The churches have taught for centuries that the soul is something separate from the body, being immortal and readily confuse this with the spirit. The Bible clarifies the meaning of soul and spirit. The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh that literally means "breather". At Genesis 2:7, it says that "the Lord God (whose name is Jehovah) formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."(King James Version)
The apostle Paul wrote: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul".(1 Cor 15:45, KJV) Thus, just from these two Scriptures, it can already be discerned that man does not have a soul but is one. To further grasp that the soul is us as person with all our desires, Deuteronomy 12 says that "when the Lord God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after".(Deut 12:20, KJV)
Thus, the soul "eats" and breathes, and also has blood, for Jeremiah 2 says to those in Jerusalem, the city being portrayed as a "woman" in which "also in thy skirts is found the blood of the poor innocents".(Jer 2:34) Animals are souls also, for Numbers 31 says to "levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves (or herd),and of the asses (or donkeys), and of the sheep".(Num 31:28, KJV)
Hence, the soul is us as a person, which just as with Adam when Jehovah God put within him "breath" or active force (Hebrew ru'ach), he came to life as a "living soul", so we are a "living soul" that eats and breathes. The spirit or life force is what gives us life, for just as a computer can be complete but without a power source, it remains dead, so likewise we are dead without our life force or spirit.
James wrote that "indeed, just as the body without spirit (Greek pneuma) is dead, so also faith without works is dead".(James 2:26) Again it could be likened to a refrigerator that without its power supply is dead. Psalms 104 says that "if you (God) take away their spirit (Heb ru'ach), they die and return to the dust. If you send out your spirit (holy spirit or God's active force), they are created".(Ps 104:29, 30)
Life ceases when we lose our "spirit" or active force that enables us to be alive, just as unplugging an electrical appliance. On the other hand, just as Adam came to life when "breath" or life force was instilled within him, keeping alive through breath or breathing, so we too received "spirit" or life force directly from our parents when we were conceived in the womb, kept alive through breathing, for life only comes from life.