There is a saying which says, there are two certainties in life; death and taxes.

To be sure death is a sure thing that is going to happen to all; all that lives and breathe are going to die at some point or another. But just what is death? What HAPPENS when a person dies?

Humanity has Differing Beliefs about Death

People have had their own ideas and beliefs about death. For example, From India came the idea that at death, souls transmigrated upward or downward in successive or several reincarnations. In Egypt, there was the belief that body and soul could reunite after death and so, this belief prompted the Egyptians to preserve the body by way of mummification. Also, the well-known or famous Greek Philosopher Plato believed immortality was in the nature of man. Also, the person called St. Augustine – who is recognized by the Catholic church and other professed Christian denomination as being a saint – also believed that men had an immortal soul – meaning the soul depart the body at death; and millions of professing Christians continues to believe those things, but keep in mind that these belief about man having an immortal soul comes from paganistic beliefs and NOT from the Bible – the very word of God. In other words, would you be SHOCKED to know that contrary to what millions of professing Christians believe about man having an immortal soul is contrary to what the Bible teaches? As SHOCKING as this question is, it, nonetheless, it happens to be true.

What is the Soul?

In creating man from the dust of the ground, notice what the Bible says: “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:8).

Take careful note that God breathe into the dust which God had formed from the earth and then the man became a living soul. The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh, and nephesh is used to speak of living things that depend on physical things to keep the body alive – such as food, water, air, and the circulation of blood – because without such thing we would die. For example. The word nephesh is used in Genesis 1:24 – which says: “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth …” Here again is the very same word (nephesh) is used for living soul – meaning all living things – which include man and animals all have a living – breathing soul that lives by depending on food and air to survive – which in turn, proves that the soul is the human body and not some immaterial or indestructible part of man that leaves the body to go on living either in heaven or hell.

But let me supply you with more truth -proving the soul is not immortal.

Notice Leviticus 21:11: “Neither shall he go into any dead body, nor defile himself, for his father or his mother.” The word, “dead body” is the same word (nephesh) used for living soul in Genesis 2:7 for Adam – who became a living soul. As you can see, the soul is the body that dies.

Also notice what the bible said about the body of Christ after He died and was buried: “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (the grave), neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption” Acts 2:27).

Upon reading the above, did you notice anything significant? Notice it says, God would not leave the soul of Christ to come to corruption in the grave; and since God would not allow the body of Christ – which the bible plainly says is the soul – to come to corruption or decay, can you then see the soul is not an immortal part of a man?

Also notice this scripture: “… the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). Here the bible plainly proves the soul is mortal and can die; and yet the millions who profess to be Christians – who believe in the immortality of the soul does not seem to believe what the Bible says about the soul.

There is a passage of scripture that professing Christians will use to say man has a soul and body that are separate. This scripture is found in Matthew 10:28 – where Jesus said: “And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul: but fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” But what did Jesus mean by body and soul? Was Jesus saying man had both a body and a soul?

The holy scripture has shown that the body is nephesh; it is the living soul, and the human body is not separate from the soul but that the soul is the body. But by saying both soul and body. Was Jesus then contradicting what the Scriptures said about the soul being the body? Of course not. Jesus himself said that the scriptures cannot be broken (John 10:35) – meaning the truth of what the Bible says will always stand, and Jesus would never say anything that contradicted God’s Word. – or the Scripture – so, when Jesus said body and soul, we have to look deeper to understand what Jesus meant. And what did Jesus mean by body and soul?

First of all, please notice Jesus said the soul can be destroyed – proving in that very statement that man does not have an immortal or in-destructible soul. Remember, the scripture proves this when it says God would not allow the soul of Jesus to see corruption in the grave; and so, it becomes obvious to see the soul is a mortal thing that can come to corruption. But why did Jesus say both soul and body?

