Proverbs 12:28 Commentary and Bible Study

In the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘I know that his commandment is life everlasting’ (John 12:50). The scope of these words should not be diminished as if they only apply to life in this world and as if it were foolish to expect death itself to yield. Solomon says, ‘In that pathway is no death’ and he means it to be true of every part of the believer’s experience. What, no death even though all but the very last generation must die and be buried in the grave? Yes, no death, because, says Christ, ‘Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die’ (John 11:26). Death is our great enemy, the last enemy, the king of terrors, and the essence of death is separation from God. Scripture speaks of the first and the second death. The first is physical death when the believer’s soul is separated from the body, but the second death is the lake of fire which is eternal. For the believer the first death leads to the temporary separation of body and soul, for while the body lies in the grave, the soul goes immediately to be with the Lord. But God will reverse the death of the body at the resurrection, and that is not the death we should fear: ‘Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell’ (Matthew 10:28). This is the second death from which there is no recovery, for it is the punishment of the lost which God will never revoke. So then, the way of righteousness is life in the eternal future, but it is also life while we remain on earth. It is life because the righteous who love God’s law and strive to keep it with all their hearts, who confess their sins, and who rely on Christ’s imputed righteousness alone, have fellowship with God. At no point are their forsaken by their heavenly Father; he will never allow death to have power over them. By faith they hold on to Christ even through this last solemn experience. But although they must temporarily suffer the common lot of mankind, God will in their case prove the faithfulness of his love by raising their bodies from the grave.