(PART 2)

To begin we have to set aside our preconceived notions, ideas, and traditions. We MUST base what we learn from His Word alone, which, He has preserved and sent down from generation to generation.

It is wise to heed what the Prophet Isaiah said:

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them." – Isaiah 8:20.

Let’s begin in the beginning, that is, in the Garden of Eden.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: ~ Genesis 3:1-4

Clearly the serpent is contradicting God. God said "Ye shall die". The serpent said, "Ye shall not surely die". So, who is the liar? God? I don't think so. Obviously the serpent is the liar because it is written:

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; ~ Titus 1:2

So, here is the truth of what God told Adam and Eve:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ~ Genesis 2:17

God told Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Even with a warning from God, who cannot lie, they ate anyway. This would mean that Adam and Eve had to die. And even if they died, their souls went to heaven, right? Well, what does the Bible say?

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. ~ Ezekiel 18:4

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. ~ Ezekiel 18:20

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. ~ Psalms 22:29

Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. ~ Psalms 33:18,19

For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? ~ Psalms 56:13

What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? ~ Psalms 89:48

According to the Word of God in the Bible the soul dies. Nowhere within the Scriptures can it be found of an immortal soul, but it does plainly teach that the soul (person) that sins is destined to die. Adam and Eve don't have bodiless souls in heaven. They both are dead and in the grave. Death is the result (that is, penalty) of sin.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ~ Romans 6:23

Please notice in the above verse that the wages of sin is death…not eternal torment.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ~ John 3:16

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. ~ John 3:36

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ~ John 4:14

He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. ~ 1st John 5:12,13

Eternal life will be the reward for those who are righteous, but this is only given after judgment. The wicked will not see eternal life, but eternal death. They will not have life. Until judgment has been completed, the dead are still in the grave.

This is not enough however. We must define just what a "soul" is by using the Bible.