Faith Has an Expiration Date

There is a statement that stopped me in my tracks recently. I was watching an interview with Peter Panagore — a former pastor, a man who has spent his life in scripture and ministry — and he said plainly: “I have no faith.”

My first instinct was to recoil. But I sat with it. And the longer I sat, the more it made perfect sense. Not because faith is worthless. But because faith, by its very definition, was never meant to be permanent.

What the Bible Actually Says About Faith

Most people have heard Hebrews 11:1 so many times that it no longer lands. But read it slowly: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

That definition contains everything needed to understand faith correctly. Faith is oriented toward what has not yet been seen. It is the bridge between present reality and something trusted to come. It is hope with conviction. It is belief in the absence of direct experience.

That makes faith a powerful thing — but it also makes faith a temporary thing. By its own definition, faith exists in a gap. And gaps, by nature, close.

The rest of Hebrews 11 confirms this. The chapter moves through what the Bible calls the Hall of Faith — men and women who were holding on to promises they hadn’t yet seen fulfilled. Their faith was real. Their faith was costly. And in many cases, their faith was rewarded. But the reward was always the point. The faith was the vehicle, not the destination.

Paul makes this even more explicit in 1 Corinthians 13:12: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Paul isn’t describing a permanent state. He’s describing a season. A season of partial knowing that gives way to full knowing. The Bible itself is telling us that faith has a ceiling — and something greater waits on the other side of it.

When Faith Fulfills Its Purpose

So what does it look like when faith reaches its endpoint?

For most believers, the honest answer is: death. Faith is placed in Yeshua, in the promises of scripture, in what waits beyond this life — with the expectation of knowing the fullness of that when the spirit finally leaves the body. That’s not a small thing. That kind of faith has carried people through tremendous suffering and uncertainty. It is worth honoring.

But here’s what I want to challenge: the assumption that death is the only doorway to knowing.

Peter Panagore didn’t die permanently. He had a near-death experience — his spirit left his body, he crossed into what he describes as the other side, and he came back. And when he came back, he came back changed. He came back without faith. Not because he stopped believing in anything. But because he no longer needs to hope for something he has already experienced. He knows. The gap closed. Faith fulfilled its purpose.

That’s not heresy. That’s arrival. That’s the knowing we all long for.

The Witnesses We Keep Dismissing

Near-death experience testimonies have been documented for centuries. They come from people of different backgrounds, different religions, different cultures, different ages. And the similarities between their accounts are striking — the experience of leaving the body, the encounter with light and love, the sense of being fully known, the absence of fear.

I have people in my own life — people I call friends — who have had near-death experiences. And they echo what Panagore describes. They don’t carry the anxious hope that characterizes so much of religious faith. They carry a quiet knowing. They’re not worried about what comes next. They’re focused on being present here, in this body, for the time they have.

And yet these accounts are often quickly dismissed.

Jesus himself anticipated this in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). When the rich man, suffering in Hades, begs for someone to be sent back from the dead to warn his brothers, the response is sobering: even if someone returned from the dead, people still would not believe. The dismissiveness isn’t new. It’s a pattern. And it’s worth examining honestly — especially when there are more documented near-death testimonies available now than at any other point in human history.

I’m not asking you to take my word for any of this. Go find the testimonies yourself. Watch interviews. Read accounts from people of different faith backgrounds. Let the weight of their collective witness challenge your assumptions. That’s not abandoning discernment — that’s exercising it.

You Don’t Have to Die to Know

Here is the invitation I want to leave you with: the endpoint of faith is not reserved for people who have flatlined.

There are practices — ancient ones, in fact — that are oriented toward exactly this kind of knowing while still in the body. Out-of-body experiences, contemplative states, deep meditative practice. These aren’t fringe ideas invented by the internet. They have been part of the human spiritual tradition for centuries. And it can be done with or without the aid of psychedelics.

For my own part, I am currently taking an astral projection course. That might raise an eyebrow or two. But my reason is simple: I want to get beyond faith to knowing. I want to have a firsthand experience of what my spirit is, where it goes, and what it encounters — while I’m still here and conscious. I don’t have a full report yet. I’m in the middle of the pursuit. But I’m going, and I think there’s something important in the going.

The fear of death loses its grip when you’ve touched what’s on the other side. And that freedom — that grounded, fearless presence in your own body and life — is available to you. Not just to the people who’ve had near-death experiences. Not just to the mystics and the monastics. To you.

Faith is important. It has carried people through the darkest seasons of human history. But knowing is superior. Paul said so. The arc of scripture points toward it. And the witness of those who have already arrived at knowing is there for anyone willing to listen.

Faith has an expiration date. That’s not a threat to your spirituality. It’s the best news it contains.

Where Are You on This Spectrum?

I want to hear from you. Are you still in the season of faith — holding on, hoping, trusting in what you haven’t yet seen? Or have you had a glimpse of knowing — a moment where the gap closed, even briefly, and something became real to you in a way that belief alone can’t contain?

Join the Living Room and let me know. Leave a comment. I read every one. And if you’ve had a near-death or out-of-body experience and you’re willing to share it, I’d love to hear your story — and may even want to have you on the channel at some point.

And if this is new territory for you, start simple: go spend an hour with near-death experience testimonies online. Watch interviews. Read accounts. Let them speak for themselves.

The road beyond faith is real. And it’s open to you.