What Happens To The Unbeliever When They Die?

And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment (2 Pet 2:9, GNT)

This is not up for debate for those who die without being saved. While there are some who contend that we are completely annihilated and cease to exist, there are also those who believe that such people are in some form of soul sleep awaiting the resurrection of the dead. And then there are people who believe there is an intermediatory place where those alive can pray and work on their behalf to keep them from an eternity of damnation and suffering. As you can see, there are as many beliefs as there are people with vivid imaginations, however the Bible is very clear what happens to those who reject Jesus in this life and we can and should explore this very important topic as it is literally a matter of eternal life and eternal death. But let’s entertain some of these views more.

Is There Soul Sleep?

Soul sleep is defined as after a person dies, his/her soul “sleeps” until the resurrection and final judgment. Interestingly enough, the previous discussion of Saul and Samuel, if it really was Samuel, is an instance against soul sleep. The example of the rich man and Lazarus speaks against it as well. And seeing Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration shows us that these saints were still active in the time of Jesus. Paul the Apostle tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (see 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). Also, as we read in Hebrews 9:27 judgment immediately follows death. Even looking at those who died after being martyred in the book of Revelation we see the church quite active and the recently killed being very vocal. The thief on the cross was promised that the moment he died he would be in paradise. The proof texts in favor of soul sleep can easily be explained as the body being dormant while the spirit is quite alive.

Is Purgatory Real?

This whole topic of a process of avoiding Hades by those not dead paying money, doing good works, and praying to lighten their suffering while the sins not covered before they die are being purged is simply not found in the Bible although theologians who believe in this and cite examples taken out of context. But just what is purgatory? The Catholic Encyclopedia defines it this way:

…in accordance with Catholic teaching is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.

The concept of indulgences is also brought up and these payments are intended to aid in the process of purging the sins. As mentioned earlier, these doctrines use Bible verses out of context to support them and even use writings from early church fathers to further buttress their spurious beliefs. They somehow leave out the best scripture against this false doctrine:

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment… (Heb 9:27, NKJV)

Also included is the thought that prayers for the living from those in purgatory or even in Hades does come up as well as prayers from those in Hades to God for aid. While this may occur, the answer from God is no. Upon death, the assignment of eternity is done.

Do People Go Directly Into Eternal Punishment When They Die?

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matt 25:46, NIV)

The short answer is yes. Just as the believer goes directly into the presence of Jesus, so the unbeliever goes to the start of eternity without Him. There is no waiting to experience each. Although things go from better to best for the believer, things go from bad to worse for the unbeliever. As we see in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, right now the torment is very real, but as we also see in the Bible, there is a second death for the unrepentant:

If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name. (Rev 14:9-11, NIV)

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:14-15, NIV)

What Do Those In Hades Experience?

12 … will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 8:12, ESV)

There are many things that all who die experience and one of them is emotions. The rich man felt pity and remorse among other things. Some think he also had compassion since he pleaded for Abraham to send even someone from the dead to warn his living brothers about the place he was in. Wailing and gnashing of teeth point to an emotional response to this awful place of eternal punishment. The phrase “gnashing of teeth” was a popular idiom in Greek culture and it meant to them grinding one’s teeth together in pain, anger, or anguish. Think of gnashing your teeth when you accidentally hit your finger with a hammer. Now imagine that feeling over and over and over again without end. It is also found numerous times in the Bible apart from the example cited above as seen in this description from the online Bible web site gotquestions.org:

Gnashing one’s teeth shows up elsewhere in Scripture in contexts other than feeling pain. In Acts 7:54 the gnashing of teeth is done in anger because of what Stephen had said to the Jewish Council: “They were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.” Psalm 37:12 says, “The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them” (see also Psalm 35:16; 112:10; and Lamentations 2:16). In these passages, wicked persons gnash their teeth at righteous persons as the wicked plot against them or disapprove of them. Apparently, gnashing teeth was a sign of great disrespect and anger.

Along with the phrase “outer darkness” one can see it’s not a happy, pleasant, or peaceful place to be.

What Is The Fire In Hades And The Lake Of Fire?

Is the fire mentioned in the Bible as torment for those who died without Christ a real fire? There is every indication that it does have those characteristics and worse if only because it inflicts such pain eternally. In this life the pain from being burnt by fire is only one aspect of the pain of eternal fire as noted many places in the Bible like this one:

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. (Mark 9:43, ESV)

As if feeling the moment of nerve-wrenching pain when burned that can’t be quenched by treatment, add to it the fact, as another article from gotquestions.org says it is an eternity of conscious, guilty, shameful separation from God and all forms of goodness. In that sense, hell is far worse than a literal inferno; a purely physical hell is actually not as terrible as what the Bible describes. And then add all the other painful realizations of knowing all the times one rejected the grace of God, and then knowing all the other people one knows that is with you, loved ones who are tormented just like you for all eternity. The horrible list goes on and on.

