The 1689 Confession
of Faith
Study 40: Of Man's
State After Death and the Resurrection (31:1-3)
Introduction
a. The last two
chapters of the Confession deal with the subject of eschatology - ie. the
doctrine of the last things; both chapters are identical to the WCF and
the Savoy Declaration.
- The state between
physical death and the general resurrection at the end of time is commonly
referred to as the intermediate state; it is by definition, obviously, a
temporary state. When a man dies he enters the intermediate state, with body
and spirit separated, and remains there until the day of resurrection.
- Since this condition
is not the final destiny of either the righteous or the wicked, it is called
the intermediate state. The intermediate state is subject to immense changes
during the general resurrection.
- It is after the
resurrection that a man enters an eternally changeless and unchangeable final
state.
b. The chapter
summarizes the biblical teaching on the intermediate state by means of three
all-important distinctions, i.e.
i. the distinction
between the body and the spirit (soul) in the intermediate state, and
ii. the distinction
between the righteous and the wicked in the intermediate state.
iii. The distinction
between the just and the unjust in the final/eternal state.
c. Is man
dichotomous (body and spirit) or trichotomous (body, spirit, and soul)? Please
remember these things that will help us to understand the subject more
precisely: let's look at a few relevant passages:
i. Gen 2:7 “And the
LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
- The body with the
breath of life = a living soul. Man does not have a soul; he is a soul, a
living soul when the spirit and the body are in union. A living man consists of
a spirit and a body in union; a dead man consists of a body of dust only. The
spirit is the breath of life breathed into him by God.
ii. Ecc 12:7 “Then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto
God who gave it.”
- The divine breath
of life brought dust to life. When the spirit leaves the body, death occurs; if
there is a distinct separate soul, where does it go?
iii. 1Co 6:20 “For
ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's.”
- A man consists of
a body and a spirit; the Lord redeemed them both. If there is a separate soul,
is it purchased?
iv. 1Th 5:23 “And
the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and
soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- When the body and the
spirit are united, there is a living soul; God preserves our soul (spirit and
body united) when we are alive AS WELL AS when we are dead (body and spirit
separated).- God is not the God of the dead but of the living; the whole man is
a living soul, with body and spirit united.
v. The terms soul
and spirit are used interchangeably in some passages of Scriptures; however,
these do not negate the clear distinctions between them as indicated.
vi. Some defend the
trichotomy, reasoning that since man is made in the image of God, therefore
must be body, spirit, and soul since God’s is a Trinity! This idea is, at best,
mere soundbyte and a travesty; at worse, wresting Scriptures.
- Man is made in the
image of God in that there is PLURALITY of persons in the one man – the male
man is distinct from the female man.
d. Your body and
spirit are held together by the power of God; remember that too.
- Therefore, glorify
your heavenly Father, and bless your Elder Brother Jesus Christ each day while
your body and spirit remain united; they will soon part way for a while.
Paragraph 1. The
bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption;1 but their souls,
which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return
to God who gave them.2 The souls of the
righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise,
where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God in light and glory,
waiting for the full redemption of their bodies;3 and the souls of the wicked
are cast into hell; where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved
to the judgment of the great day;4 besides these two places, for souls
separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.
1 Gen. 3:19; Acts
13:36 2 Eccles. 12:7 3 Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:1,6,8; Phil. 1:23;
Heb. 12:23 4 Jude 6, 7; 1 Peter 3:19; Luke 16:23,24
1. Man enters the
intermediate state at physical death (31:1a)
a. Death occurs when
the spirit separates from the body.
i. Their bodies:
'The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption...'
- “… for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen 3:19b
- The bodies shall
decompose and return to dust. Death is judicially imposed by God as the just
and righteous wages of death. Gen 2:17 vs 3:14 – God’s “thou shalt surely die”
versus the serpent’s “ye shall not surely die.”
ii. Their souls
(spirits): “... but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an
immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.”
- Negatively: the
spirits neither die nor sleep: this repudiated the twin ideas of annihilation
(cease to exist) and soul sleep (unconscious state)
- Affirmatively: the
spirits have immortal subsistence (i.e. the state of remaining), so they do not
die or sleep; like the bodies, the spirits return to their source, to God who
gave them; from whence they had come.
- The spirits return
to God who gave them to stand for judgment. Heb 9:27.
- There is judgment
appointed for each man after his physical death; this judgment is according to
works; this judgment determines when a man will spend his intermediate state,
either in paradise or in hell.
b. The 1689 takes
for granted the biblical view that man is dichotomous
Man consists of two,
and only two, distinct parts, namely, body and spirit; man is both body and
spirit in unity.
