Bible Study What is the human soul?

[Kathi]

The human soul is the part of a person that is not physical.It is the part of every human being that lasts eternally after the body experiences death.The soul continues to live after physical death Genesis 35:18.
C.S. Lewis said "You don't have a soul.You are a soul.You have a body".
The human soul is distinct from the heart Deuteronomy 26:16,30:6 and the spirit 1Thessalonians 5:23;Hebrews 4:12 and the mind Matthew 22:37;Mark 12:30;Luke 1010:27.
The human soul is created by God Jeremiah 38:16.It can be strong or unsteady 2 Peter 2:14;it can be lost or saved James 1:21;Ezekiel 18:14.We know that the human soul needs atonement Leviticus 7:11 and is the part of us that is purified by the truth and the work of the Holy Spirit 1 Peter 1:22.Jesus is the geat Shepherd of souls 1 Peter 2:25.There is often confusion about the human spirit vs.the human soul.There is a difference.Otherwise,how could the word of God penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit Hebrews 4:12.
It has been said that there are only two things that last;the word of God Mark 13:31 and the souls of men.
Every human being that has ever lived has had a soul,and all of those souls are still in existence somewhere.The question is,where? The souls that reject God's love are condemned to pay for their own sin,eternally,in hell Romans 6:23.But the souls that accept their own sinfulness and God's gracious gift for
forgivness will liveforever beside still waters with their Shepherd,wanting for nothing Psalm 23:2.


© Copyright 2002-2014 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved.
www.gotquestions.org -

 

[Chopper]

The human soul is the part of a person that is not physical.It is the part of every human being that lasts eternally after the body experiences death.The soul continues to live after physical death Genesis 35:18.
C.S. Lewis said "You don't have a soul.You are a soul.You have a body".
The human soul is distinct from the heart Deuteronomy 26:16,30:6 and the spirit 1Thessalonians 5:23;Hebrews 4:12 and the mind Matthew 22:37;Mark 12:30;Luke 1010:27.
The human soul is created by God Jeremiah 38:16.It can be strong or unsteady 2 Peter 2:14;it can be lost or saved James 1:21;Ezekiel 18:14.We know that the human soul needs atonement Leviticus 7:11 and is the part of us that is purified by the truth and the work of the Holy Spirit 1 Peter 1:22.Jesus is the geat Shepherd of souls 1 Peter 2:25.There is often confusion about the human spirit vs.the human soul.There is a difference.Otherwise,how could the word of God penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit Hebrews 4:12.
It has been said that there are only two things that last;the word of God Mark 13:31 and the souls of men.
Every human being that has ever lived has had a soul,and all of those souls are still in existence somewhere.The question is,where? The souls that reject God's love are condemned to pay for their own sin,eternally,in hell Romans 6:23.But the souls that accept their own sinfulness and God's gracious gift for
forgivness will live forever beside still waters with their Shepherd,wanting for nothing Psalm 23:2.
© Copyright 2002-2014 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved.
www.gotquestions.org -

This is a good thread Kathi. There have been discussions along these lines before and will draw quite a few posts.

I want you to know that your topic is in a forum that cannot have debating. Its not the best forum to pick if you want debate. This thread can flow very nicely I'm sure, just please keep it in the back of your mind. NO DEBATE.

Have fun with this thread, it's a good one!

 

[Kathi]

I am new.Please put it in a more appropriate forum if that would work better..

 

[Chopper]

I am new.Please put it in a more appropriate forum if that would work better..

I know you're new and that's why I said what I said. We can leave it here for now, I'll change it if needed. The forum "Apologetics & Theology" is the forum of choice if debating might be an issue.

 

[Kathi]

I was scratching my head and trying to decide the best place for it.

 

[Chopper]

I was scratching my head and trying to decide the best place for it.

Yes, that's a hard decision at times. When I choose a topic for a thread, I go over in my mind whether or not it will draw debate. If so, then I look for a forum that does not specify "no debate."

 

[Kathi]

Ok...I will be more observant next time about the "no debate".I also did not want to put it in a place that you guys would say "HEY LADY....what do you think you are doing?"

