Some Christians, while firmly affirming the doctrine of bodily resurrection, unwittingly leave no place for it within their broader theological framework.
Many hold that at the moment of death, believers receive their glorified bodies and immediately enter their final, eternal state in the presence of Jesus in heaven. Such a view effectively bypasses both the resurrection of the dead and the intermediate state — the period between a believer’s death and the final resurrection at the end of the age.
Much of classical Greek thought regarded the human soul as imprisoned within the body, viewing salvation, in part, as the liberation and purification of the soul to dwell in the realm of pure spirit. In sharp contrast, Christian teaching affirms that the body is not inherently evil but is part of God’s good creation, corrupted by sin yet destined for renewal. Ultimate salvation, therefore, encompasses the redemption of the whole person, body and soul alike, and necessarily entails a bodily resurrection. The ultimate Christian hope is not escape from the body but the resurrection of the body and everlasting life in a renewed creation — the “new heavens and new earth.”
Jesus, Paul, and the Bodily Resurrection
Jesus often affirmed a future resurrection. For example, in John 5:28–29, Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” See also Matthew 22:23–33; Luke 14:14; and John 6:39–40, 44, 54.
Paul expressed an assurance of a future physical resurrection:
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a
cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and
with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. 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, and so we will always be
with the Lord”. (1 Thess. 4:16–17; see also 1
Corinthians 15:51–53 and Philippians 3:20–21).
While both Jesus and Paul affirmed a future physical resurrection, they also taught the reality of an intermediate state — an existence between bodily death and the final resurrection. In Matthew 22:31–32, Jesus declared that the Old Testament saints who had died physically were still alive. Likewise, He assured the dying thief on the cross that he would be with Him that very day in paradise, though He did not elaborate on the nature of that existence.
Immediately with Jesus and Two Misconceptions
In 2 Corinthians 5:3–8, Paul teaches that immediately after death, the believer is in the presence of Christ. (See also Philippians 1:23.) Yet Paul makes clear that this state is not the believer’s final condition. He describes it as being “unclothed,” anticipating the greater hope of being “further clothed” when he receives his resurrected body. Apart from affirming that this intermediate state is temporary, conscious, and spent in Christ’s presence, Paul offers little additional detail.
The doctrine of the intermediate state corrects two misconceptions found in some theological traditions: soul sleep and purgatory. Soul sleep holds that, in the intermediate state, the soul enters an unconscious existence or “sleep” awaiting the resurrection. Proponents of this view appeal to passages such as John 11:11–14 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–15. However, in these passages, “sleep” serves as a metaphor, emphasizing that death, like sleep, is only temporary. The doctrine of soul sleep is incompatible with the biblical teaching of an intermediate state in which the believer remains fully conscious in the presence of Christ.
The biblical teaching on the intermediate state also stands in clear contrast to the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” In other words, even true believers, at death, may require further purification from sin in purgatory. Protestants, however, have long regarded this doctrine as both unbiblical and unnecessary, holding that believers are fully justified in Christ alone and need no further purification.
The intermediate state is precisely that — a temporary condition. The final state that awaits the believer is a blessed and eternal existence in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, dwelling in the new heavens and the new earth in a glorified, resurrected body. This is the believer’s complete redemption, secured through the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb.
— Walter Johnson is a recently retired dean of the College of Christian Studies at North Greenville University, where he taught and served for 32 years.