- The Bible teaches
the nature of man as a unity, a living soul of body and spirit in union. Every
act of man is seen as an act of the whole man. It is not the spirit but man
that sins; it is not the body but man that dies; and it is not merely the
spirit, but whole man, body and spirit, that is redeemed in Christ. cp Gen 2:7.
1Cor 6:20.
- It is the
abnormality of death which most clearly reveals the dichotomy in man's
constitution.
- The 1689 CoF takes for
granted the origin of spirit in each individual person; it takes the biblical
view that each individual soul is an immediate creation of God, owing its
origin to a direct creative act. cf Ec 12;7; Isa 42:5; Zech 12:1; Heb 12:9.
- The spirit
'neither dies nor sleeps, having an immortal subsistence': 'immortal subsistence' means continues to
exist or have being after the physical death. Physical death does not bring the
cessation of the spirit; the spirit continues in a conscious existence after
death.
- The spirits return
to God for the purpose of it being assigned its preliminary/temporal reward or
punishment during the intermediate until the final judgment on the resurrection
day.
c. Death is a penal
consequence of sin.
- As a penal consequence of sin, death is a perversion of
God's created order, part of the ruin which man's rebellion made of God's
perfect creation.
- As such, it is
unnatural, and abnormal in the most precise sense of the word. Death is an evil
thing. It tears asunder the body and the spirit that God has joined at
creation. It is a complete contradiction of their created characters.
- Death is a radical
and unnatural tearing apart of the spirit and body resulting in a decay and
dissolution of the body and the
nakedness of the spirit. Neither of them was ever intended to exist apart from
the other.
2. The Condition of
the Righteous in the Intermediate State (31:1b)
a. Their immediate
entrance into this condition:
- There is NO
interim period between death and the entrance of the righteous into paradise,
the INTERMEDIATE state of blessedness.
b. Their perfect
holiness in this condition:
- '... made perfect
in holiness…'
- As to their moral
and ethical state, the righteous are made absolutely sinless. Their spirits are
made perfectly conformed to the perfect
righteousness of God. Their bodies are still buried in corruption, dishonour,
weakness. 1Cor 15:42ff
c. Their delightful
circumstances in this condition:
- “… are received
into paradise…” Paradise is the intermediate state for the godly, the rewards
for the godly according to works.
- paradise: παράδεισος (paradeisos); heaven οὐρανός, ouranos. Paradise and heaven are NOT synonymous.
- 'Paradise' is the
abode of the righteous during the intermediate state; it’s their reward for
living righteously. Paradise assures us that the souls of the righteous are in
an abode of blessed happiness.
- LISTEN UP:
paradise is NOT heaven; stop being woolly!
d. The blessed
companion in this condition:
- '... where they
are with Christ ...' Christ is omnipresent.
- The righteous will
be in the presence of their blessed Lord and Saviour, the lover of their souls.
e. Their glorious
privilege in this condition:
- '... look upon the face of God in light and
glory...'
- In a sense that no
sinful mortal may, the souls of the righteous behold, and exist in the presence
of the manifested glory of God.
f. Their expectation
of glorification in this condition:
- '... waiting for the full redemption of
their bodies.'
- Great and manifold
their blessings are, yet their blessedness is not yet complete.
- They wait for the
full redemption of their bodies. For even the spirits in such a glorious state are incomplete and naked until clothed with their glorified body on the resurrection
day.
- So, the
intermediate state is distinctly different from the final eternal state in
heaven itself;
3. The Condition of
the Wicked during the Intermediate State (31.1b)
a. Who are the
wicked spoken here: the ungodly children of God or the natural men?
- Their location: “…
and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell…”
- The intermediate
state of the wicked is a place that is entered by men and prepared for wicked
men.
- And this place of
conscious torment and misery is a place from which there is no escape until the
general resurrection at the end of time.
- Hell must
surrender and deliver up its captives (Rev 20:13-14) to Him who holds the keys
of hell and of death, Rev 1:18
b. Their
circumstances: “… where they remain in torment and utter darkness…”
- The condition is
one of conscious torment and misery.
c. Their
expectation: “… reserved to the judgment of the great day;”
- Hell is just an
intermediate state, it lasts until the judgment of the great day, when it shall
be determined whether they enter heaven or be cast into the lake of fire.
- Those whose names
were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life shall be ushered into their eternal
inheritance. The rest shall be cast into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:15)
4. The repudiation
of other imagined alternatives (31:1c)
a. “… besides these
two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth
none.”
