Harmony of the Reformed Confessions: Benefits in Life & Death

1. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption: but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, 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. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.

2. At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed: and all the dead shall be raised up, with the selfsame bodies, and none other (although with different qualities), which shall be united again to their souls forever.

3. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor: the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honor; and be made conformable to his own glorious body.

1. God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world, in righteousness, by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.

2. The end of God’s appointing this day is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice, in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing, which shall come from the presence of the Lord; but the wicked who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

3. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin; and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly, Amen.

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Q. 82. What is the communion in glory which the members of the invisible church have with Christ?

A. The communion in glory which the members of the invisible church have with Christ, is in this life, immediately after death, and at last perfected at the resurrection and day of judgment.

Q. 83. What is the communion in glory with Christ which the members of the invisible church enjoy in this life?

A. The members of the invisible church have communicated to them in this life the firstfruits of glory with Christ, as they are members of him their head, and so in him are interested in that glory which he is fully possessed of; and, as an earnest thereof, enjoy the sense of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and hope of glory; as, on the contrary, sense of God’s revenging wrath, horror of conscience, and a fearful expectation of judgment, are to the wicked the beginning of their torments which they shall endure after death.

Q. 84. Shall all men die?

A. Death being threatened as the wages of sin, it is appointed unto all men once to die; for that all have sinned.

Q. 85. Death being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?

A. The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is out of God’s love, to free them perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon.

Q. 86. What is the communion in glory with Christ which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death?

A. The communion in glory with Christ which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death, is, in that their souls are then made perfect in holiness, and received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies, which even in death continue united to Christ, and rest in their graves as in their beds, till at the last day they be again united to their souls. Whereas the souls of the wicked are at their death cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, and their bodies kept in their graves, as in their prisons, till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.

Q. 87. What are we to believe concerning the resurrection?

A. We are to believe that at the last day there shall be a general resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust: when they that are then found alive shall in a moment be changed; and the selfsame bodies of the dead which were laid in the grave, being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by the power of Christ. The bodies of the just, by the Spirit of Christ, and by virtue of his resurrection as their head, shall be raised in power, spiritual, incorruptible, and made like to his glorious body; and the bodies of the wicked shall be raised up in dishonor by him, as an offended judge.

Q. 88. What shall immediately follow after the resurrection?

A. Immediately after the resurrection shall follow the general and final judgment of angels and men; the day and hour whereof no man knoweth, that all may watch and pray, and be ever ready for the coming of the Lord.

Q. 89. What shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment?

A. At the day of judgment, the wicked shall be set on Christ’s left hand, and, upon clear evidence, and full conviction of their own consciences, shall have the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them; and thereupon shall be cast out from the favorable presence of God, and the glorious fellowship with Christ, his saints, and all his holy angels, into hell, to be punished with unspeakable torments, both of body and soul, with the devil and his angels forever.

Q. 90. What shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment?

A. At the day of judgment, the righteous, being caught up to Christ in the clouds, shall be set on his right hand, and there openly acknowledged and acquitted, shall join with him in the judging of reprobate angels and men, and shall be received into heaven, where they shall be fully and forever freed from all sin and misery; filled with inconceivable joys, made perfectly holy and happy both in body and soul, in the company of innumerable saints and holy angels, but especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, to all eternity. And this is the perfect and full communion which the members of the invisible church shall enjoy with Christ in glory, at the resurrection and day of judgment.

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Q. 36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification?

A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.

Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?

A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.

Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?

A. At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

Belgic Confession ARTICLE 37 – THE LAST JUDGMENT

Finally, we believe, according to the Word of God, that when the time, ordained by the Lord but unknown to all creatures, has come1 and the number of the elect is complete,2 our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly,3 as He ascended (Acts 1:11), with great glory and majesty.4 He will declare Himself Judge of the living and the dead5 and set this old world afire in order to purge it.6 Then all people, men, women, and children, who ever lived, from the beginning of the world to the end, will appear in person before this great Judge.7 They will be summoned with the archangel’s call and with the sound of the trumpet of God (1 Thes 4:16).

Those who will have died before that time will arise out of the earth,8 as their spirits are once again united with their own bodies in which they lived. Those who will then be still alive will not die as the others but will be changed in the twinkling of an eye from perishable to imperishable.9 Then the books will be opened and the dead will be judged (Rev 20:12) according to what they have done in this world, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5:10).10 Indeed, all people will render account for every careless word they utter (Mat 12:36), which the world regards as mere jest and amusement. The secrets and hypocrisies of men will then be publicly uncovered in the sight of all. And so for good reason the thought of this judgment is horrible and dreadful to the wicked and evildoers11 but it is a great joy and comfort to the righteous and elect. For then their full redemption will be completed and they will receive the fruits of their labour and of the trouble they have suffered.12 Their innocence will be known to all and they will see the terrible vengeance that God will bring upon the wicked who persecuted, oppressed, and tormented them in this world.13

The wicked will be convicted by the testimony of their own consciences and will become immortal, but only to be tormented in the eternal fire14 prepared for the devil and his angels (Mat 25:41).15 On the other hand, the faithful and elect will be crowned with glory and honour. The Son of God will acknowledge their names before God His Father (Mat 10:32) and His elect angels.16 God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev 21:4),17 and their cause – at present condemned as heretical and evil by many judges and civil authorities – will be recognized as the cause of the Son of God. As a gracious reward, the Lord will cause them to possess such a glory as the heart of man could never conceive.18 Therefore we look forward to that great day with a great longing to enjoy to the full the promises of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:20).

1. Mat 24:36; Mat 25:13; 1 Thes 5:1,2. 2. Heb 11:39-40; Rev 6:11. 3. Rev 1:7. 4. Mat 24:30; Mat 25:31. 5. Mat 25:31-46; 2 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 4:5. 6. 2 Pet 3:10-13. 7. Deut 7:9-11; Rev 20:12-13. 8. Dan 12:2; John 5:28-29. 9.1 Cor 15:51-52; Phil 3:20-21. 10. Heb 9:27; Rev 22:12. 11. Mat 11:22;Mat 23:33; Rom 2:5-6; Heb 10:27; 2 Pet 2:9; Jude 15; Rev 14:7a. 12.Luke 14:14; 2 Thes 1:3-10; 1 John 4:17. 13. Rev 15:4; Rev 18:20. 14. Mat 13:41-42; Mark 9:48; Luke 16:22-28; Rev 21:8. 15. Rev 20:10. 16. Rev 3:5. 17. Isa 15:8; Rev 7:17. 18. Dan 12:3; Mat 5:12; Mat 13:43; 1 Cor 2:9; Rev 21:9-22:5.

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Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 57-58

That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its Head,[1] but also that this my body, raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and made like the glorious body of Christ.[2]

[1] Lk 16:21, 23:43; Php 1:21-23; [2] Job 19:25-27; 1 Cor 15:20, 42-46, 53-54; Php 3:21;1 Jn 3:2

That, inasmuch as I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy,[1] I shall after this life possess complete blessedness, such as eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man,[2] therein to praise God forever.[3]

[1] Jn 17:3; Rom 14:17; 2 Cor 5:2-3; [2] 1 Cor 2:9; [3] Jn 17:24; Rom 8:23; 1 Pt 1:8

Is There a Point to the Last Minutes of Suffering Before Death?

I’m still thinking about Ronnie Smith’s death in Libya, followed by Christians and the mainstream media alike.

Two days before he died, my mind turned, at it so often does, to the reasons for suffering. This time the thoughts were triggered by the difference between suffering that refines in this life and suffering that leads to death.

Often, when counseling people who are walking through suffering, I lean on Bible passages that describe the effects of suffering in this life — passages like, James 1:2–4.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The point here is that our suffering will be like the pain of weightlifting: It will make us stronger to bear things that might otherwise destroy us.

Or Romans 5:3–5:

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces tested character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Here the effect of suffering is that it produces a “tested character” (Greek dokimen). In other words, the branch was bent so close to breaking that the next time it will be even more unbreakable and will give greater hope for endurance.

But what do we say about suffering that results in death? None of these texts work in that situation. There will be no life on earth that will be stronger because of suffering. There is suffering, and then there is death.

God has not left us without specific help in this suffering. For example, James 1:12:

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Or Revelation 2:10:

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

In other words, faithfulness, or steadfastness under trial, may lead to death. And if it does, that suffering is rewarded with the crown of eternal life. This is unspeakably comforting and emboldening.

But there is even more comfort — even more courage-increasing truth. Those two verses do not say that our final suffering actually makes the crown of life greater. It seems to be the same crown that every Christian gets after death. So someone might ask — I ask — does the suffering itself that ends in death make a difference? Is there a point to it?

The answer is yes. One of the most precious promises for final suffering is 2 Corinthians 4:17:

This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

This says more. It says more than affliction is followed by glory. It says affliction prepares glory. Literally, suffering produces — effects, brings about, works — a peculiar glory for those who suffer.

