Immortality
Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. (Eccl 9:4-5, NIV)
Last week, in Living Lies About Death #1, we said that this week we will deal with what the Bible says about “immortality.”
To understand death, we really must understand this idea of immortality. Is the soul immortal, or is there a resurrection? If you have an immortal soul that wings its way to Heaven as soon as you die, why would you need a resurrection of the body? We must look at what does the Bible teach about immortality? Do we have it now? Will we have it in the future? Do we have an “immortal soul?” Is this thing called the soul immortal? What is the soul? And what about the resurrection that the Bible teaches about? Where can we find answers?
The truth of the matter is that yes, we can find answers. We find answers deeply embedded in Scripture. We find answers in the Word of God. The Bible helps us to understand the mystery of death.
In Rev 1:18 we read: ” And behold, I’m alive for evermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death.
Christ was alive, crucified on the cross, went into the grave, rested on the seventh-day Sabbath, and was resurrected from the dead, on Sunday, the first day of the week. It was at that point that Jesus said, I’m going to my father.
Mary tried to cling to his feet and Jesus said,
“Touch me not, I’m ascending to the father.” (John 20:17)
So now we have the basic and Biblical idea idea of death, rest in the tomb over Sabbath, resurrection, Jesus ascending to heaven. But notice what Jesus says.
“I have the keys of Hades and death. Hades, the grave.” (Rev 1:18)
This is incredibly good news. Death is not some locked up tomb or prison in the earth. Jesus said, I have the keys. You need not fear death. Jesus already experienced death. And Jesus already conquered the grave. Death is a defeated foe. Every time Jesus faced death, Jesus won, and death lost. Every time Christ faced the grave, he came out victorious. And he demonstrated his power over the grave by raising from the dead many who had died in those days.
Christ has conquered the grave. Jesus went into the grave and came out. And because Jesus has the keys to the grave, death is an unlocked mystery through Jesus. The Bible teaches that one day Jesus will come again. One day the dead in Christ will be resurrected. Check out 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It talks about the coming of Jesus.
“The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first.” If the dead in Christ “rise first” then how can it be possible that we go to Heaven as soon as we die?
We are told to not fear death because Jesus is coming again. (Rev 1:7) We can see our loved ones again!
When my late wife died of cancer in my arms, she had this hope. I read that passage to her daily in the days preceding her death.
What does the Bible teach about the idea of the immortal soul? Does the Bible teach that the soul is immortal? Let’s go back to the book of Genesis because if we understand how God created humanity in the beginning, we can also understand about what happens when we die.
Gen 2:7 informs us that there is no such thing as people having a soul. Having an immortal soul. And note what the Bible does not say. The Bible does not say that God put an immortal soul in human beings when they were created.
God formed us. God fashioned us. God shaped us out of what? The dust of the earth. “And man became a living soul.” God breathed his life-giving breath into man. We do not “have a soul.” We are a soul! God formed Adam out of the dust of the Earth and then God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the “breath of life.” And it was right after this that the Bible tells us “Man became a living soul.” We do not have a soul. We are a soul.
We could look at it this way.
Dust, that is, the dust of the earth is what God created mankind from, and God’s Spirit breathed into man “the breath of life” and thus created “a living soul.” In the Bible the soul is not something put into a human being that is immortal. A human being is a living soul. A mortal. Body plus “breath of life” = “living soul.” (Gen 2:7) The body plus the breath equals a living soul. In the Bible, when the word soul is used, it is used as something we are. I am the product of body and breath. I am a living soul, a living being, a living personality. A living soul means a living being or a living personality. In Scripture, a living being, a living soul, means a living person. We don’t “have a soul.” It is our whole being that is collectively called “a living soul” by God Himself. A living soul means an individual who’s thinking, functioning, and breathing.
Is the soul immortal? Can the soul ever die?
“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 18:5)
The soul that sins shall what?
“DIE.”
How else could we read that passage? The same way we read Genesis 2:7 The person, the living being that sins is going to die. So, let’s go back to Genesis again. It tells us that God created man out of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And only then “Man became a living” what? A living soul or being or personality. A person. The soul who sins. What’s going to happen to them? They’re going to die. The word soul simply put can mean in the Bible
“a living being.”
An entire, or complete being. Not a separate entity of any kind.
