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The lesson library / Lesson 60

Death and the intermediate state

Distinguish death, the believer’s presence with Christ, the intermediate state, and the future bodily resurrection.

Last things and eternal hope

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Philippians 1:12-30 · 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 · Luke 16:19-31 · 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18

What happens at death and what happens at the resurrection are related questions, but they are not identical. The traditional Reformed understanding is that believers are consciously with Christ while awaiting the resurrection of the body. The intermediate state is therefore blessed but not the final completion of human redemption. Scripture’s future bodily hope must not disappear from the explanation.

Read Philippians 1:12-30

12 Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News,
13 so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ,
14 and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will.
16 The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains;
17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News.
18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice.
19 For I know that this will turn out to my salvation through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit from my work; yet I don’t know what I will choose.
23 But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
24 Yet to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
25 Having this confidence, I know that I will remain, yes, and remain with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
26 that your boasting may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again.
27 Only let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News;
28 and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
29 Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf,
30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

Paul regards departure to be with Christ as better, while recognizing the usefulness of continued service. The natural force of the wording supports conscious fellowship with Christ after death. It is not a detailed description of that state, and it should not be made to answer questions Paul does not address. It also does not make earthly life worthless. Remaining alive offers real opportunities to serve others, which Paul takes seriously.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

1 For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
2 For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
3 if indeed being clothed, we will not be found naked.
4 For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened, not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5 Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
9 Therefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him.
10 For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Paul does not celebrate being unclothed as the final human ideal. He longs for the life that swallows mortality. Yet he also speaks of being away from the body and at home with the Lord. The traditional reading holds these together: the believer is with Christ after death, while bodily completion remains future. That is more careful than treating every reference to heaven as though the resurrection had become unnecessary.

Read Luke 16:19-31

19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores,
21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
24 He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted and you are in anguish.
26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
27 “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house—
28 for I have five brothers—that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
30 “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’ ”

Whether the account is classified as a parable or as a report, its warning concerns accountability beyond death and the refusal to hear God’s word. It should not be treated as a complete geography of the intermediate state. Its ending is especially important: a demand for extraordinary testimony does not cure a settled refusal of Scripture. Christians should not seek guidance by contacting the dead or claim authority for unverifiable reports of such contact.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18

1 Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more.
2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,
4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in sanctification and honor,
5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God,
6 that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.
7 For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
8 Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.
9 But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,
10 for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more;
11 and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you,
12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.
13 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,
17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Christians who hold soul sleep understand sleep language and passages about the dead’s lack of earthly activity as indicating unconsciousness until resurrection. The traditional Reformed reading understands sleep chiefly as a description of death in view of the body’s future awakening, and gives weight to the passages about being with Christ. The disagreement should be stated fairly. Both the comparison and the comfort should return to what is unmistakable here: the dead in Christ will rise and be with the Lord.

Let the passages supply comfort without adding imagined conversations, activities, or messages from the dead. Christ holds His people beyond death, and He will raise them. That promise permits honest grief and real hope at the same time. The final answer to death is not merely surviving it in some form, but resurrection in the life Christ gives.

Consider your perspective

Christian hope distinguishes the state between death and resurrection from the final renewal still to come. The lesson presents the traditional Reformed understanding while recognizing disagreement; neither view licenses invented details or pressure to suppress grief.

Put it into practice

When comforting someone who is grieving, offer the promises Scripture clearly gives rather than speculation about the deceased. Listen patiently, acknowledge the loss, and provide practical support that can continue beyond the first conversation.

Reflect and respond

  • Which passages concern the intermediate state and which concern resurrection?
  • What details are not actually revealed?
  • How can hope be expressed without suppressing grief?

Passages and further study

Scripture quotations are from the public-domain World English Bible (WEB). Historical confessions are study aids, subordinate to Scripture. This independent lesson is not an official denominational statement.