing, there are enough OT and NT passages that gravitate against the soul sleep doctrine I marvel at how one can still contend that it is factual. I would never divide with a Christian brother on this but I think anyone who teaches it is teaching something not found nor displayed in God’s unbreakable Word.