What Paul Taught about Death and Hell

It is pretty common to hear or see people reference the apostle Paul when trying to sustain their belief that people go to heaven or hell at death. However, when studying the entire Bible on this subject, it becomes abundantly clear that Paul never taught the concept of the immortal soul, or the idea of and eternally burning hell.

First, though, let us deal with a claim I’ve heard multiple times recently, and that is the claim that since Heaven is eternal, that hellfire must also be eternal. However, this is a pagan concept that the Bible does not support. We see this idea in things like Greek mythology, but not in the Bible. I mean, if we follow that line of thought to its logical conclusion, then since mankind is sinful, the Godhead must also be sinful. Since satan is a wicked despotic deceiver, so must also God be. You see how foolish that logic sounds?

First, let us start with what Paul said in Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Paul is clear. He says the wages of sin is death: not eternal torment, not eternal fiery punishment, not eternal conscious suffering…death. And the word for death, means exactly that. John 3:16 tells us the same thing, that the believer is rewarded with eternal life, while the only other option is death: not any form of eternal negativity other than death.

Secondly, Paul is just as clear in Colossians 1:19-20 that the mission of God is one of reconciliation, not one of eternally burning the wicked. God’s justice does not necessitate Him acting like a despot and burning the wicked for eternity. Add to that the fact that in Revelation 21:1-4, the Bible says that God will make all things new, and that nothing negative or wicked will remain. Friends, if Revelation 21:1-4 is true, eternal hell CANNOT be true. If eternal hell is true, all of the myriad promises of a new earth without wickedness CANNOT be true, and that would make God a liar. And we know that God is no such thing.

Third, there are many Scriptures such as Nahum 1:9-10, Isaiah 47:14, Psalm 37:10, 20, Revelation 20:9-10, and many others, that tell us the punishment of the wicked is eternal death, not eternal fiery torment. Read them below:

Nahum 1:9-10 KJV — What do ye imagine against the Lord ? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

Isaiah 47:14 KJV — Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

Psalm 37:10,20 KJV — For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be : yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be…But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

Revelation 20:9-10 KJV — And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and DEVOURED them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever (literally meaning for a period of time.)

But the death knell Scripture that blows this pagan concept out of the water is Malachi 4:1-3. Read it below:

Malachi 4:1-3 KJV — For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

You see, while the wicked are receiving their punishment of being consumed to ashes in the temporary lake of fire, the righteous receive the healing benefits that Jesus has to offer. This is showing us the same truth as Romans 6:23, and John 3:16: the wicked receive eternal death, not eternal fire, while the righteous receive eternal life.

Now that we have addressed that, let’s return to what Paul teaches about death, hellfire, and when the righteous receive immortality. Let’s start with the easier to understand Scriptures.

Paul says in 1 Timothy 6 something very important:

1 Timothy 6:16 NKJV — who ALONE has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Paul was writing this decades after Calvary. And he still says here that only God has immortality. If only God has immortality, that then also means we don’t.

Genesis 2:7 makes this clear as well. It specifies that you do not have a soul, you ARE a soul. And the word for soul means creature or being, not a disembodied spirit that lives on after death Read it below.

Genesis 2:7 — And 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.

Next, Paul mentions this subject in 1 Thessalonians 4 as well. And he makes it equally clear there what happens. He calls death a sleep, and states the righteous won’t be resurrected to see Jesus until Jesus returns. This also goes along with what Jesus said in John 5:28-29, that the dead are still in their graves, waiting their final reward. The ONLY exceptions to this are Moses, who died and was resurrected, Elijah, who was taken to heaven without seeing death, as was Enoch, and the small sample or first fruits group who was resurrected when Jesus was.

John 5:28-29 KJV — Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 KJV — But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This language is so plain that it cannot be misunderstood, except by desiring to misunderstand it. Jesus and Paul agree: the dead are in the graves. No where else. The Bible also clearly states that death is a sleep in over 60 passages across all 66 books!

