Kingdom Ready Blog

Common “Proof Texts”

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the Scriptures, there are a small handful of passages that are repeatedly cited as proof that a believer goes immediately to be with the Lord at death. One of the most common is Paul’s statement in II Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” This verse is almost always misquoted as, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” It is generally assumed Paul meant that to be absent from the body (i.e. at death) equals being present with the Lord. Similarly, Paul wrote in Philippians 1:23, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.” Did Paul mean that when he departed he would be immediately with Christ? Does being absent from the body mean being present with the Lord? If this was what he meant, it would contradict not only the Hebrew understanding of death which we have discussed, but even many things that Paul himself wrote elsewhere.

I Corinthians 15:
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Philippians 3:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

These verses are consistent with the view of death and resurrection we have been discussing. Paul fully expected to be raised from death at the return of Christ, and not before. There is no suggestion of immediately being with the Lord, and no implication that the resurrection consists of reuniting an already conscious spirit with its body. In I Thessalonians 4, there had been a question about the state of “them which are asleep.” If the departed believers were now “in a better place with the Lord,” it would have been the most comforting thing that Paul could have said. But of course he said no such thing. The words with which he comforted them, and with which we are to comfort one another, concerned the coming of the Lord, and that “the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” If the believers who had died were already with Christ in heaven, Paul’s statement that “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep” would be pointless. Of course we wouldn’t prevent (precede) them that sleep if they are already there! The point Paul was making was that those that were asleep would not be at a disadvantage, because they would be raised first, then we will join them.

So in conjunction with what Paul has written elsewhere, could II Corinthians 5:8 mean that one goes immediately to be with the Lord at death? It can’t mean that and fit with the rest of Scripture. The context of this section of Paul’s epistle is dealing with the overall theme of contrasting this life with that which is to come. “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you” (II Corinthians 4:14). We do not faint because any temporary suffering is insignificant in comparison with the great glory that is to come. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1). Considered in conjunction with Paul’s other writings, this can’t be talking about a building of God that we will go to in the heavens, but one that is now prepared for us in the heavens. We long to put on that new body which will be from heaven (verse 2, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.”) While we are in this present body, we are absent from the Lord (verse 6). Like Paul, we have a desire to leave that home (our present body) and be with him, which will happen when he returns, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (verse 10). The whole point Paul was making was the contrast between our state now and our state when Christ returns. The new body is symbolized as clothing which we will put on, so that we will not be naked. To be disembodied in the interim was a condition that Paul rejected as unthinkable. “If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (verses 3 and 4).

Similarly, Paul was discussing the furtherance of the gospel in Philippians 1:12-30, regardless of whether he lived or died. “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20). Paul did not say in verse 23 that he believed that when he departed he would be with Christ; he merely said that he had a desire to depart and be with Christ. For him, when he died, his next conscious thought would be the return of Christ, since there would be no consciousness of time passing. But he still viewed his goal as the resurrection (Philippians 3:11) which from the perspective of the living, is yet future.

Another commonly used “proof-text” is Luke 23:42-43, where Jesus spoke to the thief on the cross. One of the thieves railed on Jesus, but the other said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Jesus replied to him, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” How could this be possible? According to the Bible, paradise is not in “heaven” but a place on earth. It will be in the restored garden of Eden (Revelation 2:7). Jesus made this promise in response to the request concerning his Kingdom, which is in the future. Besides, even if it meant heaven, Jesus himself wasn’t going to be there that same day. He was to be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Even the day after he was resurrected, he had not yet ascended to the Father (John 20:17).

A simple solution to this problem is found in the punctuation. Since there was no punctuation in the original manuscripts, the placing of a comma is subject to the interpretation of the translator. The adjective translated “today” frequently follows the verb it modifies, and is often used to show great solemnity. Phrases such as “I say unto you today” or “I command you this day” are not uncommon. Some examples include Deuteronomy 6:6; 8:11; 10:13; 11:8,27,32; 13:18; 19:9; 27:4; 30:19. Paul uses a similar expression in Acts 20:26 (“Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.”) The verse in Luke can then be punctuated as, “Verily I say unto you today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.” The passage then makes sense and does not contradict any other Scripture. The thief said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (which will be in the future) and Jesus assured him that he would be in paradise in that future Kingdom.

Another occurrence of the word paradise is quite illuminating. Paul wrote in II Corinthians 12:1ff about a vision he had been given, describing “such an one caught up to the third heaven.” A great many commentators interpret this as referring to a view of the heavens that was held by some Jews in that day. They believed that there were several levels to heaven, and that the highest one was the abode of God. Scriptural passages that refer to “the heaven of heavens” are usually cited as being proof of this. Some even go so far as to define the three heavens that Paul supposedly refers to, based on these old Jewish concepts. The first heaven, according to this interpretation, is the visible portion, with clouds and birds, etc. The second is the portion which contains the sun, moon, and stars. Finally the third heaven is the “heaven of heavens” beyond the stars, which is the abode of God and his angels, and of those departed saints that have gone to be with God. Of course none of this is found in the Scriptures.

Deuteronomy 10:14 says, “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.” God is not limited to a supposed third level of heaven. The “third heaven” to which Paul refers, he also calls “paradise” in verse 4, which Jesus identified with his Kingdom in Luke 23:42-43, and Revelation 2:7 describes as a place on earth in the future. The word for “caught up” is harpazo which is also translated “caught away” or “carried off.” The meaning of the word does not automatically imply “up” although it is sometimes used that way. The paradise that Paul was caught away to is called the third heaven, because the Bible speaks of three. We saw in the article on the Gap Theory that II Peter 3 describes the heavens which were of old and the world that perished (verses 5-6), the heavens and earth which are now (verse 7), and a new heavens and new earth (verse 13), wherein dwelleth righteousness. Paul was caught away to that future heaven, and given a vision of the coming Kingdom.

To Be Continued…