Where Do The Souls Of The Dead Go?

WHERE DO THE SOULS OF THE DEAD GO?

Bishop Marthy C. Austria

H.U.G. of Christ Fellowship PURE GRACE

This is a common question of people who sincerely want a clear answer to their questions. For they do not really know the answer. They are confused because their inherited religions have confused them ever since their existence in this world.

The common religious answer to this question is: “The souls of the dead go to heaven… or to hell… or to purgatory…”

Is that the truth? What does the Holy Scriptures teach about this matter?

In order for us to understand what the Holy Scriptures teach about it, we have to make sure that all our answers are based on the written revelation of God only, and that book is this book called the Holy Bible or the Holy Scriptures given to us. And this book is the King James Bible.

Does the soul really get out of the body to go independently to heaven or to hell or to purgatory?

First, let us go to the beginning or the creation of man.

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 LORD God “FORMED” man from the “DUST” of the ground.

§  And so the “BODY” of man from the dust was formed.

§  But this body has “NO LIFE” or “DEAD”.

§  and the LORD God “BREATHED” into the man’s nostrils “THE BREATH OF LIFE”.

§  It means God breathed “LIFE” into the “DEAD” or “LIFELESS” body.

§  The result: man from being a “DEAD SOUL” became a “LIVING SOUL”.

§  The dead body or the dead soul became a living soul because of the breath of life.

As we can see, in the beginning when God made man, man had the form (his body), that was complete form from the head to the torso to the limbs… with all internal organs, cells and tissues and bones. Inside and outside – complete  and nothing lacking. But there was a problem. That man was like a robot without a battery. He could not move or even to twinkle an eye he couldn’t. Why? Because he had no life! He was dead! There was no “SPIRIT OF LIFE” within him. So what did God do? God “BREATHED” INTO him the “BREATH OF LIFE”. What happened next? Man BECAME a LIVING SOUL.  A dead soul became a living soul.

Is the soul the spirit? No. They are different. The soul is always connected to the body. The soul cleaveth unto dust (Psalms 119:25). Was there already the soul even when the breath of life was not yet breathed into the man? Yes, there was because that man was the soul itself. The body was the soul itself. But it was a “DEAD SOUL” because it was not animated by “THE SPIRIT” or “THE BREATH OF LIFE”. But when the “BREATH” of life was breathed into the man’s body, that body, the man became a “LIVING SOUL”. It received its life from the “BREATH OF LIFE”.

What happens when the “BREATH OF LIFE” or the “SPIRIT” leaves the body and returns to God?

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

What will happen to the soul? Will the soul go to heaven or to hell or purgatory as others assume? No!  The soul is the man. The soul cleaves to the dust (body). The soul is the “natural” part of man. It is called the “NATURAL BODY” (1 Corinthians 15:44). This body is from “the earth”, “earthy”, “weak”, “corruptible” and “mortal” (1 Corinthians 15: 43,47,48,53).

Therefore when man dies because man is the soul, the soul goes where man’s body goes. Remember: the soul cleaves to the dust. The Bible says that “the DUST shall RETURN to the DUST”. Man’s body came from “THE DUST OF THE GROUND” (Genesis 2:7). That’s the soul which is earthy, natural, weak, corruptible and mortal. That’s the nature of the human soul. Therefore it will return to where it came from – the dust of the ground.

Does the soul of man go to heaven or to hell or to purgatory when a man dies? No. As we can see, THE SOUL that CLEAVETH to the DUST “RETURNS” to THE DUST of the ground AS IT WAS.

That’s it? Yes! That’s it. That’s how it is. No matter who you are or what you are, when you die you go back to the ground. You go back to the dust of the ground.

Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Why does man return to the dust? Or why does the “LIVING SOUL” die?

Ezekiel 18:4 the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Why does the soul die? The soul that sins, it shall die. What do you call a soul that died? “DEAD SOUL”. Why does a living soul become a dead soul? Because it sins.

James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.