 

[jasoncran]

the church tends to get mixed up with the greek view of flesh is evil and spirit is good.

the bible doesn't.

when god breathing life into adam. he became a living soul. the word nephesh means flesh. in that context its nephesh chaya. living flesh. we wont be in heaven for ever. jesus had a fleshly body when he was risen. we will have our version of a body like that.

 

[farouk]

Ms Kathi: So how would you interpret 'Soul' music?

Blessings.

 

[reba]

if debating might be an issue.

 

[farouk]

if debating might be an issue.

Some useful reading:

D.Bates, The Controversialist, NY: Cymon and Shooter, 2015

Eileen Dover, The Cliff Tragedy, NY, Time-Death, Inc, 2016

etc.

Blessings.

 

[Chopper]

Ok...I will be more observant next time about the "no debate".I also did not want to put it in a place that you guys would say "HEY LADY....what do you think you are doing?"

Aww you don't have to worry about that, If someone did say it, it would be joking.

 

[Chopper]

if debating might be an issue.

 

[Karl]

Good thread Kathi, I think we can safely say the soul is the emotional battleground between the flesh and the spirit.

Before the fall Adam had to go to God for all decisions concerning good and evil, he was intelligent , but he didn't know good and evil Gen 3:22, otherwise the tree of knowledge of good and evil would not of been a temptation.

God said the day you eat of it you will surely die Gen 2:17, but we read he lived to be 930 years old Gen 5:5, it was not his fleshly body that died, neither was it his soul as you have pointed out, so that leaves his spirit, it was his spirit that died that day, ...it's with our spirits that we communicate with God John 4:24.

We read in Gen 5:3 that all of Adam's posterity were born in his image and in his resemblance, so we all are born with our spirits dead to the things of God 1 Cor 2:14.

So, putting it all together, fallen man's soul is directed by the information that comes through his five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and feeling, his spirit being dead to God he can't receive any info from the Holy Spirit, however a born again Christian has both the carnal nature 1 cor 3:1 and the new spiritual nature living inside of them 2 Cor 5:17, so that explains why if we hear something said that is bad about us we react, or if someone hits us we want to strike back, however a born again man has his soul regenerated so that he can commune with God and the Holy Spirit is constantly telling us what to do, how to react in every situation that comes into our lives, everything that comes to us through our five senses, that's why it's a battleground, the flesh wants to react in it's fashion, carnal, and our spirit is receiving info from the Holy Spirit, ...which ever info we listen to decides if we are walking in the flesh, a carnal Christian, or walk in the Spirit, a Spiritual Christian.

Blessings,

Gene

 

[TimothyW]

Kathi, I have to disagree with some of what you said in your post, but I don't want to debate or be "disagreeable". Hehe, how do I disagree without being disagreeable or debating?
In Christian love, I suppose...
You said:

Every human being that has ever lived has had a soul,and all of those souls are still in existence somewhere.

I don't find support for this in the Bible. The Bible says that the soul who sins shall die. (That's in Ezekiel 18, repeated a couple of times, 18:4 is one place)
The soul that dies does not live anywhere forever, it dies.
Jesus said "Fear the one who can destroy BOTH body and soul in Gehenna". The souls which are destroyed in Gehenna will not still be in existence forever.

The question is,where?

I believe the question is not where, but what? What do people who do not receive eternal life do? According to the Bible, they perish. After all, they do not have eternal life, so how could they have eternal life in Hell being tormented? See John 3:16, and many other verses which say that the wicked perish.

The souls that reject God's love are condemned to pay for their own sin,eternally,in hell Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 doesn't say that the condemned pay for their sins eternally in hell. Here is what Romans 6:23 says:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 6:23 says that the condemned pay for their own sins with their death, "the wages of sin is death". Jesus paid that price, the wage of sin, with His death on the cross, but those who reject Jesus' gift of His death in place of theirs will perish. They will still owe the wages of sin, which is death. They will not receive the gift of God which is eternal life in Christ.

