The New Testament locates the bodily resurrection of believers specifically at the second coming of Christ, rather than at the individual moment of death.

Paul's theology in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 indicates that the dead in Christ remain asleep until the final trumpet sounds. Believers do not receive their transformed, imperishable bodies immediately when they die. Instead, their physical restoration is tied to a corporate, cosmic event at the end of history. This timeline separates the immediate state of the disembodied spirit from the final, physical re-embodiment of the saints in the restored creation.