The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth it shall die. That’s the end of the soul that sins – death. Remember, that soul is the man himself. So when man sins, his soul sins because he is the soul. And the result of sin – death. That man dies. The soul dies. The soul cleaveth unto the dust. The soul (the body, the man, the dust) returns to DUST. It means he returns to nothing.

 Genesis 3:19  for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Now, does the soul of the dead man go to heaven or to hell (lake of fire) or to purgatory? The answer is a BIG “NO”!

The soul of man which is man himself does not go to heaven or to hell (lake of fire) or to purgatory, but to “THE DUST” as it was.

Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

That’s what the Bible teaches. Religion made us to believe that the soul of man is immortal and so after death it will have an immortal life in heaven or an everlasting punishment or torment in the lake of fire. The Roman Catholic Church even invented a doctrine that the soul of the Roman Catholic faithful who only made “VENIAL” sins and not “MORTAL” sins when he was living, will go to “PURGATORY” for a temporary purging or cleansing by fire…. and after some time or years (based on his living relatives’ paying of indulgences by the sacrifice of the Mass)… that soul will be relived of purgatory and go to heaven. What hogwash! Religious confusion!  All of these are not solid teachings of the Scriptures.

The “immortalists” …. including the Roman Catholics, the Protestants, the Evangelicals, the Christians… teach that the soul of man after death goes to heaven to experience eternal bliss or to hellfire to experience  eternal torture in the lake of fire. Does the Bible teach these things? NO!

Let us remember that “THE SOUL” cleaveth TO THE DUST. Its nature is weak, mortal and corruptible because it came from the earth. This is earthy. This soul is “FLESH AND BLOOD”.

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The soul which is flesh and blood, earthy, weak, mortal and corruptible and cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It means that the soul cannot enter heaven which is spiritual. The soul came from the earth so it will return to the earth. It will never go to heaven.

Now if the soul of man does not leave man after death because the soul cleaveth to the dust and is the man himself, and when man dies, his soul dies and where man goes the soul goes, i.e. to the dust. Then what is that part of man that leaves him when he dies? It is called “spirit”.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

When a man dies, it means he gave up the spirit….. he stopped breathing…. his spirit leaves his body and returns to God who gave it. That’s what the Bible teaches.

That’s not the soul. When man dies his soul dies, his body returns to dust and his spirit goes back to God who gave it. (Later we will know what kind of man we are talking about).

The soul is not immortal. Remember what we learned before? The SOUL is natural, earthy, weak, mortal, corruptible and flesh and blood. It is neither immortal, nor incorruptible, nor spiritual, nor heavenly, nor powerful.

Christians often use the words spirit and soul interchangeably and oftentimes make them as only one saying that the soul is the spirit and the spirit is the soul. That’s why they have invented the term “SPIRITUAL DEATH”. Spiritual death? No! The spirit does not die, so there is no such thing as “spiritual death”. It is an erroneous teaching. A very traditional Christian teaching that lacks Biblical support. There is no “spiritual death”. The spirit does not die. What is the one that dies? The Bible says: “THE SOUL THAT SINNETH IT SHALL DIE”. What is that thing that dies It is not the spirit but it is the soul. The “SPIRIT” is IMMORTAL. The “SOUL” is MORTAL. It is the soul that dies. And not the spirit.

So if the spirit does not die, then there is no “spiritual death”! It is the soul that dies. So what do you call it? “Spiritual death”? No! The death of the soul is “soulish death” or “soulical death” or “natural death”. Every man dies. Every soul dies.

What can you say about this verse:

Joshua 11:11 And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.

Joshua and his army smote “THE SOULS” with “THE EDGE OF THE SWORD”, utterly “DESTROYING” them. If the soul is immortal, how can it be smitten and destroyed? How can it be killed? The soul is mortal. Because the soul is the man himself. When Joshua destroyed those souls, it means Joshua destroyed their bodies with the sword. Because the soul is the “NATURAL” part of man. It is not invisible. It is the man himself.

The part of man which is “INVISIBLE” and ‘SPIRITUAL” which returns to God is “THE SPIRIT”. Remember: God is a SPIRIT (John 4:24).

Do all spirits go back to God?

Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

This verse is in the form of a question. And you may say that the writer of this book is not stating a truth. He asks this question “who knoweth”. There is a truth in this verse. Asking a question doesn’t mean he is uncertain or he doesn’t know. He may not have answered the question directly but surely the answer is in that book and in the full revelation of the Scriptures.

Before we answer the question “Do all spirits go back to God?” let us read the verse that precedes the verse above:

Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

According to Ecclesiastes 3:20

§  “ALL” go unto “ONE PLACE”. What is that? The “DUST OF THE GROUND”.

§  “ALL” are “FROM” the “DUST”, and “ALL” turn “TO DUST” again.

§  “ALL” here are “THE SONS OF MEN” and “THE BEASTS” (Ecclesiastes 3:19).

All – both man and beast go unto “ONE PLACE” and that is “THE GROUND”.

Remember in Genesis 2:7 “MAN” was “FORMED” from “THE DUST OF THE GROUND”.  In Genesis 2:19 “EVERY BEAST OF THE FIELD” was “FORMED” from “OUT OF THE GROUND”. So it is evident that “BOTH” man and beast came from the ground and “BOTH” will return to the “GROUND” again.

What are the “beasts”? Are they “the animals”? There are places in the Bible when the word “beasts” is used for “animals” but in other areas, whenever the word “beasts” is used, it is talking about “man” or “wicked men” or men who do not know God or are not in relationship with the LORD God.

What can you say about this “BEAST”? A talking beast. The “”SERPENT” of Genesis 3 was a “TALKING BEAST”. This beast, the serpent “said to the woman” (Genesis 3:1). He talked to the woman just like a man. Surely this was not an animal. This beast was “A MAN”. Also this beast was not what religion calls the immortal archangel Lucifer who became Satan. (Satan myth). That beast was neither an angel nor an “animal” but was “A MAN” who was “wicked” and in opposition to the people of God. You may call him a “devil” or “satan” if you wish. He was one of what the Bible calls “satan” in the sense that he was “adversary”. There are many “satan” in the whole Bible. There is not only one “satan”. But this serpent was not an immortal being that existed since then until now.

There were four characters in Genesis 3:

§  the LORD God – Jehovah God the creator

§  the man – the first Adam or son of God, the image and the glory of God, servant of God, in relationship with God

§  the woman – the mother of all living, Eve, the glory of the man

§  the serpent – the beast, the wicked, the enemy of Adam and Eve

The Cretians in Titus 1:12 were called by Paul the apostle as “alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.” Of course, Cretians were not “four-footed” animals with tails. No! But they were called “EVIL BEASTS” in a figurative way. Beasts are often used for the enemies of the gospel or enemies of God’s people. They are people who do not know God.

Let us go back to Ecclesiastes 3:20 and 21.

“ALL” – both “THE SONS OF MEN” and “THE BEASTS” go unto “ONE PLACE” and that is the “GROUND” for both came from the ground. BOTH of these are “MEN”. When we use the “BEAST” here, we mean “MEN” who are not in relationship with God.  Ecclesiastes 3:18 says that the sons of men “they themselves ARE BEASTS”.

There are therefore two kinds of men or sons of men here: the first are the sons of men which are “BEASTS” which are “WICKED” (Ecclesiastes 3:17) and the second are the sons of men which are “RIGHTEOUS” (Ecclesiastes 3:17) and called “MAN” (Ecclesiastes 3:21). Both of them “MAN” and “BEAST” (Righteous and Wicked) go unto “ONE PLACE” and that is the “GROUND” or the “GRAVE”.

Ecclesiastes 3:21 says that:

§  the “SPIRIT” of “MAN” goeth “UPWARD” to God.

§  the “SPIRIT” of  the “BEAST” goeth “DOWNWARD” to the earth.

Do you see what is “common” with “MAN” and “BEAST” and what are their “differences” regarding their destiny?

BOTH “MAN” and “BEAST” i.e. the RIGHTEOUS and the WICKED when they die go unto ONE PLACE which is their grave. They both die and return to “DUST”. That’s what will happen to their souls, or to their bodies.

