Does the Bible not teach that a soul is a living being and that it cannot die? (Pt. 1)
Dear Reader:
The word for soul in the Bible, both in the Greek and the Hebrew, simply means the “individual himself” or “herself.” This basically is the way it is used in the Bible. “Soul” never refers to a living entity that is independent of the body. In Genesis 2:7 we read, And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. God breathed the breath of life into man at creation and made him live; and He called him a living soul. Adam was called a living soul, so the man Adam is the same as a living soul.
Can a soul die? If Adam is dead, and we know he is (Gen. 5:5), then a soul can die for man and soul mean the same thing as we have seen. Let us read Ezekiel 18:4-9, Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right…Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD. Notice how the Bible uses soul and man to mean the same thing. Here is another reference, Ezekiel 18:20, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Again we see “soul” and “man” meaning the same thing. In Job 14:14, 15 we read, If a man die shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. Job asked whether death is the end of the road? And his answer to all is no, death is not the end of the road. He goes on to say that at death he will wait (dead in the grave) until his Maker comes to change him from death to life; for this will be God’s desire for all His beloved saints who wait for Him. Note this, if people say that a soul lives on after death then what is the purpose of the resurrection?
In 1Thessalonians 4:16 we read, 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: This text tells us very clearly that those loved ones who died in the Lord will be resurrected at the second coming of Jesus to this earth. Notice the text says that the dead in Christ shall “rise,” it does not say that the dead shall descend, but rise up from the grave where they were. Yes, reader, the Bible teaches that a soul is the same as an individual and that it (he or she) can die, but at the resurrection Jesus will raise all those lovely souls (persons) that died in Him. I am sure that you can find this biblical teaching not difficult to accept.
God’s church many years ago even before Jesus came into our world, had early accepted the pagan concept of transmigration of the spirit or soul at death. This is not and never was a biblical teaching. We see this belief in all the pagan religions of antiquity; it came into the Jewish church first, then later into the Church; it was also brought into the Christian church through Greek philosophy or Greek paganism.
May God continue to give us wisdom and knowledge so we can rightly study His Word and detect the false teachings we meet from time to time, whether in the church or from the unchurched. God bless.
Pastor Ron is a retired Adventist pastor. Reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com. with your comments.