Do we have a separate soul?

The majority of professing Christians believe that we have a separate soul that lives on after the body dies. However, there is a serious problem with this belief: it implies that humans are inherently immortal. But the Bible clearly teaches that only God the Father and Christ Jesus possess immortality (1 Timothy 6:14-16), and that believers are only made immortal at the resurrection when Christ returns (1 Corinthians 15:51-54).


So where did the teaching of the "immortal soul" originate?

Genesis 3:4: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die."

This teaching came from Satan himself. It was the first lie ever told, and the world has embraced it ever since. Let us examine what happened at the very beginning with Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:22-23: "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."

After Adam and Eve sinned, they could have continued to live forever by eating from the tree of life. But God denied them access to the tree, thereby denying them eternal life. This means they would ultimately die, as God had warned.

Genesis 3:19: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

They could not live forever without the tree of life. When they died, they returned to dust.

When did Jesus say we would be with Him in heaven? Immediately after death? No. He said:

John 14:3: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Why would Jesus say He will come again to receive us if we go to heaven at death? It is at His second coming that believers are taken to heaven, not before.


Misunderstood Words: "Soul" and "Spirit"

Much of the confusion about death comes from misunderstanding two key words: "soul" and "spirit." Let's look at their meanings from the original Hebrew and Greek:

Soul (Hebrew: nephesh) — "a living being" (Strong's 5315)

Soul (Greek: psyche) — "a living being" (Strong's 5590)

Spirit (Hebrew: ruach) — "breath, wind, air" (Strong's 7307)

Spirit (Greek: pneuma) — can mean "Holy Spirit" or "breath, wind, air" (Strong's 4151)

Genesis 2:7: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Adam did not receive a soul; he became a living soul. The soul is not a separate, immortal entity but the result of God combining the body and His breath of life.


Symbolic Language in Revelation

Some point to Revelation 6:9-10, which says:

"I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain... and they cried with a loud voice..."

But Revelation is full of symbols. Consider Genesis 4:10:

"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."

Does blood literally cry? No. This is symbolic language expressing that God knows what was done. The "souls under the altar" are not conscious beings; they symbolize the testimony of martyrs crying out for justice.


Soul Sleep

Job 14:10-12: "Man... lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake."

Death is described as sleep. Jesus used the same language:

Matthew 9:24: "The maid is not dead, but sleepeth."
John 11:11-14: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth... Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead."

Martha also understood:

John 11:23-24: "Thy brother shall rise again... in the resurrection at the last day."

Psalm 104:29-30: "Thou takest away their breath, they die... Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created."

1 Corinthians 15:22-24: "For as in Adam all die... afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."

Believers do not go to heaven at death. We sleep in the grave until the resurrection.


Can We Praise God After Death?

Psalm 115:17: "The dead praise not the LORD."
Ecclesiastes 9:5,10: "The dead know not any thing... in the grave... there is no work... nor knowledge."
Isaiah 38:18-19: "The grave cannot praise thee... the living, the living, he shall praise thee."

We do not praise God after death because we are asleep in the grave.

Isaiah 26:19: "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust."
Daniel 12:2: "Many... that sleep in the dust... shall awake."
Matthew 27:52: "And many bodies of the saints which slept arose."

Until then, we dwell in the dust of the earth.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14: "Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."

This does not mean He brings them from heaven. It means they will be raised just as Jesus was.

Matthew 16:27: "Then he shall reward every man..."

John 5:28-29: "All that are in the graves shall hear his voice."

Acts 2:29,34: "David... is both dead and buried... David is not ascended into the heavens."


Does Paul Say We Go to Heaven When We Die?
Some cite:

2 Corinthians 5:8: "Absent from the body... present with the Lord."
Philippians 1:21,23: "To live is Christ, and to die is gain... to depart, and to be with Christ."

But in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul compares three conditions:

Life in our current, mortal body,

Death—described as being “unclothed” (bodiless, asleep),

Receiving a glorified, eternal body at the resurrection—being “clothed.”

In verse 4, Paul says clearly:

“Not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”
This means he does not desire to be dead and bodiless, but to be fully restored with a new immortal body.

So when he says in verse 8 that he would rather be “absent from the body and present with the Lord,” he's not saying he wants to die and be a spirit in heaven. He is expressing his ultimate hope: to one day leave behind his mortal body and be with Christ in the resurrection.

This is confirmed in 2 Corinthians 4:14:

“He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus.”

Paul’s focus is the resurrection, not immediate entrance into heaven at death.

“To die is gain” means Paul’s faithful death would strengthen the church and advance the gospel.
“To be with Christ” expresses his longing—not the timing.

Paul is fully consistent with his teaching throughout the New Testament: the dead sleep until the resurrection.


Final Warning

Spiritualism is growing because of this false teaching that we live on as "spirit beings" after death. But the Bible is clear:

Ecclesiastes 9:5: "The dead know not any thing."
James 5:7: "Be patient... unto the coming of the Lord."

The spirit or breath of God sustains life. When it is withdrawn, we die. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

We are living souls only because of God’s breath in us. After Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the indwelling Holy Spirit and became spiritually dead, though physically alive. Only through Christ can this life be restored.

Romans 8:6-7: "To be carnally minded is death... the carnal mind is enmity against God."

Through repentance and faith, we are born again and the Holy Spirit dwells within us once more. This is the only way to regain the connection with God that was lost at the Fall.