But the next verse teaches their separate destinies.

§  The “SPIRIT” of the “RIGHTEOUS” (MAN) goes UPWARD. Upward to what? Ecclesiastes 12:7 says it goes “upward” UNTO GOD who gave it. The spirit goes back to God “the Father of spirits” (Hebrews 12:9).

§  The “SPIRIT” of the “WICKED” (BEAST) goes DOWNWARD. Downward to what? DOWNWARD “TO THE EARTH”. It doesn’t go to heaven. It doesn’t go the mythical “eternal hellfire” to be tormented there forever. Then where does it go? The spirit of the beast goes downward to earth. It unites with the soul in going back to the earth or the ground.

Let us clarify some things:

When we speak about “spirit” we are not merely talking about “the breath”, i.e. the breath from God that animates us and gives us life in this “biological” and “natural body”. The “spirit” is more than that.

The “SPIRIT” of man may mean:

§  The breath that animates man and gives man “biological” life.

§  A disposition such as “spirit of wisdom”, “spirit of understanding”, etc.

§  The “knowing”, “discerning” or “perceiving” part of man (1 Corinthians 2:11; Proverbs 20:27); that communes with God and receives God’s revelations and confirmations (Romans 8:16).

§  The individual, the man himself, his inner man, his inner self, his mind, his seat of understanding, his person. As God himself is “a Spirit” and the angels are “spirits”.

Regarding the “spirit” which is the “BREATH”:

Now when we say that “the spirit returns to God who gave it”, it means that God takes back the “breath of life” that animates men. So if he takes them back, it means they die. Their bodies die because “the body without the spirit is DEAD” (James 2:26). And when the wicked and the righteous die, both of them go unto the earth (dust). Their souls cleave to the dust. The “spirit” or the “breath” of both the wicked and the righteous will return to God.

Regarding the “spirit” which is the “PERSON” himself:  

God is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). God is the one who “formeth the spirit of man within him” (Zechariah 12:1) from the womb (Isaiah 44:2).

The “spirit” of the righteous (which is now the righteous himself) will go upward to God in heaven. When God takes the spirit/breath of the righteous, the righteous goes back to God.

The spirit of the wicked (which is now the wicked himself) will go downward to the earth.  When God takes back the spirit/breath of the wicked, the wicked never goes back to God. As his breath leaves him, he goes downward to the earth and that is the end of his existence. The Bible says that in that very day his thoughts perish. The wicked will end in the grave.

Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

The wicked shall be turned “INTO HELL”. What is that hell? It was called “Sheol” in Hebrew. Is it the so-called eternal torture chamber of souls? No! The word hell simply means “THE GRAVE”. Death and the grave. All wicked men will be utterly destroyed. That’s hell.

What do we mean by these?

ONLY THE RIGHTEOUS LIVE FOREVER with GOD!

The righteous live forever. The spirits of the righteous will go upward to God in heaven. The righteous are the people who have received “the gift of God” which is “ETERNAL LIFE” (Romans 6:23) through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have received “LIFE and IMMORTALITY” through the gospel of Christ.

What Ecclesiastes 12:7 says is this:  for the “RIGHTEOUS” man – the dust (body) shall return to the “EARTH” as it was. the spirit shall return to GOD who gave it. It is only the SPIRIT of the righteous man that goes back to God. These are “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23).

Simply speaking: when the wicked dies, he dies and returns to the ground where he came from. But when the righteous dies, even though his body returns to the dust of the earth, his spirit returns to God who gave it. It means the righteous will live forever with God in heaven.

There is no hope for the wicked.

Proverbs 11:7 When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.

Proverbs 14:32 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.

When a righteous man dies, where will he go? The Bible says his body returns to the earth but his spirit goes back to God who gave it.

Will the righteous go to heaven as “a spirit” only or with “a body”? 

