Why Do Christians Die?

In his correspondence with the Roman Christians the apostle Paul makes a statement that helps explain an important issue regarding the death of Christians. He says, For one who has died has been set free from sin (Rom 6:7). It is through death that liberation from sin’s power and dominion is achieved. Now of course that has to do primarily with the death of Christ, who died for us that we might be freed from sin’s clutches and might live in Him for God. But it also helps clarify the reason why believers, now forgiven and accepted by God, must still experience physical death as sin’s wages.

The Westminster Divines dealt with this question and codified it in the Larger Catechism. They asked, Death being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ? (Q 85) Their answer echoes the apostle and is very illuminating: The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is out of God’s love, to free them perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon (A 85). While the death of Christians seems to be an inconsistency, it is really a severe mercy by which our loving Father frees us from sin and introduces us into glory. So in Christ’s death we are freed from sin legally, morally, spiritually, and in our own death we are freed from sin perfectly. What a glorious gospel! God in Christ has overruled the curse so that the very punishment for sin itself is now a means of tremendous blessing. What a glorious God! Is death an enemy? On one level, yes it is. On another level, it is not at all. It comes out of God’s love to free us perfectly from sin and misery. This is why Christians may look forward even to death itself. It is why we need not fear the valley of the shadow. For the one who dies has been set free from sin!

Christ's Attitude Toward Death - Dr. T. David Gordon

Dr. T. David Gordon





Suitable Sorrow

“Moderation in all things” is not a bad motto. As with almost everything else, it applies to the sphere of mourning. On the one hand, there is a time to weep… a time to mourn (Eccl 3:4). We live in a fallen world and the days are evil (Eph 5:16). Tombstones around the globe stand as silent witnesses of death’s shadow which permeates every facet of human existence. Daily the obituaries testify to the passing of one generation and the rise of another (Eccl 1:4). In this scenario it is appropriate to grieve. Abraham mourned for his beloved Sarah (Gen 23:2), all Israel grieved the death of Samuel (1 Sam 25:1), and Jesus Himself wept for His dear friend Lazarus (Jn 11:35). Such sorrow is natural and expected. With it comes no shame or culpability. On the other hand, one must not indulge his grief overmuch. Like any passion excessively coddled, sorrow can become a snare to godly living. For example, the disciples failed to support their Master in His hour of greatest need because they were found sleeping for sorrow (Lk 22:45). Even after Christ’s command to pray and His warning of temptation, they slept because their souls were exhausted from the grievous news about His sufferings and betrayal.

So the proper course, the right way is to moderate our sorrows under God’s providential dealings. In this vale of tears we will suffer. Our Lord Himself showed that godly grief is both good and right. Yet as believers in a wise and gracious providence we must not let our losses and disappointments master our hearts. “Moderation in all things.” The extremes are worldly – all or nothing, overindulged heartache or callous insensitivity. The balance is Christian – a measured, faith-filled godly grief. The one produces death, the other leads to salvation without regret (2 Cor 7:10). Let us not grieve as others do who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13). For Jesus died and rose again. Hallelujah!

Withering Grass

Human pride, what the Greeks called hubris, is a strange and unreasonable thing. It leads us to form an estimate of ourselves that is far too high, at least according to the Bible. We naturally think of ourselves as worthy of love and deserving of respect because of who we are or what we have done or how we have been gifted. Yet with one broad stroke Scripture paints us as flowers of the grass that soon wither (Jas 1:10). Great and small, rich and poor alike appear for a short while, and then fade away like front lawn blades that wither under the sun’s scorching heat. Experience confirms it. Just as a flower’s beauty perishes (Jas 1:11), so one’s outward appearance exhibits the ravages of time. Various creases, losses and illnesses multiply as the years rack up and prove that our bodies are ephemeral, at least in this life. Our earthly existence is fleeting! The inescapable truth is that life is short, beauty is vain, and sin is misery.

In light of this, the Psalmist prays that God would teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12). Considering our frailty as well as the shortness and uncertainty of life, we ought to realize that there is no room for human pride. Such meditations, if sincerely pondered and suitably applied, ought to lead us to seek true wisdom, that is, to seek the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Col 2:3). The swift approach of death and the vast expanse of eternity should lead to a heartfelt trust in and earnest embrace of the One who alone can give us hope of a blessed future. Let the march of time and ravages of age motivate our thought, and let us apply ourselves to the humble pursuit of genuine godliness, for that is wise. The Lord Jesus is an inestimable treasure on whom we may rest our confidence, in whom we may find inexpressible joy (1Pt 1:8), and from whom we may receive the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68). Ponder and be wise!