With the latest rash of line of duty deaths and police suicides, the phrase " Rest in Peace" or " RIP" is again being used both incorrectly and all too frequently.  What does this phrase actually mean, and to whom does it apply?  While I've taught on this previously, some new questions and inquiries merit a fresh look. 

 

"Rest in Peace" or the corresponding initialism "RIP" come from the Latin equivalent, requiescat in pace (an unbiblical prayer for the dead that is literally translated, "May he begin to rest in peace."). The phrase is likewise used in certain extra-biblical and unbiblical religious rites, but is never expressly stated in Scripture. In fact, God specifically forbids us to pray for the dead ( Luke 16:19-31, among other passages) or to anyone other than God.   

That said, there is a slight biblical nexus to the expression.  At the end of the book of Daniel, an angel speaks of Daniel's death, saying, "You will rest" ( Daniel 12:13 ). And the prophet Isaiah adds, "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death" ( Isaiah 57:2 ). These two passages are the closest the Bible comes to the idea behind "rest in peace" (but context is crucial).

Because the thought of death can be frightening, people through the years have invented all kinds of platitudes with which to comfort themselves (and, in particular of late, when it involves the death of a peace officer, firefighter, soldier, etc.). When someone dies, we often hear false (unbiblical) statements such as "She's an angel now" and "God needed another angel in heaven." With police officers, we get the unbiblical expression, "He's patrolling the streets of heaven" (NOT). We also hear, "He's in a better place..." with no thought that the deceased might actually be in a worse  place. Then there are those who think "blessed are the peackeepers" is in the Bible (it's NOT), or that "blessed are the peacemakers" in Matthew 5:9 is about cops (it's NOT) or that "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13) gets us a "get out of hell and into heaven" pass It does NOT). Finally (for now anyway), there is also the truly false (wholly unbiblical) poem, written by an unknown author, in which God "welcomes" an officer/warrior into heaven based entirely on their so called "good" service or sacrifice (The Final Inspection) -- a sad lie from the very pit of hell (see Saved by works?). 

Sadly, even tragically, people who never have time for God suddenly grow religious at a funeral. They try to assure themselves and others that, regardless of the deceased's relationship with God in Christ while on earth, he or she must now be in heaven. 

Folks, it is again with a Code 3 (lights and siren) sense of urgency that I beg you to not what God -- the ultimate authority -- teaches us in His wholly inerrant "policy and procedure manual," the Bible. It is there that  we find that physical death is not the end ( Hebrews 9:27; John 3:16-18 ). Jesus -- God in the flesh -- taught that there are only two options for every human being: heaven or hell ( Matthew 10:28; 25:46; Mark 9:43 ). He also gives us a vivid picture of those two options in the story of  the rich man and Lazarus , found in  Luke 16:19-31 . In this account, the rich man, who had given no thought of God during his earthly life, went to hell when he died. Lazarus (not the one found in John 1:11-44), who possessed nothing on earth but a pure heart, was taken to paradise. Our Lord describes hell as a place of eternal torment (verse 23), not a place of rest or peace. According to God via His word, a person who dies without a genuine, saving relationship with Christ will NEVER "rest in peace" (see  John 3:18 ). Isaiah rightly adds, "There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked'" ("the wicked" being unredeemed/unsaved sinners -- I saiah 57:21 ).

But praise God, death is entirely different for those who have been born again "in Christ" (John 3:1-21,  Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:30 ). In 1  Thessalonians 4:13  God, through Paul, reminds us that, while it is natural to grieve for loved ones who have died, we do not need to grieve for born again believers in Christ as though we will never see them again. There is sure  hope  mixed with the temporary sorrow. The Bible often refers to the dead in Christ as "those who are asleep" ( 1 Corinthians 15:20; Acts 13:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:10 ). The biblical writers used sleep as a metaphor because death for a Christian is only temporary. Paul said that "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" ( 2 Corinthians 5:8 ). Those receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior are with Him in paradise when they die ( Luke 23:43 ). So, after death, Christians do enter a "rest," and it is most certainly "peaceful." However, it also likewise NOT the case for those who die outside of a saving faith in Christ. 

As stated, those who say, "rest in peace" often frame it in the form of an unbiblical prayer. Again, at  the moment of death, a person's fate is sealed for eternity (Hebrews 9:27). The Bible never teaches or even suggests that we should pray on behalf of those who have passed away. Saying, "rest in peace" and other forms of prayers for the dead are rooted in unbiblical (false) religious traditions, not the absolute truth found in the Word of God.

 

It is for the true Christian alone that we can say with confidence, "rest in peace" while there will NEVER be peace or rest for that person who rejects God's offer of a life-saving/life-changing personal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. That said, God's loving desire is that no one end up in hell ( 2 Peter 3:9 ), so much so that He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross so that we would not  have to suffer the just penalty for our sin.  That said, He has also commissioned us (all Christians) to have a lights and siren sense of urgency to share the hope we have in Him (the Plan of Salvation ) with the lost -- including our own in law enforcement -- so that they can have every chance to  repent and believe  (Mark 1:15) and thus be assured of having eternal peace in heaven versus a just and equally eternal punishment in hell.  As I say in every one of these messages, we can never be "good enough" for heaven or "badge" our way out of hell, and -- as I shared in last week's study --  Jesus is in fact the ONLY way we can be saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:12) and thus have the ability to truly "Rest In Peace."

 

Again, our loving Father is not short of warnings. He tells us in  Colossians 2:8 (for example),  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."