Another name for soul in the Bible is person or life. Two-thirds of the time, the Bible uses the term soul. It’s for life. One-third is for person. Sometimes the Bible talks about the soul as something we are, the product of body and breath. Sometimes the Bible uses the term soul as something we have, two-thirds of the time, in fact. But it never once says that we have an immortal soul. We have life. Mortal life. because the soul that sins will die. No two ways about it. We have life. But in our current, mortal state we can lose it. The only way to attain unto immortality in this, our current state is the resurrection.
The Bible says in Matthew 16:25-26
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Whoever desires to save their what? Whoever desires to save their life, will lose it. But whoever loses their life for my sake will do what? They will find it. Then he goes on to say, Mat 16:26 “For what profit is it to anyone if they gain the whole world and lose their own what? Soul. Or what will a person give in exchange for their soul?
In the earlier verse, it talks about losing your life. Then this verse, it talks about losing your soul. It talks about preserving your life or preserving your soul. When the Bible talks about soul, it can be talking about life. About our mortal state.
When we die, our life is no more. The Bible never talks about soul in the sense of immortal soul. In fact, the Bible uses the term soul 1,600 times. Never once does it put the word immortal with the word soul. Never once does it link those two things together. Wouldn’t you think if human beings had an immortal soul, that at least it would be linked once together in Scripture? In the Bible, it is never linked together. Only God is immortal currently. Mortal means subject to death. Immortal means imperishable. The Bible never uses the terms immortal soul or the immortality of the soul. The Bible does, however, speak about Jesus as the One who alone, is immortal.
Now to the King Eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. (1 Tim 1:17)
Immortality is something that God has. Something that God is. Not us. At least, not yet.
Shall mortal man be more just than his maker? (Job 4:17)
We are mortal. Our impermanence is acutely felt every time a loved one dies. Jesus Himself died and was resurrected. Why wouldn’t the same happen to us? We seek for immortality. But we do not have it now in our current state. The Bible tells us when it will happen:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Cor 15:51-52)
We put on immortality when Christ comes. At His second coming. Because we are mortal. The Bible says clearly that “death is the LAST enemy to be destroyed.” (1 Cor 15:26)
As Humans. As mortals, we do seek for immortality. The Bible says that we put on immortality when Jesus comes again. We put it on when Christ comes. Currently, God alone has immortality.
Let’s look now at something in 1 Tim 6
In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (1 Tim 6:13-16)
Christians who know their Bible look for the day that we’ll be clothed with immortality when Jesus comes. According to the Bible, God alone is the only One that has immortality now.
The ancient Greeks believed that the soul was immortal and that it would leave the body at death. Also, this idea of the immortality of the soul can be traced back to the Babylonians, it can be traced back to the Egyptian culture. Many pagan cultures had this idea. But the Bible always teaches that the soul was not/is not something that was/is immortal.
Mortality. It’s something we are, the product of body and breath. All our parts and pieces, including our character, collectively are “a living soul.” God created humans out of the dust of the ground, breathed into their nostrils the breath of the spirit of life. We become a living being, a living soul. The soul represents our life. We die, we no longer breathe, that life is over. The Scriptures teach that death is but a rest, a sleep, until the resurrection, and that there is nothing like the immortality of the soul found in the Bible.
What Does New Age/Spiritualism Say?
Spiritualism teaches that the soul is immortal. If you accept the idea of the immortality of the soul, then that leaves you very open, very vulnerable to spiritualism. If we believe the first lie that when we die, we don’t really die, we lay ourselves wide open for the last day deceptions of the devil and his demons who will either impersonate dead loved ones or even impersonate Christ at His second coming. (2 Cor 11:14)
The Bible speaks of spiritualistic delusions in the last days of earth’s history. The devil is preparing men and women through a false understanding or a misunderstanding of death. The devil is preparing men and women through that very first lie in Eden about death with the idea of the immortal soul. The devil will use that specific idea about death to deceive us. The devil can use wrong ideas about death to lead us down the pathway of destruction.
The Bible says
“As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so they who go down to the grave do not come up. (Job 7:9)
You see, spiritualism says that there’s an immortal soul that leaves the body at death, and that under the right conditions, that this supposed immortal soul, this being that has died, didn’t really die and can still communicate with the living. But the Bible says death is a sleep until the resurrection. Just like the cloud disappears and vanishes, so too, the person who goes down to the grave is not going to come up again until the second coming and the resurrection.
