Is the Soul Immortal? What the Bible Really Says

                                     Is the Soul Immortal? What the Bible Really Says

The question of whether the soul is immortal has sparked much debate among theologians and Bible readers alike. Many believe that humans possess an immortal soul that lives on after death. However, a close examination of the Bible reveals that the concept of an immortal soul is not supported by Scripture. Instead, the Bible teaches that the soul is mortal and can be destroyed. In this blog, we’ll explore key biblical texts that show why the soul is not inherently eternal.

***What Is the Soul?

In the Bible, the term "soul" is translated from the Hebrew word nephesh and the Greek word psuché. These words do not refer to an immortal essence separate from the body. Rather, they describe the whole being—a living, breathing person. Genesis 2:7 provides the foundation for understanding the soul:

Genesis 2:7 King James Version 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.

Genesis 3:19 King James Version 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.

This verse clearly shows that the soul is not something given to humans but something they become. The spirit is the function of a human. The breath is the life essence that makes the human function. The soul is the personality of the human.




***The Soul Can Die

One of the clearest indications that the soul is not immortal is found in the following:

Ezekiel 18:4 King James Version 4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die

Ezekiel 18:20 King James Version 20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Psalm 6:5 King James Version 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Acts 3:23 King James Version 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

James 5:20 King James Version 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Psalm 146:4 King James Version 4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Luke 23:46 King James Version 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

NOTE: Spirit and breath are interchangeable. "Give up the ghost" can be translated as breathing out or expiring. It doesn't mean your soul is going up to Heaven.

Acts 7:59 King James Version 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Ecclesiastes 3:21 Legacy Standard Bible 21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

Ecclesiastes 12:7 New Revised Standard Version 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

Psalm 104:29-30 English Standard Version 29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 When you send forth your Spirit (breath), they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

NOTE: See Genesis 3:19.

Job 10:9 English Standard Version 9 Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?

Job 7:7 English Standard Version 7 “Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.

NOTE: This doesn't sound like someone who is going to Heaven immediately.

Psalm 90:3 English Standard Version 3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”

Job 34:14-15 English Standard Version 14 If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust

Revelation 11:7-12 English Standard Version 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

NOTE: This passage supports that the Cross didn't change God's method of giving and taking away the breath of a human.

Isaiah 57:16 English Standard Version 16 For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.

Isaiah 42:5 English Standard Version 5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

Job 33:4 English Standard Version 4 The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

In the New Testament, Jesus reinforces this teaching in Matthew 10:28:

Matthew 10:28 King James Version 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.



***Death as Sleep and Inescapable (Chains imagery)

Throughout the Bible, death is often compared to sleep—a state of unconsciousness without activity or awareness. Ecclesiastes 9:5 describes it plainly:


Ecclesiastes 9:5 King James Version 5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

NOTE: If the dead are truly conscious and their souls are immortal, this passage would make no sense. Instead, it supports the biblical view that death is the cessation of life until the resurrection.

Psalm 107:10-11, 14 English Standard Version  “Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. … He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart.”

Isaiah 24:21-22 English Standard Version “On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished.”

Isaiah 42:7 English Standard Version  “To open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

1 Enoch 103:5-8 “Woe to you, sinners, who are in the midst of the sea and on the dry land, whose record is evil against them. Woe to you who devour the flesh of men and drink the blood of men. Why do you expect to receive good things in this world? You shall be given over to darkness, chains, and a burning flame, and you shall be burned in grievous judgment for eternity.”




***Resurrection: The Biblical Hope

The Bible’s focus is not on an immortal soul that immediately ascends to heaven or descends to hell at death. Instead, the hope for eternal life lies in the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:52-53 King James Version 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Romans 2:7 King James Version 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Revelation 22:12 King James Version 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

NOTE: Rewards are given at the End of the Old Covenant Age, not at the moment of death.

Psalm 49:15 King James Version 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah

Notice that immortality is something that is put on at the resurrection, not something humans possess by nature. Immortality is a gift from God, not an inherent characteristic of the soul.



***Conclusion: The Soul Is Mortal

The Bible does not teach that humans have an immortal soul. Instead, it consistently portrays the soul as mortal and subject to death. The idea of the soul’s immortality stems from Greek philosophy, not biblical doctrine. Our true hope lies not in an eternal soul, but in the promise of resurrection and eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Things to consider: How can we assert that Jesus' death on the cross purchased us salvation while also proposing that He didn’t really die because His soul was naturally immortal? How can we believe in God raising Jesus from the dead if He never fully died? Thinking we are eternal without Christ is believing the Serpent's lie all over again.

If we want to understand the nature of the soul, we must rely on Scripture rather than tradition. The Bible’s message is clear: only God is immortal (1 Timothy 6:16), and eternal life is a gift granted to the faithful at the resurrection.

1 Timothy 6:16 King James Version 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Romans 6:23 King James Version 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 11:25 King James Version 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live

Genesis 3:4 King James Version 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: