Is it ok for Christians to fear death?
I wonder why we even have to ask this question. Scripture tells us plainly in Philippians 1; “to die is gain”. Alright, I know this is only part of the verse, but it truly makes the point. For the believer to die is gain because we are immediately in the presence of God. We go straight from this sin filled, corrupt world, to the presence of a Holey God. This is why we should be okay with dying, but it does nothing for answering the question; is it okay for Christians to fear death?
For the Christian and non-Christian alike, I believe it is natural to fear death. Now, the fear of death is not really the fear of being dead, it is more the fear of “how” we are to die. It is the process. See, most Christians are okay with being dead because we do agree with Paul in Philippians 1 where he says; “21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”[1] We should understand that to live, even if it is in a decaying world, Christ receives the gain because we are to be preaching the truth of His word. To Die, however, we receive the gain, because we are in the presence of God forever.
So, it is okay to fear the process of death because it is an unknown. It is the way we are wired. But, if we truly have the peace of God in us, this fear should be minimal. The bigger concern for the Christian should be that there are those that will die without know Christ as their savior. Thinking in this line, dying for the believer could be a fearful thing because we must answer to God for the things we did and did not do as believers.
Perhaps, we have an unrealistic fear of death because deep down we are unsure of our own salvation. This would be normal also. If we cannot or do not have confidence in our eternity, then maybe that drives our fear of death. No one can provide this assurance for you. It is up to us to perform the self-checks necessary to know if we are believers.
I will not judge anyone who fears the unknown. I myself have a fear of flying. I have friends who ask me “is your God not good enough to keep that plane in the air?” I know He is, but there are too many unknowns that keep this plane in the air. Most of these are man made unknowns. If it is okay to fear flying, then it is okay to fear death.
Fear or not, Scripture reminds us in Hebrews 9:27; “27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”. [2] See, we must die. Our bigger fear should be facing God without the cleansing of the blood of Christ. If you have not given Him your life, do not keep putting this off. After all, we are not promised tomorrow. Thank you for reading and I look forward to your responses.
In Christ,
James
[1] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Php 1:21.
[2] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Heb 9:27.