Dr. Couch, I just saw your new study on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. You rightly point out that Paul uses the expression of "sleep" to describe the death of the believer. Is this "soul sleep"?
ANSWER: Oh, heavens no! The Bible makes it clear there is consciousness after death, both for the lost and the saved. The story of the death of the rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-31 is a case in point. The rich man is in Hades in torment but the poor believing beggar is at peace in Abraham's bosom. Both are fully aware of their surroundings and conscious of what is happening to them.
"Sleep" is a metaphor for death for the believer. From the human perspective the physical body looks as if it is simply asleep. However, the soul and spirit of the saint is with the Lord while the lost is conscious and existing in torment, waiting for the final judgment.
Other passages verify the conscious state of the believer after death. Paul writes "while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:6b), and that in either state, before or after death, we are "to be pleasing to Him" (v. 9). Paul was also transported to glory, to Paradise, and saw in a vision revelations, and "heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak" (12:1-4). While the apostle did not die, he was in glory and seeing things that were beyond the normal physical realm.
When the church is raptured Paul makes it clear he will present us to the Lord Jesus Christ, in His presence, at His coming (1 Thess. 2:19), and that we may be established before we die, or before the rapture takes place, so that we will be unblamable when we come "before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints" (3:13). All of these verses make it clear there is life after death and we are not simply in a soul sleep state!
And of course there are many, many passages in Revelation that show the saints in glory worshiping before the throne of God and before Christ the Lamb! So the idea of "soul sleep" will just not fly!
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
ANSWER: Oh, heavens no! The Bible makes it clear there is consciousness after death, both for the lost and the saved. The story of the death of the rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-31 is a case in point. The rich man is in Hades in torment but the poor believing beggar is at peace in Abraham's bosom. Both are fully aware of their surroundings and conscious of what is happening to them.
"Sleep" is a metaphor for death for the believer. From the human perspective the physical body looks as if it is simply asleep. However, the soul and spirit of the saint is with the Lord while the lost is conscious and existing in torment, waiting for the final judgment.
Other passages verify the conscious state of the believer after death. Paul writes "while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:6b), and that in either state, before or after death, we are "to be pleasing to Him" (v. 9). Paul was also transported to glory, to Paradise, and saw in a vision revelations, and "heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak" (12:1-4). While the apostle did not die, he was in glory and seeing things that were beyond the normal physical realm.
When the church is raptured Paul makes it clear he will present us to the Lord Jesus Christ, in His presence, at His coming (1 Thess. 2:19), and that we may be established before we die, or before the rapture takes place, so that we will be unblamable when we come "before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints" (3:13). All of these verses make it clear there is life after death and we are not simply in a soul sleep state!
And of course there are many, many passages in Revelation that show the saints in glory worshiping before the throne of God and before Christ the Lamb! So the idea of "soul sleep" will just not fly!
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
