What happens to us after we die?

By Steve Cornell

Is there life after death? This question has puzzled people for centuries. Most are inclined to feel that physical death does not end their existence. Many also feel that they will have to give an account for their earthly lives. Theologian Millard Erickson suggested a six point answer to the question of where people go after death. His points are worthy of careful reflection.

1. All humans are sinners, by nature and by choice; they are therefore guilty and under divine condemnation.

2. Salvation is only through Christ and his atoning work.

3. In order to obtain the salvation achieved by Christ, one must believe in Him; therefore Christians and the church have a responsibility to tell unbelievers the good news about Him.

4. The adherents of other faiths, no matter how sincere their belief or how intense their religious activity, are spiritually lost apart from Christ.

5. Physical death brings an end to the opportunity to exercise saving faith and accept Jesus Christ. The decisions made in this life are irrevocably fixed at death.

6. At the great final judgment all humans will be separated on the basis of their relationship to Christ during this life.  Those who have believed in Him will spend eternity in heaven, where they will experience everlasting joy and reward in God’s presence. Those who have not accepted Christ will experience hell, a place of unending suffering and separation from God (From: The Evangelical Mind and Heart).

Some will think that these points are too exclusive, but God’s offer of salvation extends to everyone without exception or distinction. Others will accept some of Erickson’s points but find objectionable his belief in hell. Despite the fact that orthodox Christian teaching has consistently presented hell as an actual place of eternal punishment, it has become increasingly popular, even among Christians, to deny or tone down biblical statements on it. 

Recently, a variety of theories have been offered as legitimate Christian alternatives. One theory is universalism (the idea that all people will ultimately be saved). More recently the theory of the ultimate annihilation of the wicked has gained acceptance among evangelicals. Yet what is striking is that all such theories do not reconcile with the teaching of Jesus. He referred to hell as a place God sends people to in judgment. He described it as “eternal fire” and “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:41,46). Jesus also said it was a place of darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, torment, and a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

While it is true that Jesus used some metaphors to describe hell, D.A. Carson wisely recommends that, “… even if we assume that the language is metaphorical, it is evoking images of a horrible existence.”  Jesus warned his followers not to “… fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).            

Admittedly, the thought of unending suffering and separation from God is emotionally difficult (if not impossible) to understand. However, we cannot ignore the facts because we find them emotionally disturbing. Nor are we at liberty (if we want to be called Christians) to pick and choose only those biblical teachings we find acceptable. 

Furthermore, the scripture reminds us that God does not desire that any perish but that all come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Yet, as Carson has written, “We must always remember that the Bible does not present us with a God who chances upon neutral men and women and arbitrarily consigns some to heaven and some to hell. He takes guilty men and women, all of whom deserve his wrath, and in his great mercy and love he saves vast numbers of them. Had he saved only one, it would have been an act of grace; that he saves a vast host affirms still more unmistakably the uncharted reaches of that grace.  From a biblical perspective, hell stands as a horrible witness to human defiance in the face of great grace.”

C.S. Lewis offered the following consideration to those who find the teaching about hell objectionable, “In the long run, the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell is itself a question: What are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But he has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them?  But THEY will not BE forgiven. To leave them alone?  Alas, I am afraid that’s what he does.”  

Steve Cornell
Senior pastor
Millersville Bible Church
Millersville, PA. 17551     

See also: http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2007/03/24/heaven-a-place-beyond-compare/