A Stingless Death—For Whom?

One writer observed, “The mightiest power of death is not that it can make people die, but that it can make the people left behind want to stop living.”[i] The Apostle Paul also notes that the death of a loved one has a powerful negative effect on those who remain. Paul writes to the Philippian church, “I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, ²⁶ for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow Phil 2:25-27 ESV. The NET Bible translates this clause, “so that I would not have grief on top of grief”[ii] Phil 2:27 NET.  If Paul rejoiced that God’s providential care of Epaphroditus prevented Paul from the excessive grief that he would have had if his friend would have died, then it should be no surprise that the rest of us are also affected by the pangs of grief. We are far away from the spiritual maturity of the Apostle Paul, so our spiritual strength will be less than his rather than greater.

For a follower of Jesus (a genuine Christian), when their loved one who dies is also believer, the grief is not a hopeless grief because the parting is only temporary (1 Thess 4:13-18). But it is a real grief. A grief with faith and hope, but it is still painful and difficult. This is because the enemy, death, has not yet been fully vanquished by King Jesus. Paul writes:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death” 1 Cor 15:20-26 ESV.

The removal of death is a future event that will not happen until right before the Great White Throne Judgement (Rev 20:1-15, 21:4). It is at this time that this enemy will lose its power over our loved ones by separating the living from the dead and the soul from the body of a human.

In what sense has death currently lost its sting and for whom? The above verses show that death still has power for now. The next verse shows that the promise that death sting will be gone was not given to the deceased believers family and friends. This promise is only for the deceased individual follower of Jesus. Paul writes:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." ⁵⁵ "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain 1 Cor 15:50-58 ESV (see Hos 13:14 & Isa 28:15).

  

Death’s painful stinger and victory is primarily the everlasting punishment of the second death. The sting is the separation from the mercy of God that those who are not in Christ feel immediately upon the separation of soul and body. The individual believer in Christ is never alone during death and does not feel the stinging victory of death that is experienced by those who do not love the triune God of the Bible. However, the family and friends of the believer do feel the painful sting of separation from their loved one. This promise was not given to them. The promise to the loved ones of believers for the believers that remain is that they can have a know-so hope of a future reunion, even during their grief and readjustment period.

The Word of God says, ^“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, [deceased] that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” 1 Thess 4:13 ESV. Why do the “others” have no hope? Let’s consider the belief system of a few philosophical and theological positions that are “other” views in contrast to biblical Christianity.

• For the evolutionist, the survival of the fittest provides no hope to a mother who just lost her daughter. There is no comfort in the perspective that time and chance eliminated her permanently from their lives because she was too weak.
• The Buddhist tries to apply denial or destruction of his human desire for fellowship with the deceased but finds no comfort in his belief that his loved one’s soul has migrated to another life form directed by blind uncaring Karma. In Buddhism the only future goal is for both souls to cease to exist by reaching a mythical Nirvana after thousands of years of transmigrating to different life forms to pay for past errors. The idea that my loved one could come back as a gnat provides absolutely no hope of an everlasting conscience reunion with another human being.
• The Hindu also lacks hope as the deceased persons soul tries to escape the wheel of reincarnation and Karma to finally after tens of thousands of years reach nonexistence and Moksha as the soul is absorbed into an impersonal force. The wailing of a Hindu mother over a lost son is very intense and the world view that this human separation is forever provides no hope to this broken-hearted lady.
• All forms of Eastern mysticism and New Age spirituality are stuck in this same philosophical rut of Karma and reincarnation.
• The atheist and materialist also have no hope with the view that men are physical beings only with no soul and no everlasting existence. For the Atheist, death is the permanent ending of life. There is absolutely no hope of a future reunion.
• For the Jehovah’s Witness, the loved one who did not complete enough works will be annihilated and be never seen again.
• For the Mormon, the loved one could be stuck on the same planet with Hitler, Stalin and Idi Amin producing children to inhabit new planets.
• For the Christian Scientist, their mantra, “there is no death and there is no pain” does not explain why they can no longer hold their deceased loved one’s warm hand or be hugged back. Nor can this denial of reality explain why the hot tears keep rolling down their face.
• For the Muslim, if their loved on did not die in Jihad (Holy war), Allah can choose at any point to not show mercy and consign them to hell.
• All works-based belief systems are unable to provide a confident belief in a future reunion first because no one knows how many works is enough. If it takes 2,100 good works to get into heaven and the loved one only completed 2,098 good works, they missed the mark. Second, all works-based religions, cults and denominations directly contradict the Bible, because salvation from everlasting punishment is only by grace through faith apart from works (Eph 2:8-10; Gal 2:16, 3:10; Rom 4:2-8, 2 Tim 1:9-10; Tit 3:4-7).
• For the Free-will theist, their loved one could have failed in performance after sixty-five years of faithfulness to Christ, but in mental confusion deny Jesus and also be assigned to hell. In sickness, dementia, in pain and under medication they stopped keeping themselves saved, sanctified, living above sin and striving to get into heaven. If salvation and sanctification all depends on the human will, then only the young who die suddenly can have any hope of heaven for the Arminian and semi-Pelagian. The Free-will theist can only have hope for very few people in assisted care and nursing homes as their mental capacity diminishes and their volition is faulty and failing. They can no longer “keep themselves saved”[iii] when they can’t even remember their spouse’s face after sixty years of marriage or their own name. Add morphine to mix and hope further evades because it often causes them to die in confusion, but thankfully with much less pain.

