Question from a WordTruth.Com friend:

>> What happens to the body, soul, and spirit after death?  I know the body goes back to the dust and the spirit goes to God if you have accepted  Jesus Christ as your Savior, but what happens to the soul?  And what is the soul anyway -- is it the same thing as the spirit and used interchangeably?

WordTruth.Com Response:

This is a good question because it is a bit confusing.  We live in the physical world each day and trying to think "out of the body" makes my brain hurt ;-)

The Bible teaches us that if you have trusted in the LORD Jesus Christ who died for your sins and rose bodily from the grave never to die again (Romans 10:9-10), that you also will be resurrected one day never to die again (John 11:25-26).  The Bible also says that to be absent from the body (when you die) is to be present with the LORD (2 Corinthians 5:4-9).  The construction of this wording in the original Greek indicates it is an immediate event -- absent from the body immediately present with the LORD.  So the body goes to the ground and decays away but the inner person (everything apart from the physical body) goes to be with the LORD.  At the resurrection, your inner person will be reunited with your glorified body which will be fit for eternity and you will be forever with the LORD in that eternal state (1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:14-18).

Now the other part of your question relates to the difference between the soul and spirit.  Frankly, the Bible is not clear regarding the difference.  In fact, the two words are often used interchangeably.  However, in Hebrews 4:12 seems to indicate there is a difference but it is very hard for us to distinguish that difference.  Some have suggested that the soul relates to the earthly part of the inner person -- mind, emotions, will -- while the spirit relates to the new birth in Christ -- the part of man that connects with God through the Holy Spirit.  This is a perfectly acceptable view though it is impossible to be dogmatic about it.  This seems to fall in line with the fact that in Christ you are a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) and that those who are born again have a holy seed "planted" as it were by the Spirit of God (1 John 3:9).

So I believe there is a physical, material body of flesh.  There is also an inner person -- spiritual, immaterial -- that consists of the soul (mind, emotions, will) and spirit (the new creation born of the Holy Spirit at the moment of your salvation). Where to draw the line between these two is a matter only of speculation for us.  God, of course, knows all the answers.  One day in Heaven perhaps we can both ask Him to explain it!

May the LORD Jesus Christ bless you with His wisdom and the courage to follow Him!

     Randy Lariscy :-)
     Director - WordTruth Ministries
 

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