The nature and destiny of man

It is not surprising that most people in Christendom believe that they have an immortal soul residing within them and that “it will never die” – which is the meaning of the term “immortal.” This is a longstanding “tradition” in most church bodies; Roman Catholic, Protestantism, Baptist, Methodists, Lutherans, Evangelicals, etc. Jesus started His Church with inspired men setting it up and teaching its beliefs. But nowhere did they teach that man has an immortal soul residing within one’s body. As time progressed, un-inspired men introduced the pagan idea of an “entity” residing within one’s body that will never die, and they called it a “soul.” The origin of this teaching started around 400 BC, and by the time Jesus was born it had gained an entrance into the thoughts of Jews. But to the rest of the world, it gained the upper hand; most citizens of the Roman Empire had accepted it as an infallible belief. This belief today has become a “tradition” that is thought to be a teaching of Jesus and His apostles.

In this post you will read why many regard this traditionalist belief of an “immortal soul” to be against the nature of man as taught in the Bible, just as we also do with respect to the ultimate destiny of the unredeemed. Most churches teach what is commonly referred to these days as the Traditionalist position, whereas my views are more in line with what is called the Conditionalist perspective. The Traditionalist position promotes the idea that men inherently possess immortality, in the form of an immortal soul, which will immediately enter a Hadean realm at the moment of physical death. These conscious souls will then either experience happiness in a Paradise or horror in a place of fiery torment. At the return of Christ (Parousia) these souls will be placed back into their resurrected bodies and a judgment will occur. The redeemed will be with the Lord forever, and the unredeemed will be tortured in Hell without end. This is somewhat simplified, but true nonetheless.

The Conditionalist position, on the other hand, maintains that the biblical view of the nature of man is holistic in nature. Man does not possess a soul; man is a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Man, by nature, is mortal, but unto the redeemed a promise of immortality has been given. Thus, immortality is conditional, not the inherent right of all men. This immortal life is in the Lord Jesus Christ. At physical death both the unredeemed and the redeemed sleep in the dust of the ground waiting for the day of resurrection. On that day they shall be called forth from their graves. The redeemed dead shall be lifted up to meet the Lord in the air, and removed to a place of safety while God's fiery judgment rains down upon this earth and its wicked inhabitants (2 Peter 3:7 ff). The unredeemed will not be given immortality, but will be consumed by the outpouring of God's fiery wrath, for our God is a consuming fire. They will be utterly destroyed; exterminated. The redeemed, however, will "put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:52 ff) and will then dwell in the new heavens and earth with their God.

Thus, immortal life is a GIFT from God which will be bestowed only upon those who "seek for ... immortality" (Romans 2:7), and not upon all men indiscriminately. We are informed that Jesus Christ "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). I find no place in Scripture where eternal (immortal) LIFE is promised to those who have spurned God Almighty; rather, their fate is consistently declared to be DEATH. "The wages of sin is DEATH, but the free GIFT of God is eternal LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Had Christ not been raised victoriously over sin and death on the third day, then ALL men (even those who have died "in Him") would "have perished" (1 Corinthians 15:18). However, HIS victory at His resurrection assures us of OUR victory at our resurrection on the last day. This is clearly why the early disciples are characterized as going about "preaching Jesus and the resurrection" (Acts 17:18). They proclaimed not just His resurrection, but also ours. The ultimate hope of the Christian for eternal life is NOT in some ghost-like entity which is trapped inside our mortal bodies and which flies off to greater life at the moment of our physical demise (this is the teaching of paganism and can be substantiated by historical writings), rather the hope of the Christian is in the resurrection from the dead. The “immortal soul” teaching embraced by Traditionalism actually undermines the very foundation of the Christian faith, and makes the resurrection an unnecessary absurdity.

When God breathed the "breath of life" into our mortal dust-of-the-earth bodies we BECAME "living beings/souls" (Genesis 2:7). This in no way teaches that God put some "immortal spirit being" inside this physical body. After all, the same exact words are used of all the other life-forms on the planet ... bug, bird, bull and beast. God breathed the breath of life into animals also, according to Scripture, and they too became "living beings/souls." Indeed, the phrase "living soul" is used many times more often in Scripture of the other creatures than of man. Again, the biblical view of the nature of man is what is called holistic. The view of Traditionalists, however, is pagan dualism. This latter view comes more from Plato than from God, a fact to which Traditionalists seems woefully oblivious.

With regard to the two great eternal destinies of man, notice just a couple of key passages. "God has GIVEN us eternal life, and this life is IN HIS SON. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 John 5:11-12). Our everlasting life — our immortality — is fully conditional. It hinges upon being IN CHRIST JESUS. The apostle John says that IF we have the Son, THEN we have the life. IF we do NOT have the Son, then we do NOT have the life! Traditionalists, however, declares the lie of Satan, rather than the Truth of God: Traditionalists say you DO have the life! God can't take life from you. You are just as immortal as HE is, even though Paul declares that He "ALONE possesses immortality" (1 Timothy 6:16). Thus, Traditionalists teach that the unredeemed will have eternal life just as the righteous will have eternal life. BOTH will live forever!! — or so says the Traditionalist.

