Q: DO WE HAVE ONE?  A: YES!



Q: DOES IT SLEEP?  A: NO!



THE SOUL........!

Genesis chapter 2 verse 7 states, "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." The "breath of life" pertains to the "soul" of man, and this was done with the first man, Adam. God breathed the soul into man and it states that man became a "living soul", not a living "being" or "body." Scripture teaches and leaves no room for argument that man is a "soul" which resides in a physical body. The Apostle Paul clearly confirmed this as well. He faced many dangers, and he knew that at any moment his life on earth could end. And he stated: "We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). The soul can not be "away from the body" unless it is "already in the body." Elsewhere he declared, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far" (Philippians 1:23). He also said, "Therefore we are always confident, knowing (indicates a "certain fact".."beyond doubt") that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6). God not only made our body and our mind, but at the same time He also gave us our soul or spirit, which is the part of us that is able to know God. We are not just bodies or minds; if we were, we would be like every other animal, and like all other animals we would be devoid of the ability or capacity to know God. It is the human soul which gives us that ability. We are not just "flesh and blood." Were that the case then not a single person could go to Heaven for the Bible states, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God!"

It can be said with complete confidence and without contradiction that no where in the entirety of the Bible does it state, elude to, or in any way suggest the notion that man "receives his soul" after death, or that his soul "sleeps" after death. What the Bible does clearly state however and what it does teach over and over again from cover to cover is this, that man is a living "soul." The preponderance of Scriptural evidence supporting this fact is simply staggering and we are going to examine just a small portion of that evidence.

God irrefutably and very clearly and concisely addressed this matter in Ecclesiastes 12:7 which states clearly that when the body dies, "Then shall the dust (the body) return to the earth as it was: and the spirit (soul) shall return unto God who gave it." The soul has an existence independent of the body. We know this because the Bible has just declared that fact in the previous Scripture. The body is a mortal shell made of clay. Jesus Christ suffered and died for the salvation or "redemption" of man’s "soul" not the redemption of his "body." Why would Jesus have willingly left the glory of His throne in Heaven and come all the way to earth to suffer and endure agony far beyond human comprehension, giving His very life upon the Cross, all for something that we do not even have? (Some believe that we do not presently have an immortal soul and will not receive such until we are resurrected). Were this true, then Christ’s sacrificial death would have been for nothing more than mere "lumps of clay." The entire reason for Christ coming into the world was to redeem man’s soul. To "redeem" means to recover or rescue. To "rescue" something it has to exist in the first place. Because of man’s disobedience to God in the garden of Eden his soul became lost in sin. Man’s relationship with God was broken. Jesus came into the world and gave His life upon the Cross for the specific purpose of restoring man’s broken relationship with God, to pay the price for man’s sin and "saving man’s soul from the penalty of sin." You cannot "save" something that does not already exist.

When refuting the Sadducees regarding the "marriage state" in Heaven Jesus also strongly refuted them by proving that the dead are not "extinct." Jesus said "And while we are talking about the dead, have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, (meaning that God is not the God of something that no longer exists) but the God of the living: (meaning that no individual goes out of existence at death, but actually lives forever. Whether redeemed or in a fallen state, the soul of man is eternal) ye therefore do greatly err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God." God did not say, "I WAS the God of Abraham"....referring to someone who did not exist or was no more. He instead said "I AM the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," meaning that these individuals continued to exist even though their bodies were dead. If the soul did not continue to exist after death then this would have been impossible. Clearly, their souls, their spirits continued to exist and act even though, for now, separated from the body.

Further, in Mark chapter 9, "Jesus took Peter, and James, and John, and lead them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them. And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus." This was not a "dream" nor were they seeing some type of "make believe" vision. it was a real event and is clearly stated as such. These three men, Peter, James and John all saw Elijah and Moses standing with Jesus and speaking with Him. Moses had been dead for nearly 1500 years. God Himself had buried the body of Moses. Thus, Moses did not appear with Jesus in his physical body. It was Moses soul, his spirit which not only appeared so that he could be seen by the eye but he also spoke so he could be heard. If the soul simply "slept" after death then this would have been impossible.

