Disciple Bob
DUST TO DUST
WE ARE NOT IMMORTAL
WE DO NOT HAVE AN IMMORTAL SOUL
Genesis 3:4 “You shall not surely die”
The false, pagan “Doctrine of the Immortal Soul” is one which is still widely accepted and taught in many churches. The doctrine of the “immortal soul” is one which teaches that “a soul” is one third of the component parts of a man and that it is an immortal entity which cannot die.
This was stated by the first false prophet, Satan, to Eve in the garden. Satan wanted Eve to believe that her soul would not die, that she was an immortal being. This doctrine came largely through the Catholic Church. This concept, a part of Satan’s plan, was to confuse the “soul” and “spirit”, teaching that a man’s “soul” was his “spirit”.
Paul warned the Collossians to beware of following these teachings:
Col. 2:8 “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.”
The Bible makes it very clear in denying that we are immortal.
1 Timothy 6:14-16 “that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
MAN WAS CREATED A MORTAL BEING
You, like most, have never even thought about this. Without studying it or researching scripture, we simply assume that we “live forever” is some form or other. When a loved one dies, we always hear preachers preaching at their memorial and discussions at visitations about how the loved one is “Now in Heaven”. In order for this to be a possibility, we would have to have been created an immortal being. It is strange to think of it in that manner since we have been so programmed that when we die we either go to Heaven or Hell. What we need to understand is that when man was created, man was created a mortal being, not an immortal being. To explain and distinguish between the two, please read and understand the below definitions:
IMMORTAL – 1) Deathless 2) Living or lasting forever 3) Unable to die
MORTAL – 1) That which must eventually die 2) Man as a being who must eventually die 3) a human being; person
Had God created Adam and Eve as immortal beings, this would mean that they would have no dependency on food, sun or air to exist. However, Adam’s life required the continual renewal of his flesh by the blood; he needed the sun and the atmosphere to continue his existence. It is obvious, from all of these requirements for survival; he was by no means immortal.
The term “Immortal soul” is to be found nowhere in the Bible. When you read the word “soul” in the Bible, it never refers to something immortal. The word “soul” in the Bible, if followed back to the Greek or Hebrew language, is translated nephesh in Hebrew and psuche in Greek. Both translations mean a living, breathing creature. Either a man or an animal but certainly not immortal.
Men are souls, they do not have souls.
Genesis 2:7 “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.”
This verse makes it perfectly clear that men are souls. Adam became a “soul”. Became a living, breathing person. One which could die (mortal) which is evidenced by God warning him:
Genesis 2: 16-17 “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.”
Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”
If you would take the above scripture and interchange the word “life” for the Hebrew word nephesh (living, breathing creature) it would read “the soul of the flesh is in the blood”
The prophet Ezekiel wrote twice in the same chapter that the soul shall die:
Ezekiel 18: 4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins shall die”.
Ezekiel 18:20 “ The soul who sins shall die……”
Clearly, the scriptures teach us that the soul is mortal!
MAN CANNOT DESTROY
BOTH THE BODY AND SOUL
That is not to say, however, that the soul cannot be destroyed. As Jesus warned us:
Matthew 10:28 “fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him (God) which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
I don’t believe that anyone doubts the fact that all bodies will eventually die and return to dust as they decompose but the above verse reveals that God (and only God) is able to destroy the soul.
Luke 12: 4-5 "And I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you of whom you shall fear; Fear Him who, after He has killed, has the power to cast into hell." (Gehenna the lake of fire)
Here, Christ states that we are not to fear men. Men can only take our physical life. If man dies at the hands of men, it will be a temporary death. If God kills a man because he refuses to accept the True Gospel, making him unworthy to be in His Kingdom, he will be destroyed for eternity and have no further chance to put on immortality which is the second death and there will be no resurrection from the second death.
1 Corinthians 15:53-55 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Malachi 4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch."
Revelation 20:14-15 "Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." (The 2nd death)
It is very clear in God's Word that we do not have immortal souls. The false, pagan teachings are simply not biblical. But because of God's infinite wisdom and mercy, those who do not believe the True Gospel and receive the True Jesus as their Savior, will be no more. (Eternal Death) They will be as if they never existed. They will not burn and be tortured for eternity in hell, as we have repeatedly been told. (Please read "Is There Really A Hell Fire" for a further explanation at www.disciplebob.com)
Isaiah 47:14 "Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, Nor a fire to sit before!"
The Good News is, however, that those who submit to God and His Way and believe the True Gospel will receive eternal life.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
1Corinthians 15:52 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
1 Corinthians 15:54 "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory."
2 Corinthians 4:11 "For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."
2 Corinthians 5:4 "For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life."
Hebrews 7:8 "Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives."
Romans 2:7 "eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;"
1 Timothy 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 6:16 "who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen."
2 Timothy 1:10 "but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
When a person dies, their spirit returns to God who gave it and their mind, will and emotions cease to exist or function. Without the spirit being united with a body and oxygen in the blood, there is no consciousness and the person is resting and totally at peace until God raises them back to life and they again become a living mortal soul.
A person who is resurrected to immortal eternal life requires no oxygen or blood because they have been Born Again, not of flesh, but of spirit. They are now born into the Spiritual Family of God, have entered the actual Kingdom of God as sons and daughters and co-inheritors with Jesus Christ.
Flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God. There is an eternal body andthere is a spiritual body.
1Cor. 15: 44 “it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
1Cor. 15:49 “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man."
1Cor. 15:50 “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”
1Cor. 15:53 “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
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