The Traditionalists, to prove their false doctrine, must literally reinterpret and redefine clear biblical terms. They will declare of the unredeemed, "Of course they still have life! It's just life away from God's presence; it's life in misery; it's life in torment — but it is LIFE nevertheless!" Traditionalists, therefore, declares that death is really an illusion, and that the person is actually more alive when dead. The Traditionalists redefine "death" to mean "life." It is characterized as a "life of loss" (rather than loss of life), but it is LIFE just the same (a fact they can't seem to comprehend). Traditionalists declares that man is INCAPABLE of ever truly experiencing loss of life. We CAN'T fully die. Why? Because we are just as immortal as God. Life is our inherent right, and we WILL live ... either with or without Him. What arrogance!

That certainly does sound a lot like the original lie of Satan to Eve, doesn't it? "You surely shall NOT die!" (Genesis 3:4). Then the crafty serpent said to her, "You will be like God!" In actuality, Traditionalists are spreading the same false doctrine today (the "gospel of the serpent") when they uphold their unscriptural dogma.

Remember the passage which some have called “the golden verse" or the gospel in a nutshell": John 3:16? "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should NOT PERISH, but have eternal LIFE." Notice the statement which immediately precedes this: "...whosoever believes may IN HIM have eternal life" (vs. 15). Eternal life (immortality) is ONLY "in Him." That is conditional immortality. Those who do NOT accept the Lord Jesus Christ must receive the "wages" of their decision — DEATH. "For the wages of sin is DEATH, but the free gift of God is eternal LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

What is the ultimate destiny of those who die "in Christ" and sleep in the dust of the ground? They will be called forth from the grave and will "put on immortality." They will then dwell forever in the new heavens and earth. What is the ultimate destiny of those who die outside of Christ? They too will be called forth from the dust of the ground to experience judgment and their sentence. Their fate will be the "second death." They will be executed. It will be an everlasting death; one from which there is no coming back; no future resurrection to life. Once they are dead, they are dead forever!

Traditionalists love to quote Matthew 25:46: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." What IS that punishment? It is DEATH! The apostle Paul tells us about it in II Thessalonians 1:6–10. The unredeemed “…will pay the PENALTY, eternal destruction…” And, yes, it will be just as enduring as the reward for the righteous. Both will be forever! For just as long as the redeemed are ALIVE, so will the unredeemed be DEAD. God does not sentence the wicked to a never-ending process of dying (as Traditionalists would have you assume from this passage in Mt. 25). If that was so, then the eternal punishment would be an eternal punishing; it would be DYING, not DEATH. The latter is a result, the former a process. The punishment specified in Scripture is DEATH. That result WILL be achieved. In the Traditionalists view, however, it never will be. Thus, Traditionalists have had to basically rewrite God's Word in order to teach their pagan doctrine of everlasting LIFE for the unredeemed.

I’ve been told that by preaching such things as this article does, that I am endangering my faith and salvation by God. The person that told me this was a Roman Catholic clergyman, and he may have had in mind the decree of condemnation hurled at Luther by Pope Leo X who issued a decree which condemned “all those who assert that the soul is mortal…” 140 years ago (1868), Henry Constable responded to a similar Traditionalist statement that he was imperiling his faith. He wrote: “Does it imperial our faith in God? What attribute of his is attacked? His love! Is it the part of love to inflict eternal pain if it can be helped? His mercy! Is it the part of mercy never to be satisfied with the misery of others? His holiness! Is it essential to holiness to keep evil forever in existence? His justice! Can justice only be satisfied with everlasting agonies? No; we do not endanger faith. We strengthen it, by allying it once more with the divine principles of mercy, equity, and justice. It is the Augustinian theory which endangers faith, and has made shipwreck of faith in the case of multitudes, by representing God as a Being of boundless injustice, caprice, and cruelty.” (The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment, page 236.)

I will conclude this article with the concluding remarks of a brother in Christ: Edward Fudge. He brought his lengthy study of this issue to a close, in his internationally acclaimed book, The Fire That Consumes, with these thoughts, which I agree with:

“We do not reject the traditionalist doctrine, therefore, on moral, philosophical, intuitive, judicial or emotional grounds, nor are we much concerned with the arguments of any who do. The only question that matters here is the teaching of Scripture. Does the Word of God teach the eternal conscious torment of the lost? Our modest study fails to show that it does.

