“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 is not loss or destruction, but death is a benefit to the believer. Our text declares, “to die is GAIN.” 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 desired to depart, that is, to die. Then he will be “with Christ, which is far better!” 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 his body, but his soul is immediately in the presence of the Lord.
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.” 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 Jesus Christ? Scripture is 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 would not go to sleep, but would immediately be with Christ. It is 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 is why the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 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.” Are you in Christ? Are you trusting Jesus as your righteousness and forgiveness before the holy God of Heaven and earth? Are you trusting Jesus as the One who kept all God’s commandments in your place, and the One who bore all your sins on the cross? If so, then you too can say, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” However, if you are not trusting Jesus, you must run to Him now as the only One mighty to save all those who come to God by Him. He will not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax.
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry