The event for the righteous, that is, those accounted righteous for the sake of Christ, is an event of unparalleled joy, bliss, and glory. “The souls of the Righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God, in light and glory.” In his great sermon, “A Believer’s Last Day His Best Day,” Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) pointed to six changes on the day of death that constitute the reality of the believer’s hope. 

31:1. The bodies of those who have died return to dust and undergo destruction. But their souls neither die nor sleep, because they have an immortal character, and immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous are then made perfect in holiness and are received into paradise. There they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory while they wait for the full redemption of their bodies. The souls of the wicked are thrown into hell, where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved for the judgment of the great day. The Scripture recognizes no place other than these two for souls separated from their bodies.
(Genesis 3:19; Acts 13:36. Ecclesiastes 12:7. Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6,8; Philippians 1:23; Hebrews 12:23. Jude 6, 7; 1 Peter 3:19; Luke 16:23, 24)
Second London Confession, 31:1
A Common Experience of Disembodied and heightened Consciousness.
“The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption.” What happens to the relationship between body and soul at death. This in its immediate effects is the same for all persons. At death the bodies of all persons complete their state of corruption by a rapid deterioration to dust. “From dust thou art to dust thou shalt return” (Genesis 3:19). The curse that fell upon all person as a result of the sin of Adam was the certainty of physical death. The special provision made by God for the immediate reception of Enoch and Elijah do not render the general curse doubtful or erratic (Genesis 5:21-24; 2 Kings 2:10, 11). The preacher of Ecclesiastes pointed to this universal certainty in saying, “Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, . . . Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:6, 7).
Paul expected that death would mean that the consciousness of the spirit would be unclothed for the earthly house would be destroyed. He desired to move immediately from residence in this earthly, corruptible body to the “habitation which is from heaven.” Being unclothed, having a heightened consciousness outside the body, was not the ultimately desirable state. He knew, nevertheless, that to be in this corruptible body was to be absent from the Lord and to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord. Before we go into the presence of the Lord, these bodies will die and then will undergo corruption unless our mortality is immediately swallowed up by life (2 Corinthians 5:1-8). The vagueness of mind that finds death so impenetrable, the immediate presence of God so mysterious, or the deluded assumption of some that consciousness simply ceases immediately gives way to a presence of the bright personal holiness of the triune God. Both the believer and the unbeliever will be consciously present—conscience, affections, memory, thoughts, unfiltered by devices of self-protection—before the all-knowing, all-seeing Creator and Judge.
The soul neither dies nor sleeps. “But their souls (which neither die nor sleep) having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.”  The soul is a created thing and does not have self-existence and thus its immortal subsistence is due to something given by God when God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the “breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). “Let us make man in our image,” the triune God said (Genesis 1:26). Out of all the created beings, only man was given responsible moral character, the ability to discern right and wrong, to reflect the character of God in the choice of the good, right, and holy. Man ‘s moral nature made necessary his unceasing life in the light of the eternal relevance of his moral responsibility. Because eternal consequences are at stake in each moral choice, humans can never simply pass out of existence but will bear the consequences, in body and soul, in the way they have responded to God’s righteousness as revealed in his Law. Though man is finite, his interaction with an infinitely holy God gives each of his actions infinite and eternal relevance. Nothing arising from the moral nature of image-bearers will go unanswered and none can perish or sleep for there is never a moment when moral responsibility is absent or the moral judgment of God rests.
Particular blessings of death for the Righteous
The world recedes; it disappears!
Heaven opens on my eyes! My ears
With sounds seraphic ring:
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave where is they victory?
O death, where is thy sting?
– Alexander Pope –
The event for the righteous, that is, those accounted righteous for the sake of Christ, is an event of unparalleled joy, bliss, and glory. “The souls of the Righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God, in light and glory.” In his great sermon, “A Believer’s Last Day His Best Day,” Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) pointed to six changes on the day of death that constitute the reality of the believer’s hope.  One, there is a “change of place. . . . He changes earth for heaven.” The confession says that the souls of the righteous are “received into paradise.” “Today,” Jesus told the repenting, believing, adoring thief, “you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:40-43). Presently we are not in our place, therefore, we groan. On the day of death, groaning ceases, for believers have departed that environment and “they are with Christ” who has loved us with an everlasting love.
Second, death brings for the righteous a “change of company.” No longer do the profane, the vile, the wicked, the scoffer poison the society, no longer is the soul vexed with the oppressive jocularity of the skeptic, but the reality of the living God, Jesus the Mediator, the presence of holy angels, the spirits of just men made perfect, the perfect harmony of a redeemed assembly immediately provide a company of true fellowship and undiluted joy.
A third change becomes obvious when the employment of our energies in a constant fight and warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil cease. What an unimaginable release from conflict and constant watchfulness is accomplished on the day of death. This fight is exchanged for praise and the consciousness of perfect triumph with no insurrection of enemies even contemplated.
Fourth, there is a change of “enjoyments.” These enjoyments move from being obscure to being sweet, from imperfect to perfect, and from transient to permanent—“the Souls of the Righteous being made perfect in holiness.” This perfect holiness gives an unchangeable and optimal quality to the enjoyments of the Christian.
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Like any practice, catechesis can develop in unhealthy directions. It could end up fostering a “worksy” understanding of the gospel, in which you’ve got to be old enough, mature enough, “good enough” to belong to Christ. This is the exact opposite of what the gospel is saying. But if we ignore this category of “the simple”, and don’t learn to call the group to leave this stage behind, we will also face the danger of failing to encourage vibrant faith. According to the Book of Proverbs, the “simple” don’t just need affirming as they are, but instruction in the gospel, to lay hold of Christ, who has laid hold of them in the covenant of grace.

Are you simple? 
Some people identify themselves as “simple”. I have a friend who often quotes Winnie the Pooh to describe herself: “I’m a bear of very little brain”. It’s true that some Christians have a gift of making the Bible complicated. I’m sure I’ve preached sermons which have soared over the heads of the listeners. It’s easy to get our audience wrong. And, in my experience, complexity is usually a sign that you don’t understand a subject very well, rather than that you do. 
What’s more, Jesus delights to bypass the educated; he reveals himself to “little children” (Matt 11:25). God specialises in humbling the wisdom of the wise (1 Cor 1:19). There is a good, healthy kind of simplicity, that looks away from self and casts us completely on Christ. David famously said: “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me” (Psalm 131:1). A key part of God’s grace is that it’s not awarded to intellectual high-achievers. Many godly grannies have understood the Bible much better than clever theologians in university departments. 
But, in the book of Proverbs, “simple” is not an adjective but a noun. The “simple” are a particular group of people, mentioned 14 times. The term doesn’t describe their intellectual capacity; these aren’t people who got “F’s” in their exams. Rather, to be “simple” is a moral term; it’s a spiritual condition, and it’s not healthy. Some translate it “gullible”. It means being easily misled. Bruce Waltke puts it like this:
“Though intellectually flawed, the [simple]… are the mildest sort of fools, for they are malleable, are capable of being shaped and improved by the education process (1:4; 8:5; 12:25; 21:11), and still have hope of joining the company of the wise (cf.1:22; 9:4). Both Wisdom and Folly compete for their allegiance (ch.9). But until they opt no longer to remain uncommitted to wisdom, they are wayward” (Book of Proverbs, chapter 1-15, NICOT, p.111)
So, the “simple” in Proverbs describes the naïve youth, like Simple Simon of the nursery rhyme.
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Here is the great purpose of God’s long-prepared and long-promised salvation: that we come to reflect certain of the very attributes of God. Not, of course, his incommunicable attributes of self-existence, unchangeableness, omnipresence, and omnipotence; but definitely his communicable attributes of love, sacrifice, faithfulness, and service.

In 2016 the Australian demographer and social commentator Bernard Salt stirred up a cyclone over smashed avocado.
He observed that many young Australians, instead of saving money for a home deposit, spend their money on expensive café luxuries like “Smashed Avo on Toast.”
This is opting for the immediate gratification of a tangible though fleeting luxury over restraint and self-denial for the sake of an intangible but substantial long-term benefit.
Peter’s letters show how aware he is of the fierce rivalry and struggle between the visible, passing pleasures of this world—many of which are immoral—and the invisible but permanent good of forgiveness, freedom, and eternal life with Jesus Christ.
This is the daily conflict that every Christian since the first generation of eyewitness disciples faces. We have not seen, and do not now see Jesus (1 Peter 1:8). The full enjoyment of his Kingdom lies in the future. Until then we face persecution, alienation, and fierce inward threats to our faith.
But we do easily see the pleasures of this world, pleasures to indulge in right now, pleasures in which there seems no real harm. We are told to “live your best life now.”
