Information Related to "Does the Bible Teach That We Have an Immortal Soul?"
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Some believe that various scriptures support belief in an immortal soul. Let's consider some of these passages and understand what they really say.
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).
Is Jesus teaching in this verse that the soul lives on after death and is immortal? Not at all. If you look at this scripture closely, you see that Jesus is actually saying that the soul can be destroyed. Jesus is here warning about the judgment of God. He says not to fear those who can destroy only the physical human body (soma in the Greek), but fear Him (God) who is also able to destroy the soul (psuche)-here denoting the person's physical being with its consciousness.
Simply stated, Christ was showing that when one man kills another the resulting death is only temporary; God can raise anyone to conscious life again either soon after death (see Matthew 9:23-25; 27:52; John 11:43-44; Acts 9:40-41; 20:9-11) or in the age to come after Christ returns to the earth. The person who has died is not ultimately gone forever. We must have a proper fear of God, who alone can remove one's physical life and all possibility of any later resurrection to life. When God destroys one in "hell," that person's destruction is permanent.
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Sidebar to The Resurrection: God's Answer to Life After Death
Table of Contents that includes "Does the Bible Teach That We Have an Immortal Soul?"
Re-published from an earlier version
God's judgment:
