Chapter 33—What Happens After Death?

Satan, who had stirred up rebellion in heaven, wanted to bring those living on the earth to join him in his warfare against God. Adam and Eve had been perfectly happy in obeying God's law—a constant testimony against the claim Satan had made in heaven that God's law was oppressive. Satan was determined to cause their fall so that he could possess the earth and establish his kingdom here in opposition to the Most High. 5TC 310.2

God had warned Adam and Eve about this dangerous enemy, but Satan worked in the dark, hiding his intentions. Using the snake as his medium, whose appearance then was fascinating, he said to Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Eve dared to talk with him and became a victim of his deceptive skill: “The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:1-5). 5TC 310.3

Eve yielded to temptation, and through her influence Adam sinned. They accepted the words of the serpent. They distrusted their Creator and imagined that He was restricting their liberty. 5TC 311.1

But what did Adam find to be the meaning of the words, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”? Was he going to be ushered into a higher existence? Adam did not find this to be the meaning of the divine sentence. God declared that as a penalty for his sin, he and his descendants would return to the ground: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Satan's words, “Your eyes will be opened,” proved to be true only in this sense: their eyes were opened to see how foolish they had been. They did know evil, and they tasted the bitter fruit of transgression. 5TC 311.2

The fruit of the tree of life had the power to sustain life forever. Adam would have continued to enjoy free access to this tree and would never have died, but when he sinned he was cut off from the tree of life and became subject to death. He had lost immortality by his sin. There could have been no hope for the fallen race if God had not brought immortality within their reach by the sacrifice of His Son. While “death spread to all men, because all sinned,” Christ has “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” We can only receive immortality through Christ. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life.” (Romans 5:12; 2 Timothy 1:10; John 3:36.) 5TC 311.3

The Great Lie

The one who promised Adam life in disobedience was the great deceiver. And the serpent's claim in Eden—“You will not surely die”—was the first sermon ever preached on the immortality of the soul. Yet this claim, resting only on Satan's authority, echoes from pulpits today, and most people accept it as readily as our first parents did. The divine sentence, “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20), is made to mean, The soul who sins shall not die, but live eternally. If God had allowed Adam and Eve free access to the tree of life after their fall, sin would have been immortalized. But God has not permitted even one of the family of Adam to eat of the life-giving fruit. As a result, there is no immortal sinner. 5TC 312.1

After the Fall, Satan instructed his angels to instill in people the belief that they are naturally immortal. After persuading the people to accept this error, evil angels were to lead them to conclude that sinners would live in eternal misery. Now the prince of darkness presents God as a revengeful tyrant who plunges into hell all who do not please Him and looks down on them with satisfaction while they writhe in eternal flames. In this way the one who started all evil paints the Benefactor of the human race with his own characteristics. Cruelty is satanic. God is love. Satan is the enemy who tempts us to sin and then destroys us if he can. How offensive it is to love, mercy, and justice to teach that God torments the wicked dead in an eternally burning hell, that for the sins of a brief life on earth they suffer torture as long as God shall live! A well-educated minister said, “The sight of hell's torments will increase the happiness of the redeemed forever by making them conscious of how happy they are.” 5TC 312.2

Where can anyone find such teaching in God's Word? Will the redeemed exchange feelings of common humanity for the cruelty of the savage? No, such things are not the teaching of the Book of God. “‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die?’” (Ezekiel 33:11). 5TC 312.3

Does God delight in witnessing unending tortures? Is He pleased with the groans and shrieks of suffering creatures whom He holds in the flames? Can these horrid sounds be music to the ear of Infinite Love? What a terrible blasphemy! God's glory is not increased by keeping sin alive through ages without end. 5TC 313.1

The Heresy of Eternal Torment

Untold evil has come from the heresy of eternal torment. It takes the religion of the Bible, so full of love and goodness, darkens it by superstition, and clothes it with terror. Satan has painted the character of God in false colors, making people fear, dread, and even hate our merciful Creator. The repulsive views of God that have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made millions of people skeptics and unbelievers. 5TC 313.2

Eternal torment is one of the false doctrines, the wine of abomination (Revelation 14:8; 17:2), which Babylon makes all nations drink. Ministers of Christ accepted this heresy from Rome, just as they received the false sabbath. If we turn from God's Word and accept false doctrines because our ancestors taught them, we come under the condemnation that the Bible pronounces on Babylon. We are drinking from the wine of her abomination. 5TC 313.3