Notice again what Jesus said: “And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul …” The meaning here is that mortal man can kill or murder another person by ending the life of that individual, but after killing the body, humans can do nothing more to hurt the person who has been killed – because the person is simply dead. Furthermore, no human, after killing someone, has the power to determine whether or not that dead person will have eternal life in the kingdom of God or will face the second death in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14) - as it is only God who determines such thing. Knowing then that after men has killed our bodies and can do no more, Jesus wanted us to understand that unlike men who cannot do anything more after they kill our bodies and we die the first death, it is God alone who now has the power to resurrect our dead bodies from the grave and then cast that body or soul into the lake of fire or second death; God, has the power to bring our dead soul back to life and destroy that soul eternally if we are disobedient. This is why Luke 12:5 says: “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell …” Here it plainly confirms what Jesus meant by both soul and body; it means God is able to kill our bodies and bring it back to life, and if we are disobedient, He has the power to destroy our soul in the lake of fire – which is the second death. This is the true meaning of Body and soul being destroyed.

How strange that the millions who profess to believe the Bible is the word of God, and yet, they believe contrary to what it says about the soul. People can certainly believe in God and still do not believe what He says. For example, Adam and Eve knew God was their creator, but at the same time they did Not believe what He told them about eating of the forbidden fruit; they did not believe God was telling them the truth, and so, they chose to believe the very opposite of what God told them; they chose to believe the lie of Satan – who told then they would not die.

People seem to not understand that Satan operate by counterfeiting God’s truth with lies and will say and try to get people to believe the opposite of what God says: God says Adam and Eve would die, Satan says you will not die; God’s words shows man does not have an immortal soul, and Satan counterfeits that truth with the opposite lie that says you have an immortal soul that cannot die. Jesus said Satan is the father of lie and there is no truth in him ()John 8:44); and since Satan is a liar, he will always try to deceive people into believing the opposite of God’s truth; and let me say here that since Jesus said God’s Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 15:26), then there must surely be another spirit working in the minds of people -causing them to believe the opposite of God’s truth; it is surely another spirit influencing the mind of men to not be able to see God’s truth and believe it.

What is Death?

So, we see contrary to popular belief of this professing Christian world, the soul is not an immortal, conscious part of a man that leaves the body at death but is the actual body of a human being. But what happens when the body dies? Does consciousness continue after death? Are we aware of anything after we die? Just what is the truth? Jesus said God’s word is truth; and so, we must rely on what God tells us in his word.

Notice Psalm 146:4: “his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”

The Bible tells us in that when a person dies, in that very day or moment of death the conscious mind comes to a complete end – totally devoid of awareness.

Notice Ecclesiastes 9:5: For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything …” Here God’s words tell us that when we die - we are no longer aware of anything around us and the consciousness comes to its end.

Also, in the book of Job there it is revealed that a man died and his sons came to his funeral to honor him, but did the dead man know that his sons were at his funeral? Notice what the Bible says: “his sons came to honor, and he knoweth it not …” (Job 14:21). The dead man did not know his sons came to his funeral because he was asleep in death; the man was no longer conscious of anything at all.

The ancient Job knew that when a man died it meant the end of consciousness or awareness; so, Job asked this question: “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come” (Job 14:14).

Job knew that death is the absence of life and that one day he would live again; he knew God would one day bring him back to life in the resurrection.

As you can see, millions do not understand death -as God reveals it in the bible, and instead of believing what God says, humanity – including those who profess to believe on Christ believe the opposite of these things; truly, the whole world has been deceived by the cunning Satan; Revelation 12;9 says this whole earth has been deceived by the crafty Satan.

(Just as the people of the world tend to hold to beliefs that are the very opposite of God's truth, even so they do not realize how close we are to the end of this present civilization and what is prophesied to befall the United States in our time. There is a book titled - America in Prophecy - which explains where American is spoken of in the Bible and the things that are to shortly come upon our people, and anyone interested in reading this book may click the link in the resource box below)