The Soul Exists

In this world, we eat and live our physical lives. When human beings die, one part of them decays in the ground, while another part continues to exist in the spiritual world.

The Bible clearly provides answers about what happens after death, showing us which part of man continues to live and which part returns to the ground. When we die, our soul departs from the body. Though the body decays in the earth, the soul still exists and enters the eternal spiritual world.

To understand this, we first need to know how God created man.

Man Consists of the Body and the Soul.

Genesis 2:7 The LORD GOD formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

This verse explains that man became a living soul when God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils.

The breath of life from God is a living soul. God’s breath of life is not the same as human breath. Wherever or whenever God breathes His breath into it, it becomes a living soul.

Thus, the breath of life which God breathed into Adam’s nostrils was called the soul or the spirit. So, a living man is a combination of the body and the spirit.

What Happens When a Man Dies?

Ecclesiastes  12:7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

When a man dies, the body, which was formed from dust, returns to the ground and decays. However, the spirit separates from the body and returns to God. In short, at death, the body and soul part ways: the body perishes in the earth, but the soul continues to exist. This shows that the human soul continues to exist even after death.

Jesus taught that the soul continues to exist even after the body dies.

Matthew 10:28  Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Those who deny the soul claim that the living body itself is the soul. Yet Jesus clearly distinguished between the two, saying that people may kill the body but cannot kill the soul. This means the soul continues to exist even after physical death. Therefore, our soul actually exists separately from our body, even though the body decays and disappears.

Job also spoke these words:

Job 19:25-26 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth, and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

Job records that after his skin is destroyed, he will see God. This means that after his body has decayed in the soil, after his death, he will still see God. In other words, Job will continue to exist even when he dies, but not in physical form. He will exist in spirit form.

From these examples, we can see that the soul continues to exist even after death.

Spiritual Life and Physical Life

Since our souls continue to exist even after we die, it implies that the life we live now is physical, and the life after death is spiritual life.

Hebrews 12: 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!

Just as we have human fathers in this world who gave us our body so that we can live a short span of a physical life, we also have a spiritual Father, the Father of our souls (spirits). When we die, He will give us a spiritual body so that we can live forever in the spiritual world.

1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

We live in a natural body on this earth, but if we receive salvation and go to Heaven, we will live in a spiritual body there. We will live forever with God in the angelic world, visiting freely every star in the universe.

Then what is more important?

1st Kings 17:21-22 …. let this boy’s life [soul, KJV] return to him!” The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.

When the boy’s soul left his body, he died; but when it returned, he lived again. Through this, we can understand that the essence of life is found in the soul. The body without the soul has no life; it is dead. Therefore, we must live for our soul, the true essence of life, rather than for the body, which is nothing more than the clothing of the soul.

Prepare for the Spiritual Life That Will Last Forever

All people will be judged before God after their short life on this earth is over. Some will be rewarded, while others will be punished according to what they have done.

Revelation 20:11-12 … I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

The “dead” here refers to the souls that remain after the body has decayed in the ground. After death, our souls continue to live and are judged according to what we have done. The day will come when those who lived only for the body will be separated from those who lived for the soul.

What Kind of Life Should We Live Now?

Our physical body was given so that we might live a temporary life, which is only a copy. But our spiritual body will be given so that we may live the true life, which is eternal reality. Therefore, we should not set our minds on physical life, which quickly fades, but prepare for the spiritual life in the Kingdom of Heaven, which endures forever. Then, when our souls stand before God, He will commend us.