“Immediate union with Christ
occurs at death”
Protestants cite numerous scriptures
claiming these teach immediate union with Christ upon death. These include Heb
9:27, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes
judgment.” (NASB) After death God judges people. Nothing infers when that
judgment will occur. If I say, “I am going to eat ice cream after I arrive
home,” that does not mean I will immediately open the freezer and eat ice
cream. I may want to eat dinner prior to eating dessert tonight. I may
want to spend time with my wife discussing her day. Claiming that this verse
proves an immediate blissful abode with Christ cannot withstand scrutiny.
Additionally, “after that the judgment” does not sound particularly blissful.
Judgment comes prior to Christ’s embrace. How is that immediate union?
Another passage cited by
Protestants is 2 Cor 5:6-8. “So we are always of good courage. We know that
while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by
faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away
from the body and at home with the Lord.” (ESV) Many authors miss the context
by neglecting the verses that follow: “So whether we are at home or away, we
make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the
body, whether good or evil.” (2 Cor 5:9-10) Death inevitably produces a meeting
with God, but again, no time frame is provided. Christ’s judgment seat does not
appear to generate bravery unless you are pleasing the Lord by obeying him (1 John
2:28). Judgment precedes union. (The judgment seat of Christ may occur at each
individual’s death rather than postponed until the Great White Throne judgment)
Phil 1:21-24 has also been used. “For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if to live in the flesh,--if
this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know not. But I
am a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ;
for it is very far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your
sake.” (ASV) Paul’s desire to be with Christ after death in no way proves he is
ushered directly into Christ’s arms upon dying. A judgment must precede it.
This verse does not support immediate bliss with Christ after death.
In Rev 6:9-11, Christian martyrs
plead with God for judgment upon their killers. “And when he opened the fifth
seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the
word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a great
voice, saying, ‘How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’” (DRA) This is one of the
stronger arguments but still falls short. Scripture does not tell us anything
about what transpired between death and the martyrs being under the altar. No
immediacy exists. This does not imply soul sleep, although bodily sleep is
evident elsewhere (e.g., 1 Cor 11:29-30; 1 Thess 4:13-18).
Similarly, the saints who are martyred
in the Great Tribulation indeed stand before God to serve Him. But the text
does not state they went immediately to God’s Throne.
After these things I looked, and
behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes,
peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes . . . So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of
the great tribulation [της θλιψεως της μεγαλης], and
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they
are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.” (Rev
7:9-15, NKJV)
The words of Christ to the thief
(Luke 23:34) could possibly limit a delay into Christ’s presence to a single
day. “Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!’ And
He said to him, ‘I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise.’” (HCSB)
This assumes that paradise was incorporated into “Heaven” after Christ’s resurrection.
It cannot be proven. IT also assumes the thief experienced immediate bliss
instead of a preceding judgment “today.” It is unlikely the thief entered
Paradise bypassing Christ’s judgment of his works, since Scripture teaches
judgment must occur. Therefore, no Scripture states that immediately upon death
we are at peace with Christ. In fact, repeatedly in scripture, a judgment of
our deeds occurs prior to that intimacy with Christ. (Kenneth Wilson, The
Purgatory Principle for Protestants: How God’s Purifying Judgment and Mercy
Answer Injustice [Montgomery, Tex.: Regula Fidei Press, 2023], 76-79)