What this means is that no suffering is meaningless. None of it is wasted. The last cry of pain, leading to death, is not merely followed with glory, but rewarded with peculiar glory — a special glory prepared for the sufferer and by the suffering.

Therefore, nothing that Ronnie Smith endured in his last moments was wasted. No sacrifice — whether painful and joyful — went unrewarded. Not even the last ones. There are no wasted Christian sufferings in the path of love. None.

And so it will be with you, the living. Which is why I say again: Join him. Join him in his vision for the nations and for the King. Join him in life for the sake of the nations. And then, at the appointed time, join him in the Reward.

When We Send a Person to His Death

Ronnie Smith was shot and killed in Benghazi, Libya, on Thursday. He was 33. He was a husband and father. The leaders of his home church have given me permission to respond to his death publicly and carefully. You can read the fuller story at World or in the mainstream media.

One of the reasons I want to respond is because Ronnie wrote to us at Desiring God last year and told us that one of my messages was significant in leading him and his family to Libya.

Now Anita is a widow, and his son Hosea has lost his father.

How do I feel about sharing in the cause of his going to his death?

I came to tears this morning praying for Anita and Hosea. Weep with those who weep was not a command in that moment; it was a sorrow rolling over me. I remember being 33. That’s how old I was when God called me to the pastorate. I was starting my ministry at the age Ronnie’s ministry ended. And Jesus’s.

After sorrow and sympathy, my response was (and is) prayer. “Lord, give Anita great faith. Help her to weep — but not as those who have not hope. Make that little fellow proud of his daddy. May he grow up thrilled to be in the bloodline of such a man. May they live on the glories of Romans 8 — the groanings of this fallen world of waiting (Romans 8:23), and the rock-solid assurance that, though we are being killed all day long, nevertheless, in all these things we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:36–37).”

Then I am sobered. Ronnie is not the first person who has died doing what I have encouraged them to do. He won’t be the last. If I thought death were the worst thing that can happen to a person, I would be overwhelmed with regret.

But the whole point of Ronnie’s life is that there is something worse than death. So he was willing to risk his own life to rescue others from something far worse. And he could risk his own life because he knew his own risking and dying would work for him “an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). And he knew God was able to meet every need of his wife and son (Philippians 4:19).

We are not playing games. When I preach that risk is right, I know what I am doing. When I say, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him — especially in suffering,” I know what suffering may mean. When I say, “Fear not, you can only be killed” (Matthew 10:28), I take seriously the words of Jesus: “Some of you they will put to death. . . . But not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:16, 18).

Finally, I call thousands of you to take Ronnie’s place. They will not kill us fast enough. Let the replacements flood the world. We do not seek death. We seek the everlasting joy of the world — including our enemies. If they kill us while we love them, we are in good company. Jesus did not call us to ease or safety. He called us to love for the sake of his name. Everywhere. Among all peoples.

Anita and Hosea, I love you. I am sorry, so sorry, for your loss. I admire you and Ronnie profoundly. Hold fast to this: “God has not destined you (or Ronnie) for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9–10).

Union with Christ: A Matter of Spiritual Life and Death

Union with Christ is one of the central theological principles of the Christian faith. Its pervasive presence in the New Testament typically is indicated by the word in
, a simple preposition with profound implications.
Believers often are said to be in Christ: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). Sometimes this phrase passes by so rapidly that we may hardly notice, as in Paul’s opening address to “the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi” (Phil. 1:1). But even such passing expressions are grounded in the deep spiritual truth of our faith-union with Jesus Christ. The reason we are called “saints in Christ” is because our true and ultimate identity is found in Him: “you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

On other occasions, the Bible teaches the reciprocal principle that Jesus Christ is in the believer: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Similarly, Paul wrote of the gospel mystery that has been “hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Col. 1:26). What is this glorious mystery? “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

Christ is in us and we are in Christ. The two sides of this mutual relationship sometimes appear together in Scripture. For example, in teaching His disciples about the vine and the branches—a metaphor for union with Christ—Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). Similarly, the apostle John described union with Christ as a double habitation by the Holy Spirit: “We know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13).

By virtue of this mutual relationship of spiritual indwelling—our union with Christ—we receive all the saving blessings of God. In being united to Christ, we receive not only Christ Himself, but also His benefits. What is His becomes ours, for God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1:3). Thus we see, said Calvin, that “our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ.” Indeed, union with Christ is the heart of the gospel, for when the apostle Paul “defines the Gospel, and the use of it, he says that we are called to be partakers of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be made one with Him, and to dwell in Him, and He in us; and that we be joined together in an inseparable bond.”

