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Body, Soul and Spirit

Designed For the Gospel

Dane Smith Toffler


Body, Soul and Spirit

Designed for the Gospel


Preface
There is much difference of opinion among people regarding our
spiritual make-up. This book will address how the subject is
defined in the Holy Bible. That said, the various believers and
denominations that use the Judeo-Christian scriptures as their
guide are not unanimous in their interpretations of this very im-
portant subject. This book will attempt to explain the differ-
ences in opinion as well as their historical origins.

The author believes that all religious people have interpreted this
subject to the best of their abilities, and he realizes that not all
will share in his interpretation of the scriptures on this subject.
He asks only that each believer consider prayerfully the points
made and to let the matter be decided by the Holy Spirit as it is
His office to guide us all into the Truth.

Dane Toffler
Linden, Virginia September 2008

© Contents copyright 2008 by Dane Smith Toffler

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Body, Soul and Spirit
“May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may
your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23, RSV.
n his closing remarks to the believers at Thessalonika,
I quoted above, Paul prayed for sanctification (the des-
tiny that God desires for us) to be complete in them. He
told them that this would affect their bodies, their souls
and their spirits.
Just as, physically, the body contains organs, muscles and
bones, so the spiritual composition of a person has the
components of body, soul and spirit. The organs, muscles
and bones do not have a personality, but the spiritual
components do. As a person I can be identified by my
body, my soul or my spirit. At the level of identification,
the three components are almost interchangeable. As a
person experiences me, I might be described as strong or
noble or sad. Strength could refer to my physical or bod-
ily strength. Nobility might reflect my soul or personal-
ity. Sadness could describe my feelings or the state of my
spirit. But, conclusively identifying which spiritual com-
ponent was referred to by these qualifying adjectives
might be difficult or impossible.
But, the spiritual components of a person have a purpose
outside of personality descriptions. God designed humans
to have this spiritual anatomy in order to save them. He
did not design the other animals in His creation the same
way. Animals do not have morals, they simply live and
die. When they die they just return to where they started.
Mankind is different. We were created in God’s image
and we have the same components spiritually that He
does.
It was part of God’s plan in our creation to make us in
such a way that we could be saved even though w e
would be sinners that could not be saved naturally. We
would be saved spiritually. God would take advantage of
the fact that we exist on two levels, naturally and spiri-
tually. You may ask why I say two levels instead of three,
because of the body, soul and spirit description. I will
explain this presently.
What is Life?
First we must look at the details of God’s description of
life itself. God speaks, through His prophets and apostles,
of life in two ways when He speaks of natural life. First,
He speaks of the relation between body and breath:
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7, RSV.

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In Eden, we see that He breathed life into the inanimate
body He had created. This breath of life was in Him and
He put it in the man. So He transferred His life to us.
When we die the reverse happens:
“And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the
spirit returns to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7, RSV.
Secondly, while we are alive naturally, God says the life
is in our blood:
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood” Leviticus 17:11,
RSV.
Science tells us this last fact, also. We know that the
blood carries the oxygen continually through our bodies
making the whole body alive. When breathing stops, life
stops.
So, naturally, we receive life from God and it is carried in
our bloodstream until we die. This life is temporary.
What is Eternal Life?
Spiritually, we may receive another kind of life from God
which is permanent or eternal.
After Jesus had resurrected, He appeared to His disciples
and said:
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I
send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on

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them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John
20:21,22, RSV.
When the feast of Pentecost came approximately fifty
days later, a similar experience was had by the apostles
and around 120 disciples:
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all to-
gether in one place. And suddenly a sound came from
heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. And there appeared to
them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each
one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit
gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4, RSV.
So, similar to the breathing of the breath of life that
Adam experienced that gave him natural life in the be-
ginning, here the apostles and disciples are breathed upon
by God to bring them a new kind of life. See what the
apostle Paul says in the epistle to the Romans:
“But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in
fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does
not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But
if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because
of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If
the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will

