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Philippians 1:22-24 - The Bible Does
NOT Teach Soul Sleep!
Philippians
1:22
But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
(Philippians 1:22 NASB) "But
if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me;
and I do not know which to choose."
Though I love the King James Version,
there are times that its ancient but beautiful language confuses me!
What Paul was actually saying was that he was in a bind between two
desires. He knew that, if he continued serving the Lord in the flesh,
that he would be rewarded by God for God is faithful to the faithful
servant. It is a Biblical truth:
(1 Corinthians 3:6-8 KJV) "I
have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. {7} So
then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth;
but God that giveth the increase. {8} Now he that planteth and he
that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according
to his own labour."
God gives the increase! So if we are
faithful to do His will in His way, we will receive the increase. Paul
was living evidence that God gives the increase. Even while he was imprisoned
he led people to Christ, saw local churches planted, and was blessed
by every spiritual blessing. God gives an increase in prosperity.
God gives a church an increase in love:
(1 Thessalonians 3:12 KJV) "And
the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another,
and toward all men, even as we do toward you:"
What the church chooses, be in righteousness
and obedience or unrighteousness and disobedience - the choice you make
will be the profit you see:
(2 Timothy 2:15-16 KJV) "Study
to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. {16} But shun profane
and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness."
Where your heart is, that is where your
treasure shall be. Paul's heart was with Jesus, so he knew that his
ministry would be blessed. God blesses obedience. But Paul was torn,
for he knew that there was a better life waiting for him in eternity.
Which should he choose? To stay here and be blessed, as God added to
the church ... or to enter eternal blessing? That was the apostle's
question.
Philippians 1:23
For I am in a strait<18>
betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ;
which is far better <19>
<19>
POLLO MALLON KREISSON = better by far. Found only here in the New Testament
<18> Paul was in
a strait,
{sunecho {pronounced soon-ekh’-o},
Present Passive Indicative} literally means "to be held between two
pressures, equal from both sides, so as to make movement difficult though
not impossible". Paul was saying, "I'm torn between these two positions",
or "I'm between a rock and a hard place". Paul knew that it
was much better for his own personal well-being to depart this life
and go to be with the Lord. When he departed earth he would be freed
from prison, freed from this body of sin, freed from the limitations
of the flesh. Yet he also dearly loved the Philippians, and
felt that it would be better for those he loved to stay with them and
teach them more of Grace.
Philippians
1:24
Nevertheless to abide in the flesh
is more needful <a>
for you.
<<a> anagkaios {pronounced
= an-ang-kah’-yos} >
The Apostle Paul did not believe
in the sometimes quoted false doctrine of soul sleep. He believed
that a Christian was in one of two places: either alive and active on
this earth, or alive and active in Heaven. Paul said that he desired
to depart and be with Christ. The word with in
the Greek text is the primary preposition sun {pronounced soon},
which means "to accompany, be beside, be with". It does not
convey the idea of sleeping, but of enjoying the presense of
Christ. Robertson says in Robertson's Word Pictures:
To depart (eis to analusai). Purpose
clause, eis to and the aorist active infinitive analusai, old compound
verb, to unloose (as threads), to break up, to return (Luk_12:36, only
other N.T. example), to break up camp (Polybius), to weigh anchor and
put out to sea, to depart (often in old Greek and papyri). Cf. kataluo?
in 2Co_5:1 for tearing down the tent.
In other words Paul was saying, "I
want to break camp and go be with Jesus". This certainly does not
imply soul sleep, or the concept that a person - once they cease
from living in this life - literally sleeps until the last ressurection.
What a comfortless and unBiblical concept!
At death, the believer goes immediately
to be with Christ (Phil. 1:21-23). He is absent from the body but face
to face with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6-8). There, in conscious joy, the believer
awaits the first resurrection (1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev.
20:4-6) when he will be reunited with his resurrected body, to be glorified
forever with the Lord. At death, unbelievers go to be in conscious misery
(Luke 16:19-26) until the second resurrection when they shall be reunited
with their resurrected bodies to appear before Christ at the Great White
Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:15). They will not be annihilated but will
suffer everlasting conscious punishment under the wrath of God (Matt.
25:41-46; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Mark 9:43-48).
