Hades: Hell and Paradise

The Bible describes a realm under the Earth called Hades. The Jews called it Sheol and other cultures called it the Netherworld. That realm, the realm of the Dead, has two sides separated by an abyss. The abyss separates the side of torment Hell from the side of blessing, Paradise. The Abyss is a pit which some translations call a chasm.

After Jesus died on the Cross, he immediately went to the Paradise of Hades. Joining him in that place was the repentant rebel who died on a cross next to Jesus. We know that they both went to Paradise because our Lord told the man ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise’ (Luke 23:43).

Hades is real. People really go there once they die. You once knew people who were among the living, but who are in Hades right now. Do you understand their circumstances? Jesus does, and the Church of Jesus should understand them. In our last post, we talked about the ministry of mercy the Church has to people who are in Hades.

There are many verses that prove Jesus was in Hades for three days. These verses remind us that Hades is a real place where people really go when they die.

… [Jesus] descended to the Lower Regions of the Earth (Ephesians 4:9; LEB).

… as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the Heart of the Earth (Matthew 12:40).

… [Jesus prayed to God] you will not abandon me to the Realm of the Dead… (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27)

Is the Chasm Intransitable?

Jesus described Hades in detail and gave us a clear idea of what it’s like. In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, he shared some important facts about Hades--facts we should know. For example, we learn that the two sides of Hades are separated by a chasm which is very hard to cross--or is it completely intransitable? Read the story and you be the judge.

In Hades, where he [the rich man] was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us’ (Luke 16:23-26).

Moving Out of Hell

Have you decided whether the chasm is intransitable or not? If you paid close attention to the text of Luke 16 you'll notice that it does not say that people who go to Hades cannot pass from one side to the other. It says that no one who wants [literally, who is desiring] to pass from Hell to Paradise can do so. It’s prohibited for someone who wants to pass over to Paradise to depart from Hell, and vice versa. Nobody in Hades gets what they want--that's the idea.

However, if God wants to do something, he will. If God wants to pluck someone from Hell and to shift their location to Paradise, he can. Jesus' description of Hades allows for that. And anyways, all things are possible with God. So, the big question is: When exactly does God will that a person be freed from Hell?

The answer: When the Church requests it.

And when does the Church make such a request? When does the Church ask God to pluck a soul from the flames of Hell? When we practice a rite in which we baptize a Christian for someone who died without baptism. That is, for someone who would have been baptized, but was died before it was possible. Someone who repented and believed, but wasn't able to get to the waters of baptism.

Paul mentions that kind of circumstance here:

Now if there is no Resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the Dead? If the Dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? (1 Corinthians 15:29)

Jesus Visited Both Sides

The proof that a person can be taken out of Hell and brought to Paradise is based upon the principle that anything is possible with God, but it's based upon solid evidence too! The evidence that someone can move back and forth from Paradise to Hell is the very experience of our Lord Jesus. His three days in Hades consisted of a visit to each side. Jesus visited Hell, and he visited Paradise. He proved that the Chasm is transitable!

That Jesus was on the Hell side of Hades is proven by this passage:

He [Jesus] was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit. After being made alive, he went [to Hell] and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah… (1 Peter 3:18-20)

That Jesus was on the Paradise side is proven by another passage of Scripture:

… the Gospel was preached [by Jesus] even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit (1 Peter 4:6).

A Waiting Room

Hades is like a waiting room. The souls of the Dead (both the righteous and the unrighteous) will remain there until the Resurrection. The eternal condition of a person (be that bliss or condemnation) begins after death--but there are a few exceptions. Those who benefit from baptism for the Dead are one of those exceptions.

Another exception is when God allowed Samuel to depart from Paradise temporarily to visit King Saul. Samuel had already died and left Paradise temporarily as a spirit when the witch of Endor invoked him. To Saul he appeared like an old man wearing a robe.

... the woman [the witch of Endor] asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

“Bring up Samuel,” he said.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice...

The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”

The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the Earth.”

“What does he look like?” he asked.

“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.

Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

“I am in great distress... I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

Samuel said, “Why do you consult me... ? ... tomorrow you and your sons will be with me...” (1 Samuel 28:11-19)

In fact, Saul died the next day. He entered Hades just as Samuel predicted. He has been there ever since.

Passages like this help us to understand how Hades works. They also help us to understand how humans can be made subject to the laws of Death and Hades in an instant, and how God allows some flexibility for souls to depart from Hades.

The Greatest Exception

The most marvelous exception to the law of Death and the rules of Hades is Jesus our Lord. God resurrected Jesus from the Dead--the exception of exceptions. But Jesus was freed from Hades on legal grounds. There was no legitimate way to hold him there.

Jesus was innocent and only souls that sin are subject to death ('The soul that sins, it shall die.") Jesus overcame the ironclad rule of Death through holiness and righteousness. He obeyed a higher law, the Law of Love, and so was delivered from the Law of Death.

