What is a Soul?

There’s a Disney Movie That Came Out Last Year Called Soul

It’s About a Pianist, Named Joe, Who Finally Gets His Shot to Play in a Jazz Band

He is as Happy as Could Be…

Until He Falls in an Uncovered Manhole on the Way Home and Dies

Then We See Joe’s Soul/Spirit in His Attempt to Get Back to His Body and Be Alive Again

This Movie is Not a “Christian” Movie…

But it Does Lay the Framework of People Existing Before Birth and After Death

And it Also Seems to Portray the Average Christian View of What a “Soul” is

As Christians, We Use the Word “Soul” a Lot

We Talk About the Eternal Destiny of the Soul…

How Jesus Came to Save Our Soul

We Typically Think of Soul and Spirit as the Same Thing

Google Dictionary Definition of “Soul”:

the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.

But is This the Way the Bible Uses the Word Soul?

Is it Possible That Christians Could Be Using This Familiar Word Wrong?

Have We Twisted the Meaning of Soul?

Let’s Take a Look

The Hebrew Word For “Soul” is Nephesh

This Word Can Be Found 733 Times in the OT

One of the First Times We Find it is in Genesis 2:7

Genesis 2:7 (NASB)

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.

ESV = “Creature”

NLT = “Person”

KJV = “Soul”

Notice That a “Nephesh” Wasn’t Something Adam HAD, But Something He WAS

Also, It Wasn’t Just Adam Who Was Described as Being Nephesh

Genesis 1:21 (NASB)

God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:24 (NASB)

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.

Genesis 1:30 (ESV)

And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Anything That Has the Breath of Life is a Soul

All Living Creatures Are Souls

Not “Have” Souls

“Are” Souls

I’ve Heard Many Times That Humans Are Different From Animals Because We Have Souls

That Statement is Wrong On a Couple Levels

Both Humans and Animals Are Souls

And Humans are Different From Animals Because We Were Created in the Image of God

Genesis 1:26–27 (NASB)

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

To Be God’s Image Bearer is Explained in the Verse

We Were Given Dominion and Rulership Over the Earth On God’s Behalf

The Word Translated Soul in Hebrew = Nephesh, and in Greek = Psuche

Both Words Refer to a Person’s Self, Life, or Existence

When Biblical Authors Say Their Life is in Danger, They Often Say Their “Soul” is in Danger

In Most of Those Cases, They Aren’t Talking About the Afterlife…

They Are Talking About Their Current Life

Psalm 7:1–5 (NASB)

O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.

O Lord my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

The Psalmist is Referring to Physical Enemies Who Are Trying to Take His Physical Life

Soul = Life

We See the Same Idea in the NT with the Word Psuche as Well

Romans 16:3–4 (NASB)

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;

Matthew 16:24–26 (NASB)

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

The Translators are Trying to Distinguish Between Life in This Age and Life in the Age to Come

But Really, There’s No Need to Do That

Losing One’s Soul/Life Means Dying

Saving One’s Soul/Life Means Living

Whether Now or in the Resurrection

Changing the Translation Only Causes Us to Further Twist the True Meaning of Nephesh/Psuche

Are Soul and Spirit the Same?

I’ve Always Struggled to Know What/If There is a Difference Between the 2

According to the Bible, These 2 Words are Not the Same

They Do Have Some Overlap However

Both Can Be Used When Talking About Emotions, Thoughts, or Desires

They Both Can Be Used to Speak of a Person’s Inner Self

But the Word For “Spirit”, in Both Hebrew and Greek, is the Same Word For “Wind” and “Breath”

A Person’s Spirit is the Invisible and Intangible Part of a Person That Makes Them Alive

As James Said, “The Body Without the Spirit is Dead”

Humans are Made Up of 2 Primary Components:

A Body & a Spirit

Soul, On the Other Hand, Does Not Refer to the Invisible Part of Us That Keeps Us Alive

Soul Refers to Our Very Being - Body, Spirit, and All

Soul Represents Something I Am, Not Something I Have

A Dead Body No Longer Has a Spirit, But Can Still Be Called a Soul

Numbers 6:6 (NASB)

‘All the days of his separation to the Lord he shall not go near to a dead person.’

A Dead Body is Never Referred to as a Spirit

The Word “Spirit” is Always About the Invisible, Intangible Aspect of Our Existence

A Spirit Dwells Within a Body, But Isn’t a Body

The Word “Soul” Can Include Every Aspect of Existence

A Soul Refers to the Whole Person or Being (Both Body & Spirit)

“There Were 200 Souls On Board the Plane.”

Not 200 Disembodied Spirits But 200 People

Why Does It Matter?

Because We Want to Use Bible Words in the Ways the Biblical Writers Intended

Souls are Something We ARE, Not Something We HAVE

Anytime We Change the True Meanings of Biblical Words…

We are in Danger of Changing the True Meanings of Bible Teachings

Christians Often Say Our Greatest Concern Should Be For Souls

But What Do We Usually Mean When We Say That?

That We Need to Focus On Getting Them Baptized and Living Faithfully to Jesus

That’s a Wonderful Thing to Be Concerned About

But That Leaves Out a Very Crucial Part of the Christian Life

Caring for People’s Physical Lives

Biblicly, Being Concerned for Someone’s Soul Would Include:

Feeding Them When They are Hungry

Clothing Them When They are Naked

Showing Hospitality to Them When They Have No Place to Stay

Being Concerned for the Souls of Others Should Mean Serving Both Their Temporal and Eternal Needs

James 2:14–17 (NASB)

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

The Gospel is Not Just About Saving the Invisible, Intangible Part of People’s Existence (Their Spirit)

When God Saves a Soul, He Saves the Whole Soul…

Including the Physical Aspect (the Body)

When Jesus Returns, God is Going to Return Our Spirits to Our Bodies

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NASB)

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

He Will Give Life to Our Mortal Bodies

Romans 8:11 (NASB)

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

He Will Redeem Our Bodies

Romans 8:23 (NASB)

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

God is Not Just Concerned for Our Spirits

He is Concerned for Our Souls (Our Spirits and Bodies)

If God is Concerned for Our Souls, Shouldn’t We Be Concerned for the Souls of Others?

That Involves Spreading the Gospel to and Caring for the Physical Needs of Others

So Let’s Go Out into the World and Care for the Souls of Our Neighbors