Notice:

Deut. 31:16; 2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; 1 Kings 2:10; 1 Kings 11:21; 1 Kings 11:43; 1 Kings 14:20; 1 Kings 14:31; 1 Kings 15:8; 1 Kings 15:24; 1 Kings 16:6; 1 Kings 16:28; 1 Kings 22:40; 1 Kings 22:50; 2 Kings 8:24; 2 Kings 10:35; 2 Kings 13:9; 2 Kings 13:13; 2 Kings 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chron. 9:31; 12:16; 14:1 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Job 7:21; Job 14:12; Psalm 13:3; 76:6; Psalm 76:5; 90:5; Jer. 51:39, 57; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 9:24; Matt. 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor. 11:30; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 20; 1 Thess. 4:13-15; 2 Peter 3:4

Paul also mentions this truth in 1 Corinthinas 15:51-55

1 Corinthians 15:51-55 KJV — Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Notice when Paul says the righteous receive the gift of immortality. “At the last trump,” which 1 Thessalonians 4 defines as the Second Coming of Jesus.

Now, what about some of the more difficult Scriptures where some claim that Paul teaches life after death. Let’s start with 2 Corinthians 5:8. Read it below:

2 Corinthians 5:8 KJV — We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

At first glance, if you ignore the entire context, one might believe that Paul was teaching the immortality of the soul. But as we have seen through his other writings, he most certainly did not teach that. Let us look at the context, and then dig in further.

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:8 KJV — For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 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. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 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. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (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.

Paul’s thought in 2 Corinthians 5:8 is a continuation of his thought that he ended chapter 4 with. He is speaking of trials and tribulations, not about there being such a thing as an immortal soul.

Notice the language that Paul is using. He is using terminology that is comparing our temporal bodies to buildings. Earthly buildings, or tabernacles, get dissolved. Remember, in 1 Corinthians 3 and 6, Paul tells you that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. But, he also says your natural man cannot be reconciled to God, so you need a new creation body, which he says in the aforementioned Scriptures is what we receive when Jesus returns.

By the time we get to verse 8, Paul is simply describing his desire to go be with Jesus. He is not teaching eternal hell or the immortal soul.

Now some will also point over to Philippians 1:21-23. However, rightly understood, Paul is not teaching life after death or the immortal soul ideology.

Philippians 1:21-23 KJV — For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

Paul says to die is gain, but why? Because, as he taught in other places, death is a sleep. And when you sleep, you are not cognizant of anything going on. You could sleep for 8 hours, and it feels like a split second. Paul knew that when he died, he would have no consciousness at all, and the next thing that he is going to see is the Second Coming of Jesus. He would have rest, and then open his eyes to the Saviour some 2,000 years later.

Paul is not here giving an exposé on what happens at death. He is simply stating his desire. He was so deeply in love with Jesus, that nothing of the world could sway him. He wanted to see Jesus in person, face to face. That was his great desire. He had seen Jesus in vision many times, but he wanted to see him face to face, in person.

Now, I have heard 1 Corinthians 12 used in this argument, so let’s address it.

2 Corinthians 12:1-6 KJV — It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

Paul here is simply describing an experience with someone, but he could not remember whether or not he saw them in person or in vision. Paul did not die and go to heaven, and then come back. He is not teaching that concept at all. He is simply stating he met someone.

Paul also states this in Colossians:

Colossians 3:1-4 KJV — If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Notice when Paul says we will appear with Jesus in glory: when Jesus returns the Second Time. Not before. Not at death.

Friends, it is extremely clear. Not even Paul taught that we go anywhere at death other than the grave. Paul is not in Heaven yet. Your loved ones are not in Heaven yet. But take comfort in the fact that they are sleeping, and the faithful ones will be resurrected when Jesus splits open the sky at the end of the great tribulation.

Stay faithful, saints. That day is not far off.