Do You Go to Heaven When You Die?

John 3:13, No one has ascended to heaven. Most Christians believe that when they die, they immediately go to heaven in spite of Yeshua’s clear statement in this verse.

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Some believers see this verse as referring to saints who died before his resurrection, but not true of those who died afterwards, even though Yeshua doesn’t say this. Therefore, they reason, this is why, according to Peter, David, who was born before Yeshua, is still resting in his grave awaiting the last days resurrection (Acts 2:29).

If what the majority of Christians believe on this subject is true, then the saints of old are second-class citizens and YHVH is a respecter persons (which he is not, see Acts 10:34; Rom 2:11) in that they have to wait for resurrection day and for their ultimate reward of eternal life, while saints born since Yeshua receive their glorified bodies immediately upon death.

Laying aside all the church traditions and doctrines of men, what does the Bible in the simplest and clearest terms say about the timing of the saints receiving immortality? Paul states that the resurrection of all the dead saints and their receiving immortality occurs not at the time of their physical death, but at the second coming of Yeshua at the last trumpet (1 Cor 15:51–54; 1 Thess 4:13–18 cp. Rev 11:15, 18).

Actually, men’s eternal inheritance isn’t heaven, but the New Jerusalem, which is coming down from heaven to the new earth (Rev 21:2).

 

1 thought on “Do You Go to Heaven When You Die?

  1. This was always a confusing point to me as a child, and really up until a few years ago when I actually started to read my bible (I’ve never found bible reading to be much encouraged in churches, but “bible study”, i.e., popular group videos, was always encouraged). I remember asking as a child, if “good christians” go to heaven when we die, and bad ones and non-christians go to hell, then why is there a final judgement? Seemed to me as if YHWH was adding an unnecessary step when the bad ones were already being punished in hell! And then asking if Noah was in heaven, and being told that he wasn’t because he didn’t believe in Jesus, and then asking “why not, didn’t YHWH save his whole family, but he’ll still be in hell?”. The stock answer was always “Jesus changed all that.” I think my elders were always frustrated by my questioning the status quo of tradition!

    This reminds me of Yeshua saying we need to have faith like a child, and I think that includes believing the simplest of what is written in scripture and discarding all the elaborate man-made explanations.

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