From: "Walter Hicks" <wallyshoes@mindspring.com>
> "Just for kicks", I word searched the NT to see what Jesus had to say
about
> this. It seems to me that his opinion should carry more weight than most.
> Eliminating duplications from Mark or Luke, I get the following 4 from
Matthew.
> They seem to imply that we have a soul -- not that we are one.
>
This is an excellent thing to do, and not just for kicks. :)
>
> Matthew 10:28
> Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be
> afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
In understanding this text we need to remember that there are two deaths and
two resurrections.
Everyone dies the first death because of disease or violence as the natural
wages of sin. Paul tells us in Acts 24:15 that there are two resurrections,
"and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a
resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." And in Revelation
20:4-6 we learn that the two resurrections are separated by 1000 years,
"They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of
the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is
the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the
first resurrection. The second death has no power over them,..."
Therefore, we see that everyone dies the first death, that the righteous are
then raised prior to the 1000 years, that the wicked are raised after the
1000 years, and that the wicked will die a second death.
During the resurrection God refashions the body and it is given the breath
of life and we come into existence again as that very same living
beings/souls that we were before. Thus, while our soul existence to exist
at the first death, God will bring the very same soul back to life at one or
the other of the two resurrections. Even though we die, God remembers the
very essence of our personhood and brings us each back as the very same
living being/soul that we were before we died the first death.
The righteous will be resurrected to ever lasting life. The wicked, of the
second resurrection, will later die again in the second death. From this
death the wicked will never be resurrected again. God will forget, per
their request, their very essence of personhood and existence and they will
be permanently gone. There soul is eternally destroyed.
So lets look again at Matt 10:28,
"Do not be afraid of those [human agencies] who kill [destroy] the body [in
the first death] but cannot kill [destroy] the soul [in the second death].
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell
[i.e. the second death].
"Destroying the body" is a metaphor for dying the first death. In a way the
"soul" is not "destroyed" at the first death because God remembers each soul
and will eventually resurrect every soul that has ever lived.
"Destroying the soul" is a metaphor for dying the complete annihilation of
the second death from which there is no resurrection.
> Matthew 16:26
> What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits
his
> soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Lets try this:
?What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, and yet
forfeits his existence? Or what can a man give in exchange for his
existence?"
Soul = living being = existence
> Matthew 22:37
> Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your
> soul and with all your mind.'
Or this:
"Love your God with all your heart and with all your being and with all your
mind."
> Matthew 26:38
> Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of
death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Or this:
"My existence is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death...."
Allen
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