Doctrine of the Last Things (Part 20): The Souls of the Unrighteous Dead

The Souls of the Unrighteous Dead

We’ve been talking about the state of the souls of the righteous dead. But what about the souls of the unrighteous dead – the souls of those who do not know Christ? As we’ve already seen in the parable from Luke 16, the unsaved are imprisoned in a condition that the New Testament calls Hades; that is to say, they are in a place of conscious torment until the resurrection at the end of the world. Hades is the Greek word that is used to translate the Hebrew Sheol in the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint – often abbreviated LXX. In the LXX, Hades is the Greek word used for Sheol. In this sense, Sheol in the Old Testament describes most accurately the state of the unrighteous dead.

Look, again, at Psalms 6:5 read in this light. There the psalmist says, “For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise?” That is certainly true of Hades, isn’t it? In this condition, people are not praising and worshiping God. Similarly Isaiah 38:18, “For Sheol cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness.” That, again, would certainly be an accurate description of those in Hades.

In Jesus’ parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we have Hades referred to along with a place called Abraham’s bosom. Look again at Luke 16:22b-23. It says, “The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom.” This is not hell. Hell is the final state after the resurrection of the dead. Hades is this intermediate state of the disembodied, unrighteous souls as they await resurrection from the dead.

So the unsaved are also in an intermediate state, but far from being a state of blissful communion with Christ, they are in a state of torment and separation from Christ as they await their final resurrection.

Finally, what will happen is that when Christ returns the dead – both saved and unsaved – will be raised. John 5:25-29, a verse that we’ve read before says,

Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

So when Christ comes again to execute judgment, the dead (whether in Hades or in paradise) will be raised, their souls will be reunited with a body, and they will then be judged before the judgment seat of Christ, and then ushered into the eternal state.

For God’s judgment, see 2 Corinthians 5:10. Paul writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.”

In 1 Corinthians 4:5 Paul says,

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God.

So it is at the time of Christ’s return that judgment will take place. Not when you die! It will be at the time of Christ’s return when we are raised from the dead.

Also in 1 Corinthians 3:12ff Paul says,

Now if any one builds on the foundation [He is talking here about Christians who are building on the foundation of Christ] with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Here Paul contemplates Christians who have built upon the foundation of Christ with solid lasting materials as those who receive a blessing from God and a reward, but other Christians who have squandered their lives and built on the foundation with just refuse, their work is going to be burned up. They will be saved; they will get in, but only, as it were, with the smell of smoke on their garments.

Finally, in 2 Timothy 4:8 Paul says, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” Here Paul is speaking of the reward or the commendation that Christ will give to his followers at the time of his return.

By contrast, the unsaved will be judged and sentenced to eternal punishment and death. Matthew 25:31-32, 46:

When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . . . And they [that is, the goats] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous [that is, the sheep] into eternal life.”

Here, just as the saved when they are raised from the dead will have eternal life, so the unrighteous dead will be raised and will be given eternal punishment.

The last verse that I wanted to read is Romans 2:6-11. Paul writes,

For [God] will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

So both the saved and the unsaved will stand before Christ for judgment, be judged on the basis of what they’ve done with their lives, and those who have built upon the foundation of Christ and built well will receive a commendation from God, but the unsaved will be condemned and sent into everlasting punishment and separation from God. They go from Hades into Gehenna, or the final state which is called hell.

That brings up appropriately to the end our study of the doctrine of the last things. In the final two lessons of our Defenders class, I’ll share some final thoughts on what we’ve learned.^[1]