Paul the apostle teaches a truth about it in his epistles. In 2 Corinthians 5:1, he says:

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

If our “EARTHLY HOUSE” of this “TABERNACLE” were dissolved. This “EARTHLY HOUSE” is “THE NATURAL BODY” or the “SOULISH BODY”, which is the BODY OF DEATH, the BODY that is mortal, natural, corruptible, weak, earthy and flesh and blood. This is called EARTHLY HOUSE because within this house lives the SPIRIT MAN. If this EARTHLY HOUSE where dissolved, is it the end? No! If this earthly house were dissolved, Paul continues, we know that “WE HAVE A BUILDING OF GOD”. Paul says, “WE HAVE” and not “WE WILL HAVE” as if it will happen in the future. He says “WE HAVE” which means during that moment he was speaking these words, there was “ALREADY” that “BUILDING OF GOD”.

Does it mean that there is another building besides that earthly house? Yes, and they are contemporary and simultaneous. He continues that this building from God is a “HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS”. This house is not made with the hands of man. It is not something that is produced by man’s effort. But this building is made with the hands of God himself. It is God who made it. Paul continues, “ETERNAL IN THE HEAVENS”. Wow!! This building is eternal. It cannot cease. It cannot be destroyed. It cannot be annihilated. It cannot be broken down. It exists forever. It is eternal. It is immortal. And it is “IN THE HEAVENS”. Because this house is “FROM HEAVEN” and “HEAVENLY”.

What is this “BUILDING OF GOD” which is ETERNAL in the heavens?

It is what Paul calls the “SPIRITUAL BODY”

1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

We have this “SPIRITUAL BODY”. When the “natural body” dies, this is not the end of us, but we continue to exist and live through the “SPIRITUAL BODY”.

So we will not be unclothed or naked. Even at this very moment, WE HAVE this building of God. We are clothed with this “SPIRITUAL BODY”. The kind of body that we will use in the “SPIRITUAL WORLD” in “THE HEAVENS” with GOD.

This “SPIRITUAL BODY” in contrast with the “NATURAL BODY” is

§  spiritual versus the natural body.

§  heavenly versus the earthy body.

§  immortal versus the mortal body.

§  incorruptible versus the corruptible body.

§  powerful versus weak body.

§  glorious versus non-glorious body.

§  kingdom of God versus flesh and blood body.

Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross in his death, burial and resurrection, “DEATH” was “ABOLISHED” and “LIFE AND IMMORTALITY” was given to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:10) who alone has immortality (1 Timothy 6:16).

Whenever a believer in Christ which is called “RIGHTEOUS” because he is “JUSTIFIED BY GRACE”  (Titus 3:7) dies, he knows that only his “natural body” dies and goes back to the earth, but his spirit returns to God who gave it. And he knows that when he returns to God he doesn’t return to God “naked and unclothed” but he returns to God with a body called “SPIRITUAL BODY” which is “ETERNAL IN THE HEAVENS”.

That’s why Paul says “to depart” from the body or the flesh is “TO BE WITH CHRIST” (Philippians 1:23) and that is “FOREVER”.

The wicked, the “beasts” or people who do not know God and who do not believe in the gospel of Christ, when they die, they die and never continue to live. That’s their end. Destruction. They came from dust and will return to dust.

Psalm 146:4-5 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

The SOULS of both the righteous and the wicked (that cleaves to the dust) returns to DUST. The SPIRIT of the wicked goes DOWNWARD to the earth and that very day his thoughts perish. “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).

Psalms 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Does God reanimate again the “DEAD SOUL” of the “RIGHTEOUS”? 

No! The soul is natural and earthy. Its nature is weak and corruptible. It is mortal. So its destiny is death and destruction. It came from dust and will return to dust. Therefore even the righteous’ soul will not be reanimated. God will not “breathe” again into the nostrils of man “the breath of life” in order for him to live again. If it happens, that man who is “breathed into” again by God he will again die after this. Because the nature of the soul is weak and corruptible. So what would God do?

The soul which is flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Even though it is reanimated it will never inherit the kingdom of God. Why? Because of its nature.

1 Corinthians 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him

And this body is the “SPIRITUAL BODY” which nature is immortal, heavenly and incorruptible.

