Killing the Soul

"And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Matthew 10:28 CLNT)

Your translation of the Bible probably renders the word "Gehenna" as “hell”. That is unfortunate and an example of how the Bible was translated into English according to the bias of the translators to promote the vain "directions of men" rather than the Word of God.

"Yet in vain are they revering Me, Teaching for teachings the directions of men." (Matthew 15:9 CLNT)

"Gehenna" refers to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem where trash and dead bodies of animals and criminals were burned. Among that garbage, the worms did not die and the fire was not quenched until it had accomplished the job of destroying the body.

"And if your hand should ever be snaring you, strike it off. It is ideal for you to be entering into life maimed, rather than, having two hands, to come away into Gehenna, into the unextinguished fire where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out." (Mark 9:43-44 CLNT)

So what is Jesus saying to his fellow Jews about "fear" and "Gehenna"?

Remember that while on earth, Jesus preached only to ISRAEL about their promised Kingdom. The Kingdom they once ruled on the earth was now in the hands of the Roman Empire. He told them that they needed to “repent! for near is the Kingdom of the Heavens”, referring to the restoration from heaven of their Kingdom.

"Thenceforth begins Jesus to be heralding and saying, Repent! for near is the kingdom of the heavens!...teaching in their synagogues and heralding the evangel of the kingdom" (Matthew 4:17,23)

Jesus was presenting himself to Israel as the Jewish Messiah who would restore on earth the Kingdom promised to Israel. But he told them that to follow him as Messiah could result in his followers being treated as criminals and could result in their death, with their dead body being cast into "Gehenna".

This would and did bring fear to the Jews. Jesus said they need not fear men who kill them because that is all they could do. Jesus said for them to "fear" God, not those who kill the body and can then do no further damage. For God only could raise both body and soul out of the ashes of the fire of "Gehenna" to reign with Messiah during the Kingdom.

The “souls” of those Jews who did not receive Jesus as Messiah would not be revived until after the Kingdom and would therefore miss out on the reign of Messiah during the 1000 year Kingdom Age.

"And the souls of those executed because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who do not worship the wild beast or its image, and did not get the emblem on their forehead and on their hand- they also live and reign with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead do not live until the thousand years should be finished." (Revelation 20:4-5 CLNT)

Those who use the above verse to teach eternal conscious torment in hell show either their lack of study, or that they are intentionally deceiving people for the purpose of growing their institutions. They will one day be "ashamed" to have tried to save souls from the Greek mythological hell of eternal conscious torment…they should fear that they themselves may not be raised to the free gift of eternal life "until the thousand years should be finished".

"For whosoever may be wanting to save his soul will be destroying it, yet whoever shall be destroying his soul on account of Me and of the evangel will be saving it...For whosoever may be ashamed of Me and My words in this generation...the Son of Mankind also will be ashamed of him whenever He may be coming in the glory of His Father." (Mark 8:35-38 CLNT)

You Are Not Born Again - Yet

"Jesus answered and said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot SEE the kingdom of God…Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot ENTER into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:3-6)

In the zeal of Christian apologists to have people join their particular branch of Christianity, they have equated the term "born again" with being saved. It amazes me that almost all Christians buy into this teaching when the above passage says no such thing.

Jesus was simply stating that no one can SEE or ENTER the Kingdom of God until he is RESURRECTED to spirit from the death of the flesh. Just as we all were born when our mothers WATER broke, so shall we be born again of SPIRIT after we have died and are resurrected to new spiritual life. Nicodemus, like most Christian teachers today thought Jesus was talking about something that happens in this life. Jesus rebuked Nicodemus and told him he was talking about heavenly things...

"If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (John 3:12)

1 Peter 1:3 is the only other place in Scripture that uses the term “new birth” and Peter was clearly thinking about our "living hope" of resurrection from the dead so that we can claim our inheritance that is now kept in heaven …

“In his great mercy he has given us NEW BIRTH into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4)

And Jesus, after his resurrection, instructed Paul to teach both Jews and Gentiles about this new "spiritual" creation in great detail in his letter to the Corinthians...

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory...it is sown a natural body, it is raised a SPIRITUAL body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving SPIRIT. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual." (1 Corinthians 15:42-45)

No one, except Jesus, has yet been born again to become "a life-giving Spirit", but we all can die with that hope and expectation. For me it is clear that the term “born again” refers to our hope of being resurrected just as Jesus was resurrected, and at that time we will be saved from death to enter the "kingdom of God". Quoting Psalm 49:15 Luke speaks of Jesus in Acts 2:27...

"Thou will not leave my soul in hell (sheol - the grave)..." (Psalm 16:10)

My faith is that God will not leave anyone in the grave, but will changed from a former "living soul" into a  "live-giving Spirit".

“And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life (nephesh-soul) “. (Genesis 1:30)

“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (nephesh-soul)” (Genesis 2:7)

The Hebrew word for “soul” is “nephesh”. If you are familiar with Strong’s Concordance and want to look up how it is translated into English in the KJV it is Strong’s number 5315.

What is the Soul?

The “soul” is the seat of sensation. It should not be confused with the “spirit” (Hebrew “ruach”) but it seems to me most Christian teachers do not know the difference, mixing up the two and causing a doctrinal mess. There are different Hebrew and Greek words for both "soul" and "spirit" but even the translators do not always distinguish them.

What is a "soul" then...biblically speaking? It is the result of the union of a BODY with SPIRIT from God. When these two unite the result is “a living being" (SOUL), whether man or animal.

So what happens to the “soul” when a person or animal dies? Well think about it. The body returns to the "dust from the ground" from which it was "formed" and the "breath of life" (spirit) returns to God who gave it.

“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

And both the Hebrew word “sheol” and its Greek equivalent “hades” mean the same thing…imperceptible or unseen…not some mythical torture chamber called hell. At death all “souls” go to "sheol/hades" and becomes imperceptible, or unseen. There is no perception or sensation in "sheol/hades". These Hebrew and the Greek words have, unfortunately for truth seekers, been mistranslated “hell” by the KJV of the Bible and many other versions. And the meaning is then distorted and defined by Greek Mythology.

This is not rocket science folks, just a matter of believing God rather than men and trying to sort out the truth from the commentaries of lazy teachers we who prefer to teach as "doctrines the precepts of men".  They prefer these precepts to the accurately translated Word of God. And Jesus, the very Word of God in the flesh says to these religious experts...

"In vain do they worship me, teaching as DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men...You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition" (Mark 7:7-8)

AMEN TO THAT!