Absent From The Body,
Present With The Lord
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1. The Bible does use the
term sleep when referring to the death of the Christian.
The aim of this metaphor
is to suggest what death is like and means to the believer, but
this must be understood in the light of all of Scripture:
(1) As the sleeper does not cease
to exist while his body sleeps, so the dead person continues to
exist. The grave is like a bed for the body.
(2) As sleep is temporary, so
also is the death of the body.
Sleep is a figure of speech for
death and anticipates resurrection but it is not meant to suggest
soul sleep.
The verb “to sleep,”
koimao {pronounced koy-mah’-o}, is used of both natural
sleep (Matt. 28:13; Luke 22:45; Acts 12:6), and of death,
but only of the death of the Christian (Matt. 27:52; Jn.
11:11; 1 Co. 7:39; 11:30; 15:6, 18, 51; 2 Pe. 3:4).
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(John 11:11-14 KJV) "These
things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend
Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
{12} Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
{13} Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he
had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. {14} Then said Jesus unto
them plainly, Lazarus is dead."
(Acts 13:36 KJV) "For
David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw
corruption:"
(1 Corinthians 11:28-31 KJV)
"But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that
bread, and drink of that cup. {29} For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning
the Lord's body. {30} For this cause many are weak and sickly
among you, and many sleep. {31} For if we would judge ourselves,
we should not be judged."
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2. The Bible also uses sleep
as a illustration for lethargy in your faith.
In Romans 13:11 the word translated
sleep is the Greek hupnos {pronounced hoop’-nos},
which means lethargy or a hypnotized state.
In 1 Thesselonians 5:4-6, the
word used for "sleep" is katheudo {pronounced kath-yoo’-do}
and in the context refers, not to physical death, but to spiritual
and moral complacency.
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(Romans 13:11-12 KJV) "And
that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out
of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
{12} The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore
cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of
light."
(1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 KJV)
"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief. {5} Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
{6} Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch
and be sober."
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| 3. When sleep is used in
reference to the death of a Christian, it is always used as a
euphemism for the state of rest that the BODY enters at death.
The saints whose bodies sleep in the grave will return with
Jesus at the Rapture of the Church. |
(1 Corinthians 15:50-51 KJV)
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
{51} Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed,"
(1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 KJV)
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
{15} For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we
which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep."
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| 4. The Bible teaches that whether
we are alive or asleep, that is, whether in this life or in
the next life, that we are equally with Jesus. This is a
key element in the Plan of Salvation that Jesus Christ provided
for us at the Cross and at the Resurrection. Being asleep in Heaven
while waiting for the Rapture, which is what proponents of soul
sleep teach, is not living together with Jesus. |
(1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 KJV)
"For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, {10} Who died for us, that, whether
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. {11} Wherefore
comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also
ye do."
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| 5. Jesus Christ is the firstfruits
of the resurrection, the first One harvested from the field. If
the Christian sleeps while he waits for the Rapture, then
Jesus slept in the grave for three days and nights until
His resurrection. |
(Romans 6:5 KJV) "For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall
be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"
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| 6. The fact that the Christian
departs this life and immediately goes to live with Jesus in
the next life is a promise that God gives us to encourage and
comfort us, and to drive us to good works. |
(2 Timothy 2:11-12 KJV) "It
is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also
live with him: {12} If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:
if we deny him, he also will deny us:"
(Colossians 3:2-4 KJV) "Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. {3}
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. {4}
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory."
(Revelation 3:21 KJV) "To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his
throne."
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7. The Biible clearly teaches
that if we are absent from this body we are present
or face to face with the Lord.
For those who believe in soul
sleep, there will never be a conscious moment of the believer
apart from a bodily existence, because he sleeps after he dies,
and awakes in the same body he died in, at the resurrection. Only
a doctrine of an intermediate state could allow for one to be
absent from the body (death) and yet present with the Lord, awaiting
to be clothed again with a body (resurrection).
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(2 Corinthians 5:1-9 KJV) "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. {2} For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to
be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: {3} If so be
that being clothed we shall not be found naked. {4} 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. {5} Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame
thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the
Spirit. {6} Therefore we are always confident, knowing that,
whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
{7} (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) {8} We are confident,
I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to
be present with the Lord. {9} Wherefore we labour, that, whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of him."
