From time to time, I’d like to kick-start a discussion by asking a thought-provoking theological question. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.” It is my hope that by conversing with others regarding a biblical response to the question, we might grow in our knowledge of Christ and his great salvation. In the spirit of fruitful discussion, here is our first question:
Believers who have died are with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Phil 1:23; cf. WLC 86), but until the Lord returns in glory their souls are separated from their bodies (Rom 8:23; Ps 16:19, 1 Thess 4:14, 16; Isa 57:2). Is it proper to characterize this separation as form of suffering?