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give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit
which dwells in you.” Romans 8:9-11, RSV.
The inspiration of the Holy Spirit brings about a rela-
tionship with Jesus Christ:
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life;
he who has not the Son of God has not life.” 1 John
5:11,12, RSV.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul makes the following comparison:
“Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living
being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” 1
Corinthians 15:45, RSV.
Christ is the one named the last Adam, as this is a second
beginning for mankind.
In both cases, natural life and eternal life, the spirit that
animates us is from God, it is not part of us. It is external
to us until God acts.
“The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the
Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4, RSV.
Spiritual Influence
Thus far we have looked at the definition of spirit which
describes that which makes us alive. The Bible also
speaks of a kind of spirit that has influence over the liv-

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ing. In this regard let us look at what Jesus told Nicode-
mus during their night-time interview:
“The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound
of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither
it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the
Spirit.”” John 3:8, RSV.
In the above passage, the English words “wind” and
“Spirit” are used to translate the Greek word pneuma.
Pneuma is also sometimes translated as breath. It is there-
fore necessary to see that the context where pneuma is
found is important for translating it properly into an
English equivalent.
In Jesus’ example He tells us that the effect of wind and
the Spirit are similar in that we see the results of the
wind blowing but we do not actually see the wind, we
see the result of the Spirit’s influence on a person, but we
never actually see the Spirit. The wind influences the tree
branches and the leaves, the Spirit influences the behavior
of a person.
In the Hebrew of the Old Testament the word ruach is
used in the same manner pneuma is used in the Greek of
the New Testament. In the following quotations from the
Old Testament ruach is used in a manner to show another
way that spirit can be understood:

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“And if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is
jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if the spirit
of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife,
though she has not defiled herself...” Numbers 5:14, RSV.
“My people inquire of a thing of wood, and their staff
gives them oracles. For a spirit of harlotry has led them
astray, and they have left their God to play the harlot.”
Hosea 4:12, RSV.
In the above cases a man can be filled with a “spirit” of
jealousy or a “spirit” of harlotry. This is describing how
the thoughts, beliefs or inclinations of a man’s mind can
so overwhelm him that he takes an action based on those
thoughts, beliefs or inclinations. This is another example
of that which is unseen producing something seen.
Our Spirits
In all these cases, since spirit is an influence either from
without or within, it is hard to see it as a true part of the
person as in body, soul and spirit.
But there are also examples from the Bible which show a
spirit with “personhood”:
“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation;
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”” Mark
14:38, RSV.

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“And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” Luke 1:47,
RSV.
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in
the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I mention you
always in my prayers,” Romans 1:9, RSV.
“It is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,” Romans 8:16, RSV.
Spiritual versus Unspiritual
“For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the
spirit of the man which is in him?
So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except
the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of
the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we
might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
And we impart this in words not taught by human wis-
dom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual
truths to those who possess the Spirit.
The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the
Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able
to understand them because they are spiritually dis-
cerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:11-14, RSV.
In these last verses, Paul is telling us that if we do not re-
ceive the Spirit of God, our thinking will only be influ-
enced by the spirit and wisdom of the world, which
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leaves us unspiritual and unable to understand spiritual
matters. But, if we receive the Spirit of God we will be
spiritual and we will be able to understand spiritual mat-
ters. Even though neither the spirit of the world nor
God’s Spirit can be seen, each has its influence: one leaves
us unspiritual, the other makes us spiritual.
Life versus Eternal Life
Paul makes the point that it is my spirit that knows my
thoughts, just as it is the Spirit of God that knows His
thoughts. God has a Spirit and since I am created in His
image, I also have a spirit. But, it must be remembered
that my spirit is the life within me, and that life is either
the natural life I received at birth or it is eternal life re-
ceived through faith and both are borrowed from God.
When our lives begin we receive the breath of life to ani-
mate us, but this is only meant to be a place-holder until
we become born-again. At that time we are meant to re-
ceive the Spirit of God to replace the breath of life. The
breath of life only gives us temporary existence, but the
Spirit of God brings us life eternal. The breath of life is a
type of eternal life. It points forward to the anti-typical
eternal life brought about by receiving the Holy Spirit.
As born-again believers we receive our life from having
the Spirit of God instead of from breathing air.