What Is The Second Death?

I’ve said that it could be worse than the current torment as if that is even possible. I searched and searched for some kind of explanation for calling the lake of fire as being the second death and as such being worse, but nothing of the sort is there. Unfortunately, there are those who see the first death as simply our physical bodies perishing which then allows them to see the second death as the annihilation of what is left. One view is that nowhere is Hades or Sheol seen as being eternal but the word for the lake of fire is Gehenna which is always called eternal so the current place is a holding place until it is no longer is needed, kind of like living in a temporary home before your final home is ready for you. But this eternal change includes the final judgment for the sins of all which could conjure up the view of someone who is in a holding cell before their sentence is announced and where they are officially charged and sent to life in prison. They are in torment now, but the reason the sentence is final was never in doubt.

Is There A Sin That Can’t Be Forgiven?

“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” (Mark 3:28-29, NKJV)

Ah, the unpardonable sin, a topic that is so easy to explain. Actually, my sarcasm aside, the sin is mentioned in scripture and apparently can be done, but it is extremely hard to accomplish. According to some, it was so specific to the Pharisees Jesus was talking to when He said this, that it can't be done today since one of the elements is addressing Jesus in person. These religious leaders accused Jesus of doing the works of Satan because He was in league with him. According to Billy Graham, it is a sin that no Christian can commit:

The point for us is that if we have received Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we have not blasphemed the Holy Spirit; we have accepted His witness. One study Bible explains it as follows: “To commit this sin one must consciously, persistently, deliberately, and maliciously reject the testimony of the Spirit to the deity and saving power of the Lord Jesus.” If a person keeps doing that until death, there is no hope of forgiveness and eternal life in heaven.

However, this sin is also addressed in the book of Hebrews 6:4-6:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (NKJV)

So, can a Christian lose their salvation? It depends on who you talk to.

Are They Really Christians?

On this point hangs an awful lot of the interpretations of Hebrews 6:4-6. The once saved always saved crowd (OSAS) crowd interpret these verses that way and they do have good points. They maintain that the people the author of Hebrews is talking about are unbelievers who over and over reject Jesus to the point of a reprobate mind where they simply have no conviction left. One of the key points of this is the definition of “blasphemy” and is laid out in this quote from an article from author and theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul:

But what of blasphemy against the Spirit? To understand this difficult saying, we need to see that it came in the context of Jesus’ opponents charging Him with doing His work by the power of the devil rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, they were not slandering the Spirit—not quite. Their statements were directed against Jesus. So, He said to them: “You can blaspheme Me and be forgiven, but when you question the work of the Spirit, you are coming perilously close to the unforgivable sin. You are right at the line. You are looking down into the abyss of hell. One more step and there will be no hope for you.” He was warning them to be very careful not to insult or mock the Spirit.

Sproul sums his feelings up this way:

Humanly speaking, everyone who is a Christian is capable of committing the unforgivable sin. However, I believe that the Lord of glory who has saved us and sealed us in the Holy Spirit will never let us commit that sin. I do not believe that any Christians in the history of the church have blasphemed the Spirit.

As for those who are not sure they are saved and are worried they may have committed the unpardonable sin, I would say that worrying about it is one of the clearest evidences that they have not committed this sin, for those who commit it are so hardened in their hearts they do not care that they commit it. Thanks be to God that the sin that is unpardonable is not a sin He allows His people to commit.

What Do I Believe On The Unpardonable Sin

I am more with Dr. Sproul on this and tend to let God decide who has committed this sin. I believe it is possible although there are some very good word studies out there that debunk the verses in Hebrews 6:4-6 and point to those mentioned that they were never really saved at all. However, almost every translation I read say otherwise. To blanketly say that you can’t blaspheme Holy Spirit flies in the face of free will. That being said, the difficulty of committing this sin makes it highly unlikely that anyone with even a scintilla of conviction would stop short of doing it. And I also contend that we shouldn’t be wasting our time trying to decide what only God, who knows the heart of people, can determine. The main reason I don’t adhere to the OSAS crowd is that as long as we have free will it can happen and we should use that knowledge to stay as far away from it happening as we can.