Do the Souls of the Dead Live Forever?
“Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.”
Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture.
The word translated soul is the Hebrew nephesh, which can even refer to animals ( Genesis 1:21 ) and corpses ( Leviticus 22:4 ). The Bible does not describe humans as having an immortal soul, but as being a living soul—a living creature. As God says in Ezekiel 18:4 and 20 , human souls can die. In fact, death—eternal death—is the punishment for sin ( Romans 6:23 ).
Only God has immortality ( 1 Timothy 6:16 ), and He offers it as a gift to those who believe and obey Jesus Christ ( John 3:16 ; Romans 6:23 ).
For a study of the subjects of the mortality of the soul and hell in the Bible, see our articles “Do Humans Have an Immortal Soul?” and “What Is Hell?” Understanding what the Bible teaches about the mortality of the soul provides further reason for Christians not to celebrate All Saints’ Day and Halloween. See also our booklet The Spirit World: Facts and Fallacies.