In the book of Revelation when Christ broke the fifth seal John "saw the "souls" of them who had been slain, and they shouted, "how much longer O Lord will you wait before you take vengeance for our deaths?" Here we are clearly told and shown that these martyrs went to Heaven BEFORE the resurrection and that, despite being "dead," they had their own memories, they remember being martyred. They could not have been in Heaven with God if their souls were simply "sleeping." Of course, as we have already seen, the greatest authority on this is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus provides His most explicit teaching about life after death in the sixteenth chapter of Luke when He tells about the Rich man and Lazarus. Some people erroneously believe this to be a "parable," which it is not. Any student of the Bible will take careful notice of the fact that, without exception, every single parable that Jesus taught He identified as such, and, in not a single parable did Jesus ever mention any person by name:

•Parable of the sower....Matthew 13: 3-9....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the wheat & tares....Matthew 13: 24-30....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the mustard seed....Matthew 13: 31-32....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the leaven....Matthew 13: 33....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the hidden treasure....Matthew 13: 44....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the pearl of great price....Matthew 13: 45-46....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the net....Matthew 13: 47-50 verse 53 reaffirms them all as parables....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the rich fool....Luke 12: 16-21....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names



•Parable of the fig tree....Luke 13: 6-9....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the lost sheep....Luke 15: 3-7....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the preserving prayer....Luke 18: 1-8....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the pharisee & the publican....Luke 18: 9-14....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the ten pounds....Luke 19: 11-27....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the wicked husbandman....Matthew 21: 33-44....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

•Parable of the marriage feast....Matthew 22: 1-14....Specifically identified as a "Parable" - No Names

However, when telling about the rich man and Lazarus Jesus makes clear that it is NOT a parable, and, He specifically mentions those He is speaking of by name. The fact that the rich man was able to clearly recognize Abraham and Lazarus further proves that peoples souls continue on and that they retain their cognitive faculties after death.

Additionally, in I Peter chapter 3 we read "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (alive) by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;" If the soul or spirit is "asleep" or knows nothing after death, then why was Jesus preaching to them? Genesis 35:18 states, "as her soul was in departing, (for she died)...." Note that when Rachel died, her soul "departed." It didn’t "fall asleep." ....The Lord "made the heavens, and the earth, and formed the spirit (soul) of man within him," Zechariah 12:1..... "..and the soul of the child came into him again," 1 Kings 17:22. These Scriptures plainly prove the existence of the soul within man independent of the body. Neither must we forget or ignore Jesus’ own statement in Luke 23:43 to the thief on the cross, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, TODAY you shall be with me in paradise." This was a statement of fact.

"Soul Sleep," also known as the doctrine of "Conditional Immortality" is primarily taught by Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists who believe that when we die, the soul ceases to exist, or "sleeps." And that during this period of "soul sleep" the soul is completely inert until the time of the resurrection. One of the main verses that they erringly use to defend their belief is Ecclesiastes 9: 5 which reads, "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten." The context in which this verse is given clearly shows that it is not speaking about "soul sleep." Were this true then it would be necessary to conclude that the words that follow...."they have no more reward" denies the resurrection. When we read on to the next verse however and keep this verse in its proper context we see clearly that it clarifies itself by affirming that the dead have no portion in anything done "under the sun", speaking only of the "physical" body, not the soul. The writer makes clear that he is not speaking about nor did he believe in "soul sleep" by following up just 3 chapters later saying "Then shall the dust (the body) return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it."



It is simply impossible for one to claim belief in the deity of Christ and at the same time believe in the erroneous teaching of soul sleep. For it was Jesus who said in John 2:19 that He would raise up His own body, an impossible task to do if you no longer exist after death. In John 11:25-26 Jesus said "I am the resurrection and the life; "he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoever liveth and believeth in me shall NEVER die." Therefore, if we do die and our soul does not continue on in Heaven then God is a liar (for here He unequivocally states that those who believe in Him NEVER die). And if God is a liar in this one thing then absolutely everything else in His Word must also be brought into serious question as to its truth and validity. But praise be to God here He has given the blessed assurance that His children will live forever, that one possesses a present life that will continue forever, and never die.

