This study will answer these questions from the Bible:

1) What happens at death?

2) Do the saved go to heaven at death?

3) Do the unsaved go to hell fire at death?

4) Is any human now in heaven?

5) Do we have an immortal soul?

6) Is God working out a plan of salvation for all?

A good starting place is to first establish what God wants the outcome to be. I Tim 2:3-4 says, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God and our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come into the knowledge of the truth." II Pet 3:9 reinforces that, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

But Frazier, obviously God is not saving all now. Certainly, the majority of the six billion humans living today are not Christians. And looking back at human history, billions and billions have died without becoming Christians. That means one of two things:

• He is an ineffective God. (If so, why follow Him?)
• He is not trying to save all now.

My contention is God is following the second alternative. Notice in the last scripture quoted the words "not slack" and "longsuffering" that indicate a period of time is involved. In other words, God has a plan that is being worked out. We will see that plan develop throughout this study.

Many are familiar with I Cor 15, known as the "resurrection chapter". Notice verses 51-52. "Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and shall be changed." But who are in that resurrection? Is it all of mankind? No! Rev 20:6 says only those saved thus far are in it. Notice, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, on such the second death has no power; and they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

That verse has caused many to wonder about traditional teaching. If the dead go to heaven at death, and are living there in eternal bliss, why bring them back to be resurrected? If they are already living a new life, what are they resurrected from? And why?

Because there is a first resurrection, it follows there must be at least a second one. We will get back to the resurrection(s). But part of the answer is found in section III.

Psm 146:3-4 explains, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goes forth, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."

The state of the dead is called "sleep" in many places, such as I Chron 15:6 and 18, and again in I Thes 4:13 and 15, as well as 2Pet 3:4.

In Job 14:14, Job asked this question, "If a man die shall he live again?" The answer is given in verse 14, is that Job is waiting for his change. The implication being that Job will be in his grave, awaiting a change. Verse 15 goes on, "You shall call, and I will answer you. You will have a desire to the work of Your hands." So God is not finished with Job, He will call Job from his grave and complete the work He wants to do in him (and by extension, all of us). That completed work is to change us to immortal beings that live forever and to place us in His family as His children.

But Frazier, doesn't traditional Christianity teach that the saved go to heaven when they die? Yes, they teach it, but is it correct? Notice Acts 2:29 where Paul stated, "Men and brethren, let me speak freely unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. (David is still in his grave.) Paul emphasized that in verse 34, "For David is not ascended into the heavens...".

As a side note, not only has no human (other than Christ) ascended to heaven, but earth is where we will live for all eternity. In fact, at the end of His plan, God the father will himself move to the new earth. That is a separate study in itself that may interest you. For more on those subjects, let me know and I will send additional material for you to study.

SECTION IV. The spirit in man.

From earliest times, pagans have taught that man has an immortal soul that never dies. Unfortunately, that teaching has been continued by many Christians.

Yes, the Bible says there is a spirit, or soul, in man. For example Eccl 3:21, "Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?" Or Luke 8:54-55, "And He put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying "Maid, arise". And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway; and He commanded to give her meat."

But at death that spirit returns to God who gave it. Notice Eccl 12:7, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Reinforced by Acts 7:59, "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"."

Now note this, that spirit, or soul, is not immortal. Notice I Tim 6:15, "Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only has immortality..." Immortality, or eternal life, can come only from God. Notice John 3"15-16, "That whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have eternal life." likewise John 10:28, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish..." Likewise John 17:2, "As You have given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."

Matt 10:28 certainly says there is no immortal soul naturally in man. Notice, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (As mentioned, that hell is a consuming fire, but not an eternal one.)

I remark often about the advantage we have over humans who lived in the past. Why? Because in the age of computers we can understand much better what God does. For example, we can see the programming he has put in insects, birds, and animals. In the case under discussion, we can easily liken our physical bodies to hardware, the computer itself, and our spirit to software. Our spirit, our software, contains all our memories and the substance of who we are. Our hardware body dies and decays, but our software spirit - who we really are - returns to God to be held safe until He puts it into our new spiritual body.

In other words, our software is turned off, ceases to operate, at death. It is turned back on, resurrected, when it is put in our new spiritual body.

SECTION V. Resurrections explained.

The resurrection described in I Cor 15 is actually only one of two (some say three) resurrections. When you understand both, then you will be able to see the plan of God, and most important - that all will have a chance!

The I Cor resurrection taking place at Christ's return, is the first resurrection. It deals only with those humans who have accepted Christ during their lifetime and have salvation. Verse 53 explains what happens, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory". Notice these mortals have not previously been made immortal, they are not living in heaven, their change comes only at Christ's return and is described in those verses.

Before we leave I Cor 15, verse 23 is very instructive, "But every man in his own order; Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's, at His coming." So there is a resurrection order, all are not resurrected at the same time. Christ first, then those that are his at his coming. But what about everybody else? Let's see.