But the souls that accept their own sinfulness and God's gracious gift for
forgiveness will live forever beside still waters with their Shepherd,wanting for nothing Psalm 23:2.

I absolutely agree, Those who trust God for forgiveness of their sins will have eternal life.
I don't see in the Bible that those who reject God will have eternal life in Heaven, Hell or anywhere else.

I hope my post was not too harsh, I know that you disagree with me, but this is what I find in the Bible, and I have to agree with the Bible, regardless of what anyone else believes or thinks of me.

 

[for_his_glory]

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.


Here dust + breath from God = a living soul.


Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.


We return to the dust of the ground when this physical body dies and our breath/soul returns to God as we wait for Gods final judgment.


Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.


Our soul can never die and is preserved until Gods final judgment at the end of time.

 

[TimothyW]

Ezekiel 18:6, ESV
"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."

So, according to the Bible, do you think souls can never die or can they?

Here's information on the Hebrew word that get's translated "soul":
http://biblehub.com/hebrew/5315.htm

Genesis 1:24 ESV
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures (nepesh, "souls") according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

 

[Karl]

I don't see in the Bible that those who reject God will have eternal life in Heaven, Hell or anywhere else.

Tim, you say you agree with the Bible, that's the kind of attitude I like, ...me too!

Let's take a look at some other verses in the Bible concerning life and see what it says, because that is really the question here.

There are a few different words translated life in the New Testament, but I would like to consider only two of them, the word, bios from which we have our word biological, and we humans possess this kind of life until the day we die, then the biological body decays and returns to the dust from which it was made, and then we find the word zoe which is eternal life, John 3:16, 4:14, 6:40, 47, 10:28

Now the opposite of life is death and means separation, there are two deaths mentioned in the Word, the death of the biological body when the soul and spirit leave it and return to God Ecc 12:7 where He directs where they will go, born again believers to be with the Lord 2 Cor 5:8, nonbelievers soul and spirit go to a holding tank called Hell awaiting their final judgement Heb 9:27, Luke 16:23, either way the Word testifies that a man's soul and spirit are alive after the biological body is dead.

So let's just consider what happens to the souls awaiting judgement in Hell, we are told there is a second death Rev 20:6, John tells us he saw men standing before the Great White Throne waiting to be judged Rev 20:12, so again we see there is life after the death of the biological body, now, did John see men's souls and spirits standing before the throne or something else?

Let's go back to what Jesus said about eternal life, He said He has come to give life to the world John 6:33, 51, is Jesus saying He is giving eternal life to all men? Kinda looks that way from what Paul taught,

But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the first fruit of those who slept. For since death is through man, the resurrection of the dead also is through a Man. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive. 1Cor 15:20-22

All in the Greek means all, so Paul says all men die a biological death and are dead (a corpse) and all men will be made alive..., that word alive is zōopoieō and it comes from the root word zoe, which Jesus used to for eternal life, all men will receive eternal life and this is explained to us after Paul is finished teaching how we believers will receiver a body like Jesus' resurrection body, ...then putting together what Jesus said about giving life to the world (inhabitants) and Paul's teaching on resurrection bodies, it looks like unbelievers will also receive a body like ours only they will spend eternity tormented in perfect bodies that will never die in the Lake of Fire, ...that is the second death Rev 20:14, separated from their Creator for all Eternity.

Blessings,

Gene

 

[TimothyW]

Hi Gene,

Now the opposite of life is death and means separation

I've heard people say that death in the Bible doesn't mean death, it means separation instead of death. I don't see any evidence for that. The Greek word for death is "thanatos", and it means "death". There is a Greek word that means "to separate", this word is aphorizo. If Paul had wanted to say that the wages of sin is separation from God in Romans 6:23, he could have written that. But he didn't. In that section, Paul goes into great depth explaining that death came to the world as a result of sin. Adam sinned, and death came into the world as a result of that sin. Adam sinned and Adam died, just as God said he would. Why do you think there are so many animal sacrifices for sin in the Old Testament? The death of the animal is a substitute for the sinner's death that is owed. The theological term is "substitutionary atonement". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitutionary_atonement
But the death of animals can't remove our sin, that is just a picture of the real substitution, Jesus' death on the cross in exchange for the death we owe. Since he died for us, we can receive eternal life from Him.