Many people are driven to the opposite error. They see that Scripture presents God as a being of love and compassion, and they cannot believe that He will condemn His creatures to an eternally burning hell. Since they hold the idea that the soul is naturally immortal, they conclude that all mankind will be saved. So the sinner can live in selfish pleasure, ignoring God's requirements, and still be welcomed into His favor. A doctrine like this, which presumes on God's mercy but ignores His justice, pleases the unconverted heart. 5TC 313.4

Universal Salvation Is Not Biblical

Believers in universal salvation twist the Scriptures. The professed minister of Christ repeats the lie that the serpent spoke in Eden, “You will not surely die.... In the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” He asserts that the worst of sinners—the murderer, the thief, the adulterer—will enter into immortal bliss after death. This is no more than a pleasing fable, designed to appeal to the unconverted heart! 5TC 313.5

If it were true that everyone went directly to heaven at death, we might well desire death rather than life. This belief has led many to commit suicide. When they are overwhelmed with trouble and disappointment, it seems easy to break the thread of life and soar into the bliss of the eternal world. 5TC 314.1

In His Word God has given decisive evidence that He will punish those who trample on His law. Is He too merciful to execute justice on the sinner? Look to the cross of Calvary. The death of God's Son testifies that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), that every violation of God's law must receive its punishment. Christ the sinless became sin for us. He bore the guilt of sin and the hiding of His Father's face until His heart was broken and His life crushed out—all this so that sinners could be redeemed. And every person who refuses to accept the atonement provided at such a cost must bear his own guilt and the punishment for his own sins. 5TC 314.2

Conditions Are Specified

“I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” This promise is only for those who are thirsty. “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” (Revelation 21:6, 7.) This text also specifies conditions. To inherit all things, we must overcome sin. 5TC 314.3

“It will not be well with the wicked” (Ecclesiastes 8:13). The sinner is treasuring up for himself “wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds,’” “tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil” (Romans 2:5, 6, 9). 5TC 314.4

“No fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” (Ephesians 5:5; Revelation 22:14, 15.) 5TC 314.5

God has given us a clear statement of how He will deal with sin. “All the wicked He will destroy.” “The transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.” (Psalm 145:20; 37:38.) The authority of the divine government will put down rebellion, yet His justice in punishing sin will be consistent with the character of God as a merciful, kind being. 5TC 315.1

God does not force the will. He takes no pleasure in slavelike obedience. He wants the creatures He has made to love Him because He is worthy of love. He would like them to obey Him because they have an intelligent appreciation of His wisdom, justice, and kindness. 5TC 315.2

The principles of God's government are in harmony with the Savior's command, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). God executes justice on the wicked for the good of the universe and even for the good of those who receive His judgments. He would make them happy if He could. He surrounds them with evidences of His love and follows them with offers of mercy. But they despise His love, overturn His law, and reject His mercy. Even while they constantly receive His gifts, they dishonor the Giver. The Lord is very patient with their determined self-will, but will He chain these rebels to His side and force them to do what He wants? 5TC 315.3

Not Prepared to Enter Heaven

Those who have chosen Satan as their leader are not prepared to enter the presence of God. Pride, deception, immorality, cruelty, have become established in their characters. Can they enter heaven to live forever with those whom they hated on earth? Truth will never be agreeable to a liar. Meekness will not satisfy self-esteem. Purity is not acceptable to the corrupt. Unselfish love does not appear attractive to the selfish. What enjoyment could heaven offer those who are focused on selfish interests? 5TC 315.4

Will those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God, of truth and holiness, be able to mingle with the inhabitants of heaven and join their songs of praise? God granted them years of grace to prepare for eternity with Him, but they never trained the mind to love purity. They never learned the language of heaven. Now it is too late. 5TC 315.5

A life of rebellion against God has made them unfit for heaven. Its purity and peace would be torture to them; the glory of God would be a consuming fire. They would long to escape from that holy place and would welcome destruction, just to be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. It is their own choice that decides the destiny of the wicked. They voluntarily exclude themselves from heaven, and God is just and merciful in ratifying their choice. Like the waters of the Flood, the fires of the great day declare God's verdict that the wicked are incurable. They have exercised their will in revolt. When life is over, it is too late to turn their thoughts from law-breaking to obedience, from hatred to love. 5TC 316.1

