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The Daily Word of Righteousness
When a Christian Dies, #6
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: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. (Philippians 1:21-24)
"And to be with Christ."
Paul always emphasized going to be with the Lord rather than going to Heaven or to Paradise. There is a truly great difference between desiring to be with the Lord and desiring to go to Paradise. Many people desire to go to Paradise when they die, but their lives on the earth reveal that they care little for the Presence and fellowship of Jesus.
The above passages often are cited by believers. "It is gain for me to die," they quote; or, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."
This may or may not be true for every believer. Because it was better for the imprisoned, persecuted Paul to die than to live, and that for him to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord, does not mean this is true for every individual who makes a profession of faith in Christ.
The current practice of ignoring contexts and focusing on certain "key verses," and then claiming that because we profess faith in Christ these verses apply automatically to us, is one of the reasons for the prevailing spiritual deadness of the Christian churches.
Verses such as Galatians 2:20 or I John 3:2, apply to us only as we enter the spiritual maturity of the Apostles. These passages announce spiritual realities to which we are to aspire. They are not legal states given to us because our doctrine is correct.
The purpose of the Scripture is to bring us to the living Word, Christ. The Scripture is not Christ and must never become a substitute for Christ in our thinking.
We see, therefore, that neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament tells us much about what happens to us when we die. We know judgment follows death. We know also if we serve Jesus with all our heart He will keep in careful custody, until the Day of His appearing, that which faithfully has been committed to Him.
The preceding paragraphs provide great hope for the Christian who is living as a true disciple of Christ. What we have stated is true and scriptural. However, in order to provide comfort for the reader who may have picked up our book because he is facing death, or because of a dying loved one, let us make some additional comments.
To be continued.