“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
—Philippians 1:21
This is the wonderful testimony of every true Christian. Death is gain! It’s not loss or destruction, but death is a benefit to the believer. Paul says in our text “to die is GAIN.” And the reason the Apostle Paul says death is gain for the believer is found in Philippians 1:23, “For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” Paul said he desired to depart, that is, to die. Then he will be “with Christ, which is far better” than being in this world. This is the certainty of every believer. Though we know we must die, death is not loss but gain, because we go to be with Christ. Yes, the Christian’s death is absence from this body, but then he is immediately in the presence of the Lord. Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 42, “Since, then, Christ died for us, why must we also die? Our death is not a satisfaction for our sin, but only a dying to sin and an entering into eternal life.” That’s why we read in Revelation 14:13, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” And Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.”
Where do loved ones go who die trusting in Christ? Scripture is very clear, they go to be with Jesus. This refutes the false teaching of soul-sleep, annihilation of the soul, or purgatory. Paul knew when he died he wouldn’t go to sleep, but would immediately be with Christ. It’s true that Scripture describes the death of a Christian as being sleep (1 Thess. 4), but this refers to our body, which must remain in the grave until the great day of the resurrection when our souls will once again be united with our bodies. But at death, the believer’s soul immediately goes to be with Christ.
Think about the thief on the cross who cried out, “Lord, remember me when You come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him in Luke 23:43, “This day you shall be with me in paradise.” The word “this” in Luke 24:43 is a near demonstrative in the Greek text, which means the thief would be with Christ in Heaven on that day, the day Christ spoke those words! Luke 20:37-38, “But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” Jesus also told His disciples in John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” You see, in death Christ takes the believer to the Father’s house of many mansions. That’s why the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 5:8, “…to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” And so the Apostle Paul says in our text: “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Beloved in Christ, there is great gain for the believer in death. Physical death is no more condemnation. Christ has taken the believer’s condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Death is now a joyful entrance into the place God has prepared for the redeemed of Christ. A place where “God will wipe away every tear from the believer’s eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).
—Pastor S. Henry
