Praying for the dead: will it work? At the outset it should be stated that honoring the dead is a good practice. Not only should we honor the dead person, but also the dead body. We can emulate the good qualities of a dead person, while still keeping in our mind that Jesus is our greatest role model. What does Bible talks about the finality of death? Can a living person do something for a dead person so that he can be made eligible for heaven? Can our prayers and services after death sanctify a dead person to make him fit for heaven? Can some stains of sin be left behind, after a person sincerely confesses to God his or her sins during his life time? Is death some sort of a finishing line, as in a race? Is there an afterlife in purgatory where a person can be purified? We see some Christians praying for their dead people. They hold elaborate church services for their dead people and during these services they pray to God to give him or her eternal salvation. Many a time they pray to God to reduce the period of stay in purgatory. Are these all Biblical or learned from the customs and practices of other religions with whom Christians came into contact later? The Bible says that “they have no further reward” (Eccl. 9:5). That means there is no use of praying for the dead, because all his or her rewards are already decided, by the things he or she did during his or her lifetime. The death is the end point, after which we can do nothing for salvation. Jesus said “My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev. 22:12). But mourning for the dead is recorded in the Bible. We read about Joseph mourning for Jacob (Gen. 50:1, 10). Abraham mourned over the death of Sarah (Gen. 23:2). The Israelites grieved for Moses 30 days in the plains of Moab (Deut. 34:8). But as Paul said we are not supposed to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Whenever we remember the dead, it is also a time for introspection about our own lives. Every death remind us that one day we will also die, and that we have to give accounts for our deeds and words in front of God (“appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” Heb. 9:27). The death or Jesus’ second coming may come upon us unexpectedly as a snare, and that we have to be prepared daily for this event (“it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth” Luke 21:35). So today is the time for action, when we are alive. Now is the time for living a good Christian life, not to leave it behind in the hands of our relatives or friends. Bible says “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” (Eccl. 9:10). Our loved ones need our help when they are alive, not after their death, in terms of care, love and prayer. The 5th Commandment which says “Honor your father and your mother” (Deut. 20:12), holds true more before their death than after their death. Praying for the dead and conducting ritualistic services has a lot to do with pagan religions, which later slowly permeated into Christianity. They believe in a soul which leaves the body immediately after death, and wander around without getting eternal rest. Prayers or religious services are needed to give those souls permanent rest. Although not Biblical some Christians believe that the dead person’s soul immediately goes to either purgatory, hell or heaven. According to them most of these dead people go to purgatory, while some very bad people go to hell and exceptionally good go to heaven immediately after death. Conducting religious services for the dead is a big money spinning business for the clergy. The priests promote this idea that relatives should pray and hold services for the deceased, to reduce their time of stay in purgatory. Even after many years of death, the doubt lingers in the minds of Biblically ignorant relatives whether their dead ones have passed to heaven from purgatory. They thus give substantial amount of money to the priest to conduct services for the bereaved year after year. When some Christians promote prayers for the dead they appeal to the Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 12:46), church tradition, the decree of the Council of Trent, etc., to defend the practice, although not seen in the 66 Biblical books widely accepted by the Jews and protestant Christians as canonical. These practices in the Jewish history can be considered nothing but spiritual deviations, which was never seen either before or after that period. We don’t see Jesus or his disciples praying for the dead, as recorded in the Bible. In the entire book of Acts, we don’t see even a single incident, people praying for the dead. Some say that Paul’s prayer for Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:18) is a prayer for the dead. There is no concrete evidence at all that he is dead. It is easy to understand why all his actions are spoken in past tense, because Onesiphorus is no longer in Rome (v 17). When sending greetings to those in Ephesus including Onesiphorus’ family (4:19), he is not included because he might be somewhere. Paul said “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). It meant he has done everything as God has commanded when he is alive. Our race or fight is over once we are dead. We ourselves or others cannot change our outcome after death. Otherwise, rich people are at an advantage because of their wealth, because they can pay for more religious services for their dead ones, compared to the poor. Do you think God will show such partiality? After all can we run and