Rev 20:4 explains that those resurrected at Christ's return will, "live and reign with Christ a thousand years." Part of verse 5 is a parenthetical explanation, which we will get to. The last part of verse 5 and 6 explains more about those changed at Christ's return. "This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection; on such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ; and shall reign with Him a thousand years." But what is the second death? Traditional Christianity does not explain it. We will get to it shortly.

After the thousand years, God will then deal with the vast numbers of the unsaved. The parenthetical part of verse 5 explains, "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." So there you have it. At the end of the thousand years, the rest of the dead - all who never had a chance - will be raised from the dead. They will live out a new physical life, one in which the whole world, living under Christ's government, will know God.

How will that work? In Luke 10:12-14 Christ told his disciples what would happen to some people they preached to that rejected them, "But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you."

What Christ was pointing out was that on the one hand were cities that had the preaching and miracles of Christ and His disciples, yet they rejected them. On the other hand, Christ listed pagan cities whose people lived and died never knowing Christ, yet in the day of judgment, after their resurrection, those people will quickly accept salvation, in stark contrast to the rejection by people in cities that were preached to by Christ and His disciples.

Luke 11:29 follows that same theme, "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them..." Condemn them, how? By accepting her day of salvation quicker than the men of this generation did.

Notice in both quotes of "judgment", the examples were people who never yet had a chance. It is evident if they were resurrected to an immediate judgment, nothing would have changed, they would still be lost. So for them the "judgment" is a period of time that they will live out and in which they will make their decision. (Some think Isa 65:20 means the period of time will be one hundred years.)

In that judgment of time, living under Christ's divine rule, the vast majority will accept Him and gain their salvation. But some will still choose death, to reject Christ and salvation.

SECTION VI. Some will choose to reject their chance

Continuing on in Rev 20:7 we read about those people. "And after the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." (He will be bound for those thousand years Rev 20:2.) "And shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth...to gather them together to battle...And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camps of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Rev 20:11-13 tells us more. "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works."

Logically, if it was really all over for the unsaved when they died the first time, there would be no need for a second death. The fact there is one is in itself very instructive.

The fate of the wicked, those who reject their chance, is summarized in Rev 20:14-15. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Did you notice second death? To have a second death, there has to be a first death. That is the one that happens to all men. A second death supports the teaching that the unsaved are resurrected to have their first chance. If they refuse it, for them there is only a second death.

Several scriptures mention this second death. Rev 2:11 "He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death." Rev 20:6 "Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection; on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." And Rev 21:8 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers and wordmongers, and sorcerers and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death."

SECTION VII. A god of free choice

At this point, it may be good to emphasize that the real God is not a dictator. He does not force salvation or His way of life on anyone. Several times God says, "Choose life, not death". His way is always a matter of liberty, of free choice.

As an aside, it is interesting that traditional Christianity quotes often Rom 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but..." They ignore the very plain word "death", and substitute instead something like this, "For the wages of sin is to be tormented for all eternity in a perpetual hell fire." That mischaracterization, all by itself, has caused many to turn away from Christianity.

SECTION VIII. The unsaved are not going to be tormented forever in a hellfire.

The word "hell" in the Bible comes from three different words. Sometimes it means the grave. Sometimes it means the prison Satan and his demons are going to be put in. Sometimes it means fire, a burning up. That fire is a consuming one, it destroys completely anything or person put in it. The end result is extinction, but the fire itself does not burn for all eternity. For more study material on the subject, just ask.

That extinction, not torment for all eternity, is their final outcome is spelled out in these two scriptures. Mal 4:1-3, "For , behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, say the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root or branch...And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that shall do this, says the Lord of hosts."

II Pet 3:10 adds this, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

SECTION IX. God's Holy Days

Ata age 33, one of my changes in understanding was that I gave up keeping traditional holidays and started keeping God's holy days as listed in Lev 23. Learning God has Holy Days is a big surprise to most people! Proving the Holy Days is a long study all by itself. But is one you might want to undertake. I mention them here because keeping the Holy Days reveal and act out the plan God has for giving all a chance. They are one of the subject's strongest proofs.

Yes, God does have a plan. Yes, He is systematically working it out, all according to His schedule. And yes, under His plan, all will have a chance. If you want to do a study on God's Holy Days, just let me know.

SECTION X. To summarize.

We have covered a lot of information, which we can summarize as follows:

1) God wants to save all of his human creatures.

2) The first resurrection is of the relatively few who accepted Christ during this age.

3) The dead are asleep and know nothing.

4) There is a spirit in man that returns to God at death.

5) There will be a second resurrection for those who never had a chance in this life.

6) The relatively few who at their chance reject God, will be extinguished in a consuming fire.

7) That is called the second death, which indicates they were resurrected from their first one.

8) The real God is not a dictator, but gives every man liberty, a free choice.

9) God's Holy Days show and act out his overall plan to give all a chance.

In conclusion: For most readers, this study was probably new, even startling, information. I urge you to continue studying and as you do so, to follow the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who, "Searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." You may appreciate other sources that prove these conclusions from a different viewpoint. I will be glad to provide other viewpoints for you.