Eternal Life and Death

 Statement of Beliefs: The State of the Dead, Resurrection, and Final Judgment

We believe that human beings are mortal souls, formed by God as a unity of body and breath, destined to sleep in death until the resurrection and judgment at Yeshua the Messiah’s return. This understanding of the soul, death, and eternal destinies reflects God’s creative design, justice, and promise of renewal, as revealed in scripture.

1. The Soul: Body + Breath, What We Are

• We affirm that a “soul” (nephesh, Genesis 2:7) is what we are—a living being formed when God shaped dust into a body and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” This union, not a separate immortal essence, defines the soul. Animals too are nephesh (Genesis 1:20-24), showing its life itself, not a possession we have. At death, “their spirit departs, they return to the ground” (Psalm 146:4), and the soul ceases, entering unconscious sleep where “the dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10). Jesus likened Lazarus’s death to sleep (John 11:11-14), and Peter declared David “did not ascend to heaven” but rests in his tomb (Acts 2:29, 34). The soul, as life’s totality, pauses until God restores it.

• Counterargument: “Souls under the altar” (Revelation 6:9) might imply consciousness, but we see this as apocalyptic symbolism of martyrs’ lives crying out, not literal afterlife activity, consistent with sleep.

2. Resurrection and Judgment

• We hold that the dead “sleep in the dust of the earth” (Daniel 12:2) until Yeshua’s return, when “all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out” (John 5:28-29). The righteous, saved by faith in Yeshua, rise to eternal life “at the last day” (John 6:40), joined by the living faithful (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). The wicked, too, are raised for judgment (Revelation 20:12-13), a unified event at Christ’s appearing (2 Timothy 4:1). Scripture ties judgment to this future moment—“after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27)—not an immediate post-death reckoning, ensuring God’s equitable timing for all.

• Counterargument: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43) suggests instant reward, but the unpunctuated Greek allows “I tell you today” as a promise of future paradise, aligning with resurrection.

3. Eternal Life and Final Destruction

• We proclaim eternal life as the resurrection gift for the righteous through Yeshua (Romans 6:23), when “the dead will be raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:52-54). Conversely, the wicked face “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), where God “can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Gehenna, Matthew 10:28). Sin’s wage is death—“perish” (John 3:16), “ashes under your feet” (Malachi 4:1, 3)—not eternal torment. This preserves the biblical contrast: life for the saved, cessation for the lost, as “the soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4).

• Counterargument: “Eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46) is often seen as ongoing suffering, but we interpret “eternal” as the irrevocable outcome of destruction, not perpetual agony.

4. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

• We view Luke 16:19-31 as a parable, not a factual afterlife map. Addressing wealth-obsessed Pharisees (Luke 16:14), Jesus used familiar imagery to stress repentance and reversal of fates, not to define death’s mechanics. Its physical details (tongues, chasms) suit storytelling, not doctrine, and clash with resurrection timing.

• Counterargument: Some treat it as literal torment proof, but its figurative style and inconsistency with judgment’s future placement (Revelation 20) suggest a moral lesson.

5. ‘Absent from the Body’

• We interpret “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8) as Paul’s longing for resurrection, not instant soul flight. He ties hope to the body’s renewal (1 Corinthians 15:45), desiring “to depart and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23) at the raising of “those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). The soul, as body plus breath, awaits this restoration.

• Counterargument: Often read as immediate transition, it aligns instead with Paul’s resurrection focus, not an interim state.

In summary, we believe the soul is our living essence—body and breath united—ceasing in death’s sleep until Yeshua’s return brings resurrection, judgment, and eternal life for the righteous or final destruction for the wicked. This honors God’s holistic creation and redemptive plan.