Where Does It Say In The Bible That You Go Directly To Heaven When You Die?

[way 2 go]

I brought up Lu 23:43 in a different post. I agree it makes more sense to suggest that the thief was with Jesus after death, and in a state of awareness. But as a single verse in favor of the awareness concept, it is not real strong, verses the other verses that talk about "sleep". And where was Jesus that day after He died--prior to His own resurrection? Some say this verse says He was preaching to the spirits in Abraham's bosom, also called Paradise. If so, it's a great argument for awareness after death. But it's a little light in terms of number of verses.

not light at all,
Luk 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

we know the thief is dead bodily and and can only be his spirit that is in paradise with God.

1 Thess 4 speaks of a gathering in the clouds where we will meet Jesus, after it says "God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus".

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. [1Th 4:14 NKJV]
Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. [1Th 4:17 NKJV]

Part of the issue might be trying to understand which direction we're going after we meet Him in the air. If we're going up to heaven, it makes more sense than if we are returning to earth. We start getting into other presuppositions here.

not a great starting verse but good additional verse

Regarding the souls under the altar, they are told to "rest a little longer", which is applied, according to the thread of logic, to the spirits, not the bodies. Thus, while the bodies are sleeping, as you say, the spirits are "resting". I'm not sure why we need to be distinguishing. I think the best way to look at that verse is to see it in prophetic terms. The vision John had showed those souls as a way to illustrate that there were earlier martyrs and later martyrs. It doesn't have to be a statement on awareness, and if it is, it's a better statement for no awareness than for awareness, at least most of the time.

very vocal and aware of time .

Rev 6:10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”


this would be the verse to answer OP
Php 1:23 For I am pressed together by the two: having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.

 

[Derf]

So you agree with what I said here?:

Paul is saying that when a Christian is away from the body he is at home with the Lord.​

So when the inward man is away from the body he is at home with the Lord. And the Lord is in heaven so the Christian who is at home with the Lord is in heaven now.

I don't think Paul allows for a state of nakedness in 2 Cor 5:2-3. It could be that Paul is recognizing that the next thing a person will be aware of after death is meeting the Lord. But the verses don't give a "when".

I'm surprised you don't think this way, as being "with" the Lord suggests being in the same "time" as the Lord. And if the Lord is timeless, so shall we be, in eternity, right?

 

[Derf]

not light at all,
Luk 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

we know the thief is dead bodily and and can only be his spirit that is in paradise with God.





not a great starting verse but good additional verse


very vocal and aware of time .

Rev 6:10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”


this would be the verse to answer OP
Php 1:23 For I am pressed together by the two: having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.

Some of the same stuff I'm going through with [MENTION=10]Jerry Shugart[/MENTION]. Good thoughts all around!

But I think Php 1:23 is less specific than 2 Cor 5, giving even less detail about what Paul means. It certainly seems to me that Paul might mean there is no awareness of anything between the two events--dying and then resurrecting in Jesus' presence.

Same thing about the thief on the cross. "Today" might make sense in terms of the thief's awareness.

I won't argue with you about the souls under the altar--just point out the odd circumstances these souls seem to be in.

 

[God's Truth]

Where Does It Say In The Bible That You Go Directly To Heaven When You Die?

The Bible says so in many scriptures.

When a person comes to God through Jesus, they HAVE COME TO MOUNT ZION, to the heavenly Jerusalem. We actually come to heaven where God is.

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

Hebrews 12:23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

When people come to God through Jesus, they actually come to heaven, where God is, and Jesus, and to thousands upon thousands of angels, and to the spirit of righteous men made perfect. The spirits of the faithful who had died, but live in the spirit

The Old Testament faithful, who had died before, and Paul and all those first Christians living on earth, together were being made perfect by faith in Jesus Christ, when the gospel was first being proclaimed.

Hebrews 11:40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

The cloud of witnesses were the Old Testament believers who are in heaven, and they were watching as Jesus, the Apostles, and the Prophets proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ…these Old Testament believers who are in their spirit in heaven, they were witnesses to the gospel being proclaimed, witnesses are alive and conscious.

True believers are like living stones being built into a spiritual house.

1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

True believers already have a spiritual resurrection before a physical death. Here are more scriptures explaining this fact.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

John 6:56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

Ephesians 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

True believers who are alive on earth are now with Jesus in heaven, when we die physically, we will be with Jesus in heaven in the spirit, and after Jesus resurrects us with immortal bodies, we will live on a new earth with Jesus in the New Jerusalem on earth.