win a prize after the race is over? Can we win a race after crossing the finishing line? Can others run a race for us? These are all some very logical questions. Through the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar (Luke 16:19-31), Jesus was stressing the need for action when we are alive. This story is more about this life than after life. There are expected of us some duties which we are supposed to do when we are alive. The rich man failed in stewardship which God has entrusted him to do. Actually our prayers are more needed for the relatives, who are grieving over the dead person, so that they can tide over this loss. They need help and support and our prayers. The Bible teaches that the final outcome of man is determined by our actions during our lives on earth. “The soul who sins shall die... The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezekiel 18:20). Another doubt which stays in people’s mind is whether some stains of sin are left behind, even after a sincere confession of sins to God, which necessitate a purification in purgatory with the help of services and prayers for the dead. God assures us a complete purification if we come to Him in repentance, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18). God will completely forget that we have sinned, “He will…subdue our iniquities…will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Our God is faithful God who forgives and cleanses us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Only thing is that we should do it before our death. A dead person has no conscious mind to ask for forgiveness “the dead know nothing” (Eccl. 9:5). We have to learn something from what Jesus said “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matt. 8:22). Here Jesus is not showing disrespect to dead person or his body. This is evident in Jesus showing compassion to the widow, whose only son died (Luke 7:11-14). Here also Jesus is more concerned about the living. When Jesus said “follow me” it denotes that we have a lot to do for the living. Whatever we do for the dead is of no avail spiritually. It is usually the spiritually dead, who are elaborately following the dead for a prolonged time by offering prayers for them. May God strengthen us to work for the living, to live a good life ourselves and be prepared for the coming of Jesus or death! Let us never think to postpone our preparation, thinking that our relatives can help us in salvation after our death. Our salvation is in our hands, through faith in Jesus. It is Satan’s greatest ploy to create a sense of false security that something can be done after death, even when we live a life of sin here on earth. May God bless us! Praying for the dead: will it work? At the outset it should be stated that honoring the dead is a good practice. Not only should we honor the dead person, but also the dead body. We can emulate the good qualities of a dead person, while still keeping in our mind that Jesus is our greatest role model. What does Bible talks about the finality of death? Can a living person do something for a dead person so that he can be made eligible for heaven? Can our prayers and services after death sanctify a dead person to make him fit for heaven? Can some stains of sin be left behind, after a person sincerely confesses to God his or her sins during his life time? Is death some sort of a finishing line, as in a race? Is there an afterlife in purgatory where a person can be purified? We see some Christians praying for their dead people. They hold elaborate church services for their dead people and during these services they pray to God to give him or her eternal salvation. Many a time they pray to God to reduce the period of stay in purgatory. Are these all Biblical or learned from the customs and practices of other religions with whom Christians came into contact later? The Bible says that “they have no further reward” (Eccl. 9:5). That means there is no use of praying for the dead, because all his or her rewards are already decided, by the things he or she did during his or her lifetime. The death is the end point, after which we can do nothing for salvation. Jesus said “My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev. 22:12). But mourning for the dead is recorded in the Bible. We read about Joseph mourning for Jacob (Gen. 50:1, 10). Abraham mourned over the death of Sarah (Gen. 23:2). The Israelites grieved for Moses 30 days in the plains of Moab (Deut. 34:8). But as Paul said we are not supposed to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Whenever we remember the dead, it is also a time for introspection about our own lives. Every death remind us that one day we will also die, and that we have to give accounts for our deeds and words in front of God (“appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” Heb. 9:27). The death or Jesus’ second coming may come upon us unexpectedly as a snare, and that we have to be prepared daily for this event (“it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth” Luke 21:35). So today is the time for action, when we are alive. Now is the time for living a good Christian life, not to leave it behind in the hands of our relatives or friends. Bible says “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” (Eccl. 9:10). Our loved ones need our help when they are alive, not after their death, in terms of care, love and prayer. The 5th Commandment which says “Honor your father and your mother” (Deut. 20:12), holds true more