Heaven and Hell

Scripture teaches that heaven and hell are the two eternal dwelling places for all mankind after death. Heaven is the eternal manifestation of God in all His perfect love. Hell is the eternal manifestation of God in all His righteous wrath. The biblical authors use a variety of descriptive literary devices to refer to these eternal dwelling places. There are intermediate and final stages belonging to each of these two eternal dwelling places. Although heaven is the intermediate dwelling place of the souls of believers who die before the second coming of Christ, after the resurrection of the dead at His return they will dwell in glorified bodies in the new heavens and new earth. Similarly, hell is presently the intermediate state for the wicked; however, it will be the eternal place of torment for the unregenerate after their bodily resurrection on the last day. By means of His vicarious atoning death on the cross and subsequent resurrection from the dead, Jesus secured a place for the elect in heaven. As the glorified Son of God, Jesus has been given authority from His Father to raise the dead and judge all mankind.

Scripture teaches that there are only two eternal dwelling places for all mankind after death—namely, heaven and hell. Heaven is the place where God reveals the depths of His grace, mercy, and love to the elect. Hell is the place where God reveals the extent of His righteous judgment toward the wicked.

The Old Testament presents heaven through numerous figures, metaphors, and prophetic allusions. According to the psalmist, heaven entails dwelling in the house of the Lord and being with God in glory (Pss. 23:6; 73:24). Daniel referred to the everlasting glorification of the righteous under the figure of the brightness of the heavenly bodies (Dan. 12:3). At the close of his prophecy, Isaiah predicted the final state of believers under metaphoric language about the new heaven and new earth (Isa. 65–66).

In the New Testament, the dwelling place of the righteous is referred to as “glory” (Mark 10:37; Luke 9:31), “Abraham’s side” (Luke 16:22), “Paradise” (Luke 23:43), “eternal life” (Matt. 19:29; 25:46; John 3:16, 36), “the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22), “the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43), “rest” (Heb. 4:9–11), “the eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15), and “heaven” (Matt. 5:12; 6:20). Though very little is said of what experiences believers will have in heaven, Scripture teaches that it is the place where the redeemed rule and reign alongside the Father and the Son (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 3:21; 22:5). In the New Testament, the central characteristic of heaven is believers’ being with Jesus for all eternity (John 14:1–3; 2 Cor. 5:6–8). This is true of both the intermediate state of believers in heaven and the consummate state of the new heavens and new earth (Luke 23:43; 2 Peter 3:13).

Scripture also warns us about the reality of eternal punishment in figurative language and prophetic utterances. In the Old Testament prophets, hell is spoken of as “everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2) and “everlasting burnings” (Isa. 33:14). While much less is stated about hell as a localized place of torment for the unrighteous, the New Testament develops and expands on the figurative language of the prophets. Joseph Pipa notes that the New Testament uses figurative language to refer to hell as the place of eternal torment for the wicked:

The Bible uses many different terms to describe the horror of eternal damnation: “lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:20); “vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7); “the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 1:13); “torments” (Luke 16:23); “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:9); and a place of “outer darkness” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:13).¹

Contrary to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church regarding purgatory and limbo, as well as to the beliefs of various sects that have promoted the idea of soul sleep, Protestant theologians have taught that Scripture refers to only two possible destinations after death. As Westminster Confession of Faith 32.1 states:
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.
The Lord Jesus—by His sinless life, atoning death, and resurrection from the dead—secured a right to heaven for those for whom He died. Jesus told His disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them in the Father’s house (John 14:1–3). Since God the Father has glorified the Son as the incarnate Mediator, He has delegated all authority to the Son to welcome the righteous into their everlasting home, and banish the wicked to the place of eternal torment (Matt. 25:31–46).