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QUESTION 72:
Is it right to say a person has an "immortal soul?"

ANSWER:
Some times we parrot phrases without stopping to consider whether they are right or wrong. The above phrase is not found in the Bible. I think people mean right when they use it. They mean that the soul will never cease to exist. This is right. The soul of man never ceases to be. The rich man of Luke 16 found himself in hell, very conscious, yet his body was in the tomb.

The word "immortal...is mentioned five time in the New Testament. It always has to do with the body. Mortality is matter. The soul is immaterial. You cannot see or touch it. It does not have immortality. Yet, it never ceases to exist. In the true sense, it is the real you and your consciousness.

When a person dies, the soul (real you) leaves the body. Genesis 35:18. The body is place into the grave to go back to dust. The soul of a saved person goes to be with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8-9. The soul of the unsaved goes down into the heart of the earth in a place called "hades" or hell and there they are in a conscious state of torment, there they will remain until the resurrection of their bodies. They will then be cast in hell both body and soul - 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." These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is saying here that your body can be killed, but not you soul. Your body and soul can be "destroyed" in hell. The word "destroyed" means a loss of well-being. It does not mean annihilation.

What about you dear reader. Are you saved? Have you trusted the Saviour of sinners yet?

All comments and questions to: Harold Smith

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Updated July 2009, by Shelly Allen