He began to talk about some denominational teacher talking about How when we die we go to the grave and become unconscious until the second coming in Revelation where the dead in Christ are raised up.
Your friend is correct as far as that goes. See also
1 Ki. 2:10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
"slept with his fathers" [1 Ki. 2:10, 11:21,43, 14:20,31, 15:8,24, 16:6,28, 22:40,50; 2 Ki. 8:24, 10:35, 13:9,13, 14:16,22,29, 15:7,22,38, 16:20, 20:21, 21:18, 24:6; 2 Ch. 9:31, 12:16, 14:1, 16:13, 21:1, 26:2,23, 27:9, 28:27, 32:33, 33:20]
[sleep, asleep, sleepeth] Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; Job 3:13, 7:21, 14:12; 1 Kings 1:21, 2:10, 11:21,43, 14:20,31, 15:8,24, 16:6,28, 22:40,50; 2 Kings 8:24, 10:35, 13:9,13, 14:16,22,29, 15:7,22,38, 16:20, 20:21, 21:18, 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31, 12:16, 14:1, 16:13, 21:1, 26:2,23, 27:9, 28:27, 32:33, 33:20; Job 14:12; Psalms 13:3; Matthew 27:52; John 11:11-13; Acts 7:60, 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6,18,20,51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 2 Peter 3:4;
[awake] Job 14:12; Psalms 17:15; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2; John 11:11-13;
[grave/bed] Job 17:13; Psalms 139:8; Luke 17:34;
[fathers and prophets are dead] John 6:49,58, 8:52,53; Acts 2:29,34, 13:36; Hebrews 11:4,13,16,40
[knowing nothing] Genesis 27:4, 45:28; Ruth 1:17; Job 3:17-19, 7:8-10, 14:21, 21:32; 2 Kings 22:20; 2 Chronicles 34:28; Psalms 6:5, 28:1, 31:17, 88:4,10,11, 115:17, 143:7, 146:4; Ecclesiastes 9:4,5,6,10; Isaiah 14:11, 38:18;
[reserved] 2 Peter 2:9;
[He goes to prepare a place, so that when He comes again, 2nd Advent, He will raise us and receive us] John 14:2-3
[grave/s, sepulchre/s, tomb/s, pit/s, hell [ie Hb: sheol; Gr: hades; grave]] Genesis 23:6, 35:20, 37:35, 44:29,31, 50:5; Exodus 14:11; Numbers 16:30, 19:16,18; Deuteronomy 34:6; Judges 8:32, 1 Samuel 2:6, 10:2; 2 Samuel 3:32, 4:10, 17:23, 19:37, 21:14, 22:6; 1 Kings 2:6,9, 13:22,30,31, 14:13; 2 Kings 9:28, 13:21, 21:26, 22:20, 23:6,16,17,30; 2 Chronicles 16:14, 21:20, 24:25, 28:27, 32:33, 34:4,28, 35:24; Nehemiah 2:3,5, 3:16; Job 3:17-19,22, 5:26, 7:8-10, 10:19, 11:8, 14:12-14,21, 17:1,13,16, 21:13,23-32, 24:19, 26:6, 30:24, 33:22; Psalms 5:9, 6:5, 18:5, 28:1, 30:3, 31:17, 35:7, 49:14,15, 55:15, 86:13, 88:3,4,5-12, 89:48, 94:13, 115:17, 116:3, 139:8, 141:7, 143:7; Proverbs 1:12, 5:5, 7:27, 9:18, 15:11,24, 23:14, 27:20, 30:16; Ecclesiastes 6:6, 9:10; Song of Songs
[Solomon] 8:6; Isaiah 5:14, 14:9,11,15,19, 22:16, 28:15,18, 38:10,18, 53:9, 57:9, 65:4; Jeremiah 5:16, 8:1, 26:23, 20:17; Ezekiel 26:20, 31:15-17, 32:18,21-27, 37:12,13, 39:11; Hosea 13:14; Amos 9:2; Jonah 2:2
[<- figurative, typological]; Nahum 1:14; Habakkuk 2:5; Matthew 8:8, 11:23, 23:27,29, 27:52,53,60,61,64,66, 28:8; Mark 5:2,3,5, 6:29, 15:46, 16:2,3,5,8; Luke 8:27, 10:15, 11:47,48, 23:53,55, 24:1,2,9,12,22,24; John 5:28, 11:31,38, 12:17, 19:41,42, 20:1-4,6,8,11; Acts 2:29,34, 7:16, 13:29,36; Romans 3:13; 1 Corinthians 15:55; Revelation 1:18, 11:9, 20:13,14
I was raised JW and this is the same thing they taught.
Jehovah's Witnesses have a partial truth in this area, though not completely, and many grievous errors, therefore do not return to them as a people. They got it from the Advent movement, which got it from the Reformation, which got it from those gone before, unto the NT, unto the OT, unto Genesis. Yet, even in this, the JW still have misunderstanding in Jesus' resurrection, and their ideology on the 144,400 and a few other places on matters of resurrection. The teaching was around before them, in the Protestant reformation, as Luther taught, and so on:
William Tyndale,
John Frith, George Wishart, John Milton, Baptists, among others and
Martin Luther of the Reformation itself taught that the dead are asleep, knowing nothing, knowing full well that the Scripture taught it and used it against the papacy and spiritualism:
The Soul and Spirit: Greek and Hebrew Word Studies
Martin Luther and William Tyndale on the State of the Dead.
Heresy
I told my colleague this and also quoted 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 which says, 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
A good passage, but misunderstood by many. The connection of being with the Lord is in the matter of the timing. Connect 2 Cor. 5:6-8 with Paul's statement in 1 Thes. 4:13-18:
1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 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.
[that is God will bring the resurrected/translated back with Jesus to Heaven]
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto
the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which
are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and
so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Paul told us the timing of when we are to be with the Lord. In the resurrection/translation. Not before, and this matches what Jesus said in John 14:1-4.
The question I have is this: What is the state of being for the dead in Christ?
Jesus, Paul, Peter, and so many others said, from the beginning: "sleep" in the "dust" of the earth until the respective resurrections.
Further questions: Are the dead in Christ actually just people who were true Christians living and died so now they are referred to as "dead in Christ" as in they died believing?
Yes.
Did these people go to Heaven or are they unconscious and awaiting Christ from the grave?
Grave/dust. We all go to Heaven together, as Paul, Job, and so many others say, as Jesus said, He has to return for us all. [Jesus, Enoch, Moses, Elijah and the firstfruits are the typological and only exceptions].
My interpretation of the scriptures
Consider Gen. 40:8; 2 Pet. 1:20.
When the dead in Christ are raised, I am assuming they will be in their resurrection bodies like Jesus had before his ascension.
No need to assume, see Phi. 3:21; Matt 22:30; Mar. 12:25 and see also the mount of transfiguration with Moses and Elijah glorified, Matt 17; Mar. 9; Luk 9 [9:31 specifically] and 2 Pet. 1:16-18.
Also we are going to Heaven when we are people born of God. The dead in Christ are those who died who were born of God.
The "dead in Christ" is anyone who dies in Christ Jesus even today and rests in the grave until the resurrections.
Even further, What then of the "judgement seat of Christ?" Are we to face this when we die or are we to face it at the resurrection?
Read Rev. 14:6-12. For the believer, Judgment takes place before Jesus returns. For at His return is reward is with Him, see Rev. 22:12.
What's your interpretation?
Again, see Gen. 40:8; 2 Pet. 1:20 and see also Isa. 28:10.