Lesson 22

Christians who accept the Jewish testimony for what the Old Testament contains will turn to the New Testament to find scriptural support for the immortal soul doctrine as it contains a lot about eternal life. Jesus tells us that whoever believes, eats his body and drinks his blood has eternal life. He also tells us he will raise them up, bring them back from the dead, resurrect them, on the last day when he returns to the earth. Christians who are looking for verses to support the immortal soul doctrine don’t turn to these verses, because if you already possessed an immortal soul, why would you need to believe in Jesus to receive eternal life as you would be already living it?

John 6: Easy-to-Read Version

47 “I can assure you that anyone who believes has eternal life.
50 Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will never die.
54 Those who eat my body and drink my blood have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day.
39 I must not lose anyone God has given me. But I must raise them up on the last day. This is what the one who sent me wants me to do.
40 Everyone who sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”
44 The Father is the one who sent me, and he is the one who brings people to me. I will raise them up on the last day. Anyone the Father does not bring to me cannot come to me.

The verses used to support the immortal soul doctrine are usually more circumstantial than those where Jesus tells us the dead believers will be raised back to life when he returns. I believe that like capital punishment, the belief in immortality should not be determined using circumstantial evidence and that all verses in the Bible need to be in agreement. The New Testament tells us only those who accept Jesus will receive eternal life but the sinful will die. What is the Bible definition of death? 

John 8:21-24 Easy-to-Read Version
21 Again, Jesus said to the people, “I will leave you. You will look for me, but you will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.” 22 So the Jewish leaders asked themselves, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he said, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?” 23 But Jesus said to them, “You people are from here below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don’t belong to this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins. Yes, if you don’t believe that I Am, you will die in your sins.”