We should know

that for the Christian there are two avenues to heaven: one is through death and the other is through the Rapture. And since death is what we see now, we will start there.

Entrance into heaven through death. Some would say that when the body dies the soul goes into a time of sleep until Jesus comes. They call if “soul sleep.” But that is a false teaching. In 2 Corinthians 5:8 Paul tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. In death the body dies but the soul lives on in heaven with the Lord.

But what happens to the soul at death? Is there any need for a change to the soul? To make it pure and holy? Yes. Since the soul is the entire nature of man and is his entire personality, the soul as well as the body is sinful. When we are saved, salvation comes to our soul (Ja. 1:21), but even after our conversion, the soul is affected by sin the same as our body is. Hence, the soul of the righteous, entering heaven needs a full cleansing. According to the Westminster Confession of Faith,

The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls, (which neither die nor sleep,) having an immortal substance, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.”2

Now, there is also the question of the intermediate state, or the intermediate heaven.

The intermediate heaven. This state is the state of the soul without the body, from the time between the death of the body to the point at which the body is raised and transformed at the Rapture. There is much false teaching on this subject, such as soul sleep—as previously mentioned. And there is also the Catholic doctrine of purgatory: that after death the soul goes to a place to be purged from sins by much pain and suffering, so to be purified for heaven. But this is such a slam to God, teaching that the sufferings of Christ were not sufficient to atone for our sins, that we must add our own sufferings to His. Really, we can add nothing!

However, aside from false teaching, there are some things that we can consider a bit regarding the intermediate state. I say “a bit” because Scripture in not clear on the subject; and it gives us no definite teaching. Nonetheless, here are two passages we could examine for maybe a small bit of truth.

Luke 9:30-31. Here is the Mount of transfiguration, where while Jesus was praying (with Peter, James and John present), His face was changed and His clothing became white and gleaming. And then suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and they were talking to Jesus about His departure (His death). Now we know that both of these men died a long time before this; but here they stand in some kind of a glorified body. I would say that this is definitely an example of the intermediate state of heaven.

 Here is what we may observe from this passage regarding what the intermediate state is.

• It is having some kind of a glorified body.
• It is being able to speak in a normal language. They did not use any kind of heavenly language.
• It is having friendly communication with Jesus. They were talking with Jesus as a close friend; they were discussing His departure. This suggests that we may have regular communion with Jesus and will be discussing whatever is on our heart.

Revelation 6:9-11. Here is a passage revealed to us as the Lamb (Christ) broke the fifth seal during the Tribulation. It opens up to us the conversation of certain people who were martyrs for their faith. In verse ten we have a portion of that conversation—a prayer to God. They cried out to Him with a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

And then in verse eleven is the response by God. “There was given to each of them white robes and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer…”

Here is what we may observe from this passage regarding what the intermediate state is.

• There will be prayer in the intermediate state. These martyred souls were waiting on God to avenge their blood and were crying out in prayer to Him. We may also conclude that there will be a sense of anticipation for God to make all things right.
• They will know what is happening on earth. These martyrs seem to know what is happening on earth—that God was refraining from judging (v. 10). It may be this way for all who die before the Rapture.
• They will have bodies that are able to wear clothing. They were given white robes.
• They are holy and pure—cleansed from all sin. The white robes are symbolic of purity; Jesus will give them these garment to remind them of their holiness and of His shed blood for them.
• We will be at rest in the Lord. They were told to rest for a while longer. This state of rest is confirmed to us in Revelation 14:13 of what this intermediate state basically is—that we will rest from our labors; the labor of keeping the commandments of God and having faith in Jesus. So, here in this state we will have glorified souls perfected in God, and we will no longer have a need to persevere in the faith. We will be at rest in the Lord and waiting for our new glorified body.

Entrance into heaven through the Rapture. When God sees that the time is right for the dead to be raised, and for their souls to be united with new bodies, and for the living to be rescued from what is to come on this earth, then He will…

descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

This passage (above) pretty much lays it out, but let me summarize it in chronological order.

1. All believers from all ages of history who have died, they will be raised up and their decayed bodies will be transformed into imperishable, new bodies (1Cor. 15:53-54).

2. And the souls of those resurrected dead will merge with their new transformed bodies, so they will at last be souls with new bodies. Hence, this will be the end of their intermediate state (as previously discussed).

3. Then those who are alive will be changed (transformed) very quickly— “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52).  And they will be caught up (snatched up) together with those previously dead.

4. And then we will all meet the Lord in the air; and we will from then on, and always, be with the Lord in heaven.

2 John MacArthur, The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1996), p. 71.