For many, it’s a bit of fun associated with dressing up, trick or treating, “dooking” for apples, and pumpkin carving. But should it be treated so lightly? For others, its association with ancient dark pagan or occultist festivals points to a darker, more troubling side to this winter season.
The Christian calendar has traditionally commemorated the lives of famous Christians on November 1st. Those whom the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have designated saints and martyrs of the Christian faith are remembered on what is known as All Saints’ Day and the day before is All Hallows’ Eve. The lives of “lesser mortals” who have died as professing Christians are remembered on All Souls’ Day, November 2nd.
Whether it is the ghostly costumes, the pagan Gaelic festival of Samhain (pronounced “saween”) or the ritual of organised religion, it’s a time of year when we are reminded that this present world is not all that there is. There is a realm beyond the physical in which divine and demonic forces operate, and there is a life that carries on beyond death. Time passes into an eternal afterlife and, while our bodies will decay in the grave, our souls will last forever. The Bible says that at creation God breathed into Adam with His own breath and Adam became a living soul. God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
On All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day candles are lit and prayers are said for those who have passed from this life into the next but you might ask “to what end?” The Bible teaches clearly that we cannot and should not pray to saints as there is only one go-between, bridging the divide between God and man, and that is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. However, many pray not to the saints and loved ones but for them, in the mistaken belief that their prayers will somehow affect the eternal state of those who have already passed on. The Bible does not support that activity either.
Rather, it teaches that “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). It is in this life that the decision is made that determines our eternal destiny, and there is no opportunity given to amend that decision once we have drawn our final breath.
This is clearly taught in a very solemn passage in Luke chapter 16. A rich and outwardly religious man lives selfishly and dies without faith in God. He finds himself tormented in an eternity away from God. In contrast, a poor beggar dies with faith in God despite his poverty, and is comforted in heaven. The rich man discovers that between him and God there is now a great chasm fixed, a chasm which cannot be bridged, and there is no escape. The person who has lived without God in life will be forever separated from Him in death and no amount of prayers or candles can affect that, no matter how well intentioned or sincere.
The Bible tells us that we should remember our Creator while we are young (Ecclesiastes 12:1) and not procrastinate getting right with God hoping for the opportunity of a death-bed conversion. The warning is given: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). James 4:14 also makes the uncertainty of the immediate future and the brevity of time clear: “. . . you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."
The good news is that, although we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard (Romans 3:23) and therefore are due to be found guilty on the Day of Judgement, we can be forgiven of our sin and receive the gift of eternal life now (Romans 6:23), to be fully enjoyed in heaven with God. If you are willing to confess and turn from your sin and believe that Jesus Christ, the holy Son of God, died on a cross for your sins and was raised again so that you could be declared “not guilty”, you will be saved (Acts 16:31).
Do not rely on the prayers or payments of your family once you are gone; pray a prayer of confession and faith in Christ today and you will be saved immediately.