Thessalonians 4:13-14 states, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. ("those who have no hope" refers to those who do not know the Lord and will have no part in the first resurrection, and therefore, no hope of Heaven). "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again (the very foundation of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Christ; it is the proof of life after death for all who know Him) even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God BRING WITH HIM." This is just as Paul describes in I Corinthians 15. At death the soul of the child of God instantly goes to be with Jesus {Philippians 1:23} while the physical body goes back to dust. At the rapture (as is clearly stated in the previous Scripture) God will "bring with Him" the souls of those individuals who accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, reuniting the soul with what was our physical but will then become a glorified body.



The irrefutable Scripture which completely destroys the foolish notion of soul sleep and is consistently neglected by those who promote soul-sleep is the very Scripture just mentioned {Phil.1:23} in which Paul states that "to be with Christ is far better and to die is gain. But I live in the flesh… For I am hard pressed between the two (note those very important words "the two,") having a desire to "depart" (die physically) and "be with" Christ which is far better (OR) to be in the flesh which is more needful for you." What does Paul mean by "I live in the flesh" if he is not referring to the body. And notice he says he "departs to be with Christ." This would be impossible if when we die we go into a state of "nothingness" buried in the ground, unless Jesus is in the ground too, because Paul states that his desire is to "depart to be with Christ, which is far better." Christ is in Heaven, He's not in the ground. So if soul sleep were true, and our body merely lays in the ground after death, then Christ would have to be in the ground too because Paul stated that he would "be with" Christ. Paul sums it all up saying, "we are always confident knowing that while we are home in the body we are absent from the Lord." and he continues by saying "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." Let’s examine this statement of Paul’s further (though it requires no additional examination for understanding as its meaning is obvious). Paul says it is better to be "absent from the body." So then what is it that is "absent from the body" when one dies? It’s the soul! It becomes separated from the physical body. Paul states "it is better to be ‘absent from the body’ and to be "present with the Lord." And where is the Lord? He is in heaven. And that is exactly where Paul said all who die in Christ are headed. That we will be in the presence of Christ. He here declares the clear teaching of Scripture, that upon death, the believer enters where Christ is. So to be "absent from the body" is to be "present with the Lord." "Death," to the righteous, means to be WITH Christ. In Ecclesiastes 12:7 Solomon also describes the end of physical life in the same manner, that "the dust returns to earth, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 8:8 says "there is no man that has power over the Spirit to retain the spirit; in the day of death." This Scripture, also, completely destroys and disproves "soul sleep." This describes the spirit departing from the body at the moment of physical death, and clearly states that no one has the power to hold it back or "retain" his soul in his body at the moment of physical death, not man nor the ground. Let’s look one more time at what this Scripture says: "No man has power over his soul, at the time of his death, to retain (retain means to keep) his soul in his body!" As Paul so clearly stated, death is a temporary suspending of our physical activity on earth but not of our soul.



When Stephen was stoned to death the Bible states that Stephen looked upward and cried out "Lord receive my spirit." How could Christ receive it if it was going to sleep in the ground? The original Greek is explicit regarding this in that there was an urgency in Stephen’s cry as in, "receive it right now." As Jesus committed his Spirit to the Father, Stephen committed his Spirit to the Son.

A promise was made to the converted dying thief by Jesus when he was on the cross (Luke 23:42), "Verily I say unto you, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Those who believe "soul sleep" claim this is not correct in its punctuation and the comma should be before the today as if Jesus is meant to say "today I'm saying this to you." But there are no commas found in the original Greek writing to give any weight to this notion. The punctuation is in the correct place. Jesus is answering the thief who was asking Jesus to remember him when he comes into His kingdom. Did Jesus lie when he said to the thief "TODAY you will be WITH ME in paradise?" Of course not. Jesus meant what He said, that that very day he and the thief would be united together in paradise, otherwise there is no significance to the statement if it is left to some unknown future time. If soul sleep were true then Jesus’ statement was not true and this would mean Jesus went into soul sleep as well. The notion of "soul sleep" does nothing but create more and more inconsistencies for itself and the reason being that it simply is not Scriptural in any way, shape or form!