Two Destinies

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Life is the inheritance of the righteous, and death is the destiny of the wicked. The Bible places “the second death” in contrast with everlasting life (see Revelation 20:14). 5TC 316.2

Because of Adam's sin, death came upon the whole human race. Everyone goes down into the grave. And through the plan of salvation, all will be brought up from their graves: “There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” “for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” But the Bible makes a distinction between the two classes that are resurrected: “All who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22; John 5:28, 29.) 5TC 316.3

The End of Suffering

They who have been “counted worthy” of the resurrection of life are “blessed and holy.” “Over such the second death has no power.” (Luke 20:35; Revelation 20:6.) But those who have not received pardon through repentance and faith must receive “the wages of sin,” punishment “according to their works,” which ends in the “second death.” 5TC 316.4

Since it is impossible for God to save sinners in their sins, He deprives them of their existence, which their transgressions have forfeited and of which they have proven themselves unworthy. “Yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more.” “They shall be as though they had never been.” (Psalm 37:10; Obadiah 16.) They sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion. 5TC 317.1

And so God will make an end of sin. “You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. O enemy, destructions are finished forever!” (Psalm 9:5, 6). In the book of Revelation, John hears a universal anthem of praise without one note of discord. No lost souls blaspheme God as they writhe in never-ending torment. No wretched beings in hell will mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved. 5TC 317.2

The error of natural immortality is the basis for the doctrine of consciousness in death. Like eternal torment, this doctrine is opposed to Scripture, to reason, and to our feelings of humanity. 5TC 317.3

According to popular belief, the redeemed in heaven know everything that takes place on earth. But how could the dead be happy in knowing the troubles of the living, in seeing them endure the sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life? And how revolting is the belief that as soon as the breath leaves the body, the soul of the unrepentant is sent to the flames of hell! 5TC 317.4

What do the Scriptures say? Humanity is not conscious in death: “When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.” “The living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing.... Their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.” “Sheol [the grave] cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living man, he shall praise You, as I do this day.” “In death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?” (Psalm 146:4, NRSV; Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6; Isaiah 38:18, 19; Psalm 6:5.) 5TC 317.5

On the Day of Pentecost Peter declared that David “is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.... For David did not ascend into the heavens” (Acts 2:29, 34). The fact that David remains in the grave until the resurrection proves that the righteous do not go to heaven when they die. 5TC 318.1

Paul said: “If the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (1 Corinthians 15:16-18). If for four thousand years the righteous had gone directly to heaven when they died, how could Paul have said that if there is no resurrection, “those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished”? 5TC 318.2

Resurrection to Eternal Life

When He was about to leave His disciples, Jesus did not tell them that they would soon come to Him. “I go to prepare a place for you,” He said. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:2, 3). Paul tells us further that “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” And he adds, “Comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.) When the Lord comes, He will break the chains of death and will raise the “dead in Christ” to eternal life. 5TC 318.3

God will judge everyone by the things written in the books and reward them as their works have been. This judgment does not take place at death. “He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness.” “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all.” (Acts 17:31; Jude 14, 15.) 5TC 318.4

But if the dead are already enjoying heaven or writhing in the flames of hell, what need is there for a future judgment? Ordinary minds can understand God's Word on these points. But what unbiased mind can see either wisdom or justice in the current theory? Will the righteous receive God's approving words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.... Enter into the joy of your lord,” when they have already been living in His presence for long ages? Are the wicked called from torment to receive the Judge's sentence, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire”? (Matthew 25:21, 41.) 5TC 318.5

The theory that the soul is immortal was one of those false doctrines that Rome borrowed from paganism. Luther classed it with the “monstrous fables that form part of the Roman dunghill of decrees.”^{1E. Petavel, The Problem of Immortality, page 255.} The Bible teaches that the dead sleep until the resurrection. 5TC 319.1

Immortality When Jesus Returns

Sweet rest for the weary righteous! Time, whether it is long or short, is only a moment to them. They sleep, and then the trumpet of God awakens them to a glorious immortality. “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.... So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:52, 54). 5TC 319.2

Called to arise from their sleep, they begin to think just where they had stopped. The last sensation was the stroke of death; the last thought, that they were falling beneath the power of the grave. When they come out from the tomb, their first glad thought will be echoed in the triumphant shout, “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). 5TC 319.3