before their death than after their death. Praying for the dead and conducting ritualistic services has a lot to do with pagan religions, which later slowly permeated into Christianity. They believe in a soul which leaves the body immediately after death, and wander around without getting eternal rest. Prayers or religious services are needed to give those souls permanent rest. Although not Biblical some Christians believe that the dead person’s soul immediately goes to either purgatory, hell or heaven. According to them most of these dead people go to purgatory, while some very bad people go to hell and exceptionally good go to heaven immediately after death. Conducting religious services for the dead is a big money spinning business for the clergy. The priests promote this idea that relatives should pray and hold services for the deceased, to reduce their time of stay in purgatory. Even after many years of death, the doubt lingers in the minds of Biblically ignorant relatives whether their dead ones have passed to heaven from purgatory. They thus give substantial amount of money to the priest to conduct services for the bereaved year after year. When some Christians promote prayers for the dead they appeal to the Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 12:46), church tradition, the decree of the Council of Trent, etc., to defend the practice, although not seen in the 66 Biblical books widely accepted by the Jews and protestant Christians as canonical. These practices in the Jewish history can be considered nothing but spiritual deviations, which was never seen either before or after that period. We don’t see Jesus or his disciples praying for the dead, as recorded in the Bible. In the entire book of Acts, we don’t see even a single incident, people praying for the dead. Some say that Paul’s prayer for Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:18) is a prayer for the dead. There is no concrete evidence at all that he is dead. It is easy to understand why all his actions are spoken in past tense, because Onesiphorus is no longer in Rome (v 17). When sending greetings to those in Ephesus including Onesiphorus’ family (4:19), he is not included because he might be somewhere. Paul said “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). It meant he has done everything as God has commanded when he is alive. Our race or fight is over once we are dead. We ourselves or others cannot change our outcome after death. Otherwise, rich people are at an advantage because of their wealth, because they can pay for more religious services for their dead ones, compared to the poor. Do you think God will show such partiality? After all can we run and win a prize after the race is over? Can we win a race after crossing the finishing line? Can others run a race for us? These are all some very logical questions. Through the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar (Luke 16:19-31), Jesus was stressing the need for action when we are alive. This story is more about this life than after life. There are expected of us some duties which we are supposed to do when we are alive. The rich man failed in stewardship which God has entrusted him to do. Actually our prayers are more needed for the relatives, who are grieving over the dead person, so that they can tide over this loss. They need help and support and our prayers. The Bible teaches that the final outcome of man is determined by our actions during our lives on earth. “The soul who sins shall die... The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezekiel 18:20). Another doubt which stays in people’s mind is whether some stains of sin are left behind, even after a sincere confession of sins to God, which necessitate a purification in purgatory with the help of services and prayers for the dead. God assures us a complete purification if we come to Him in repentance, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18). God will completely forget that we have sinned, “He will…subdue our iniquities…will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Our God is faithful God who forgives and cleanses us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Only thing is that we should do it before our death. A dead person has no conscious mind to ask for forgiveness “the dead know nothing” (Eccl. 9:5). We have to learn something from what Jesus said “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matt. 8:22). Here Jesus is not showing disrespect to dead person or his body. This is evident in Jesus showing compassion to the widow, whose only son died (Luke 7:11-14). Here also Jesus is more concerned about the living. When Jesus said “follow me” it denotes that we have a lot to do for the living. Whatever we do for the dead is of no avail spiritually. It is usually the spiritually dead, who are elaborately following the dead for a prolonged time by offering prayers for them. May God strengthen us to work for the living, to live a good life ourselves and be prepared for the coming of Jesus or death! Let us never think to postpone our preparation, thinking that our relatives can help us in salvation after our death. Our salvation is in our hands, through faith in Jesus. It is Satan’s greatest ploy to create a sense of false security that something can be done after death, even when we live a life of sin here on earth. May God bless us!
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 12:43:51 +0000
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