We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body when Christ comes for His own.

    At Christ’s return, their works shall be brought before the Judgment Seat of Christ for the determination of rewards, a judgment which may issue in the loss of rewards, but not the loss of the soul1.

    The spirits and souls of the unbelieving also remain after death. They will be conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium. At the end of the millennium, soul and body will be reunited and cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power2.

References:

  1. (Philippians 1:22-23; 2 Corinthians 5:8-10)

  2. (Luke 16:19-26; 23:42; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 1:6-7,13; Revelation 20:11-15)