“The dead know not anything.” (Eccl 9:5)
If you are someone who has seen a loved one and talked to them after they have died, you must follow the examples of others who have had to say to these spirit visitants:
“I know you’re not my loved one. I know you’re a demon. In the name of Jesus Christ, be gone.”
As we understand what the Bible really teaches about death, as we understand what the Bible teaches about the immortal soul, God will protect us in the spiritual crises and deceptions of the ages that is almost upon us now. That’s why it’s so vital to understand these truths from the Bible.
Several people I have talked to have said it something like this:
“There is no death in the graveyard. I have frequent talks with the dead. I cannot doubt that people live after death, for I frequently talk with them.”
From the popular, modern magazine called Psychic Powers, page 93 we read:
“The world of mediumship offers a tantalizing promise: the ability to act as a conduit between the living and the deceased. The ability to relay conversations from beyond the grave suggests that life doesn’t truly end with death, a notion that provides many people with comfort. Mediums claim that spirits can provide many people with comfort. Mediums claim that spirits can provide information about their lives, death, and the afterlife, messages that the medium can then relay to their client.
There is no scientific evidence to support the existence of an ability to channel the dead, but we do have insight as to why hearing words from the spirit world presents itself as a true phenomenon that people would want to fervently embrace. It allows us to contemplate a reality where the bond we share with our loved ones can be a magical conduit for communication, which provides comfort and affirmation that love, and life continue beyond death’s door.”
Spiritualism is repeating the first lie in these last days and this very same first lie will be the last lie by which many are deceived in these end times that we are living in now.
Spiritualism is dependent on the idea of the immortal soul. The Bible warns us against spiritualism for several good reasons.
“Do not go to mediums or wizards for advice—they will only make you unclean. I am the LORD your God. (Lev 19:31)
The people will say, “Go to the fortune-tellers and wizards who mumble and chirp like birds. Ask them what to do.” But I say, “Shouldn’t people go to their God for help? Why go to the dead to get help for the living? You should follow the teachings and the agreement. I swear, if you follow those other things, there is no future for you. (Isa 8:19-20)
The Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe. They will obey spirits that tell lies. And they will follow the teachings of demons. (1 Tim 4:1)
Contrary to the teaching of the Bible, many people deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. They reject the idea that for believers, death was being asleep until the second coming of Christ.
The Bible reveals the plans of God. The Bible unmasks the plans of Satan. The Bible teaches that death is like a sleep. The believer who dies is as secure as if they were sleeping in the arms of Jesus Christ. Safe in the arms of Jesus. That’s the message that Jesus gives to us in the Bible. More than 53 times in the Bible, death is mentioned as a sleep. 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52 says
Behold, I tell you a mystery. Jesus, through the apostle Paul, is going to tell us the mystery of death. He’s going to solve that mystery. We shall not all what? Sleep. But we shall be changed when? In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound. If it was true that we just go to heaven right away when we die, then why on earth would we need a resurrection? Why would Jesus drag us down for a resurrection if we were already in heaven? Who would want to leave heaven if they were already there?
When we die, it’s just as secure as sleeping in the arms of Jesus. We die and we just rest. There’s no pain, there’s no suffering, and notice there’s no passing of time. It says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. When you fall asleep, what’s the next thing that you know? You wake up. You see Jesus, (Rev 1:7)
I once had a 13 1/2-hour surgery. When they put me to sleep, I lay on that operating table all day having all kinds of things happen to me and around me. But I was unaware of all of it. When I woke up it seemed as though only a few minutes had passed. I fell asleep and the next thing I knew, I was awake. That’s all death is. Nothing to be feared. If you’re a believer, we simply fall asleep and we rest. The next moment, the next instant, the next conscious thinking moment, we will see Christ coming. (Rev 1:7, Mark 14:62, Job 19:26-27)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. We are changed in a moment, in an instant. Changed from mortality to immortality, to receive these glorious new bodies in Christ. But this only happens at the second coming. On that resurrection morning.
When God created Adam, He placed his breath within him, not within an immortal soul. (Gen 2:7). The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Notice what God is breathing into him. It’s the breath of life. Adam was not immortal” before this. Man becomes a living soul. What is this breath that God breathes into him? You see, death is creation in reverse. Death is nothing more than creation in reverse.
