by Erik Jones

After Eve repeated God’s command not to eat the fruit from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” and the penalty God had decreed for breaking that command (death), the serpent (Satan) made a statement that has changed all of human history.

He directly contradicted God and lied to Eve by saying: “You will not surely die.”

There were two destructive consequences of this statement:

• The doctrine of the immortality of the soul entered the human realm. The Bible clearly reveals that human beings are mortal and die (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Romans 6:12, 23; Acts 2:29; 1 Corinthians 15:54). Yet Satan directly contradicted this truth by saying that humans will not and do not die. Most are surprised to learn that the common teaching of the immortality of the soul (through the soul going to heaven or hell) is false and unbiblical. Satan is the source of this doctrine.
• Humanity fell for the idea that it is permissible to doubt, question and reject the clear revelation of God. Satan introduced to humanity this way of thinking that would later be labeled as carnality. Romans 8:7 tells us, “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Human beings under the influence of Satan prefer to keep God, His truth and His revelation out of their thoughts (Psalm 10:4). This is a tendency that true Christians must fight and avoid. We are to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5) and be characterized by faith and obedience to God’s Word (Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:14-15, 22).

For more evidence that humans do not possess an immortal soul, read “Immortal Soul: What Is a Soul?”

Tomorrow on the Daily Bible Verse Blog: “The Fruit of All Evil.”