Do you go straight to Heaven at death?

[woundeddog]

20 hours ago, StanJ said:

This means no one is in heaven except God

Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the father- Paul says absent from the body present with the Lord--- Jesus is not in paradise he is in heaven so if we are not in the body we are with the Lord in heaven-- the resurrection proved the shed blood was sufficient to forgive and erase sin so the saints where released from Paradise because with out sin they could be in the presence of God~~~ hence now we go straight to heaven--

[*Deidre*]

I've been wondering this myself, as I came back to faith last year and finally can say I'm born again. I've often wondered if we go to Heaven straight away, or is there a time period before our souls go to heaven. 

[missmuffet]

2 hours ago, *Deidre* said:

I've been wondering this myself, as I came back to faith last year and finally can say I'm born again. I've often wondered if we go to Heaven straight away, or is there a time period before our souls go to heaven. 

There are those who believe in soul sleep. The Adventists and the JW's believe in it. They believe that when a born again believer dies their body and soul remain in the grave until the resurrection. This is not Biblical. The Bible tells us that the soul immediately goes to heaven while the body remains in the grave until the resurrection. At that time the soul reunites with the body. When Jesus was dying on the cross there were two thieves on either side of Him. One did not believe but the other believed in Jesus. Jesus said to him "today you be with Me in paradise". He did not say your soul and body will remain in the grave.

[forGod1]

Heaven is very real and very close for every person alive today, if they wish. You worry about trivial things, OP. Since you're seeking, I hope you find.

Edited September 18, 2016 by forGod1

[kwikphilly]

Interesting Scripture verse that nearly everyone refers to when addressing this Topic

Quote

King James Bible
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day thou shalt be with me in paradise.          Luke 23:43

The only discrepency is that we read the English Translation & of course,in any version we use punctuation marks.....Greek text did not use punctuation marks ,they did not even Index paragraphs as we do......so what happens if we move the commas? Let's see............

And Jesus said unto him,Verily I say unto thee today....thou shalt be with me in Paradise                          Hmmm? Interesting

THe fact of the matter is we will transition from this temporal  physical state that is bound by space & time on into eternity,so who really knows how that transition will happen & what will actually take place .....Jesus did say that now we see in part,that is with our finite minds,who can comprehend infinity?

Quote

1 Corinthians 13:12King James Version (KJV)

¹² For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

We may die physically & immediately be in the Presence of the Lord in our New Glorified Bodies(Spirit body)factually ,a thousand years may have passed in this dimension where we have "TIME"..........Scripture has not shown me that when we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord in the way some may interpret,when we walk in spirit our flesh is of no consequence,Jesus abides in us and we are present with Him in spirit by the Power of Holy Spirit Who indwells......Glory to God!

Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right Hand of God,we can only speculate here,Stephen was not yet dead when he saw this vision to tell us from beyond the grave

Quote

King James Bible
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

                                                                                            Acts 7:55

The only ONE that died ,came back from the dead & spoke to us was Jesus & Jesus said we cannot Understand the Heavenly things

Quote

…11Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony. 12If I have told you aboutearthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.…                                 John 3:11-13

There are a lot of opinions & speculation  on what really has not been told ....it has not been told us  because we cannot comprehend ETERNITY.................With love-in Christ,Kwik

[*Deidre*]

12 hours ago, missmuffet said:

There are those who believe in soul sleep. The Adventists and the JW's believe in it. They believe that when a born again believer dies their body and soul remain in the grave until the resurrection. This is not Biblical. The Bible tells us that the soul immediately goes to heaven while the body remains in the grave until the resurrection. At that time the soul reunites with the body. When Jesus was dying on the cross there were two thieves on either side of Him. One did not believe but the other believed in Jesus. Jesus said to him "today you be with Me in paradise". He did not say your soul and body will remain in the grave.

Thank you for explaining this, that makes sense now. It has always been confusing to me and there isn't enough discussion about it, I feel. 

[B3L13v3R]

In Acts 7: 55-60
Steven, is full of the Holy Ghost, and looks steadfastly into heaven. Steven sees Jesus Christ standing on the right hand of God the Father.
Steven then sees the heavens opened, with Christ still standing on the right hand of God the Father to receive him.
The convicted mob cannot stand the Truth that has been conveyed to them through Steven in chapter 7, and is now cast him out of the city, and he is stoned.
As Steven is being stoned, and near death comes to his body, he calls upon God, and says: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Our brother's last dying words: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" followed by his bodily death from stoning.

Immediately after Steven's death, the first Christian martyr was instantly received by Jesus Christ (who was standing to immediately receive him) into the kingdom of heaven.
He has been "received."

No, "soul sleeping" on Steven's part whatsoever!

Act 7:48-60
(48)  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
(49)  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
(50)  Hath not my hand made all these things?
(51)  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
(52)  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
(53)  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
(54)  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
(55)  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
(56)  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
(57)  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
(58)  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
(59)  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
(60)  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. (Died, in body only.)

Act 8:1-2
(1)  And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
(2)  And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.


Here Paul was speaking of "gain" in the context of his going on to be with Jesus Christ at the moment of his departing/dying.
He clearly understood at the moment of his dying, he would "be with Christ."

Php 1:21-23
(21)  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
(22)  But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
(23)  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

[B3L13v3R]

13 hours ago, missmuffet said:

There are those who believe in soul sleep. The Adventists and the JW's believe in it. They believe that when a born again believer dies their body and soul remain in the grave until the resurrection. This is not Biblical.

 

The cultic "Christadelphianians" are another heretical group that support the error of "soul sleep."

[StanJ]

18 hours ago, woundeddog said:

Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the father- Paul says absent from the body present with the Lord--- Jesus is not in paradise he is in heaven so if we are not in the body we are with the Lord in heaven-- the resurrection proved the shed blood was sufficient to forgive and erase sin so the saints where released from Paradise because with out sin they could be in the presence of God~~~ hence now we go straight to heaven--

Paul does not say that read it again. You actually know what sitting at the right hand of God means? Under the New Covenant we are given eternal life that does not mean when we die the first time we go into the presence of God it means ultimately we will have eternal life. It was never God's intention for us to live in heaven with him it was his intention to live on Earth with us, which is what the scriptures teach.

[StanJ]

16 hours ago, *Deidre* said:

I've been wondering this myself, as I came back to faith last year and finally can say I'm born again. I've often wondered if we go to Heaven straight away, or is there a time period before our souls go to heaven. 

Deirdre, the Bible doesn't say we go to heaven but it does say on numerous occasions that we are given eternal life if we confess Jesus as their savior an eternal life his life just as we know it except it's eternal and we spend it with God. Revelation 21 shows a cell to my destination and Jesus gave hints to where we would be until he returns. Read Luke 16 and Luke 23.