1. What is “Soul Sleep”?
It is that after death believers are not conscious of anything and their souls become completely inactive until the time of the final resurrection of the dead. During this period of soul sleep, the soul resides in the memory of God.
2. What is Death?
“And so it was, as her {Rachel’s v16} soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.” (Genesis 35:18)
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, …” (James 2:26)
So death is the separation from the body of the spirit and soul, with which the personality is really connected, and the body then becomes a corpse.
3. How Often Do People Die?
The Bible says we die only once. “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). In the Bible there is no such thing as reincarnation.
4. The Bible as a Whole
There is a progression of truth through the Bible.
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, …” (Hebrews 1:1-2)
The Son of God gave a far greater revelation of God and His truth than the Old Testament {OT} prophets gave. Therefore there was a lot of ignorance in the OT about the life after death which the New Testament {NT} clears up.
5. The Lord Jesus Defining Death as Sleep
After Lazarus died the Lord Jesus made this statement, “These things He {Jesus v9}: said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.” (John 11:11-13)
The sleeping person does not cease to exist while his body sleeps, so the dead person continues to exist despite being absent from those who are living. Sleep means that you will wake up later and so the Lord Jesus was saying that the body will not remain rotten forever but will be reconstituted as a body fit for heaven, for the believers, or fit for hell\the lake of fire, for the unbelievers. So “sleep” in the NT is used of the believer’s body at the time of death “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus“ (1 Thessalonians 4:14).
6. Some People Over Emphasise the OT While Ignoring the NT
6.1 Job 14:10 “But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he?”
Job 14:14-15 “ If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.”
A person dies and their body by degrees rots away. Where is he? i.e. he is nowhere in this world. Job prepares himself for death and is prepared to patiently wait the will of God for both his death and resurrection. His case was now bad, but he expects a change i.e. the resurrection of His body. “Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands.” Believers are the work of God’s hands and because of His grace in us He will not forsake us.
6.2 Psalm 6:5 “For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?”
As mentioned earlier at death the body would be without the spirit and soul and therefore would be a corpse without a living memory nor with the ability to speak and so cannot give praise. As far as the spirit and soul are concerned, this comment shows the partial knowledge that OT believers had about the life after death. From the greater revelation that Christ brought, we now know that when a believer dies, he leaves this earthly body “to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” (Philippians 1:23). “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8). So the believer does not go into an unconscious state of soul-sleep but is consciously worshipping the Lord in His presence.
7. New Testament
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13). It is a favourite verse of those who believe in “soul sleep” and annihilation of the soul.
There were people who, previous to the Lord’s life, had gone to heaven:
7.1 Enoch was translated or taken up to heaven: Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
7.2 Elijah went up to Heaven by a whirlwind: 2 Kings 2:11 “Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”
7.3 In the future the believers at the “Rapture” will be caught up too: 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “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.”
So it cannot mean that no-one has ascended into heaven. It does mean that no one has ascended into heaven in their own power. In the context of v12 this verse is saying that no one has ascended to heaven in such a way as to return to earth and talk about heavenly things, i.e. give clear teaching about divine matters, except the Lord Jesus.
8. What Happens When A Believer Dies
When a believer dies he/she falls asleep only as regards his body. The spirit/soul part of him does not go into an unconscious state of soul-sleep but goes at once to be with Christ to be consciously worshipping and praising Him as is seen in the following Scriptures:
8.1 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8). This must refer to now and cannot refer to the future resurrection state (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) as at that time all believers will be in their bodies.
8.2 “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:21, 23). Paul believed that at death the believer in Christ as Saviour goes straight into the conscious enjoyment of the Lord’s presence. It would be silly for him to say, “For me to live is Christ and to be unconscious in sleep is gain” or “to depart and sleep, is far better.”
8.3 Moses appeared with and talked to Christ on the mount of transfiguration (Luke 9:27 – 36). He had been dead and buried about 1,450 years earlier. His soul and spirit had not ceased to exist and he was certainly not asleep!
8.4 Another example is Abraham (who died about 1822 BC) in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19 – 31 about 33 AD). Both Abraham and Lazarus were not asleep but in full consciousness of their blessed heavenly place.
8.5 The dying and believing thief on the cross was given a promise from the Saviour, Jesus Christ: “today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
This leaves no reasonable ground for doubt that the believer will be automatically and consciously with the Lord and will not go through soul sleep and so unconsciously wait for the final resurrection.
As a lot of people who believe in soul sleep, believe that souls are disembodied at death, it is not clear how disembodied beings could sleep, because sleeping involves a physical body.
9. What Will Heaven be Like?
God will establish a new heavens and earth where there is no sin, everything will be right and believers will be welcome (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1; Jude 1:24). There will be no more: death, sorrow, crying, pain or night as life will be “far better” than on earth (Philippians 1:23; Revelation 21:4; 22:5). While believers will have bodies made like the Lord Jesus’ glorious body (Philippians 3:21), the Bible emphasises the spiritual and joyful parts of God’s everlasting day (Psalm 16:11; Jude 1:24; Revelation 21:2-5, see also John 15:11). Believers will together forever enjoy: learning from, praising, serving and having friendship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:17; Ephesians 2:7; Revelation 5:11-14; 22:3-4; 19:6-9; 21:1-3).
But has the reader realised your sin and guilt before God Who is holy? Do you know God loves you and longs for you to be saved from your sins’ judgment? Do you believe that and the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son, which He shed for you at Calvary, outside of Jerusalem, cleanses from all sin (1 John 1:7}? Has there been the time when you realised that your self-effort to gain salvation was not good enough but that Christ was all sufficient to save you? Have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation? If not why not trust Him now and know Christ saving and keeping you.