When we die physically, we will be with Jesus in heaven in the spirit. This next scripture is in the passage where Jesus predicts his death. Jesus is going back to the Father.

John 12:26”Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

John 14:1-6. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Again, Jesus is talking about going back to heaven to his Father. True believers follow Jesus to heaven.

At the resurrection, after Jesus resurrects us with immortal bodies, we will live on a new earth in the new Jerusalem. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. We will live with God, in our resurrected bodies on this new earth.

Revelation 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.


Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Revelation 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

I am with Jesus now in heaven, in the Holy City, even as I live on earth. I will be with Jesus when I die, I will be in my spirit, and I will be with Jesus after Jesus resurrects me to live on the new earth.

Christ has made true believers alive in the spirit, John 3:6.

 

[genuineoriginal]

First we see that Paul says that those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. Then Paul speaks of Him descending but you say that those who sleep in Jesus will not be with Him when He descends.

That makes no sense!

It makes sense, but you are refusing to accept it.The dead are not with Jesus before we meet Him in the clouds. Jesus does not descend to the clouds with the dead. Jesus appears in the clouds, raises the dead from the grave, catches up both the living and the dead for the meeting in the clouds, and then descends from the clouds with the raised dead and the living.

 

[God's Truth]

It makes sense, but you are refusing to accept it.The dead are not with Jesus before we meet Him in the clouds. Jesus does not descend to the clouds with the dead. Jesus appears in the clouds, raises the dead from the grave, catches up both the living and the dead for the meeting in the clouds, and then descends from the clouds with the raised dead and the living.

No. The spirits of the dead will come with Jesus and will then be raised from the ground with new bodies; and, those still living when Jesus comes will be changed in a twinkling of the eye to their new bodies and with those who had died will meet Jesus in the air.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

I don't think Paul allows for a state of nakedness in 2 Cor 5:2-3. It could be that Paul is recognizing that the next thing a person will be aware of after death is meeting the Lord. But the verses don't give a "when".

No? Then why did he write about the possibility of being found "naked"?

I expected more from you in regard to what Paul wrote here:

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord...We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor.5:6,8).​

Earlier you agreed with me when I said the following:

Paul is saying that when a Christian is away from the body he is at home with the Lord.​

So when the inward man is away from the body he is at home with the Lord. And the Lord is in heaven so the Christian who is at home with the Lord is in heaven now.

Right?

 

[Jerry Shugart]

The dead are not with Jesus before we meet Him in the clouds.

Tell me where the inward man goes when his physical body is no longer functioning? Here is a hint:

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord...We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor.5:6,8).​

Since the Lord is in heaven when a Christian dies physically and is absent from his body he is with the Lord in heaven.

 

[genuineoriginal]

Tell me where the inward man goes when his physical body is no longer functioning?

Some people call it soul sleep. :idunno:

Ecclesiastes 9:5 5 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.​

Here is a hint:

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord...We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor.5:6,8).​

Since the Lord is in heaven when a Christian dies physically and is absent from his body he is with the Lord in heaven.

Do you believe that Paul is stuck under an altar?

Revelation 6:9-10 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?​

 

[genuineoriginal]

No. The spirits of the dead will come with Jesus and will then be raised from the ground with new bodies; and, those still living when Jesus comes will be changed in a twinkling of the eye to their new bodies and with those who had died will meet Jesus in the air.

This verse states that God will bring those that believe with Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.​

These three verses describe how it happens.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 15 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. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.​

When Jesus comes, the dead are raised from the dead, and all believers (living and raised dead) are caught up into the clouds, and Jesus brings all of us with Him.

Revelation 11:8-12 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.​

We see the dead people raised from the dead and then ascending up to heaven in a cloud to meet with Jesus.

Revelation 14:14-16 14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.​

We see Jesus alone on a cloud, reaping the harvest of the dead and living believers.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

Some people call it soul sleep.

Do you not know what the word "where" means?

And of course you just ignored the following words of Paul which proves that your ideas are wrong":

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord...We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor.5:6,8).​

 

[genuineoriginal]

Do you not know what the word "where" means?

I know what "where" means, but you are claiming that there is an "inward man" that leaves the body when it dies.

And of course you just ignored the following words of Paul which proves that your ideas are wrong":

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord...We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor.5:6,8).​

No, I am not ignoring the verse you cherry picked to claim that there is an immortal soul, even though the Bible constantly tells us that the soul dies.
An immortal soul is a Greek concept, not a Biblical one.
The idea was added to Christianity by Gentile converts.
The process is called the Hellenization of Christianity.
From the Greek legend of Tartarus we get the "Christian" idea of Satan torturing eternal souls in Hell.

