What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?

Which Bible passages support this answer?

The Westminster Assembly attached these Scripture proofs to answer 37. Read them together and ask what each one shows about the answer.

1. Hebrews 12:23

   and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect, (NET)

2. 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6, 8

   ¹For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. ⁶Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord— ⁸Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (NET)

3. Philippians 1:23

   I feel torn between the two because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, (NET)

4. Luke 23:43

   And Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (NET)

5. 1 Thessalonians 4:14

   For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. (NET)

6. Isaiah 57:2

   Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds. (NET)

7. Job 19:26-27

   ²⁶And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, ²⁷whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me. (NET)

What does this answer mean?

At death, believers' souls are made perfect in holiness and immediately pass into glory. Their bodies, still united to Christ, rest in their graves until the resurrection. Even in the grave, a believer's body belongs to Christ. The answer gives believers real comfort when someone they love has died in the Lord.

What can we ask our children?

1. Where does a believer's soul go at death?
2. What happens to the body?
3. Why can Christians face death with hope?