What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness1, and do immediately pass into glory2; and their bodies, being still united to Christ3, do rest in their graves till the resurrection4.
Scripture proofs
The Westminster Assembly's proof texts (KJV). The bracketed numbers in the answer above mark the clause each set of references supports; expand a row to read the verses.
1 Heb. 12:23
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
2 Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:6, 8; Phil. 1:23
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
2 Cor. 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
2 Cor. 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
3 1 Thess. 4:14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
4 Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
This doctrine across the Standards
Where the Confession and the Westminster Larger Catechism treat the same matter, so the question can be studied alongside its parallel statements.
In the Westminster Confession
XXXII.1 The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die …
The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies: and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.
→ XXXII.1 · Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the DeadXXXII.2 At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed; and all the …
At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies, and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.
→ XXXII.2 · Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the DeadXXXII.3 The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor; the bodies of …
The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honor, and be made conformable to his own glorious body.
→ XXXII.3 · Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the DeadIn the Westminster Larger Catechism
Q.82 What is the communion in glory which the members of the invisible church have with Christ?
The communion in glory which the members of the invisible church have with Christ, is in this life, immediately after death, and at last perfected at the resurrection and day of judgment.
→ Open Q.82Q.83 What is the communion in glory with Christ which the members of the invisible church enjoy in this life?
The members of the invisible church have communicated to them in this life the firstfruits of glory with Christ, as they are members of him their head, and so in him are interested in that glory which he is fully possessed of; and, as an earnest thereof, enjoy the sense of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and hope of glory; as, on the contrary, sense of God's revenging wrath, horror of conscience, and a fearful expectation of judgment, are to the wicked the beginning of their torments which they shall endure after death.
→ Open Q.83Q.84 Shall all men die?
Death being threatened as the wages of sin, it is appointed unto all men once to die; for that all have sinned.
→ Open Q.84Q.85 Death, being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?
The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is out of God's love, to free them perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon.
→ Open Q.85Q.86 What is the communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death ?
The communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death, is, in that their souls are then made perfect in holiness, and received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies, which even in death continue united to Christ, and rest in their graves as in their beds, till at the last day they be again united to their souls. Whereas the souls of the wicked are at their death cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, and their bodies kept in their graves, as in their prisons, till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.
→ Open Q.86