“Then the dust will return to the earth when we die as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Eccl 12:7)
Notice how it doesn’t say the SOUL will return to God who gave it. This is where many people make a big mistake. They think the soul and the spirit are the same thing. They are not. They are two different words that mean two different things. The spirit is nothing more than the breath that God breathed into us initially. The Old Testament word for spirit is ruach, and it means breath. So, God breathes his breath or His spirit, His life force into us.
What goes back to God?
The power of God that he has given us to sustain life.
The spirit and the soul are two different things in the Bible. The soul is something that we are. We are the product of body and breath combined. Not separate entities. The soul has to do with our life. The spirit is the breath of God that sustains or gives us that life. Only when God breathed into it, we lived. When he breathed into that body, we lived. If he wouldn’t have breathed his life into it, we would not have lived. So, the breath of life, the spirit of life, the life-giving force, energy that God puts in us enables us to live. Every breath we take is dependent on the very life that God gives us. It is His breath of life, not our’s.
When we die, we go back to the earth. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The breath/spirit goes back to Him, and we await in sleep that resurrection day. The spirit or breath of life, the power of life, goes back to God. The Bible teaches that the breath and the spirit are the very same thing. They are one in Scripture. But the “soul” is something quite different.
The Bible teaches in Job 27:3 that often there’s something called in Hebrew parallelism. God says something in the first verse. He explains it in the latter part of that verse.
if I have life within me, the breath of God is in my nostrils, (Job 27:3)
Notice, all the while my breath is where? In me. And the spirit of God is where? In my nostrils. Its the same thing. Breath equals spirit, in this case.
Let’s suppose that the light bulb represents our body. So, this represents our body, or we’re created out of the dust of the ground. Let’s suppose the electricity represents the spirit or the breath. So, somebody turn on the light. Throw the switch. There we go. Thank you very much. Okay, so when the power comes through the power cord, representing the breath or spirit, to the light bulb, what happens? There is illumination. So, to have illumination, what do you need? Do you need just power and the cord? No. You need what? A light bulb. Do you have a light bulb? Do you have illumination? No. You need power. The spirit represents the power. The light bulb is represented by the body. Now, if you turn off the power, please turn off the power. Thank you. Okay, if you turn off the power, what happens? The electricity is back to the powerhouse. What happens to the bulb? It no longer has illumination.
When a person dies, the spirit goes to God, the body, represented by the light bulb, is buried in the earth, and the person’s true life is hidden with Christ in God. They no longer exist as a living soul. They no longer exist as a living being. As a “living soul.” That which goes back to God is not something that thinks. It’s not something that feels. It’s not something that we can call some conscious entity. Since the power to create life is with God, his spirit, which gave life, returns to God. Is there any consciousness in death? Any thought processes going on in death?
The Bible says, Psalm 146:4
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
If there was some kind of immortal soul that went back to God, which the Bible doesn’t teach, what would happen to the thought processes? They would continue. But the Bible says the thought processes do what?
“His thoughts perish.”
Ecclesiastes, chapter 9:5-6 makes it so plain. Notice what it says. “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.” (Eccl 9:4-6)
How much do the dead know? (nothing). The Bible says the dead know not anything. Their love, their hatred, their envy has now perished. If a person went immediately to heaven, they would have to have love to love God. They would, notice, if they went immediately to hell, they would have hatred or envy. But the Bible says the living know that they shall die. And that the dead knows how much? The dead don’t know anything. Every emotion is ceased. Why? Because they’re resting. Resting until Jesus comes. Resting until they receive their final reward. Resting until the resurrection of the righteous or the resurrection of the unrighteous. (Dan 12:2, Mat 25:46, Acts 24:15)
Death is asleep until Christ’s coming. The Bible writers mention this already over 50 different times. Let me give you some examples. Psalm 13:3,
Consider and hear me, David says, O Lord my God, enlighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. What did David believe about death? He believed that it was asleep. King David believed that it was a rest until the coming of Christ. And we find this same idea throughout the entire Old and New Testaments.
Next week, In Living Lies About Death #3 we will examine what the Bible calls “A Covenant with Death,” and a few other favorite arguments from people who say “we shall not surely die.”
“It is appointed to everyone to die once,” and for those who are loyal to Jesus and only what His Word says, they will rise again. On the resurrection morning.