Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) by William West (reading strategies book .TXT) 📖

/> is the higher, the soul the lower element" (Page 589), yet he says both are "the
immaterial, invisible part of man" (soul on page 588 and spirit on page 593). He said we
have both a higher and a lower " immaterial, invisible part of man."
Those who believe all mankind have an immortal inter part do not seem to know
whether it is the "soul" or the "spirit" that is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that
will live without the earthly body. When preachers preach on the soul being immortal,
they use passages that speak of the spirit but say nothing of the soul. THERE MAY BE
MORE CONFUSION ON WHAT PART OF A PERSON SOME BELIEVE TO BE
IMMORTAL NOW THAN ANY OTHER BIBLE TEACHING.
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MANY USE SOUL AND SPIRIT INTERCHANGEABLY: For their belief, soul
and spirit must be the same. If they were not, they would be forced to say one or the
other is the immortal part of a person or that a person has two immortal beings in
him or her. When I believed in Hell, I could not see there being a separate IMMORTAL
SOUL and IMMORTAL SPIRIT. I used them interchangeably just as most do now
without realizing it. When some read the SPIRIT GOES BACK TO GOD, in their mind
they see the immortal SOUL GOING BACK TO GOD. Those who believe the SOUL
will take up permanent residence in Heaven at the moment of death, and many who
believe the SOUL is in Abraham's bosom and will not be in Heaven unto the judgment
day both use Ecclesiastes 12:7 to prove the SPIRIT goes back to God in Heaven at death.
How could the SPIRIT (the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal part of a
person) return unto God at death if it goes to Abraham's bosom or to Hell? I have
continually been told for years that lost souls go to Hell at the moment of death. Then
how could the soul return to God if it goes to Hell and only the few souls that are saved
go to Heaven at the moment of death? How can they not see that they are saying the soul
goes to one place and at the same time they are saying the soul goes to another place?
After Christ had been dead for three days and after His resurrection He said, "Touch me
not for I have not yet ascended to my father" [John 20:17]. Many say Christ went to an
intermediate place where souls go before the resurrection but not to Heaven. If there were
such an intermediate place, then the soul or the spirit does not return to God at death. One
position is taken on one passage, and then the same persons shifts to another position on
another passage and are continually shifting their position.
SOUL OR SPIRIT, WHICH ONE IS IMMORTAL?
Any time 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12, etc., comes up in a Bible class, the
teacher has the same problem, the same confusion. What is the difference in soul and
spirit? Which one is immortal? Many never seem to be quite sure which of the two, the
soul, or the spirit they believe to be immortal and not sure if they are the same or two
entirely different parts of a person. They use passages, which have "spirit" in them to
prove a person has an immortal soul, and passages, which have "soul" in them to prove a
person has an immortal spirit. As long as anyone holds the view that a person is a twopart
being with one part being the earthly body and one part is immortal, can there be an
answer? If a person is a two-part being and not a three-part being, "soul" and "spirit"
could only be the same thing; for if they were not, then a person would be a three-part
being with two of the parts being immortal. Then which one is loss and which one will go
to Heaven or Hell, the soul or the spirit? Body, soul-life, and spirit all are a person as he
is now in the image of Adam. All three terms, body, soul, and spirit are used referring to
a person at the same time. They are not three parts that can exist without each other. If
they were, a person would have two separate immortal beings in Heaven simultaneously.
They are not three separate beings with opposite natures, with two living within the other
one.
• BODY: The body the Lord formed from the dust of the ground [Genesis 2:7].
• SOUL: "The life...is in the blood" Leviticus 17:10-14. The living nature of a
person that he has in common with all animals.
• SPIRIT: The breath of life breathed in the earthy body. All life is from God, and
returns to God at death [Ecclesiastes 12:7, Job 34:14-15]. All life is a gift from
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God to both man and animals, and it goes back to God at death. The spirit is not
an immortal part of a person that preexisted as a living being with God before the
birth of the person.
Paul does not say may your soul be preserved blameless without your body or spirit.
He puts the three together as being inseparable, the whole person, not three separate parts
of a person.
Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your HEART, and with all
your SOUL (psukee – life), and with all your MIND, and with all your STRENGTH.”