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The Body as a Spiritual Component
Now we will turn our thoughts to considering the body.
The body is referred to in the Bible by various concepts:
as the flesh or that which is fleshly; as that which is car-
nal; as a tent, temple or tabernacle. It is that part of us
which is involved in works or actions as contrasted with
the part involved with faith or spirit. It is also referred to
as the outward or outer man.
It is the body that carries the inherited sin-principle, the
tendency towards sin and sinning. It is this relationship
between the body and sin that causes all humanity to sin
from birth onward. See the following Bible texts:
“For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the
flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the
Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of
the Spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh
is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can it be: and they that are in the
flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:5-8, ASV.
“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this
body of death?” Romans 7:24, RSV.
“We know that our old self was crucified with Him so
that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might
no longer be enslaved to sin.” Romans 6:6, RSV.

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“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the
flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24, RSV.
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if
by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you
will live.” Romans 8:13, RSV.
“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh,
could not do: sending His own Son in the likeness of sin-
ful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,” Ro-
mans 8:3, RSV.
“Therefore as sin came into the world through one man
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men be-
cause all men sinned--” Romans 5:12, RSV.
“Among these we all once lived in the passions of our
flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we
were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of
mankind.” Ephesians 2:3, RSV.
“The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from
their birth, speaking lies.” Psalms 58:3, RSV.
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did
my mother conceive me.” Psalms 51:5, RSV.
“The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth”
Genesis 8:21, RSV.
These texts show that the imaginations of a man’s mind
and the feelings of his heart are controlled by the passions
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and desires of the body, causing the man to sin and do
evil. We inherited these tendencies to evil because Adam’s
children were born in his likeness and his image instead
of the likeness and image of God. We see that the testi-
mony of the Scripture, both Old and New Testaments,
agrees in describing our sad condition.
The Body as a Dwelling Place
God’s intention was to have our bodies be used as a
dwelling place:
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You
are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glo-
rify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19,20, RSV.
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that
God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s
temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy,
and that temple you are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16,17, RSV.
These verses below refer to the body as the tent we live
in:
“And I think it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to
stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing
that the putting off of my tabernacle cometh swiftly,
even as our Lord Jesus Christ signified unto me.” 2 Peter
1:13,14, ASV.

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“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is de-
stroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. Here indeed we groan,
and long to put on our heavenly dwelling, so that by
putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we
are still in this tent, we sigh with anxiety; not that we
would be unclothed, but that we would be further
clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by
life.” 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, RSV.
Outer Man and Inner Man
Therefore, my body is a dwelling place, both for me and
for the Holy Spirit. How is this possible? See the follow-
ing verses:
“Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward
man is renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16, ASV.
“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”
Romans 7:22, ASV.
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His
glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through
His Spirit in the inward man;” Ephesians 3:16, ASV.
If we have an outer nature and a inner nature, we need to
know the differences between them. First of all, we must
realize that we were born with the two natures, but have
only been aware of one of them. This is because when we
are born, the inner nature is dead or dormant because of
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sin. It continues to be dormant until we become born-
again. At that point, Christ makes the inner nature alive
with His own life. See the following Bible texts:
“And you He made alive, when you were dead through
the trespasses and sins” Ephesians 2:1, RSV.
“Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made
us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been
saved), and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with
Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians
2:5,6, RSV.
“In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision
made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in
the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with
Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him
through faith in the working of God, who raised Him
from the dead. And you, who were dead in trespasses and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive to-
gether with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,”
Colossians 2:11-13, RSV.
What is the Soul?
This inner nature can be influenced by both the body
and the spirit. It is neither body nor spirit, but a combi-
nation of the two. The inner nature is not natural like
the physical body because of the spirit component. But it
is also not necessarily spiritual because of the presence of

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spirit. We are talking about the personality of a man, that
which is sometimes referred to as his soul. This inner na-
ture must be considered trans-natural since it transcends
the natural not being entirely physical.
When we are born this inner nature is dormant or sleep-
ing because of sin. As it is influenced by the body which
carries the inherited sin-principle, the inner nature is led
into more sin which corrupts it further.
Designed for the Gospel
God’s plan is to replace our damaged inner nature with
the nature of His Son. This reconciliation process is
called the Good News or the Gospel. This healing is ac-
complished through the intervention and intercession of
the Holy Spirit.
The “old man” which we inherited from Adam must be
replaced by the “new man” which is Christ. See the fol-
lowing verses from the New Testament for enlighten-
ment:
“Ye are to put off concerning the former behaviour the
old man, that is corrupt according to the desires of the
deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and
to put on the new man, which, according to God, was
created in righteousness and kindness of the truth.” Eph-
esians 4:22-24, YLT.