God raised him [Jesus] from the Dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Death to keep its hold on him (Acts 2:24).

A Chance for a Change of Status

Jesus proves that people’s eternal status can be changed while they are in Hades. It cannot be changed after the Resurrection because every person will undergo either a Resurrection of Life or a Resurrection of Death. From the Resurrection onward, everyone's condition will become permanent.

… the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his [Jesus’] voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the Resurrection of Life, and those who have done evil, to the Resurrection of Condemnation (John 5:28-29; NKJV).

However, before the Resurrection, there is a chance for people’s status to be changed while they are in Hades. Baptism for the Dead is one of those chances—but it’s only for those who demonstrated the fruit of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ before they die.

The one who has control over Death and Hades is Jesus. If he determines that people should be freed from death and Hades, it will be so!

I [Jesus] was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18).

Two out of Three

There is a triple-witness to your salvation. It's the same triple-witness to the salvation of any person. These three testify: the Holy Spirit, the water, and the blood. Any person who wants to feel sure of their salvation should seek the testimony of these three witnesses.

Do we want assurance? Then we must ask ourselves:

1. whether we were born of the Spirit

2. whether we were baptized in water

3. whether Jesus’ blood is our life

… there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three are in agreement (1 John 5:7-8).

Regarding people who had no time to obtain any of the three testimonies of salvation, but who repented and expressed faith in Jesus before they died, there’s still the possibility that the Church can obtain for them the testimony of water. That is, the Church can decide to have a proxy be baptized in their place.

If this happens, if the Church administers baptism for the dead, the Holy Spirit will make that same person (who is agonizing in Hell) alive in their spirit! Indeed, that’s what the Holy Spirit did for Jesus when Jesus was in Hades. The Spirit made Jesus alive in the spirit. He revitalized him spiritually--that is, without a body, because Jesus had not yet been resurrected.

He [Jesus] was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit. After being made alive, he went [to Hades] and made proclamation… (1 Peter 3:18)

The Spirit didn't only make Jesus alive in the spirit. The Holy Spirit did that for everyone who was in Paradise when they heard Jesus preach the Gospel. The Holy Spirit renewed them spiritually.

… the Gospel was preached [by Jesus] even to those who are now dead, so that they might... live according to God in regard to the spirit (1 Peter 4:6).

If the Church performs baptism for the Dead, it establishes the witness of water. Then the Holy Spirit will affirm the Church's testimony of the water by breathing life into the spirit of the deceased person. ¡Voila! Two of the three witnesses will have been attained--water and spirit.

Because of that. Because there is a complete testimony as to the person's faith in Christ Jesus, the person himself is saved from Hell! Magnificent. Praise God!

You say "But that's not the triple witness we read about in John" and you're right. But the Scriptures do not say that a person needs all three witnesses to be saved. It says that a person only needs two!

Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1).

So, they're good!

The Best Move

For a person to be freed from Hell and transferred to Paradise is the best move they’ll ever make. Like we said earlier, they don’t make that move on their own. It's not because they want it. It’s because the Church and the Holy Spirit will it, and God binds in Heaven what we bind on Earth. The sins we forgive on Earth are forgiven in Heaven.

You ask about how the chasm of Hades is breached? In other words, how does that person cross the chasm that Abraham said cannot be crossed by anyone wanting to cross it from Hell to Paradise? Well, if the Holy Spirit does not take upon himself the honorable task of snatching the soul out of Hell, surely angels will snatch them up. Surely angels can easily transport these precious souls over the Abyss to move them to Paradise!

Once the minimum witness of water and the Spirit are reached--the double witness--this will get a dead man’s sins forgiven. Because forgiveness of sins and the application of Christ’s death to a person's life is the decision of the Church, we elicit the agreement of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one with the Church.

The soul that has been saved no longer needs to be called “dead.” That person is the beneficiary of baptism for the Dead, but we can officially say that they have ceased to be dead. Rather, they have become “asleep in Christ.” They are among the souls that dwell in Paradise in Hope.

Holy Spirit Unity With the Bride

The Spirit agrees with the Church and testifies to God that the soul which receives the benefits of baptism for the Dead in Hell is forgiven in Christ and guaranteed a Resurrection. The Spirit says the same thing the Church says.

The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’ (Revelation 22:17)

When a couple in the Early Church lied to Peter and the congregation, Peter did not tell them that they had lied to a congregation. He told them that they had lied to the Holy Spirit. Was it true?

Yes. The Holy Spirit dwells in the midst of the Church. The Holy Spirit is integrally involved in every decision and action we take! We have one voice with him. He resonates with us.

Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the proceeds of the land? …Then Peter said to her, ‘Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?’ (Acts 5:3, 9; NASB)