So are dead people with God or unconscious and wating...

[Jostler]

18 minutes ago, K9Buck said:

So, the souls that were in the grave were taken to Heaven by Jesus and, thereafter, all others who died also go straight to Heaven.  Is my understanding correct?  Thank you.

would you bear with me as i answer "YES!.....and no."  

The Bible clearly portrays death as "sleep".  The Bible clearly does not lie.

Yet, Paul himself who speaks clearly of death as sleep also says this:

Quote

2Co 5:6-9

¶

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Now i don't know how to understand that EXCEPT as Paul saying that as soon as we leave this natural flesh we ARE in the Lord's presence.

And the Bible does not lie.   So which is it?  I submit that it is both. 

That's a very long explanation that requires reconciling a whole commentary's worth of verses....yet it is the truth.

[ItsJustDeep]

22 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

When a born again Christian dies their soul immediately goes to heaven. Their body remains in the grave until the resurrection which is when the Church is raptured. That soul that goes to heaven has somewhat of a substance and is very conscience of what their surroundings are. They recognize those in heaven that they knew and loved and died before they did.  When an unbeliever dies their soul goes immediately to Hades. That is a holding area until they are judged in the Great White Throne judgment.Their body will be resurrected at that time as well.This will be at the end of the 1000 year millennium. Hades is a horrible place. 

I don't think i've read that yet. Where is it in scripture that we immediately go to heaven? 

 

If i'm already in heaven did I miss the judgement or does that happen later?

[Guest K9Buck]

25 minutes ago, Marilyn C said:

Hi Buck,

The souls IN CHRIST are ASLEEP in Christ, as God`s word says, (1 Thess. 4: 14). And they are in the angelic realm in the General assembly awaiting their inheritance in Christ.

The Old Testament Saints are also there in the General assembly awaiting their inheritance. (Heb. 12: 22 & 23)

 

Thanks, but I'm still confused.  If one has "eternal" life, why would they be "asleep in Christ" rather than being in Heaven with God?  

^{John 3:16} For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

[Guest K9Buck]

33 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

When an unbeliever dies their soul goes immediately to Hades. Hades is a horrible place. 

So unbelievers suffer horribly in Hell but might be saved later if they're judged to be good.  Right?  

[Guest K9Buck]

30 minutes ago, Marilyn C said:

The Old Testament Saints are also there in the General assembly awaiting their inheritance. (Heb. 12: 22 & 23)

Jesus didn't take them to Heaven upon departing Hades himself?  Did Jesus take anyone from Hades and take them to Heaven?

[Guest K9Buck]

30 minutes ago, Marilyn C said:

God`s word tells us that those believers who have died are ASLEEP IN CHRIST. (1 Thess. 4: 14) They do NOT know what is going on and definitely do not see or speak with others who are also ASLEEP IN CHRIST.  

What about the seemingly countless numbers of people who have claimed to have visited Heaven or met Jesus during an NDE?  If people were "asleep in Christ", they would not have such an experience.  In others, such experiences would be impossible, right?  

[Guest K9Buck]

22 minutes ago, Sower said:

  They rest in their beds, Each one who walked in his upright way. Isaiah 57:1–2

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8

Isaiah 57:1-2 sounds like the "sleeping in Christ" of which @Marilyn C speaks while 2 Corinthians 5:8 sounds like we go straight to Heaven.  No wonder I'm constantly confused.  

[Sower]

20 minutes ago, Jostler said:

 

Quote

2Co 5:6-9

¶

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.

 

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

 

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Now i don't know how to understand that EXCEPT as Paul saying that as soon as we leave this natural flesh we ARE in the Lord's presence.

And the Bible does not lie.   So which is it?  I submit that it is both. 

That's a very long explanation that requires reconciling a whole commentary's worth of verses....yet it is the truth.

"home in the body"   simply means while we are still living in the body here on earth, and "absent from the Lord"

 "absent from the body"  means we have left our corruptible bodies and then we are  "present with the Lord"

[Blood Bought 1953]

2 minutes ago, K9Buck said:

So unbelievers suffer horribly in Hell but might be saved later if they're judged to be good.  Right?  

 

All Good People go to Heaven. Unfortunately....

 “There are  NONE GOOD --  No, not ONE !”

Jesus said, “ Only God is Good”

Being “ good” won’t get it with God...... “ You are to be PERFECT,even as your Father in Heaven is Perfect”

Wow! That’s impossible! If only there were another way......some type of “ loop- hole”......

 

[Jostler]

At risk of adding to your confusion....(it's all part of coming to a resolution ).

Do you think this was an account of a real event? (rhetorical question obviously )

Quote

Mar 9:2-4

¶

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.

His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.

 

Are Elijah and Moses dead or alive? 

What was Jesus trying to tell the Scribes here? (and the context IS about the resurrection)

Quote

Mar 12:26-27

“But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ?

“He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”