God will never reanimate the soul because the soul will surely die. But God clothed the spirit with a “body”, the spiritual body fit for “spiritual world”. Today we have a building of God which is eternal in the heavens and that is the “SPIRITUAL BODY” that clothes us.

Do we have to wait for our death or for the “rapture” or the “second” coming of Christ in order for us to have this “spiritual body”?

No, we don’t have to wait for those things. Remember: the gift of God “IS” eternal life (Romans 6:23). Eternal life “IS” NOW and not something that will come in our future. Right now, we can possess eternal life by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord God and Saviour.

We don’t have to wait for the so-called “rapture” of the church. There is no such thing as “rapture”. Like the word “spiritual death”, it is a human invention and not supported by Scriptures. We don’t even have to wait for the “second” coming of Christ. If there’s a second coming, then there’s a third, a fourth, a fifth and so on.

Christ’s “second time”  appearing already happened in the first century (Hebrews 9:28) and that happened for the “salvation” of Israel and God’s judgment on the wicked world of Israel by destroying the temple and city of Jerusalem. Thus the destruction of their “heavens and earth” by fire (2 Peter 3:11-12). That was the physical manifestation of the termination of the world of the law which was already done legally and spiritually by the cross of Christ.

Even believers during the 40 years (30 to 70 A.D) didn’t have to wait for 70 A.D. coming of Christ in order to have “eternal life” and “immortality” because Paul said during that period that “WE HAVE” a building of God. They already have it. It is eternal in the heavens. It is a gift of God.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The wages of sin is death. The soul that sins it shall die. The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law. Because of this, everyone dies. No one is exempted. All both man and beasts go unto one place called DEATH.

But the good news is: Death is swallowed up in victory! Christ abolished the law of commandments (Ephesians 2:15). He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 9:26). He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10). And now he has given us eternal life as a gift. We have to receive this gift by simply believing in the gospel that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) and that we have redemption through his blood (Colossians 1:14) and so trusting in Jesus Christ as the All-sufficient Saviour (Acts 16:31).

We are not under the law but are under grace (Romans 6:14). And because of this we are assured that when we (believers) die we will go directly to heaven to be with Christ for ever in spiritual body which is eternal in the heavens.

Summary

1.    The souls of the dead do not go to heaven or hellfire or purgatory.

2.    The soul of man is the man himself. His soul cleaves to the dust. The soul is dust. The soul dies.

3.    The nature of the soul is earthy, natural, corruptible, mortal, weak, non-glorious, and flesh and blood. It is not immortal. It is called the “natural body”.

4.    The destiny of the soul is to “return to dust” i.e. to perish

5.    All (man and beast) go unto one place when they die – the grave. They return to dust.

6.    Beast is not literal animals but figuratively are men who are wicked, not in relationship with God and do not know God.

7.    Man is figuratively used in Scriptures for the sons of God or the righteous.

8.    The souls of both man and beast (righteous and wicked) go to hell (the grave).

9.    The spirit of the beast (wicked) goes downward to the earth. That very day his thoughts perish. There is no hope for the wicked.

10. The spirit of man (righteous) goes upward to God, to return to God who gave it.

11. The spirit of the righteous does not return to God without a body. But it is clothed by God with a “spiritual body” that is fit for the “spiritual world”.

12. The spiritual body is spiritual, heavenly, immortal, incorruptible, glorious, powerful, kingdom of God body.

13. The righteous both have the “natural body” (soul body) which dies and the “spiritual body” which is eternal in the heavens.

14. The natural body is the earthly house. The spiritual body is the building of God, not made with hands which is eternal in the heavens.

15. The righteous are the believers in Christ who are justified by his grace.

16. Believers possess eternal life and immortality in Christ today.

17. Believers don’t have to wait for their death or the second coming of Christ to have a spiritual body.

18. Eternal life is now and not in the future.

19. The second time appearing of Christ already happened in the first century.

20. Because of the finished work of Christ, and that we are not under the law but under grace, we have eternal life and when we die, we will go directly to be with Christ in the heavens forever with spiritual body.