1. With all your HEART
2. With all your SOUL (psukee – life)
3. With all your MIND
4. With all your STRENGTH. What Jesus is saying is that we are to love God with
all our being, not some immaterial invisible no substance something that we
would have no control over and no way to know whether it loved God or not. I
can know I love God with all my heart and with all my mind, but if there were an
immaterial invisible no substance being in me that will live after my death, I
would have no way to know whether it loved God or not. The psukee is no more a
part of a person that lives after the death of the person than the heart, mind or
strength are. All four are a person looked at from different points of view, not four
parts of a person.
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and
marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."
1. Dividing of soul and spirit
2. Dividing of both joints and marrow
3. Dividing of the thoughts and intents of the heart
This passage shows that the soul and spirit are different things and can be divided, but
there is nothing in it that says the soul, or the spirit is an immortal part of a person that
will exist without the person
Some believe the soul, and the spirit are different; but if a person has only one inter
immortal being in him, which one is it, soul (psukee), or spirit (pnuma)?
Those who say the "soul" is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal
must stop using passages, which speaks of the "spirit" to prove the soul is immortal. "The
spirit returns to God" cannot be used to prove the soul is immortal if they are not the
same; however, many do use this passage to prove a person has an immortal soul.
Those who say the "spirit" is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal
must stop using passages speak of the "soul" to prove the spirit is immortal. "Fear him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna" cannot be used to prove the spirit
is immortal if they are not both the same the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is
immortal, but many do use one to prove the other, then will use the other to prove the
one. Is this what is called "reasoning in a circle"?
1 Thessalonians 5:23 does not say what the functions of the body, soul, or spirit is and
what becomes of them at death. It does not say one is mortal and two of them are
immortal and will forever live somewhere. This must be read into it.
• THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT ANY PART OF A PERSON NOW BEING
IMMORTAL IN IT.
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• THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT HELL AFTER THE JUDGMENT IN IT. This
also must be read into it.
Unlike animals, God made man in His image with the potential of living forever. The
spirit [life] of both man and animals returns to God, but one of the differences in persons
and animals is that animals will not be raised from the dead. They are forever dead, just
as a person would be if there were not going to be a resurrection. After death animals will
never again have life just as the loss will never again have life after the second death.
Death is death for both men and animals. Death is not death for animals and another kind
of life for men; it is death for both. The second death will be death, not another kind of
life that will go on forever.
• SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IS FROM RUACH [Strong's word number
7307]. It is translated spirit, breath, and wind, in the King James Version, but it is
NEVER TRANSLATED SOUL.
• SPIRIT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS FROM PNUMA [Strong's word number
4151]. It is translated spirit, ghost, and wind in the King James Version, but it is
NEVER TRANSLATED SOUL.
o Pneuma is translated both WIND and SPIRIT in the same passage. “The
WIND [pneuma] blows wherever it pleases. You may hear its sound, but
you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with
everyone born of the SPIRIT [pneuma]” [John 3:8].
• SOUL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IS FROM NEHPHESH [Strong's word
number 5315]. It is translated life, creature, soul, person, mind, etc. in the King
James Version, but it is NEVER TRANSLATED SPIRIT.
• SOUL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS FROM PSUKEE [Strong's word number
5590. Psukee-Wigran, Page 807]. In the King James Version it is translated life,
soul, heart, heartily, mind, he, strength, and us, but it is NEVER TRANSLATED
SPIRIT.
There are more than 1,600 references to soul and spirit in the Bible but not a one of
them says anything about the soul or spirit living without the body yet many who say
they teach only the Bible teach it all the time.
THE PROBLEM FOR UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY is which one is
immortal? The soul or the spirit? Which one will be in Heaven or Hell? "May your spirit
and soul and body be preserved entire, [may the whole person, not just an invisible no
substance part of a person] without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
• Spirit preserved entire, when, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
• Soul preserved entire, when, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
• Body preserved entire, when, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
o This is speaking of the whole person being preserved when “this mortal
must put on immortality” [1 Corinthians 15:53], a spiritual being with a
spiritual body when mortal earthly body of flesh and blood will not be
preserved.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit [pneuma]" [Matthew 5:3]. Are they poor in a no
substance immortal spirit? Spirit and soul are not used interchangeably, and a
passage that has one in it cannot be used to prove anything about the other one as
many do today. BODY, SOUL, SPIRIT: The whole man of