Most of my polemics in relation to the alleged immortality of the soul are necessarily negative. Most of us have held to the Greek presuppositions without question, and so there is a tearing down that precedes the building up. It is a shock to realize that perhaps one has been totally wrong about what the Bible really says about the subject. Plus, there are all kinds of intense emotions tied up in this belief that human souls are by nature immortal, and that personal identity and consciousness continues on uninterrupted after death. Everyone has lost loved ones and the pain of separation can be acute. Most people take comfort that the deceased loved one (notice the word; "de-ceased") is "in a better place" rejoicing in the presence of the Lord with loved ones who have "gone on before". It is VERY disturbing to seriously consider that that comfort has been misplaced, and might be based on something that's not true.

 

The issue for me is the truth. What does the Bible really say about this subject? There is really very little debate about what the Old Testament view is. At this point, I am convinced that the basic paradigm that I have categorized as "Hebraic" is what Jesus and the writers of the New Testament believed, and constitutes the categories of thought and the presuppositions from which they spoke and wrote. 
 

After the first shock wore off, and as I worked to readjust my thinking, I began to see some other things in the New Testament that have given me much comfort and hope. Also, my daily life and walk has been affected in a positive manner, and certain emphases in my walk that the Spirit had imparted to me over the years fell into place and have actually become enhanced.
 

One thing is that life is precious and to make the most of every moment. I have one lifetime to please my Father and gain his approval. The main way to do this is to believe in his son and behave accordingly.
 

I love the earth, the creation - it is good - it's my home. Commensurate with this is that my body is as much "me" as my soul is. It is not a prison, nor is it something that I will escape at death. When my body dies I will die. However, contrast the Greek "body" with the apostle Paul's concept;

the physical body to the Greeks was a prison. To Paul it was a temple. Paul did not wish to be found "naked", but to be further clothed.

 

Another thing is humility. REAL humility. Humility that is based upon reality. Not a "humility" that is based on a false doctrine of how sinful, rebellious, and inherently depraved I am, but a humility based on the truth about what I, a human being, really am. As Abraham said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes..." (Gen 18:27)

 

 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
 The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger for ever.
 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities.
 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
 As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear him.
 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children
 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. (Ps 103:2-19)

 

See the nature of the relationship here? God knows and remembers that we are dust. He does not deal with us according to our sins. He forgives iniquity and heals diseases. He redeems our life from the Pit - that is, the grave - this is a reference to the resurrection - He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, ...because he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

 

This paradigm helps to understand Jesus' attitude when he told one of the disciples who had asked him to "...let me first go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead" (Mt 8:21-22, Luke 9:60).

 

Also, "But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion" (Ecclesiastes 9:4).

 

Consider also the various statements made concerning marriage. If a spouse dies, the surviving spouse is free to remarry. This is because the dead spouse is dead, asleep in the grave, their present life is done, and there is no giving or taking in marriage in the resurrection. Marriage is not, contrary to what some would say, for all eternity. All these statements fall into place given the Hebraic presupposition.

 

Concerning death, and the discomfiting idea that we lie unconscious and "a-moulderin' in the grave" so to speak, there are certain mitigating positive ideas and verses that I would like to bring forward.

 

Samuel (if it was Samuel) at Endor spoke of being "disturbed" when he was brought up. This suggests that he was resting in peace. I think of it as "peaceful oblivion." This point of view is found also in Job:

 

• Why did I not die at birth...for now I would have lain down and been quiet, I would have slept then, I would have been at rest...with kings and counselors of the earth...with princes who had gold...or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be...there the wicked cease from raging and there the weary are at rest, the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. (Job 3:11-19)

 

Over and over again in the Old Testament it says something like, "So-and-so fell asleep and was gathered to his fathers." This is comforting language.
 

I think there comes a time when the pain of life and the degeneration of the body is such that "peaceful oblivion" has its appeal.

There are, however, more compelling ideas than these that lend a positive hue to the situation.

The first and most important one, the foundation, is that Jesus rose from the dead. Paul staked EVERYTHING on it - including his own resurrection. And not just "raised" in some kind of "spiritual" sense, but ACTUALLY raised, physically, from the dead in an immortalized body, the same body that went into the grave. The tomb is empty. 

 

• ...he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also...He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit AS A GUARANTEE. (2 Cor 4:14, 5:5)

 

We have a guarantee that God will raise us as he did Jesus. That's a GUARANTEE - from GOD.
 

In stressing the significance of Christ's resurrection, Paul says that if Christ has not been raised,
 

• Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (1 Cor 15:18)

 

But Christ has indeed been raised, therefore we can say that those who have died in Christ have NOT perished, even though they "sleep" in the earth.
 

• Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Cor 15:47-49)

 

Believe it!
 

• If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. (Romans 14:8-9)

 

Even if I die, I am still the Lord's. Christ is Lord even of the dead. It is TO THIS END that Christ died and was resurrected, that he might be Lord of both THE DEAD as well as the living. Is not this a great comfort?
 

• For I am sure that neither death...nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

 

Not even death can separate us from God's love. This is also the message we get from Psalm 139:
 

• Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. (Ps 139:7-8)

 

So even though we may sleep in peaceful oblivion, returning to dust, we are NOT perished, nor are we separated from God's presence and love. He is with us, even in the grave. And we have his GUARANTEE that he will raise us from the dead, even as he raised Christ Jesus. We can rest in peace indeed, trusting in Him.
 

• ...we who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. FOR IN THIS HOPE WE WERE SAVED. (Romans 8:23-24)

 

In what hope were YOU saved? So that you could go to heaven when you die? I ask you to seriously reconsider where your hope is placed. Paul's hope was in the redemption of the body.
 

• As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form. (Ps 17:15)