There are many more systems “other” than biblical Christianity that can produce absolutely no hope after a death of a loved one has occurred beyond those that have been listed above. Nevertheless, do note that the more works-based a system is the less hope it produces.

 Only those who have faith in Christ alone and are saved by grace alone through Christ’s work alone according to the Bible alone for the glory of God alone have a full know-so hope and the assurance of being reunited in heaven with other believers (2 Cor 5:6-9; Heb 12:23; Rev 6:9). And after that reunion, to also be united with them in the future in the new heavens and new earth (Rev 21:1-8). That is why a loved one being in Christ provides so much hope for a true believer. However, many other belief systems destroy all hope rather than encourage it.

The resurrection of Christ and the ancient Messianic prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth affirm the propositional truths of the Bible and the veracity and reliability of the passages cited above. The written Word of God contains true truth because God inspired the words and thoughts in the 66 books of the Bible. Those who are in Jesus can have a sure hope of a wonderful everlasting reunion bodily with other followers of Jesus that have experienced death—the separation of the soul from the body. Sadly, this is not the case for “others.”

So, death does have power over a follower of Jesus at the moment God has decreed the separation of body and soul (Heb 9:27; Eph 1:10-11; Rev 14:13-14), but is unable to separate the believer from the love and presence of Christ (John 14:3; Rom 8:31-39; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:21-23; 1 Thess 4:17). Those not in a saving covenantal relationship with King Jesus will be separated from the common grace and mercy of God at their death, just like those outside of the ark in Noah’s day were outside the covenantal mercy of the ark and in the flood of God’s justice and wrath against sin (2 Pet 2:5-16).

Thus, as we have stated above, Death also has the power to separate a loved one from family and friends—at least temporarily for some people. But death will one day be vanquished by King Jesus and after that moment there will no longer be a first death for any creature. The second death, which is everlasting judgment, will continue for all who refuse to take the one bridge off the island provided by God before the volcano erupts. Jesus is the bridge. Deliverance from the wrath to come can only be secured through faith in Him (John 14:1-6; Acts 4:12; Rom 5:9). You do not have to like or take the one path of rescue, but only those who take it make it. You can disagree all you want as the lava flows over the island, but that will not change the reality of it. It is not loving at all to say, “Oh your path that leads to the foot of the volcano is just as good an escape route as the road and one bridge off the Island that leads to safety.” Only that one narrow way will lead you away from the flow of lava. It is a deadly lie that is not loving at all to affirm the paths that lead to death. Love demands pointing to the one provided escape route that alone can provide deliverance.

In conclusion, consider again that the family can feel the sting of death, but a genuine believer in Christ will not individually feel the sting of everlasting death or being separated from God’s love, presence, mercy or grace. The promise of a stingless death is only to the individual believer. Believers left behind are promised a future reunion with departed believers, but not freedom from missing their loved one in the meantime.

And then one day, I’ll cross that river
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain
And then, as death gives way to victory
I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He reigns.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives[iv]

Jesus the Messiah rose from the dead in the same physical body three days after He was crucified and is reigning in heaven right now. He died about 28AD and He now lives!

Ted Manby, BA, M-Div., Th.M.

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[i] Fredrick Backman, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (New York: Artia, 2015) p 220.

[ii] All bold text and underlining have been added for emphasis, but they were not present in the source document.

[iii] This author was personally told in a group setting by an Arminian Church of God pastor in Newport News, VA in 1982, “I have been saved 20 years because I have kept myself saved.”

[iv] Hymn, “Because He Lives” by William J. Gaither and Gloria Gaither, Hanna Street Music (BMI), 1969.