The Bible does not teach that the Soul is immortal, however...
Scripture does teach that the Spirit is immortal.
Show me one verse that shows the Spirit being destroyed.
Lets go over scripture and gain understanding, not just try to shoehorn ideas of man..
So lets look at what is meant by spirit and soul:
Imagine the traditional teaching, where we have a spirit and we go to heaven as a spirit when we die. Then please tell me, what is the point of the resurrection?
If we are already in heaven, as immortal spirits, then why would we need to be transformed into spirits on the last day? If it is so, then when our bodies on earth are transformed into spirits, do we end up with two spirits? The one in heaven and the one on earth? Would both spirits have their own separate consciousness? Do our spirits in heaven then join our old bodies which have been transformed? Would we then be a spirit within a spirit? Two spirits? What nonsense!
If we’re being transformed into spirits, then we can not already be spirits, otherwise what would be the point? The point of the resurrection is to make us immortal. To make us spirits. This would be entirely nonsensical if we are already living as spirits in heaven, and this is how Paul’s description of the resurrection proves that we do not have a spirit inside of us that continues to live after death.
Soul (Nephesh)
To add to the confusion, in addition to the obvious body and the presumed spirit, we also supposedly possess a “soul”. What is a soul? You are a soul.
Genesis 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Notice in the verse above that man became a living soul. He was not given a soul. He became a soul. In other words, we do not have souls, we are souls.
The word soul in this verse was originally written in Hebrew as לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ which is transliterated as nephesh. Strong’s concordance defines nephesh as “a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion”. With this definition in mind, the last part of
Genesis 2:7 can be paraphrased as, for example “man became alive” or “man became an individual”. It is in fact the very moment when man gained his self awareness and free will.
The same word occurs 754 times in the old testament, so we can’t look at all examples but let’s look at one more.
Genesis 1:20
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life (Nephesh), and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Here the King James Bible translates it as “creature that hath life”. Remember, this is the same word that was translated as “soul” in
Genesis 2:7. The more examples you look at the more obvious it becomes that when the word “soul” is used in scripture it refers simply to “a living creature”.
So keep in mind the true meaning of the word Nephesh, which can be translated as soul, living creature, person or individual, when you read verses such as…
Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins shall die.
The living creature who sins…
The person who sins…
The individual who sins…
The Spirit (Ruach)
On the flip side, there are a number of verses that can be used to support the notion that we all have a spirit inside of us that continues to live after the body dies. And at first glance, some of these verses are very convincing.
For example
Ecclesiastes 12:7
the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
2 Corinthians 5:8
Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
James 2:26
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Obviously, the key to understanding such verses is understanding the meaning of “spirit”. As it turns out, in these examples, the word spirit refers to the breath of God, which is life.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
This verse seems to imply that our spirit goes up to heaven when we die, but actually “spirit” here refers to the life that God breathed into man in
Genesis 2:7. It’s the life that returns to God, because the life came from God.
Genesis 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The word used through the old testament for spirit is the Hebrew word Ruach which can also be translated as “breath or wind”. In fact, this is how it is translated in various other verses including
Genesis 7:15 and Psalm 104:29.
Genesis 7:15
Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life (ruach) in them came to Noah and entered the ark.
Psalm 104:29
When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath (ruach), they die and return to the dust.
When God gave man life, it was his breath/wind/spirit which God gave. The spirit of God is life. And it’s this spirit, this life, that returns to God in
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Ecclesiastes 12:7
the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit (ruach – life / breath) returns to God who gave it.
Other verses clearly explain that it is the spirit of God, or the breath of God, that has given us life.
John 6:63 says The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life.
Job 33:4 says The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
The many Hebrew names of God in fact include the word Ruach each time.
English Name | Hebrew Name
The Spirit of God | Ruach Elohim
The Spirit of the Lord | Ruach Adonai
The Holy Spirit | Ruach Hakkodesh
The Spirit of the Lord God | Ruach Adonai Elohim
The Spirit of God | Ruach-El
Clearly, the word Ruach does not refer to a ghostly spirit that lives inside each of us, but rather the breath of life which came from God himself, and which is a part of God himself.