Chapter 31: Of the State of Man after Death and Of the Resurrection of the Dead

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PARA 1 – The Intermediate State

1._ The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies; and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell; where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day; besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.  ( Genesis 3:19; Acts 13:36; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6,8; Philippians 1:23; Hebrews 12:23; Jude 6, 7; 1 Peter 3:19; Luke 16:23, 24 ).

Notes: The final two chapters of our Confession are concerned with what is called eschatology, the doctrine of last things.   Two subjects are covered in this part of the Confession: The Intermediate and Resurrection States (Chapter 31), and The Final Judgment (Chapter 32).   The eschatology of our Confession, as well as the Bible, is simple. It consists of three main historical events: the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment. Another item that is usually included in the department of eschatology is what is called the intermediate state.   So our Confession in connection with the world to come, the intermediate state and resurrection of the dead (Chapter 31), and the return of Christ and final judgement (Chapter 32).

OUTLINE

First distinction that is vital to a proper understanding of the intermediate state: the distinction between body and soul.

  1. State of bodies after death
    • The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption;
  2. State of soul after death
    • but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.

Note: Immortal subsistence simply means that the soul doesn’t cease to exist.  When the body dies, it decomposes. It ceases to exist. The soul, on the other hand, doesn‘t cease to exist.  Death doesn’t render the soul inactive.  Unlike the body, the soul doesn’t decompose after death. The essence of the soul is to know, to be conscious. That essence continues after death. In that sense, the soul is deathless, immortal.  Physical death is a horrible thing. It’s the penal consequence of sin. It consists of the radical and unnatural separation of body and soul, resulting in the decomposition of the body, and the nakedness of the soul. It signals the condemnation of Adam’s race to eternal death.

There is a second distinction that is vital to a proper understanding of the intermediate state.

State of righteous soul

  • a.      The souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness,
  • b.     are received into paradise,
  • c.      where they are with Christ, and
  • d.     behold the face of God in light and glory,
  • f.  waiting for the full redemption of their bodies;

Note. At the moment of death, believers soul is glorious perfected in holiness, become absolutely sinless at death. Hebrews 12:23 states the departed righteous are described as “the souls of just men made perfect.. Then they are immediately received in paradise. Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Philippians 1:23:“. . . to depart and to be with Christ. There is no interim period between death itself and the entrance of the righteous into glory. Central to their happiness is Christ. Christ is with them in Paradise, and the righteous will see Him. This is what theologians call ‘the beatific vision’. In a way that no sinful mortal may, the departed righteous behold, and exist in the immediate proximity of, the manifested glory of God in heaven.

However, though the departed righteous are happy in the presence of Christ, their blessedness is yet incomplete. Chief among the blessings for which they still must wait is the full redemption of their bodies. Though they are perfectly holy and happy, their condition is nevertheless incomplete. They are not yet fully redeemed. They have not yet received their inheritance, a redeemed creation. They have not yet been publicly vindicated by the final judgement. Their enemies have not yet been judged. Their bodies have not yet been redeemed. Though they are truly holy and happy, they are yet in a disembodied condition. The Bible never idealizes a disembodied condition. It always holds up as the true hope of believers a historical consummation which is both earthly and bodily. Rev 6:9-11 proves this.

State of wicked soul

  1. the souls of the wicked are cast into hell;
  2. where they remain in torment and utter darkness,
  3. reserved to the judgment of the great day; besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.

Note: The statement of the Confession is both sobering and succinct. Confession tells us three things about the condition of the wicked in the intermediate state. 1) Its Location: hell. 2) Its Circumstances: torment and darkness. 3) Its Expectation: the judgement of the great day. They are cast into hell from which there is no escape, where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Luke 16, rich man story.  Paradise is contrasted, not with Gehenna, but with Hades. Acts 1:25: “Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”  There is no doctrine of purgatory to be found in either of these texts, nor anywhere in the Bible for that matter.

PARA 2 – The Resurrection of the Dead

2._ At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive, shall not sleep, but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other; although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.  ( 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Job 19:26, 27; 1 Corinthians 15:42, 43 ).

OUTLINE

Par. 2 emphasizes the 4 facts of resurrection (What, How, How Long, and when).

  1. The Fact of the Resurrection For Those Found Alive at the Last Day. 
    • At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive, shall not sleep, but be changed. 

Note: See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 [READ] Only saints who are alive at the second coming of Christ will physically survive His return. They receive their glorified bodies without passing through physical death. In the strictest sense, they are not raised from the dead, but they are instantly changed.

2. The Fact of the Resurrection For Those Already Dead at the Last Day.

  • “. . . and all the dead shall be raised up . . .”

