Why Do People Die? The Bible's View and Answer

Why Do People Die?

The Bible’s answer

It’s natural to wonder why people die, especially when we lose someone close to us. The Bible says: “The sting producing death is sin.”—1 Corinthians 15:56.

Why do all people sin and die?

The first humans, Adam and Eve, lost their lives because they sinned against God. (Genesis 3:17-19) Death was the only possible outcome of their rebellion against God, for with him is “the source of life.”—Psalm 36:9; Genesis 2:17.

Adam passed on the defect of sin to all his descendants. The Bible says: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) All people die because they all sin.—Romans 3:23.

How death will be eliminated

God promises a time when “he will actually swallow up death forever.” (Isaiah 25:8) To remove death, he must eliminate its root cause, which is sin. God will do this through Jesus Christ, who “takes away the sin of the world.”—John 1:29; 1 John 1:7.