There are records in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that show us where a believer’s spirit and soul go after he dies. Most people have the concept that a believer goes to a heavenly mansion immediately after he dies. This, however, is not the thought of the Bible.
In fact, the term heavenly mansion that people commonly use is not a biblical term. The Bible speaks of the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) and the holy city, New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2), but neither place is a heavenly mansion as most people think. The word that is translated as heavenly mansion in Hebrews 9:24 and 1 Peter 3:22 of the Chinese Union Version should be translated as heaven. This word has no connotation of a heavenly mansion. The third heaven is where God dwells today, and the holy city, New Jerusalem, is the ultimate mutual habitation of God and the redeemed ones throughout the generations. Simply speaking, all those who have been saved will eventually enter the holy city of God. When the believers die, their spirits and souls do not enter a heavenly mansion but rather go first to Paradise in Hades (Luke 16:23; 23:43). When the Lord Jesus comes again, they will be resurrected, and their spirits, souls, and bodies will ultimately be united to have a part in the New Jerusalem. We all must be able to clearly discern these points.
A believer goes through three stages from the time that he is saved until the time that he enters the holy city. His living on the earth is one stage. When he dies and is buried in the ground, his spirit and soul depart from the world. This is another stage. When the Lord Jesus comes again, a believer’s spirit and soul will come out of Paradise and his body will come out from the grave; his whole being will thus be resurrected. This is the third stage. Therefore, a believer goes through three different stages from the time he is saved until eternity. In the first stage his body, soul, and spirit live in the world. This is the stage in which he lives on the earth. In the second stage his spirit and soul are separated from his body, that is, his body remains in the grave while his spirit and soul depart to a pleasant place. This is the stage in which he sleeps, or in other words, is physically dead. In the third stage when the Lord Jesus comes again, the believer will be resurrected. His spirit and soul will be reunited with his body, and he will also be transfigured. This is the stage of resurrection, the stage of eternity, in which he will be with the Lord forever.
Today Christianity generally says that when a believer dies, his spirit and soul go to a heavenly mansion but his body remains in the grave without being resurrected. Then when the day of resurrection comes, his body will also go to the heavenly mansion. We have to find out whether this kind of saying is accurate and based on the Scriptures. According to the Bible, when the Lord Jesus comes again, the believer’s body, spirit, and soul will be united in resurrection, and he will be transfigured (1 Cor. 15:52). While the believer is alive, he neither goes up to heaven nor goes down to Hades but rather lives on the earth. When he dies, his body is buried in a grave, but where do his spirit and soul go? We have to find the answer.
All those who have been saved will ultimately have a part in the New Jerusalem; this is the scriptural truth. Being in the New Jerusalem does not depend on one’s own effort. Rather, it depends altogether on the Lord’s salvation. Christianity, however, says that when a believer dies, his spirit and soul immediately go to a heavenly mansion. This kind of speaking is erroneous according to Luke 16. When a believer dies, his spirit and soul actually descend to Paradise in Hades (v. 23). After a believer dies, and before he is resurrected, his spirit and soul go down to a pleasant place in Hades instead of going to a heavenly mansion. This conclusion contradicts the traditional theology of today’s Christianity. We must therefore study this matter in the Bible from Genesis in the Old Testament to Revelation in the New Testament.