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| 8. Our Lord Jesus taught that -
once the believer left this life - that that believer immediately
went to be with Him in Heaven. If Jesus is the firstfruits
from those who slept, that is, if He is the first to be ressurrected
from the dead, and He told the thief that they would be together
in Paradise that very day, then it is obvious that Jesus'
soul did not sleep in the grave - nor did the saved thief. Both
went immediately and consciously to Paradise. All that slept for
both the thief and Jesus was their bodies in the grave. |
(Luke 23:43 KJV) "And
Jesus said unto him (the repentant thief),
Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
(1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV) "But
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits
of them that slept."
(1 Corinthians 15:22-23 KJV)
"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."
(Luke 23:46 KJV) "And
when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into
thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he
gave up the ghost."
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9. Jesus taught that both the
rich man and Lazarus, upon death, retained consciousness
and were transported into another sphere of existence. Lazarus
upon death went to be with the saints in glory. The rich
man upon death went into torments in hellfire.
Sodom and Gomorrha are
at this moment suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
No one "sleeps" in the sense that they are unconscious
after death ... not even the unbeliever.
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(Luke 16:19-23 KJV) "There
was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen,
and fared sumptuously every day: {20} And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, {21} And
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. {22} And it
came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; {23}
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."
(Jude 1:7 KJV) "Even as
Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner,
giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange
flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance
of eternal fire."
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| 10. In the Book of Revelation John
the Revelator saw "souls
of them that were slain for the word of God".
They were not sleeping, but were with God, active, and calling
out to God our Father. |
(Revelation 6:9-11 KJV) "And
when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the
souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
which they held: {10} And they cried with a loud voice, saying,
How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the earth? {11} And white robes
were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that
they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants
also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should
be fulfilled." |
| 11. Moses and Elijah, the former
who died with his eyes on the Promised Land, the latter who
was caught up to Heaven without seeing death: both appeared
with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. If when you die you
go to sleep then why was Moses there .... he should have
still been sleeping? What about Elijah? Has he been asleep, or awake
in Heaven since his catching up? Soul sleep makes no sense in the
context of Scripture! |
(Deuteronomy 34:7 KJV) "And
Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his
eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated."
(2 Kings 2:9-12 KJV) "And
it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto
Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from
thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy
spirit be upon me. {10} And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing:
nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall
be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. {11} And it came
to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted
them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
{12} And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the
chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no
more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two
pieces."
(Matthew 17:1-3 KJV) "And
after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother,
and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, {2} And was
transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and
his raiment was white as the light. {3} And, behold, there appeared
unto them Moses and Elias talking with him."
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But what about texts like:
Ecclesiastes 9:5: "For the living
know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither
have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."
At first glance this seems to support
the idea of soul-sleep because it is said that the dead do not know
anything, and if their soul/spirit survived death, they would still
be conscious and could be said to know things. I believe that this Scripture
is being misunderstood. The theme of the book of Ecclesiastes is the
way things appear "under the sun," i.e. to man. Yes, to man,
the dead do not know anything. They are a mere lifeless body. Solomon
was not denying any afterlife, but was showing that death is the
cessation of opportunities with regard to this life (9:5-6). The
people in this life forget the dead eventually. Solomon was making a
case for making the most out of this life, because once it is over,
it is over (under the sun). Further, if you use this text to support
a doctrine of soul sleep after death, then you also - using the
same standards of exegesis - teach that there is no Judgment Seat
or reward before the Throne of Christ for those who have died. There
is no more a reward. But, if you exegete this text in its
proper context then you see that Solomon was referring to the dead
body, not a sleeping soul.
Daniel 12:2 is also used to support
soul-sleep:
"And many of them that sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
It is argued that since these dead
are said to be sleeping until the time when they are awoken (resurrection),
that they must be in some sort of soul-sleep. Again, sleep does not
need to be taken to refer to both the spirit-body the fleshly-body.
It seems clear that "sleep" was used to describe the death
of the body, not the spirit/soul. This being the case, Daniel's
statement perfectly harmonizes with other Biblical statements which
teach an afterlife. The bodies of the dead will be resurrected at this
time, not their spirits/souls.
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