The Bible states that Jesus came into the world and became man just as we are, that He "was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) and that He was in every way human just like you and I, "He was in all points tempted like as we are" (Hebrews 4:15). Herein is one of the many "nooses" by which those who hold to the doctrine of "soul sleep" hang themselves. The Bible clearly states that in all points Jesus was human just as you and I are human. If that is not true then we have our first problem which is that Scripture has deliberately lied to us (which we of course know is not the case because God can not lie.) Therefore it is clearly established as certain truth that Jesus was human like you and I. With this fact before us, and if the doctrine of "soul sleep" were true, then we are in big, big trouble. Why? Because upon the Cross Jesus said "Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit." However, if "soul sleep" is true then those words spoken by Jesus were just for "show" for those watching Him die and are not meant to be taken literally. "Soul sleep" says this would have been impossible because the soul simply "goes to sleep" with our body when we die. Therefore when Jesus died and was buried His soul remained with Him "sleeping" in His body and could not possibly have gone to the Father. Consequently, if soul sleep is true, then you and I do not have an intercessor in Heaven on our behalf (which the Bible clearly states that we do). If "soul sleep" were to be believed then the statement that Jesus’ soul went to be with the Father would be still another deliberate lie given to us in God’s Word. Oh, but wait, doesn’t the Bible say a little something about Jesus rising the third day? Hmmm, so how then can His soul be "sleeping"? And He was in every way human remember, "as we are," (Hebrews 4:15) so if our soul only "sleeps" then it follows that Jesus’ soul, too, is only "sleeping." You can clearly see how the doctrine of "soul sleep," by its own Scriptural self-incrimination, continuously snowballs itself into one gigantic false teaching. By necessity, the doctrine of "soul sleep" must condemn Holy Scripture itself in order to fabricate "their own scriptures" which they then tout as the only "true" scripture in a pitiful attempt to lend some type of credence to their cult.

Every person who has ever lived or ever will live has the freedom of choice to either accept, or reject Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly teaches that there are certain consequences to each choice. God created man for the sole purpose of eternal companionship with Him. It was never His intention or desire to see a single person go to hell and He has done everything possible to prevent that from happening through the sacrificial death of His One and only Son upon the Cross. No person who goes to hell will have been sent there by God. They will never be able to say "God sent me here." They will have sent themselves there. If someone comes to me and says, "You can either have this chest full of diamonds and enjoy riches beyond your wildest dreams, or, you can jump off the empire state building and suffer agonizing pain beyond your wildest dreams" and I choose to jump, did that person send me to my death? No. I made the choice myself, of my own free will. I knew what the consequences would be because I was told ahead of time and so I would have to pay the consequences for my choice. It’s the same with God. He tells us that we can come to Him by accepting His Son Jesus Christ into our heart as our Lord and Saviour and enjoy eternity with Him in Heaven, or, we can reject His Son and spend eternity in hell. The choice is ours and He tells us ahead of time the consequences for each choice. It was man who made the choice to sin and disobey God thereby placing upon himself a state of separation from God. God did not "force" man to sin. Man "chose" to disobey God. Nor will God ever "force" anyone to go to hell. Quite the opposite. Jesus’ death on the Cross "mended" the separation between God and man and made possible eternal life in Heaven with Him for all who believe. Christ tells us that there are but two choices. He also tells us up front the resulting consequences according to the choice that we make. God is a loving God which is why He has made every necessary provision for us to avoid hell. But He is also a "just" God and a perfect God. As such, He can not lie. He must hold true to His Own Word. If He failed to do so then He would not be God. The Bible tells us that "Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne" (Psalm 89:14). He has thus far given us two thousand years advance warning of precisely what His judgment will be for all who reject Him...."And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire," (Revelation 20:15), not "non-existence." And, He also plainly states the precise length of their punishment, "The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night" (Revelation 14:11).

Heaven or hell?....The choice is yours. Make sure it is the right one.







God bless you.



Mark Shutts



















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