 

[God's Truth]

Some people call it soul sleep. :idunno:

I call the soul sleep belief “the doctrine of death.”

Ecclesiastes 9:5 5 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.​

Soul sleep believers try to use scripture from Ecclesiastes to support their false beliefs that our spirits do not live on after the death of our bodies, but the part of Ecclesiastes they use is about a message of if there were no God. Ecclesiastes also says the dead have no more reward (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Do you believe that the dead have no more reward? Jesus says he is coming with his reward (Rev 22:12). The Old Testament believers believed in a resurrection (Job 19:25-27; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2; and others), so why would Solomon say the dead have no more reward if not to imagine a life without God.

Do you believe that Paul is stuck under an altar?

Revelation 6:9-10 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?​

That is about a vision.

 

[God's Truth]

This verse states that God will bring those that believe with Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.​

These three verses describe how it happens.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 15 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. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.​

When Jesus comes, the dead are raised from the dead, and all believers (living and raised dead) are caught up into the clouds, and Jesus brings all of us with Him.

Revelation 11:8-12 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.​

We see the dead people raised from the dead and then ascending up to heaven in a cloud to meet with Jesus.

Revelation 14:14-16 14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.​

We see Jesus alone on a cloud, reaping the harvest of the dead and living believers.

I see you are not trying to understand your opponents beliefs but you are merely repeating your own.

I gave scripture that says when a person wants to be saved they actually come to heaven where spirits of the dead are.

Those scriptures you gave SAY JESUS brings the dead in him with him.

Now reread what I wrote and give it some consideration beyond a mote answer from you.

 

[genuineoriginal]

I call the soul sleep belief “the doctrine of death.”

I call it a false doctrine, the same way I call the "eternal soul" a false doctrine.

Soul sleep believers try to use scripture from Ecclesiastes to support their false beliefs that our spirits do not live on after the death of our bodies, but the part of Ecclesiastes they use is about a message of if there were no God. Ecclesiastes also says the dead have no more reward (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Do you believe that the dead have no more reward? Jesus says he is coming with his reward (Rev 22:12). The Old Testament believers believed in a resurrection (Job 19:25-27; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2; and others), so why would Solomon say the dead have no more reward if not to imagine a life without God.

There is a difference between talking about what happens in the world to come and what happens in this world.
In this world we die and return to the dust.

Genesis 3:19 19 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.​

Eternal life is only available in the world to come and only for believers.

Mark 10:30 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.​

 

[God's Truth]

I call it a false doctrine, the same way I call the "eternal soul" a false doctrine.


There is a difference between talking about what happens in the world to come and what happens in this world.
In this world we die and return to the dust.

Genesis 3:19 19 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.​

Eternal life is only available in the world to come and only for believers.

Mark 10:30 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.​

Our flesh bodies return to dust and our spirit returns to God who gave it.
Spirits don't die.

 

[Derf]

No? Then why did he write about the possibility of being found "naked"?

I expected more from you in regard to what Paul wrote here:

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord...We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor.5:6,8).​

And I gave you more. I'm glad I can live up to your expectations. That's why I mentioned 2 Cor 5:2-3, because it tells us that the naked state is an undesirable state. Thus, is it a good thing to tell people that we will be running around in heaven naked, when Paul says it is undesirable? Vs 6 and 8 do not contradict Vs 2-3, but rather supplement them--saying that we will be with Christ when this body dies and we get a new body.

Earlier you agreed with me when I said the following:

Paul is saying that when a Christian is away from the body he is at home with the Lord.​

So when the inward man is away from the body he is at home with the Lord. And the Lord is in heaven so the Christian who is at home with the Lord is in heaven now.

Right?

I was saying that "when" may be a foreign concept at the time, at least according to your theology of time (or chronology of God, whichever seems to fit).

I think Paul talks about the inward man as something that is being changed, sanctified, in this life (in the fleshly body), but the body is not being changed yet. We are all continuing to die while we are in this body. The man is a combination/compilation of both the inward and outward man, and doesn't seem to be complete if both are not together. Thus, the state of nakedness is undesirable, as the man is not whole.

I think Paul is saying that to be away from the earthly body is to be at home in our heavenly body (avoiding the naked state), that death is not to be feared due to the resurrection to come. This would be of comfort to those that are both looking forward to the resurrection and facing death.

 

[genuineoriginal]

I see you are not trying to understand your opponents beliefs but you are merely repeating your own.

You could be saying the exact same thing to yourself. :chuckle:

I gave scripture that says when a person wants to be saved they actually come to heaven where spirits of the dead are.