We were reared on the traditionalist view -- we accepted it because it was said to rest on the Bible. This closer investigation of the Scriptures indicates that we were mistaken in that assumption. A careful look discovers that both Old and New Testaments teach instead a resurrection of the wicked for the purpose of divine judgment, the fearful anticipation of a consuming fire, irrevocable expulsion from God's presence into a place where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, such conscious suffering as the divine justice individually requires -- and, finally, the total, everlasting extinction of the wicked with no hope of resurrection, restoration or recovery. Now we stand on that, on the authority of the Word of God.

We have changed once and do not mind changing again, but we were evidently wrong once through lack of careful study and do not wish to repeat the same mistake. Mere assertions and denunciations will not refute the evidence presented in this book, nor will a recital of ecclesiastical tradition. This case rests finally on Scripture. Only Scripture can prove it wrong” (Page 435–436).

Let’s see if anyone will address specifically what is said in this article, or if most will throw comments out of context with what is said. My experience with those who I have spoken to similarly, on a one-to-one basis, have expressed an agreement with my conclusions. I wonder how many reading this article will express a similar agreement; maybe even a disagreement, and then back it up with what the scriptures have to say about the topic.

“If a man die shall he live again?” This is the ultimate question and is answered in the Bible with a resounding YES! In light of this, because Jesus said quite a lot, as recorded in John 5:18–29, we must be concerned and submit our thoughts to harmonize with what He said. Thusly there is this question: “Life or death?” Jesus made it clear that He would raise men from the dead, and give SOME of them immortal life, and SOME to face the “second death.” The question is not WHERE you are going to live, but ARE you going to live?

Man does not possess a soul

According to Christ's word in the New Testament he does indeed. "What will a man give in exchange for his[possessive] soul?" "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your [there's that possessive again] soul."

And according to the NT, the breath (spirit, pneuma) and soul (psuche) are two distinct but conjoined entities: "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

"Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt."

Isa 66:24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Jhn 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jhn 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Jhn 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Jhn 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

I only read the first paragraph, but clearly both Old and New Testaments teach everlasting life.

You've got it backwards. Each of us is not a body with a soul, but an enternal soul with a temporary body. The spiritual world is real and eternal, and our souls will be fitted to dwell there in spirit, as He is Spirit-- not as ghosts in a material and decaying world. Just a few passages:

Genesis 35:18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Deuteronomy 11:13

‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul 1 Kings 17:21

And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Psalm 42:6

O my God, my soul is cast down within me Isaiah 10:18

And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, Both soul and body; And they will be as when a sick man wastes away. Habakkuk 2:4

“ Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. Matthew 10:28

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. Mark 8:36

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 1 Thessalonians 5

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1… Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Revelation 18:13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.

The Scriptures, of course, mean nothing to modern day Gnostics, Mormons, and such like who teach, contrary to history and documentary archeology, that the Scriptures are not to be believed and were somehow the result of a vast conspiracy of "wicked priests" and rabbi's over many cultures and many centuries to delude mankind-- until these "knowers" or Joseph Smith showed up to set us all straight.

The original nature of man was to love GOD and was perfect in every way. Genesis says that GOD breathed life in man and he became a living soul.

Our original destiny was to live and love GOD forever. WE messed that up in the garden of Eden and changed our destiny. Until JESUS came and fixed what WE broke. Now that destiny with GOD is restored.

NOW the ball is in our court. Do we believe what JESUS said is the only way to GOD or do we reject it out of pride and ignorance(willful) and therefore condem ourselves to eternal separation.

Thats the meaning of life, weather(?) to accept JESUS payment for our sin or reject it. The choice is ours.

The original nature of man was to love and trust GOD completely. Genesis says that GOD breathed life in man and he became a living soul.

Our original destiny was to live with GOD forever. WE messed that up in the garden of Eden and changed our destiny. Until JESUS came and fixed what WE broke. Now that destiny with GOD is restored.

NOW the ball is in our court. Do we believe what JESUS said is the only way to GOD or do we reject it out of pride and ignorance(willful) and therefore condem ourselves to eternal separation.

Thats the meaning of life, weather(?) to accept JESUS payment for our sin or reject it. The choice is ours.

In Genesis 2:7 I read a very straightforward account by man’s maker as to what He made. It says He fashioned man out of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. The Hebrew is clear. It doesn’t say man then had a soul, but man became a soul. Further along I read that man returns to the dust from which he was made, and that the breath of life returns to God who gave it. Seems very, very clear to me.

It is essential that we understand what death is, so we can then better know and appreciate what resurrection is. Whatever death is, resurrection is the undoing of it. Resurrection is the antidote for death. It is the one and only escape hatch from death. Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life.

If a good person at death goes to be present with the Lord, what need would there be for resurrection?

I agree with much of what you said in your article; but, regarding your view of the time table and sequence of events surrounding the end times I disagree. I would love to discuss these matters with you.

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