Note:  This is the biblical doctrine of the general resurrection of the dead. All the dead shall be raised up. This is made even more explicit in Par.3, when it is explained that ‘all the dead’ includes “the bodies of the unjust” and “the bodies of the just”. The biblical witness for the resurrection of the wicked, though not as massive as that for the resurrection of the righteous, is still perfectly clear. See John 5:28, 29 and Acts 24:15

 3. The Nature of the Resurrection

  • “. . . and all the dead shall be raised up “. . . with the selfsame bodies, and none other, although with different qualities

Note: The Confession raises an important question concerning the biblical doctrine or the resurrection of the dead, and that is ‘What is the relation of the resurrection to our present bodies?’ An important biblical tension is highlighted in this question—a tension between continuity and discontinuity. The Confession paradoxically asserts two things. First: It asserts that the resurrection body is the identical body we now possess. It is this body, the selfsame body. The very body that dies and is buried must and will be raised from the dead. Second: The Confession asserts that the resurrection body is the same body with a difference. It is this body, but with different qualities from what it now possesses. It is not a new body substituted for the old, but the old changed into the new.

 Jesus’ own resurrection was literal. The tomb where His body was laid was emptied of that body. So also, when Jesus summons
the dead in the day of resurrection, those who are in the tombs shall come forth (John 5:28, 29). In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul expresses both the continuity and discontinuity of the resurrection body with the present body using the analogy of a seed.

4. The Permanence of the Resurrection: The transformation brought about by the resurrection is final and permanent. These ” . . bodies . . . shall be united again to their souls for ever.” This highlights endless character of this condition. No further alteration in the physical or spiritual condition of any human being is conceivable after the final change wrought by the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment.

5. The Time of the Resurrection: “At the last day . . .” The general resurrection of the dead takes place at the same time for all men, both living and dead, both righteous and wicked.  John 5:28, 29 and Acts 24:15. To these texts we may add a third: Daniel 12:2: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” The natural meaning of these texts would indicate that the resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous takes place at the same time. It is significant to note that the only texts in the Bible (the three that have been mentioned) which explicitly speak of the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, do so in the same breath. They each convey the natural impression that the resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous occurs at the same time.

PARA 3 - The Contrast in the Resurrection

The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honour, and be made conformable to his own glorious body.

OUTLINE

  1. The Resurrection of the Unjust
    • The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor

Note: The Bible tells us comparatively little about the resurrection of the unjust. Unlike the just, the unjust are raised, not to life, but to death and judgement. Theirs is a resurrection to shame, disgrace, and contempt.

2. The Resurrection of the Just

  • . . . the bodies of the just (shall be raised), by His Spirit unto honor, and be made conformable to His own glorious body.” 

The Confession contrasts the resurrection of the just with that of the unjust at three points.

  1. Its Pattern: “made conformable to his own glorious body” The glory of the resurrection body of the righteous consists in this, that it is made like Christ’s glorious body. Philippians 3:21: “The body of our humble state will be transformed into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that Christ has even to subject all things to Himself.” 
  2. Its Agent. His Spirit” While the dead are said to be raised by the power of Christ, the Holy Spirit is the peculiar agent of the resurrection of the righteous. Romans 8:11: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Furthermore, we’ve already seen that the resurrection body of the righteous is spiritual. It bears an intimate relation to the Spirit of God.
  3. Its Character: The righteous are raised to honor, while the unrighteous are raised to dishonor.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul elaborates on what the honor of the resurrection body of the righteous is, by way of several contrasts.

  1. In Adam, we bear the image of the earthy, but in Christ, the second Adam, we bear the image of the heavenly. In a way surpassing the earthy body, the heavenly body will reflect divine virtue and power (see vs. 45, 47, 49). The glory of the new creation body will surpass the glory of the original creation body.
  2. Another contrast is in terms of the perishable and the imperishable, the mortal and the immortal (see vs. 15:42, 50, 53, 54). The body of the original creation is now subject to the principle of decay. The body of the new creation won’t be. Our mortal bodies may and will die. Our immortal bodies will be incapable of dying.
  3. Another contrast is in terms of dishonor and glory. v. 43a: “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.” The body of the original creation is characterized by shame and dishonor, because of sin. The body of the new creation is characterized by honor and excellence. It manifests the excellence of the child of God. The final contrast is in terms of weakness and power. v. 43b: “It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” The body of the original creation is subject to disease, fatigue, and malfunction. Bit not the body of the new creation. It will be able, without difficulty, hindrance, or breakdown, to fulfill the holy desires of its possessors.

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