So let's just consider what happens to the souls awaiting judgement in Hell, we are told there is a second death Rev 20:6, John tells us he saw men standing before the Great White Throne waiting to be judged Rev 20:12, so again we see there is life after the death of the biological body, now, did John see men's souls and spirits standing before the throne or something else?

We know from the Bible that Jesus will return again, and all who are in the grave will hear his voice and come out. We know that everyone will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
John 5:28, 2 Cor 5:10
The people who stand before Christ await judgment and condemnation do not stand before Christ because they are inherently immortal, or "alive" as disembodied spirits or "souls". No, they are able to stand before Christ because He has resurrected them for Judgment. And the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. If they have not trusted Jesus Christ for atonement, then their sins are still present, and the penalty for sin is death. They die a second time. The Bible calls this second death "the second death". They perish, just as the Bible says. I've heard people say "Well, God wouldn't resurrect them just to send them back to death, that's a waste of God's time, He would just leave them dead." I want to address that now, because it comes up every time I discuss this. The lost must be resurrected for judgement, because it would be unjust to condemn a person to death without a trial. God is just, so the lost are raised in order to fulfill God's justice and righteousness. Besides that, it is what the Bible says will happen, so if anyone thinks it is a waste of time, that doesn't matter. God says that is what he will do.

All in the Greek means all, so Paul says all men die a biological death and are dead (a corpse) and all men will be made alive.

But not all will receive eternal life. There is a second death for those who reject Jesus Christ. You say "all means all". I agree. I could say "You ate all the fruit!" and that would mean there is no fruit left. Or I could say "you ate all the apples", meaning that the oranges are still there. All who are in Christ will receive eternal life. Those who are not in Christ will perish, just as the Bible says in John 3:16, Romans 6:23, and many other passages.

it looks like unbelievers will also receive a body like ours only they will spend eternity tormented in perfect bodies that will never die in the Lake of Fire, ...that is the second death Rev 20:14

The Bible doesn't say that the lost will receive eternally perfect bodies that will be tormented forever. Look at Rev 20:14. John tells us what he means by the lake of fire. He says "the lake of fire is the second death". The lost are burned up in the lake of fire, they go to their second death. This is death, the second time. They were resurrected from their first death, they stood before Christ for judgement, found to be in sin, and sent to their second death. There is no resurrection from the second death. It is permanent. After the lost die a second time, they remain dead forever. This is what it means to perish.

 

[Karl]

Hey Tim,

I in agreement with what you are sawing here,

I've heard people say that death in the Bible doesn't mean death, it means separation instead of death. I don't see any evidence for that. The Greek word for death is "thanatos", and it means "death". There is a Greek word that means "to separate", this word is aphorizo. If Paul had wanted to say that the wages of sin is separation from God in Romans 6:23, he could have written that. But he didn't. In that section, Paul goes into great depth explaining that death came to the world as a result of sin. Adam sinned, and death came into the world as a result of that sin. Adam sinned and Adam died, just as God said he would. Why do you think there are so many animal sacrifices for sin in the Old Testament? The death of the animal is a substitute for the sinner's death that is owed. The theological term is "substitutionary atonement". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitutionary_atonement
But the death of animals can't remove our sin, that is just a picture of the real substitution, Jesus' death on the cross in exchange for the death we owe. Since he died for us, we can receive eternal life from Him.

But here is something else we need to consider, taken from Vine's Expository Dictionary about the Greek word thanatos used for death in the New Testament as you have pointed out.

