By Ed Tarkowski

"Soul sleep" means that when a person dies, they have no conscious existence from that time on until the day of resurrection. Another definition I have come across is that the "soul sleep" of the deceased is an existence of silence, inactivity and entire unconsciousness.

Mark 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

When God spoke to Moses, Jesus said said to him that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In other words, when God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had already lived and died. Yet Jesus said God was their God even now, the God of the living in the present, meaning, though these three had died physically, their spirits were not dead. Nor did He mention their spirits were asleep. In other words, their spirits were alive, God was their God, even while their bodies laid in the ground.

The bodies of these three were dead and buried at the time Jesus spoke of them. He spoke of them spiritually, though, as being alive. He mentioned God as the God of the living, not the God of those asleep whether in or out of their bodies, as some propose, that after death men's spirits slept in their bodies until the resurrection and were basically unconscious. No, He said that God meant He was "the God of the living" when He spoke to Moses and when Jesus spoke to the men of His time, "living" meaning,

LIVING 2198. zao, dzah'-o; a prim. verb; to live (lit. or fig.):--life (-time), (a-) live (-ly), quick.

James described the dead of a person:

James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

In other words, when a person dies, his body dies and the spirit leaves the body:

WITHOUT 5565. choris, kho-rece'; adv. from G5561; at a space, i.e. separately or apart from (often as prep.):--beside, by itself, without.

In Genesis 35, we read this about the soul departing from Rachel when she died, making soul sleep an impossibility:

18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem (parenthesis in the original).

That the spirit goes to be with the Lord is stated by Paul in Philippians 1:

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

Paul's choices were two in number: either

(1) stay in the flesh and continue to live on this earth serving God's people, or,

(2) depart and be with Christ.

Where is Christ? Is He in the ground in some type of soul sleep? No, He is in heaven until He returns and the believer joins Him there when each departs at death, that is, when their spirit leaves the body at death as James described. Paul again repeated himself in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

Simply stated. while he is in his body, he is absent from the Lord's heavenly presence. When he will be absent from the body, he will no longer be 'absent from the Lord." There is no mention of an intermediate state of soul sleep.

One of the most important scriptures refuting soul sleep is found in Ephesians and it concerns Christ and His resurrection:

Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Jesus lead captivity captive when He descended into the lower parts of the earth. In other words, He descended and then ascended out of their taking with Him a host of captives (those who waited for His coming). That they were there waiting to be lead out shows the non-existence of soul sleep:

LED CAPTIVITY 161. aichmalosia, aheekh-mal-o-see'-ah; from G164; captivity:--captivity.

LED CAPTIVITY From 164. aichmalotos, aheekh-mal-o-tos'; from aichme (a spear) and a der. of the same as G259; prop. a prisoner of war, i.e. (gen.) a captive:--captive.

LED CAPTIVITY From 259. halosis, hal'-o-sis; from a collateral form of G138; capture:--be taken.

LED CAPTIVITY From 138. haireomai, hahee-reh'-om-ahee; prob. akin to G142; to take for oneself, i.e. to prefer:--choose.

LED CAPTIVITY From 142. airo, ah'ee-ro; a prim. verb; to lift; by impl. to take up or away; fig. to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); spec. to sail away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Heb. [comp. H5375] to expiate sin:--away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

At death, the spirits of men of faith were held captive at death in Hades and released from there when Jesus descended there after His death (see 1 Peter 3:19 and 4:6). Jesus preached to spirits held captive, whether they be the spirits of those in Noah's days or not. He didn't preach to a sleeping crowd.

Finally, Revelation clearly indicates that the souls of the martyrs and the saints are in heaven before the resurrection on the last day, again refuting the idea of soul sleep:

Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

PART 1 - Soul Sleep vs The Truth Of Scripture
PART 2: The False Doctrine Of Annihilationism
PART 3: Reincarnation: An Historic Look
PART 4: A Summary: The Truth of The Matter Is In Christ
ADDENDUM: The Early Church Fathers Believed In Unending Punishment
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