When Calvin considered how “we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on his only-begotten Son,” his answer was that we receive them by our union with Christ. Christ must “present Himself to us and invite us into such a relationship that truly we are united to Him, that He dwells in us in such a way that everything that belongs to Him is ours.” Thus Calvin made union with Christ one of the controlling principles of his soteriology, or doctrine of salvation.

Apart from union with Christ, it is impossible to receive any of the saving blessings of God. Not even the cross and the empty tomb can save us unless we are joined to Jesus Christ. Calvin was emphatic:

We must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us what he has received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within us…. We also, in turn, are said to be “engrafted into him” [Rom. 11:17], and to “put on Christ” [Gal. 3:27]; for, as I have said, all that he possesses is nothing to us until we grow into one body with him.

Simply put, if we are not in Christ, we have no part in His death on the cross to atone for sins and no share in His resurrection from the dead. We are not justified, adopted, sanctified, or glorified without being united to Christ. “I do not see,” wrote Calvin, “how anyone can trust that he has redemption and righteousness in the cross of Christ, and life in his death, unless he relies chiefly upon a true participation in Christ himself. For those benefits would not come to us unless Christ first made himself ours.” Union with Christ, therefore, is nothing less than a matter of spiritual life and death.

An excerpt from John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology
by Burk Parsons. Download the digital edition free through October 31, 2013.

There is No Death for the Righteous

“She is not dead, but asleep.” Luke 8:52
“Your brother will rise again.” John 11:23
Let these words suggest thoughts of unutterable solace and refreshment to those who may now be seated in tears and sackcloth under the “Palms of the Valley.”
Death is but a quiet sleep. The ‘Bible,’ it has been said, ‘with its finger of love, turns what we dread into gold.’ Here the Bible, with its finger of life, turns dreaded death into a peaceful slumber. Soon the morning hour shall strike; the waking time of immortality arrive; and the voice of Jesus will be heard, saying, “I go that I may awake them out of sleep.”
It has been often noted that there is a beautiful and striking progression in our Lord’s three miraculous raisings from the dead. The first in point of time was in the case of the daughter of Jairus, spoken of in our first motto-verse. She was raised immediately after death had taken place; when the body was still laid on its death couch. Her soul had but taken its flight to the spirit-world, when the angels that bore it away were summoned to restore it. The second, in chronological order, was the raising of the son of the widow of Nain. Death had here achieved a longer triumph. The customary time for mourning had intervened; he was being borne to his last home when the voice of Deity sounded over his funeral casket. The third and last of this class of miracles, was the raising of Lazarus of Bethany. Over him death had attained a still more significant mastery. The funeral rites were over; the tomb held in its embrace ‘the loved and lost’—four days had these lips been sealed before the life-giving and life-restoring word was uttered.
There is one other gigantic step in this progression—”The hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth!”
In the first case cited, the time elapsing between the dismissal of the spirit and its recall was measured by moments, the second by hours, the third by days; the fourth is measured by ages—centuries—a MILLENNIUM. But what of that? What though in conventional language we speak of the tomb as the “long home,” and death as “the long sleep”? By Him (with whom a thousand years is as one day), that precious, because redeemed dust, shall be gathered together, particle by particle. “I will ransom them,” He says, as He looks forward through the vista of ages to this glorious consummation, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction.” Blessed, thrice blessed assurance!
As in the case of Jairus, it was his own loved daughter who, in form and feature, was again restored; as the widow of Nain gazed on the unaltered countenance of her own cherished boy; as the sisters of Lazarus saw in him who came forth from the grave, no alien form, strangely altered, but the brother of their hearts; so, we believe, on that wondrous morning of immortality, shall the loved on earth wear their old familiar smiles and loving looks.

In the case of the widow’s son, it is expressly said, “they delivered him to his MOTHER;” as in Bethany, we are allowed to look into the home circle again reunited—Jesus, once more, loving “Martha and Mary and Lazarus,” and they loving one another—so may we believe that, on the Resurrection day, the affections which gladdened and hallowed homesteads here, shall not be dulled, quenched, annihilated; but rather ennobled and purified. Like the fabled Phoenix (the “Palm-bird”) they shall rise from their ashes in forms of new and more glorious life. Brothers, sisters, parents, children, shall be linked in the fond ties and memories of earth, gathering in loving groups under the shade of immortal palms, by the living fountains of waters, and singing together the Song of Eternity.
–John MacDuff