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“But now put off, even ye, the whole--anger, wrath, mal-
ice, evil-speaking, filthy talking--out of your mouth. Lie
not one to another, having put off the old man with his
practices, and having put on the new, which is renewed
in regard to knowledge, after the image of Him who did
create Him;” Colossians 3:8-10, YLT.
“Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full
time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is
nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night
is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the
works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us
conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in revel-
ing and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentious-
ness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to
gratify its desires.” Romans 13:11-14, RSV.
In Colossians 2:11-13, Paul points out that the purpose of
Christ’s circumcision (a cutting away of the flesh) was to
enable us to have the power to spiritually overcome the
physical body’s influence. He also tells us that Christ’s
baptism enables us to spiritually bury the body (which is
dead because of sin). Then the verses remind us that we
are enabled to become spiritually alive or born-again be-
cause of Christ’s resurrection.
“For we were once ourselves also without intelligence,
disobedient, wandering in error, serving various lusts and

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pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating
one another. But when the kindness and love to man of
our Saviour God appeared, not on the principle of works
which have been done in righteousness which *we* had
done, but according to His own mercy He saved us
through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the
Holy Spirit,” Titus 3:3-5, Dby.
Is the Soul Immortal?
This inner spiritual nature or soul that has been reborn or
regenerated is not immortal. The eternal life it has is not
its own, but Christ’s. In fact, the Bible says the soul will
die if is wicked.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and
body in hell.” Matthew 10:28, RSV.
“Behold, all the 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, Dby.
If both body and soul are destroyed in hell-fire, then the
wicked are not punished forever.
““For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when
all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day
that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts,
so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”
Malachi 4:1, RSV.
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“You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear.
The LORD will swallow them up in His wrath; and fire
will consume them. You will destroy their offspring
from the earth, and their children from among the sons of
men.” Psalms 21:9,10, RSV.
“Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver
them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of
His jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a
full, yea, sudden end He will make of all the inhabitants
of the earth.” Zephaniah 1:18, RSV.
“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear
His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the gra-
nary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable
fire.”” Matthew 3:12, RSV.
“Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and
as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be
as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they
have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have de-
spised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 5:24,
RSV.
“Behold, they are like stubble, the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the
flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit
before!” Isaiah 47:14, RSV.

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The Resurrection of the Dead
When a person dies, as been noted before, the body re-
turns to the dust and the spirit returns to God who gave
it. The inner nature then goes to sleep until it is resur-
rected. See the following Bible texts:
“Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body
shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust:
for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall
cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19, KJV.
“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame
and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2, KJV.
“While He yet spake, they come from the ruler of the
synagogue’s house saying, Thy daughter is dead: why
troublest thou the Teacher any further?
But Jesus, not heeding the word spoken, saith unto the
ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe. And He
suffered no man to follow with him, save Peter, and
James, and John the brother of James.
And they come to the house of the ruler of the syna-
gogue; and He beholdeth a tumult, and many weeping
and wailing greatly. And when He was entered in, He
saith unto them, Why make ye a tumult, and weep? the
child is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed Him to
scorn. But He, having put them all forth, taketh the father
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of the child and her mother and them that were with
Him, and goeth in where the child was.
And taking the child by the hand, He saith unto her,
Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say
unto thee, Arise. And straightway the damsel rose up,
and walked; for she was twelve years old. And they were
amazed straightway with a great amazement. And He
charged them much that no man should know this: and
He commanded that something should be given her to
eat.” Mark 5:35-43, ASV.
“Thus He spoke, and then He said to them, “Our friend
Laz’arus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of
sleep.”
The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he
will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but
they thought that He meant taking rest in sleep.
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Laz’arus is dead; and for
your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may
believe. But let us go to him.”” John 11:11-15, RSV.
“Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to Him, “Lord, by
this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four
days.”

