Can the Soul Die? What the Bible Says About Spiritual Death

The death of the body is something we will all experience. But what about the soul? Can the soul actually die as well? If so, what would that look like? What does it actually mean to be spiritually dead?

When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, God had told them that they would die that very day. In the last study, we looked into what that meant and learned that God was telling them they would begin the action of dying, not immediately reach the final result of it.

Their bodies began the process that very day. But we are not just our bodies. We have a soul. So what happened to their souls?

What Is the Soul

I don’t want to just assume you know what the Bible means when it talks about a person’s soul. So let me explain what a soul really is and where it really comes from.

Have you ever wondered how a soul comes to be? There are many different beliefs on the subject. Some believe the soul is actually bits and pieces of God that He puts into us. Others think the soul exists through eternity as “spirit babies.” But the Bible actually gives us the correct information in this verse.

When it says God breathed into man the breath of life, it doesn’t tell us that breath became a part of Adam. It doesn’t say that breath delivered an eternal soul. It tells us that the breath made something.

Man became a living soul. That word became is important. It means the soul was created. It has a beginning. It was not eternally existent in the past. It is not sent; it becomes. And what became a living soul?

The breath of God animated that body as a living being with his own mind, will, and emotions. Notice that it says the man himself became a living soul. It did not say a separate invisible being was placed in his body.

If you see a corpse, you’re looking at the body of someone—but you instinctively know that the person is gone. There is no life in the body. There is no personality, no mind, no will, no emotions. It has become nothing more than a physical object rather than a living person.

At a certain point after the body dies, it cannot be brought back by human means. That’s why we don’t work on people who die around the clock, trying to raise them from the dead. If we could pump blood through that dead body, fill its lungs with air, and send electricity through its brain, we still would not be able to bring it to life after a certain point.

Life comes from the breath of God creating your soul. The soul is the actual living person—who you actually are. The soul is what has the personality, the mind, the will, and the emotions. The body is simply the medium by which it can express those things.

When Does Life Begin?

One important thing I also want to mention here is that the Bible doesn’t tell us we get our soul at first breath as some claim. God doesn’t breathe air like us. God’s Spirit itself is what was breathed into Adam. There are multiple verses that speak of the breath of God being His Spirit.

That life-giving Spirit of God is not the first breath of oxygen we take in. It is present in our bodies at conception. I can say this with certainty because the Bible tells us the life of the body is in the blood.

If there is active blood within someone, that means there is life. And blood is present at conception, long before even the first heartbeat.

I point this out because it ends the debate about when life begins. Too many babies have been murdered because of the brainwashing that tells people they are just clumps of cells and not living souls. And some even try to point to the Bible, saying life begins at first breath, when in reality it says the life is in the blood.

If you have experienced this, I don’t want you to just know that it was murder. I want you to also know that the child is safe with God and will be raised to new life one day. And I want you to also know that there is grace and forgiveness available to you through Jesus. You can be redeemed!

But in getting back to the subject, the soul is the real, unseen you. The body is only the physical medium through which it operates.

Can the Soul Die?

That brings us back to our question: Can the soul die? Yes. Just as the body dies, the soul can also die.

When Adam and Eve sinned, their souls also began this process of dying. Both the body and the soul can die. We just need to remember what that actually means according to Scripture.

The death of the body involves a process of loss. It breaks down over time. Eventually, it can’t even hold itself together and turns to dust. But what does it mean for a soul to be dying?

The process is similar. Even while it remains in our bodies, the soul is also in an active state of dying. As it is said, we begin dying the moment we begin living. The soul is also experiencing loss little by little. Eventually, it too will reach its final state if God does not intervene.

But if the body is physical and breaks down physically, what do you think that relates to for the soul?

The Soul vs. the Brain

Before I say what I am about to, I want to make something very clear because I don’t want anyone to misunderstand this. There is a difference between the soul and the brain.

The brain is a physical organ through which the soul expresses itself. The brain is not the actual immaterial mind, will, or emotions. It is not itself the soul. It is a physical instrument used by the soul to interact with and operate within the physical world.

This means that not every mental disorder or brain injury is evidence that someone’s soul is damaged. A person may lose memories, experience changes in behavior, struggle with mental illness, or even lose the ability to control their body because the brain has been damaged, while the soul itself remains the same.

