Question 43: When Believers Die

In his final moments, Jesus makes a stunning promise to the dying criminal beside him. To a man with no time for religious works or spiritual achievements, Jesus offers immediate entrance into paradise. This reveals a profound truth about what happens when believers die. The thief’s soul will be separated from his body and enter God’s presence that very day—not sleeping in unconsciousness or waiting in an intermediate state, but consciously present with Jesus in paradise. Paradise is a place of worship and rest—a spiritual home free from sin, despair, pain, death, illness and regrets. For the believer, physical death simply continues the life that began when they accepted Jesus as Savior.