The Bible teaches that there is no second chance for salvation after death for “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). A person can accept Christ during their life time and be saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31) but once one dies, there is no more chance for salvation. The Catholic doctrine of purgatory, where a Christian’s soul goes to after death to be cleansed of sin in order to prepare for heaven, is not Biblical.
All must one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). The Bible teaches that “anyone not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). Only the names of the faithful will be retained in the book of life. The names of those who do not endure until the end will be blotted out (Revelation 3:5). Many never had their names recorded there, for the book contains only the names of those who at some time in their lives professed faith in Christ (Luke 10:20).
Now is the time to prepare for eternity, “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). People often procrastinate because they think the day of salvation will continue indefinitely. But their life may be cut short. Therefore, heavenly matters should be put first because to delay is dangerous and procrastination leads to the hardening of the heart against the pleadings of the Holy Spirit.
For those that seek salvation today, Jesus promised that “all that the Father has given me will come to me” (John 6:37), and “I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28). The first death comes to all but Jesus promised that His children will not be “hurt” by the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6).
For a Bible study of the State of the Dead, check:
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
