The Wages of Sin is Death

"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17).

"God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:3, 4).

"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden" (Gen. 3:22, 23).

"Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

"When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die" (Ezek. 18:4, 20, 26). [Two deaths are referred to in this last verse. One who dies in his iniquity shall die again.]

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12).

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).

Returning to Dust at Death

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen. 3:19). [No mention of continued consciousness or torment somewhere.]

"For now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be" (Job 7:21).

"Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again" (Job 10:9).

"They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust" (Job 17:16).

"His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust" (Job 20:11).

"They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them" (Job 21:26).

"All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust" (Job 34:15).

"Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret" (Job 40:13).

"My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death."

"All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul" (Ps. 22:15, 29).

"What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" (Ps. 30:9).

"Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust" (Ps. 104:29).

"All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again" (Eccl. 3:20).

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (Eccl. 12:7).

"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead" (Is. 26:19).

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2).

David Not in Heaven

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day."

"For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand" (Acts 2:29, 34).

Death is a Sleep

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers" (Deut. 31:16).

"And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee" (2 Sam. 7:12).

"Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders" (1 Kings 1:21).

"So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David" (1 Kings 2:10).

"And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart" (1 Kings 11:21).

"And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead" (1 Kings 11:43).

"And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with this fathers" (1 Kings 14:20).

"And Rehoboam slept with his fathers" (1 Kings 14:31).

"And Abijam slept with his fathers" (1 Kings 15:8).

"And Asa slept with his fathers" (1 Kings 15:24).

"So Baasha slept with his fathers" (1 Kings 16:6).

"So Omri slept with his fathers" (1 Kings 16:28).

"So Ahab slept with his fathers" (1 Kings 22:40).

"And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers" (1 Kings 22:50).

"And Joram slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 8:24).

"And Jehu slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 10:35).

"And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 13:9).

"And Joash slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 13:13).

"And Jehoash slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 14:16).

"He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 14:22).

"And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel" (2 Kings 14:29).

"So Azariah slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 15:7).

"And Menahem slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 15:22).

"And Jotham slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 15:38).

"And Ahaz slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 16:20).

"And Hezekiah slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 20:21).

"And Manasseh slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 21:18).

"So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers" (2 Kings 24:6).

"And Solomon slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 9:31).

"And Rehoboam slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 12:16).

"So Abijah slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 14:1).

"And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign" (2 Chr. 16:13).

"Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 21:1).

"He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 26:2).

"So Uzziah slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 26:23).

"And Jotham slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 27:9).

"And Ahaz slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 28:27).

"And Hezekiah slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 32:33).

"So Manasseh slept with his fathers" (2 Chr. 33:20).

"Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, with kings and counsellers of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor" (Job 3:12-18).

"For now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be" (Job 7:21).

"So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep" (Job 14:12).

"Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death" (Ps. 13:3).

"In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats."

"And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts" (Jer. 51:39, 40, 57).

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

"But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days" (Dan. 12:2, 13).

"He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn" (Mat. 9:24).

"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose" (Mat. 27:52). [Note on the Greek: "bodies" is in the nominative case, while "saints" and the participle "slept" are in the genitive case. This means that it is the saints who are said to be sleeping, not their bodies. It could well be translated, "many bodies of the sleeping saints." So the entire being sleeps, not just the body.]

"And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth" (Mark 5:39).

"And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth" (Luke 8:52).

"These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead" (John 11:11-14).

"And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:60).

"For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption" (Acts 13:36).

"The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead [Greek: koimao, "be asleep"], she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord" (1 Cor. 7:39).

"For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep" (1 Cor. 11:30).

"After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."

"Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 20, 51).

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep" (1 Thess. 4:13-15).

"And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Pet. 3:4).

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Rev. 14:13).

Body Goes to Hades/Sheol (Grave/Hell) at Death

[Hades and Sheol are the Greek and Hebrew words for "grave" and "hell."]

"But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn" (Job 14:22). [If this text says that there is consciousness after death, as some claim, then the fleshly body must be conscious as well since it is feeling pain. If the "soul" that is mourning is in sheol ("the grave," vs. 13), then the "flesh" that is in "pain" must be there as well.]

"For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living" (Job 30:23).

"If I wait, the grave [sheol] is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness" (Job 17:13).

"Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave [sheol] those which have sinned. The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him" (Job 24:19, 20). [Since it is the body that decays, it must be the body that is in the grave (sheol) here.]

"Like sheep they are laid in the grave [sheol]; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave [sheol] from their dwelling" (Ps. 49:14).

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave [sheol], whither thou goest" (Eccl. 9:10). [If the spirit or soul was conscious after death, it could not be in the grave (sheol, hades), because whatever is there has no knowledge at all. The body must be referred to here.]

"And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell [sheol] with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living" (Ezek. 32:27). [I can’t imagine people thinking that spirits or souls take their swords to hell with them. This must be a picture of people being buried in the grave with their armor.]

"And in hell [hades] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame" (Luke 16:23). [If spirits or souls have tongues, eyes, bosoms, and fingers, why would they need bodies too? If spirits or souls don’t have such parts, then this parable pictures their bodies in hell/hades.]

No Consciousness in Death

"His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them" (Job 14:21).

"For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" (Ps. 6:5).

"What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" (Ps. 30:9).

"Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" (Ps. 88:10-12).

"The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence" (Ps. 115:17).

"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Ps. 146:4).

"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun."

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest" (Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10).

"For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth" (Is. 38:18, 19).