After searching through all Scripture, Old and New, it appears that none support the man-made and widely held belief that one goes to heaven or hell when one dies. All leanings in such a direction come strictly from man and his denominational opinions, paganism, and commentary.
Early Church history confirms that it was men who began to alter the original teaching of the Blessed Resurrection at the time of Yeshua's return on the Day of the LORD.
A very nice summation of Scriptural teaching on this subject has been done by many. My favorite is presented here and is from the Church of the Great God, written by Richard T. Ritenbaugh. Why trust this particular man? It is because he uses Scripture at every point to show what the biblical understanding is and not man's opinion. You can read it yourself and see what it says. If you still believe in going to heaven or hell at death after reading the Scripture yourself, that is up to you and is between you and Yeshua.
However, I cannot express enough how dangerous this man-made teaching can be - that one goes to heaven or hell at death. It causes all sorts of chaos; people trying to speak to the dead, the belief that God is unjust because He punishes people before their judgement, the use of such teaching by Church Ministers to frighten and cajole people to accept false doctrine, teaching folks that some burn forever in sadistic punishment, using the threat of a burning hell to manipulate the people, etc. I myself have experienced such threats, hatred, and condemnation simply because I have disagreed with a particular man-made doctrine.
Lets take a look at Mr. Ritenbaugh's summation:
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (NKJV)
We must briefly consider whether man has an immortal soul. Our understanding of the Scriptures compels us to maintain that he does not for several reasons:
Job recognized that man has a spirit (Job 32:8), which Paul shows in (I Corinthians 2:11) endows humanity with intellect. This spirit in man comes from God (Zechariah 12:1) and returns to Him when we die (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Acts 7:59). It records our experiences, character, and personality, which God stores until the resurrection of the dead. However, the Bible never describes this spirit as immortal or eternal; in fact, I Corinthians 2:6-16 explains that man needs yet another Spirit, God's, to be complete and discern godly things.
The Bible flatly asserts that all people die: "It is appointed for men to die once" (Hebrews 9:27). Ezekiel says clearly that souls die: "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; see Romans 6:23). Jesus warns in Matthew 10:28 that God can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
In death, life and consciousness are gone. "The dead know nothing," says Solomon in Ecclesiastes 9:5, and he later adds, "There is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going" (verse 10). In Psalm 146:4, the psalmist writes about a man's death, "His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish" (see Genesis 3:19).
Scripture also confutes the idea that people go to heaven or hell after death. Peter says to the crowd on the day of Pentecost, "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. . . . For David did not ascend into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34). Our Savior confirms this in John 3:13: "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." The biblical usage of Sheol and Hades simply means "the grave."
Men cannot have immortality unless God gives it to them. Paul writes, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). In I Corinthians 15:53 he tells the saints, "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." At the first resurrection God will give "eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality" (Romans 2:7). If we already had immortality, why should we put it on or seek it?
Only God has immortality. He is, Paul writes to Timothy, ". . . the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality" (I Timothy 6:15-16). John says of the Word, "In Him was life" (John 1:4), meaning as Creator of all things (verse 3), He had life inherent. Jesus affirms this in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Men must go through Him to receive eternal life.
With such overwhelming proof, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul proves false. Man is not immortal, nor does he possess any "spark of God" unless God has given it to him through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). A Christian's hope of life after death rests in the resurrection of the dead (I Corinthians 15:12-23). Conversely, the wicked only await eternal death as recompense for their evil lives, not eternal life in torment.
Here is a link to Mr. Ritenbaugh's study. It has many other useful references.
The Observer