- PLEASE NOTE
CLOSELY, the Authors are speaking of “souls separated from their bodies” after
physical death; the INTERMEDIATE STATE. The Authors are NOT SPEAKING of the
eternal state of heaven or the lake of fire.
- These are the only
two places – paradise and hell - during the intermediate state.
- What is implied
all along is now stated explicitly. The RCC's heresy of purgatory is
repudiated.
- There is no
soul-sleep, no purgatory, or any other imagined alternatives.
Paragraph 2. At the
last day, such of the saints as are found alive, shall not sleep, but be
changed;5 and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and
none other;6 although with different qualities, which shall be united again to
their souls forever.7
5. 1Cor. 15:51,52; 1Thess. 4:17 6. Job 19:26,27 7. 1Cor. 15:42,43
5. The Final Change
at the Last Day (31:2)
a. The time of this
final change
- “... At the last
day...”: the day of Christ’s return at the end of the gospel age; it’s the last
day, at the end of time.
- The final change
will take place at the same time for all men, both the living and the dead, the
righteous and the wicked.1Th 4:14ff.
- The various numbers of secret raptures of the saints propagated in Dispensationalism have no
biblical basis; they are all fables of men and doctrines of demons. 2Tim 4:4.
b. The subject of
the final change:
i. The saints that
are living:
- “… such of the
saints as are found alive…” Those saints that are living at the time of
Christ’s return.
- “… shall not
sleep, but be changed…”
- Without passing
through death they will be transformed and receive the glorified body and
existence. 1Th 4:13-17; 1Cor 15:50-53; 2Cor 5;1-4.
ii. All those saints
that are asleep:
- “…and all the dead
shall be raised up…” All the saints that are asleep/dead, without exception.
c. The character of
the final change
- “… with the
selfsame bodies, and none other…”
- “… although with
different qualities,
- This statement
involves a crucial biblical tension and balance. The resurrection body is the
identical body which we now possess. However, it is this identical body with a
difference. It is this body with different qualities...
the old is transformed into the new. This is continuity as well as
discontinuity.
- Read 1Cor 15:50-53.
- Therefore the
resurrection body is a glorified physical body. A glorified body is not a
non-material body!!
d. The permanence of
the glorious change:
- “... which (i.e.
the resurrected bodies) bodies shall be united again to their souls for ever.”
- The glorious
change brought about by the resurrection (transformation in the cases of the
living saints) is final and permanent. No further alteration in the physical or
spiritual condition of any human being is conceivable after the final change
wrought by the resurrection of the dead and the judgment.
- This marks the
beginning of the state of eternity, the state of perfection and changelessness;
this makes them fit for their entrance into their eternal inheritance. 1Pet 1:4
Paragraph 3. The
bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the
bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honour, and be made conformable to his
own glorious body. Acts 24:15; John
5:28,29; Phil. 3:21
6. The Contrast in
the Final Change (31:3)
a. The resurrection
of the unjust
- “The bodies of the
unjust shall…”
- The unjust are
those not justified by God; these have not the righteousness of Christ imputed
to them; they are still under the righteous condemnation of their sins. The
names of these are not found written in the Book of Life.
b. The eternal
destiny of the unjust
- “… by the power of
Christ, be raised to dishonour.' cp. Dan 12:2; Jn 5:28-29.
- Christ holds the
keys of hell and death, Rev 1:18. At Christ’s command, hell and death must
deliver up those held captives in them, Rev 20:13. Christ will cast the emptied
hell and death into the lake of fire.
- In the proper
sense theirs is not a resurrection, a restoration to life, at all. Though they
are raised physically, they are not raised to 'life everlasting', but unto
'death eternal'.
- Death is no refuge
from divine wrath! Each unjust (not justified freely by God through Christ)
will stand before the judgment throne.
- 'dishonour': the
repulsive and loathsome nature of sin will be visible in the very bodies of the
unrighteous.
- “And whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev
20:15
c. The resurrection
of the just
- “… the bodies of
the just…”
- The just are those
justified freely by the grace of God based solely upon the righteousness of
Christ. These are the elect… Rom 8:29-30.
d. The divine agent
of the resurrection
- “… by the power of
Christ…”
- “… by his Spirit…”
- The unjust are
raised by the power of Christ, the just/righteous are raised by His Spirit.
e. The eternal
destiny of the just:
i. “…unto honour…”
- See the contrast
in 1Cor 15 between the present body and the resurrection body.
ii. '... and made
conformable to His own glorious body.' Rm 8:17,29-30; 1Cor 15:20-23,48-49; etc.
- Christ's
resurrection body is the pattern for our own. O what a guaranteed hope of a
glorious resurrection body.