We can see this in cases where severe brain injuries have caused dramatic changes in a person’s personality. Someone who was once gentle, patient, and devoted to Christ may become very different after suffering a brain injury. In these cases, the physical brain is no longer properly expressing the soul.

In some cases, the person even recognizes that something is wrong. They may say, in effect, “This isn’t who I am,” because they know that the thoughts, impulses, or behaviors being expressed through their damaged brain do not represent who they actually are. The physical instrument is no longer faithfully expressing the person who is operating through it.

The soul has not necessarily changed simply because the brain’s ability to express the soul has changed. The brain can distort, obstruct, or interfere with that expression without affecting the soul itself.

As humans, it can be very hard for us to know what is the person and what is the damaged brain. This is especially hard in cases of mental illness. We may ask ourselves, “Did the person do, say, or think that, or was it the illness?” Thankfully, God knows the difference and is able to judge between the soul and the flesh.

This distinction is important when I talk about the death of the soul. I am not talking about a damaged brain, a mental disorder, or a temporary inability to express one’s thoughts and true personality. I am talking about something that happens to the soul itself.

The soul is the real you, not the information your brain processes. This alone is a huge subject that really needs to be talked about, but it goes beyond the purpose of this study.

So, if the soul is your actual immaterial mind, will, and personhood, what can it lose if not those things? The death of the soul is therefore the corruption and eventual destruction of not the brain, but the very person—the soul itself.

We don’t immediately arrive at that final state. But over time, sin corrupts our soul. The process of death for the soul can be seen in the way the world slips further and further into madness. If you wonder why it appears we are losing our minds as a society, this is your answer.

The Living Dead

In fact, the Bible speaks of the sinner’s soul as if it were already dead.

It’s important for me to point something out about this because the final state of death for the soul comes after the judgment that we will talk about later. But this isn’t speaking of the final state of a dead soul. It is talking about being dead while still being alive.

How can the Bible speak of being alive while being dead? Does it make sense? Yes, if you understand that dying is a process.

Abraham’s body had not fully died, yet part of it was no longer functioning. He was alive while being dead in one area at the same time. Sarah was able to laugh, but her womb was dead.

Imagine someone with frostbite. They are alive, but there is a part of them that is dead. In the same way, a person living in sin has a part of their soul already dead while some life may still remain. This is why even the worst among us can sometimes act with kindness.

Death inevitably spreads, but not always instantly. This is also seen in how Pharaoh hardened his heart in the book of Exodus. His rebellion was light at first, but continued to spread. He died inside with every choice to go against God, little by little.

The First and Second Death

If you think about it, there are two deaths: one for the body and one for the soul.

The first part of us that will reach the final state of death is our body. It completely shuts down, and our soul departs from it. The soul has not yet reached its final state. And that final state is going to depend on what you do with Jesus.

The born-again Christian will experience the death of the body, which is the first death. But they will never experience the second death, which is of the soul. Instead, even their bodies will be raised to new life.

This parable has more than one meaning. It spoke of Jesus dying to bring us salvation. But it also shows us another truth.

One of two things can happen to a seed. It can die and be raised to new life, or it can completely rot. This can also be seen as an illustration of our own lives.

The outer shell of the seed can be seen as our bodies. The inner part can be seen as our soul. If there is life in our soul through being born again, our outer shell will fall and die, but the inner life will spring up into a new body.

But if that seed is rotten and dead inside and out, it simply rots. The body of the unbeliever falls and dies, but their soul is rotten and does not spring up into new life again.

Knowing that both our bodies and souls can die, we can now begin to understand the difference between what the Bible calls the first and second death.

The second death holds no power over those that have put their life in Jesus. He does not let their soul die. But a day of judgment is coming for those that have not.

The final state of death for the soul that rejects Jesus and the life He offers is complete corruption and eternal burning in the lake of fire.

Death is not simply falling asleep. And it doesn’t have to be the end. Death is, at best, a doorway for the Christian into new life, and, at worst, the final state of corruption and continual burning for those that reject Jesus.

And this is the point in our studies that becomes somber. It’s time for us to see what the Bible says about this place called hell and the lake of fire. We will begin that in our next study.

Continue To Unit 2:13 – What Does the Bible Say about Hell OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 2 – Sin and Eternal Judgment