 |  |
Here, eating and drinking are as closely related to the soul as clothing is to the body.
It is spoken of as being laid down, both by the Lord and by His people (Matt. 20: 28;
John 10: 11; 13: 37; I John 3: 16). It is used also of the individual himself as distinct
from the body:--
"Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear Him
which is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna."
Death, whether by natural decay or by violence, does not involve the individuality, for
there is to be a resurrection. Gehenna, however, can accomplish what man cannot, for in
Gehenna God can destroy (not merely kill), soul as well as body. The soul sums up
moreover all that this present life can hold of pleasure, honour, enjoyment. As such it
must be "lost" if the believer would follow the Lord through suffering to glory. Note the
prominence given to the word in Luke 9: 24:--
"For whosoever will save his life (soul) shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life
(soul) for My sake, the same shall save it."
and also in the parable of the rich man who said to his soul:--
"Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. . . . thou fool, this night thy
soul shall be required of thee" (Luke 17: 13, 20).
The soul is neither spirit nor spiritual. Heb. 4: 12 speaks of the "dividing asunder of
soul and spirit", and the orthodox theological concept is entirely foreign to Scripture. A
living believer can be spoken of as "spirit, soul and body", meaning the living entire
person, living, I say, at the time of the Lord's coming, and not dead, and thereby
necessitating the re-union of spirit and body.
We have not reviewed every occurrence of this word in Scripture, for it is used so
often, but from our study of the subject we understand the soul to be the natural man in
all his outgoings. We do not find the idea in Scripture that the soul is a separate entity,
independent of the natural life of man. Living, he is a living soul; dead, he is a dead soul,
and what may be predicated of the dead, may be predicated of the dead soul.
We come now to your question "concerning the soul having a separate existence apart
from the body".
The passage quoted above (Gen. 2: 7) seems to find its parallel in the world of
physics. By the chemical combination of Oxygen and Hydrogen in correct proportions I
obtain water. By the electrolysis of water, I obtain Oxygen and Hydrogen, but I cannot
have the water as something distinct and separate from the two gases. The moment I
have Oxygen and Hydrogen in a free state, the water ceases to exist. The water is not a
third thing, distinct from the other two; rather it is the resultant of their combination. So
with the soul, the dust of the earth moulded into shape and organism, separated from the
breath of life, is a dead soul. When the breath animates the lifeless form the resultant is a
living soul, but, as in the illustration, we cannot have the soul as something separate, it