The Soul Exists

The Soul Exists Even After the Death of the Body

Are the body and the soul different, or are they one? Some people have vague knowledge about the soul, while others do not believe in its existence. You might as well think that the soul is the body itself. However, when you study the Bible, you will certainly realize the profound truth that the soul and the body are totally different, and that the soul exists even after the death of the body. First, how does a living man come into existence?

Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being

God created a living man by combining two elements — the body (dust of the ground) and the soul (breath of life). However, just because a living man is a combination of the body and the soul does not mean that the body and the soul are one. Ecclesiastes 12:7 confirms their entity from each other.

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

The body (dust) will return to the ground where it came from and the soul (or spirit) will return to God who gave it. Emphasizing the word “return”, the body  and the soul are different because they will return to different origins. Therefore, the body and the soul are not one. Here is another verse in the Bible.

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

Quoting Matthew 10:28, do you now have an insight that the soul exists even if the body is killed or is dead? Man can kill the body but cannot kill the soul means that the soul still exists even after the death of the body.  The death of the body is different from the death of the soul, but indeed the soul still exists after the death of the body.

The Soul’s Existence and Essence

Since the soul exists, you might ask, “Which is more important then, is it the body or the soul?” Have you ever thought of the essence of life? Through 1 Kings 17:21-22, we can understand that the soul is more important than the body.

1 Ki 17:21-22 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.

When the boy’s life (soul) departed from him, he is no longer alive. His body has no life and it only had life when his soul had returned to his body.Therefore, the soul is more important than the body, and it is the essence of life.

The Vanity of the Body When the Soul Exists

The book of Psalms 90:10 explains the vanity of the body that could only live for only 70 or 80 years. It is like flowers in the fields that bloom but soon perish. People wander from here to there and say that life is meaningless and everything is in vain. However, life is not meaningless understanding our real existence and of the next world.

Physical life is the life of our bodies but only for a short span of time. Spiritual life, on the other hand, is the life of our souls that live for eternity. Eternal life has no death. Should we not pursue spiritual life then, which is eternal rather than physical life that is temporary? There is the kingdom of heaven waiting for us where there is no suffering and no pain. God definitely taught us about the existence of our souls. We must head to eternity and press on to the ways that our souls must have.