Though Protestants don’t accept purgatory, many nevertheless believe that the souls of the righteous dead are already enjoying Paradise in the very presence of God. Some argue that those “souls” are just disembodied spirits; others believe they are disembodied spirits but covered by a spiritual body of glory.

 Whatever the supposed metaphysical state of the living dead, these theories undermine the biblical doctrine of the final resurrection and judgment of the dead. Why is there a resurrection and a judgment (Rev. 20:12-14) if the souls of the righteous are already enjoying Paradise?

 Read Acts 2:29, 34, 35 and 1 Corinthians 15:16-18. How do these passages shed light on the state of the dead and those awaiting resurrection?

 The Bible teaches that all human beings who are already in heaven were either translated alive, as in the case of Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:9-11), or resurrected from the dead, as Moses (Jude 9) and those raised with Christ (Matt. 27:51-53).

 As we have already seen, the allusion to the souls “under the altar” crying to God for vengeance (Rev. 6:9-11) is just a metaphor for justice and does not prove the theory of the natural immortality of the soul. Otherwise, these folks hardly sound as if they’re enjoying their eternal reward. In reality, the grave is a place of rest for the dead, who are unconsciously awaiting the final resurrection, when their conscious existence will be restored. The dead, even the righteous dead, are not disembodied souls drifting around heaven, waiting patiently to be reunited with their bodies at the final resurrection.

 Also, what could Paul possibly be talking about in 1 Corinthians 15:18, NKJV, when he says that if there were no resurrection of the dead, then “those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” How could they have perished if they are already in the bliss of heaven and have been there for however long since they died? A central and key doctrine of the New Testament, the resurrection of the dead when Christ returns, is made null and void by the false teaching that the righteous dead soar off to their eternal reward right after they die. Nevertheless, we hear it all the time, especially at funerals.