The Intermediate State

The intermediate state concerns individual eschatology and describes the state between death and the resurrection of the body. In the intermediate state believers will experience conscious communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. However, it is a provisional state awaiting the full redemption which includes the participation in the resurrection of which Christ’s was the first-fruits (1 Cor. 15:20-23). In the meantime, this intermediate period represents a temporary state of blessedness for the believer and wrath for the unbeliever.

Although not described in exhaustive detail, the intermediate state is firmly warranted by the New Testament. To the repentant criminal crucified beside him, Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Luke’s Gospel furthermore recounts the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), which describes a great chasm between believers and unbelievers in the intermediate state. When Lazarus dies, he is carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom, while the rich man upon his death is consigned to the torments in Hades. The apostle Paul speaks of the time after death as “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:1-10). Writing to the Philippians, he expresses a desire to depart and be with Christ (Phil. 1:21-23). Furthermore, in the book of Revelation dead believers appear to be conscious with the Lord (Rev. 6:9-10, 7:9-17).

Soul Carried to Heaven by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (c.1878)

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Even in the Old Testament, although the idea of the intermediate state is only foreshadowed, there are hints of a conscious afterlife: Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) were ushered into the presence of the Lord without dying. Job was also confident that his Redeemer lives and that even after the destruction of his skin, he would see God with his own eyes (Job 19:25-27).

One objection to a conscious intermediate state is that in the biblical view, man exhibits a holistic dualism being created as a psychosomatic unity of body and soul: “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7, AKJV). However, Scripture demonstrates that angels experience conscious existence without bodily form. Others object that the dead are frequently described as having “fallen asleep”. However, it must be pointed out that Scripture never states that the soul sleeps, but only the person. Furthermore, it is only of believers—and never of the reprobate—that it is said they fall asleep.

In light of the overall teachings of the New Testament, the minority views of annihilationism and soul-sleep regarding the intermediate state must be considered erroneous. The Scriptures clearly teach that the dead remain conscious in the intermediate state.