Lets continue to learn what the Bible says about the state of the dead...

In "Part one" of this series we covered:

Once you die you:

• No longer have any thoughts, emotions (love, hatred, envy), memories.
• No longer work, have no wisdom.
• Can’t even praise God, because you have none of the above.
• You can’t talk to anyone, you are “silent”!
• You “sleep” and wait for the “last day”…the day where Jesus returns and resurrects you back to life.

1. There is a specific appointed time when the dead will rise.

   

   • There is a specific "hour" or a time when the dead in Christ will rise to life and now have consciousness. This is known as the day of resurrection or the last day.

   

   • Martha clearly understood that the dead will not rise to life again until an appointed time...that is, on the last day the day when God resurrects the dead.

1. God doesn't judge us when we die.

   

   • It's at the appearing that the Lord Jesus Christ will pronounce judgment on the saved and the wicked.

NOTE: Hebrews 9:27 confuses many and do not understand that this is a reminder that one day all of us will have to face judgment someday.

1. Ghosts are not people who were once alive.

   

   Question: So who are they? How do they know me so well?
   Answer: These are demonic spirits to deceive the living. The bible tells us the devil and his angels can appear to be something they are not.

   

   • If Satan and his angels can impersonate good angels, then it's no problem for them to impersonate our loved ones. This is why God forbids communication with the dead, because it is a method to deceive the living.

   

   • You see, the Devil wants more than anything to deceive us and will use our loved ones as messengers from heaven to make us believe them, instead of Gods word.

1. We Don't have "Immortal Souls."

   

   • Therefore, no, souls are not immortal. They can die.

   

   • Only God is immortal and only the saved will attain immortality when God returns.

1. Souls are not independent life forms.

   • Our souls is not something that can exist outside of our body. Instead, the Bible says, "...we are a soul."

     

     Therefore a soul is a combination of = A body + breath of life.

     A living "soul" and a living "being" are synonymous.

     Question: So what is a "spirit?"

     Answer: The breath of God.

     

     Job is saying, the breath of God is in his nostrils. Which is a reference to how Adam was created.

So what does the following verse mean?

• This is the creation of man, in reverse. The breath of God (the spirit) returns to Him and we then form back into dust. Thus, we no longer have a body and no spirit (breath) and therefore are no longer a soul.

Let’s summarize what we read.

• The dead in Christ will be resurrected when Christ returns.
• Gods judgment will occur when He returns.
• Ghosts are not the spirits of dead people, they are demons.
• Our souls are not immortal.
• Souls are not something that can exist outside of our bodies.
• The Spirit is the breath of God, which is what the body needs to have a soul.