Oct 20
18
Baptist Catechism 40
Q. 40. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at 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. (Heb. 12:23; Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:8; Luke 23:43; 1 Thess 4:14; Is. 57:2; Job 19:26)
Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:18-26
“What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.” (Philippians 1:18–26, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
For many weeks now we have been answering the question, “What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?” That is Baptist Catechism number 35. In the following questions and answers, we learned that in this life believers are justified, adopted, and sanctified and that many other benefits accompany or flow from these.
But here with question 40, we turn our attention to the moment of death. And you will notice that in question 41 we fix our minds on the resurrection, which will happen when Christ returns to make all things new. In these questions, we learn that there are benefits that come to the believer, not only in this life but also at the moment of death and at the resurrection.
I suppose there are some who think that the benefits that Christ has earned for us will only come to us in the future, at the moment of death, and for all eternity. They are wrong because they ignore the many blessings that are ours now and in this life which we have previously considered. Our salvation is not only future, it is ours presently.
But there are others, I am sure, who think only of the benefits that are ours now and fail to consider the blessings that will come to us in the future at the moment of our death and for all eternity. These fixate upon the Lord’s provision now, his sanctifying work, etc. But they forget that Christ came to ultimately save us from sin, from the curse of death, and to bring us safely to our eternal home in the new heavens and earth, where we will enjoy the presence of God forever and ever. .
So let us be sure that we do not make the one mistake or the other. Let us be sure to recognize that in Christ we are blessed in this life, in death, and for the life to come.
Perhaps you have noticed that people do not like to think or talk about death. Death is certainly an unpleasant topic even for the believer. Death is, in some respects, unnatural. We were not originally created to die, but to live forever in the presence of God. But our parents fell into sin. And the wages of sin is death — spiritual death, which is alienation from God, and physical death. So death is unnatural to us. It is a curse. It is a perversion of how things were designed in the beginning. It is no wonder, then, that we mourn death. It is a sorrow to us. The human spirit quite naturally is troubled by death. And this is true for the believer and the non-believer alike. Both mourn death. Even our Savior mourned the death of his dear friend Lazarus. Jesus wept, remember.
But the Christian’s perspective is different (or at least it should be). Though death is sorrowful even for the Christian, its sting has been removed. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:55, “‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55–57, ESV). When the one who has faith in Christ dies, they pass from life to life. The pass from this world and into the presence of God. They are transferred from a state of grace to a state of glory. Death is a promotion for the believer. Death brings about perfection. Now, I am not saying that we should rejoice over the death of a believer, and not grieve. No, death will always involve sorrow, for by it we are separated from those we love for a time. And by it the body is unnaturally separated from the soul, as we will learn. And by it, we are reminded of the curse of sin. Death will always involve sorrow, but for the Christian, it cannot produce despair, for Christ has defeated sin and death, and in him we have life everlasting.
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Philippians 1:18-26
And this is why Paul could speak in the way that he did concerning the thought of his own death in Philippians 1:18 and following. Did you hear him? He said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” What does that mean? It means that if he goes on living in this world, it will be for the service of Christ, but to die would be in some respects better, for then he would come into God and Christ’s presence, and the troubles of this world would pass away. And in this passage, he weighs out the benefits. “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”
Of course, Paul knew that whether he lived or died was not up to him. The moment and circumstances of our death, like the moment and circumstances of our birth, is to be left to God. But as he considered the possibility of death, he was not overwhelmed with fear and dread as so many are. No, there was a sense in which he was eager for it so that he might come into the presence of the Lord.
Now, what I have just said can be terribly misunderstood, and so I feel compelled to make two qualifications. One, I am not claiming that Pual was without any fear regarding death. It is quite natural and good to fear death, that is to say, to fear the process of dying. This natural fear of death should help us to live according to wisdom. Though Christians do not fear death ultimately because Christ has overcome it, neither are they to use this courage to live reckless and irresponsible lives in this world. Two, you will notice that Paul’s eagerness to pass from this world and to go into the presence of God and Christ was balanced by his desire to remain on earth so that he might serve Christ and be used for the furtherance of his kingdom. And this is a balance that every Christain must maintain. Yes, on the one hand, I am eager to be with the Lord. But on the other hand, I am eager to remain here so that I might be used of the Lord. This should be our disposition as we wait patiently for the Lord’s will to be accomplished in and through our lives.
But as I have said, Paul was able to speak so positively of death because he knew — he really knew and believed in his heart — that Christ defeated death. The sting of death has been removed by Christ. Those with faith in Christ will not be cursed but blessed in the moment of the moment of death.
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Catechism Explained
Let us take a moment to work through our catechism piece by piece.
First, we say, “The souls of believers…” Human beings are made up of body and soul. You have a body and you have a soul. The soul is the non-material part of man. You cannot take a picture of the soul, but you know it exists. The soul is where the personality resides. The soul is where our affections reside. And here is one way in which we are like God. God is a most pure spirit, and we have a spirit or a soul. We differ from God in that he is a pure spirit, whereas we are made up of body and spirit, or body and soul.
And do not forget that we are speaking of believers here. In question 42 we will ask, “what shall be done to the wicked at their death?” But for now, we are talking about what happens to believers at death.
Secondly, we say “The souls of believers are at death made perfect in holiness…” So death does not corrupt the soul of the one who has faith in Christ but brings it to perfection. In this life, we do still struggle with sin. That process of sanctification will continue till the end. But at the moment of death the one who has faith will pass from a state of grace wherein corruptions remain, into the state of glory wherein the souls of the righteous are made perfect.
And this is what our catechism says thirdly: “…and do immediately pass into glory”. To pass into glory is to be perfectly and immutably able to do good alone. And to pass into glory is to come into the presence of God himself personally. Remember what I said earlier. The soul is where the personality resides. In this sense, you are immortal. Your body will die, but your soul will live forever and ever. This is true for the believer and for the non-believer, as we will see. But their destinies could not be more different.
And then fourthly we say, “and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.” You are immortal, as I have said. But you will for a time be incomplete (unless you are alive when the Lord returns). When the believer passes from this world the soul and the body are separated in an unnatural way. The soul goes to glory, but the body returns to the earth from which it was created. You will be you, but you will be incomplete until that day when Christ returns and resurrects the body. True. To “be away from the body [is to be] at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, ESV), but it is to be incomplete. To be human is to have body and soul. But at the moment of death, the soul is separated from the body.
We will speak more about the resurrection of the body next week. For now, let us consider this little phrase “and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.” What is meant by the phrase, “being still united to Christ”? It means that Christ has redeemed us as whole persons and that he will not abandon any part of us, but will bring us whole into the new heavens and earth. In that time after death and before the resurrection, Christ guards those who belong to him. The souls go to glory and their bodies go to the grave, but we are united to Christ, body and soul, as whole persons.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 and following speaks to this, saying, “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this,we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:14–16, ESV).
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Conclusion
Brethren, know for sure that when you die in Christ you will pass from life to life.
And know for sure that when you die you will come immediately into the presence of God and Christ. As I have said, your personality resides in the soul. And so you will come personally into the presence of God.
And know for sure that when you die in Christ you will pass from grace to glory. In this state of grace corruptions remain and we do struggle with sin. But in glory our souls will be made perfect in holiness. No wonder Paul longed for that day, as should we.
Q. 40. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at 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. (Heb. 12:23; Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:8; Luke 23:43; 1 Thess 4:14; Is. 57:2; Job 19:26)
