What Happens After Death Part 1

In 2 Corinthians 5:10 we read, 'We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ.' That is the Bema, it says in the Greek original - the Bema of Christ. If you go to the remains of the city of Corinth to which this letter was written, you can see the Bema, the local court where cases were heard for citizens.

Only those whose sentence has been cancelled will appear at the Bema of Christ. That is those who have accepted forgiveness from Christ. They will not be judged for sin, they will be judged for reward. Because their sins are forgiven they will not come to be sentenced at the judgement day of the great white throne.

Jesus said so in John 5:24: 'He who hears my word and believes . . . has everlasting life and will not come to the judgement, but has passed from death to life.' So if you believe Christ's words and accept his salvation you will not come to the judgement of God at the last day described in Revelation chapter 20.

That's why I said I hoped you will not. Why? Because I hope you will have accepted Christ as your Saviour.

The Bema is the citizen's court where a reward is given for service. But God's high court gives penalty for sin. You can't be judged for sin if Christ has forgiven your sins can you? So that's the difference between those two courts.

The Bible says that some of the believers will not have given very good service for Christ. They will get very little reward and they'll be very sorry, and yet they will be saved because they were born again into God's family, and as citizens of heaven they will not come to the judgement. But those who have not been born again not only get just sentence for sin, they cannot enter heaven. Jesus said, 'Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, only those who've been born again by God's Holy Spirit into God's family.' The Holy Spirit gives you rebirth when you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour. So be born again by God's Holy Spirit.

Is There A Soul?

Some question whether there is a soul as distinct from the body. This is important because if there is no soul, the Christian ceases to exist when he dies. Death would mean oblivion until resurrection.

This would contradict Christ's promise in John 5:24 that he who believes the gospel would never die. If death meant oblivion, the Old Testament saints also would cease to exist, but Jesus quite clearly said that Abraham was alive and rejoiced to see Christ's day. This was his reply to the Jews who asserted that Abraham and the prophets were dead.

'No,' said Jesus, 'your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad' (John 8:56). He must have rejoiced with the angels at the birth of Jesus. Moses and Elijah rejoiced to see Christ's day. They discussed it with him on the Mount of Transfiguration.

On another occasion, Jesus corrected the Sadducees (in Matthew 22:32). He said that, 'God is the God of the living, and is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because all live unto him.' He used the present tense to show that their souls were alive as he spoke.

The same is made clear about the New Testament believers, for example in Revelation 6:9 John saw the souls of those who were killed because of their witness for the Word of God and for their testimony. They were obviously conscious too, because they cried out to God asking how long it was to be before judgement day when persecutors would be punished.

Notice here that their bodies had been killed; yet their souls were alive and conscious. That is quite clear.

This fulfilled the words of Christ in Matthew 10:28 where Jesus had clearly stated, 'Don't fear those who can only kill your body, and cannot kill your soul'. He was warning believers that down the ages Christians would be persecuted and killed. But they were not to be afraid, because murderers cannot kill the soul.