Death

A-1,Noun,2288, thanatos
"death," is used in Scripture of: (a) the separation of the soul (the spiritual part of man) from the body (the material part), the latter ceasing to function and turning to dust, e.g., John 11:13; Heb. 2:15; 5:7; 7:23. In Heb. 9:15, the AV, "by means of death" is inadequate; the RV, "a death having taken place" is in keeping with the subject. In Rev. 13:3,12, the RV, "death-stroke" (AV, "deadly wound") is, lit., "the stroke of death:"

(b) the separation of man from God; Adam died on the day he disobeyed God, Gen. 2:17, and hence all mankind are born in the same spiritual condition, Rom. 5:12,14,17,21, from which, however, those who believe in Christ are delivered, John 5:24; 1 John 3:14. "Death" is the opposite of life; it never denotes nonexistence. As spiritual life is "conscious existence in communion with God," so spiritual "death" is "conscious existence in separation from God."

[QUOTEThe people who stand before Christ await judgment and condemnation do not stand before Christ because they are inherently immortal, or "alive" as disembodied spirits or "souls". No, they are able to stand before Christ because He has resurrected them for Judgment. And the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. If they have not trusted Jesus Christ for atonement, then their sins are still present, and the penalty for sin is death. They die a second time. The Bible calls this second death "the second death". They perish, just as the Bible says. I've heard people say "Well, God wouldn't resurrect them just to send them back to death, that's a waste of God's time, He would just leave them dead." I want to address that now, because it comes up every time I discuss this. The lost must be resurrected for judgement, because it would be unjust to condemn a person to death without a trial. God is just, so the lost are raised in order to fulfill God's justice and righteousness. Besides that, it is what the Bible says will happen, so if anyone thinks it is a waste of time, that doesn't matter. God says that is what he will do.][/QUOTE]

Aren't we saying the same thing?

Those who are not in Christ will perish,

As in cease to exist?

If that's what you are inferring then I'm confused about what Jesus taught us in Mark 9:44, 46, 46, the word never is asbestos and it means perpetual, has the meaning of this word changed since Jesus used it to mean the very opposite?

And what about the condition of the condemned as Jesus describes in Matt 8:12, 13:42, 50, 22::13, 24:51, 25:30, Luke 13:28, ...how can there be weeping and gnashing of teeth without a body?

[The Bible doesn't say that the lost will receive eternally perfect bodies that will be tormented forever. Look at Rev 20:14. John tells us what he means by the lake of fire. He says "the lake of fire is the second death". The lost are burned up in the lake of fire, they go to their second death. This is death, the second time. They were resurrected from their first death, they stood before Christ for judgement, found to be in sin, and sent to their second death. There is no resurrection from the second death. It is permanent. After the lost die a second time, they remain dead forever. This is what it means to perish./QUOTE]

Again, I'm confused, what is burned up, are you saying they will be given back their mortal bios bodies to be thrown into the Lake of Fire?

Let's see, a crematory fire burns at 1400°-1800° and it takes about 2-2 1/2 hours for all organic (bios) matter to be consumed by the heat or evaporation, so then, is this what you are saying? The lost will be resurrected to stand before Jesus for judgment, condemned and thrown into the Lake of Fire where they will cease to exist in 2 - 2 1/2 hours.

On the other hand what I read in the Word is,
1. God said man was made in His image with a body, soul and spirit, and God declared man became a living soul Gen 2:7 and in the Holy Spirit inspired writing of the life of Adam we read the soul, the emotional part of Adam was still living after his fall because he was embarrassed (emotional reaction) of his nudity (also approx 1000 years later 1 Peter 3:20), and then his mortal (bios) body lived for 930 years, so by simple deduction it must of been his spirit that died when he ate of the Tree, so then it was his spirit that could no longer commune with God in worship John 4:24, but we all have a spirit, it's just dead to receive or communicate with God, hence we deduce from Scripture that God talks to man in the Old Testament in an audible voice that is received through the sense of hearing of his body, so then Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, the Prophets, John the Baptist, all heard the voice of the Lord, but there was a separation between them because they couldn't worship God in their spirit John 4:24 until after man could become born again.

2.We read from the Word that Jesus teaches us those that are condemned to the Lake of Fire will suffer for perpetuity.

3. Also Jesus teaches those that are condemned for perpetuity will weep and gnash their teeth, which are physical acts that require a body, do they not?

I don't want to debate, it's just what you are saying confuses me when I compare it with what Jesus said.

Blessings,

Gene