Those scriptures you gave SAY JESUS brings the dead in him with him.

Now reread what I wrote and give it some consideration beyond a mote answer from you.

The Bible says so in many scriptures.

When a person comes to God through Jesus, they HAVE COME TO MOUNT ZION, to the heavenly Jerusalem. We actually come to heaven where God is.

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

Hebrews 12:23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

When people come to God through Jesus, they actually come to heaven, where God is, and Jesus, and to thousands upon thousands of angels, and to the spirit of righteous men made perfect. The spirits of the faithful who had died, but live in the spirit

These verses come from the contrasting of old and new covenants that is found throughout the book of Hebrews and are to be read in that manner instead of assuming that they are speaking about believers going to heaven to meet God at the moment they believe.
In the Old Testament, the people that gathered at Mount Sinai (see Hebrews 12:18-21) never went onto the mountain, they gathered at the base of the mountain and received word from Moses in fear.
In contrast, the people that gather at Mount Tzion (see Hebrews 12:12-24) do not go onto the mountain, they gather at the base of the mountain and received word from Jesus in joy.
The verses never state that we come onto Mount Tzion, only that we come near (unto) Mount Tzion.
Christians never make it into Heavenly Jerusalem in this life.

The Old Testament faithful, who had died before, and Paul and all those first Christians living on earth, together were being made perfect by faith in Jesus Christ, when the gospel was first being proclaimed.

Hebrews 11:40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

The cloud of witnesses were the Old Testament believers who are in heaven, and they were watching as Jesus, the Apostles, and the Prophets proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ…these Old Testament believers who are in their spirit in heaven, they were witnesses to the gospel being proclaimed, witnesses are alive and conscious.

Witnesses in the Bible are not the same as you seem to think.
"Witness" is used as another word for "proof" or "evidence".

Genesis 21:30 30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.​

The cloud of witnesses are not souls watching what we do.
The cloud of witnesses is the life and death of the people from the Old Testament that provided evidence of how much commitment we are to use in persevering in this life the same way they did.

True believers are like living stones being built into a spiritual house.

1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Maybe you are reading something into that verse that just is not there?

True believers already have a spiritual resurrection before a physical death. Here are more scriptures explaining this fact.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

John 6:56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

Ephesians 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

True believers who are alive on earth are now with Jesus in heaven, when we die physically, we will be with Jesus in heaven in the spirit, and after Jesus resurrects us with immortal bodies, we will live on a new earth with Jesus in the New Jerusalem on earth.

You jumbled together a bunch of verses hoping that they convey a message other than what they convey individually?
Are you Squeaky?
Do you want each one of these verses refuted separately or just the concept?
The Bible shows us over and over that a person lives, dies, goes into the grave, and then is resurrected.
Nothing but the grave is between death and resurrection.

When we die physically, we will be with Jesus in heaven in the spirit. This next scripture is in the passage where Jesus predicts his death. Jesus is going back to the Father.

John 12:26”Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

John 14:1-6. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Again, Jesus is talking about going back to heaven to his Father. True believers follow Jesus to heaven.

Jesus is speaking about following Him in being obedience unto death, not about following Him to heaven.

At the resurrection, after Jesus resurrects us with immortal bodies, we will live on a new earth in the new Jerusalem. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. We will live with God, in our resurrected bodies on this new earth.

Revelation 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.


Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Revelation 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

You got that right.

I am with Jesus now in heaven, in the Holy City, even as I live on earth.

No, you are not.

I will be with Jesus when I die, I will be in my spirit

No, you won't.

, and I will be with Jesus after Jesus resurrects me to live on the new earth.

Christ has made true believers alive in the spirit, John 3:6.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

I think Paul is saying that to be away from the earthly body is to be at home in our heavenly body (avoiding the naked state), that death is not to be feared due to the resurrection to come. This would be of comfort to those that are both looking forward to the resurrection and facing death.

Your idea about that directly contradicts the words of Paul here:

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord...We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor.5:6,8).​

Paul does not say that being away from the earthly body is to be at home with our heavenly body, as you imagine.

Instead, he says that being away from our earthly body is "to be present with the Lord."

And since the Lord is now in heaven then once a person dies physically he is with the Lord in heaven.

 

[genuineoriginal]

Our flesh bodies return to dust and our spirit returns to God who gave it.

The exact same thing is stated here, but this verse shows the real meaning of the one you are quoting.

Job 32:14-15 14 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; 15 All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.​

Spirits don't die.

There is a difference between unclean spirits and people.