Dodgy pastors tap into this conflict with half-truths and obscuration, not because they really want people to believe certain (false) doctrines but because they’ve worked out a way to make a comfortable life and living from the church by teaching a feel-good evisceration of the Christian message. This preaching accentuates self-affirmation and easy-going positivity and downplays self-condemnation—the “blood, toil, sweat, and tears” that true faith demands.
We can hear them now: “Yes, Jesus said that he was about to return. Yes, he said that we must give up the passing pleasures of the world and be keenly watching and waiting for his arrival. But he hasn’t come and won’t come in our lifetime. And didn’t Paul say that we are justified by faith alone? Relax! Enjoy the pleasures of this world!”
The result? Too many utterly ineffectual Christians and churches, “waterless springs and mists driven by a storm” (2 Peter 2:17). This is the woeful state of affairs that Peter tackles: a worldly, lazy, self-indulgent, and ineffective church. He tackles it head-to-head.
Remember that you have been saved to godliness.
[You] have obtained a faith of equal standing (privilege) with ours.(2 Peter 1:1)
The Greek verb for “obtained” (λαγχανω, lanchanō) means “to obtain by lot” and emphasizes that faith is God’s gracious gift (cf. Eph 2:8).
The Greek adjective for “equal standing” (ἰσοτιμος, isotimos) refers to someone who is “equal in value, equal in privilege, status or rank in civil life.”[1] Perhaps you thought that the first generation of Christians, who saw Jesus face-to-face, was the hard-core, sacrificial, persecuted church which gave everything for Christ; but that we who haven’t seen Jesus—“who hasn’t yet returned and doesn’t look like he’s going to”—can relax and settle in to a life of compromise.
Not at all. You have the same privileged standing as the first disciples, and you share the same responsibilities.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.(2 Peter 1:3a)
The Greek word for “godliness” (εὐσεβεια, eusebeia) is a rich word encompassing “awesome respect accorded to God, devoutness, piety, godliness.”[2]
The power of God is just as available for the church today as it was for the first disciples, granting the same spiritual life and capacity for godliness.
Through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.(2 Peter 1:3b)
In fact, we have an advantage over the first generation of Christians. Though Peter, James, and John saw the transfigured Jesus (Mat 17), subsequent generations have “the prophetic word more fully confirmed” in the Holy Spirit-given, permanent, stable, and unquestioned truth of the Scripture (2Pe 1:19-21).
…he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you might become partakers of the divine nature.(2 Peter 1:4a)
Here is the great purpose of God’s long-prepared and long-promised salvation: that we come to reflect certain of the very attributes of God. Not, of course, his incommunicable attributes of self-existence, unchangeableness, omnipresence, and omnipotence; but definitely his communicable attributes of love, sacrifice, faithfulness, and service. The sixteen-century Protestant reformer John Calvin writes, “This thought alone ought to give us abundant cause to renounce the world entirely and be borne aloft to heaven.”[3]
Having escaped from the corruption (rottenness) that is in the world because of sinful desire.(2 Peter 1:4b)
Just as the Lord freed Israel from Egyptian idolatry and slavery to obedience and pure worship, he has rescued us from the punishment and corruption of sin to joyful obedience lived in the coram Deo, the presence of God.
Therefore, pursue godliness.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith.(2 Peter 1:5a)
The prosaic “supplement” translates the poetic Greek word ἐπιχορηγεω (epichorēgeō). In the ancient world it described gifts given by rich patrons of the arts. It means to supply generously and lavishly.[4]
Peter uses the Greek word for earnestness (σπουδη, spoudē) to convey the idea of both earnest commitment, eagerness, and diligence; and haste and swiftness.[5] The whole phrase “make every effort” conveys the idea of lavishly and urgently employing “every ounce of determination we can muster.”[6]
We want to “make every effort” to strive forward in a life of faith, to build the eight Christian qualities that Peter describes in 1 Peter 1:5-7.
You would never fly to Paris and sit in the Charles de Gaulle airport. You would never, after twelve years of schoolwork, be accepted into your chosen university and then not proceed with the course of instruction.
Having been saved from corruption to new life with God, we would never be content with bare faith and belief in Jesus. We want to “make every effort” to strive forward in a life of faith, to build the eight Christian qualities that Peter is about to describe: “a chain of deep, internal, and experiential changes that will meet our hunger for God’s reality.”[7]
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.(2 Peter 1:5-7)
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