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Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you would
believe you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes
and said, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. I
knew that Thou hearest Me always, but I have said this
on account of the people standing by, that they may be-
lieve that Thou didst send Me.”
When He had said this, He cried with a loud voice,
“Laz’arus, come out.”
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with
bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to
them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”” John 11:39-44,
RSV.
Death as Sleep
During this sleep of death, the dead are unconscious until
they are wakened by the Lord.
“For the living know that they will die, but the dead
know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the
memory of them is lost. Their love and their hate and
their envy have already perished, and they have no more
for ever any share in all that is done under the sun.” Ec-
clesiastes 9:5,6, RSV.
“For in death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the
grave who shall give Thee thanks?” Psalms 6:5, KJV.

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“Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth:
Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and
they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.”
Job 14:20,21, KJV.
Where Did Current Beliefs Originate?
The modern concepts of the immortal soul, ghosts, going
directly to Heaven or Hell at death are not scriptural. So,
you ask, how did so many religions and denominations
come to teach for doctrine that which disagrees with the
Bible?
The concept of Heaven and Hell as currently understood
came from Persia. The Jews that were in exile in Babylon
learned these things from followers of Zoroaster. When
they returned home to Israel they brought these concepts
into the thinking of their people. The Jews became di-
vided into several groups, the main two being the Phar-
isees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed the Per-
sian ideas and began incorporating the concepts into what
their rabbis taught. The Sadducees did not believe in
Heaven and Hell but they began to doubt the resurrection
that the Scriptures taught. This was the state of Judaism
when Christ began His ministry. The Jews also had be-
liefs about angels that were not in accordance with the
Scriptures. These ideas and others were developed in the

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time between the close of the Old Testament writings
and the beginning of New Testament history.
When Christianity began to be formalized into a religion
after the deaths of the apostles, the keeping of the Scrip-
tures passed first to the Greeks and then to the Romans.
Both groups accepted the Persian concepts and added
some details from the works of the Greek philosophers. It
was from the writings of Socrates, Plato, Philo and others
that the concept of the immortal soul crept into religious
thinking. Later these ideas became more widespread
through not only the churches and synagogues, but also
through pieces of fiction, most notably Dante’s Inferno and
two works by John Milton: Paradise Lost and Paradise Re-
gained.
How Scripture was Misinterpreted
Here and there, throughout the Bible are verses that have
been used to support these spurious ideas, but these
verses have been wrested from their original meaning and
understood in the context of a pre-conceived notion that
these unscriptural concepts were correct. They were
assumed to be correct because they were taught by the
churches and they had become part of the fabric of what
was believed traditionally.
In order to determine the original concepts taught by the
Scriptures, theologians use a rule of exegesis called the
preponderance of evidence. In layman’s terms this would
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be called the weight of evidence. For example: if there are
fifty verses on a subject in the Bible and forty-five of the
verses agree with each other, the five verses that don’t
agree are then interpreted on the basis of the forty-five
that agree.
In reality, the opposite has occurred: the five verses that
didn’t agree with the body of scriptural evidence have
been matched up with ideas from the aforementioned
other sources and the forty-five verses have been reinter-
preted according to the five that agreed with the unscrip-
tural sources.
The end result is that today many churches are teaching
mythology instead of truth, but it has been going on for
so many centuries that the churches refuse to see their er-
ror. They can’t believe that what they have been teaching
for so long could be wrong.
These incorrect views have been held for such a long time
that the beliefs have become almost universal. Today, fic-
tion, movies, even cartoons portray these concepts as the
“truth” that most people accept.
Why the Great Deception?
Satan’s plan was to have people deceived regarding these
matters, because he did not want people to understand
how they were to be saved. He wanted them to believe a
plan of his own devising. Satan desired folk to believe it

24
necessary to save themselves for the most part. He also
wanted people to believe that God was cruel and unfair.
He wanted people to be confused between what the
churches taught and what the Bible taught. He wanted
people divided about spiritual matters. He wanted the
churches involved in the problem instead of the solution.
He worked behind the scenes constructing this false view
of salvation. He got people to mix their ideas and his with
what the Scripture taught until the whole world was de-
ceived.
What Satan Achieved
Since people would be born and live their lives without
the knowledge of their dormant spiritual nature, they
would not understand their own sinfulness, they would
not seem wicked to themselves.
Salvation would be accomplished by a series of good
works done by the person in order to please God. As a
person began to accumulate more good deeds than bad
ones, they would become satisfied that they were making
spiritual progress. All would become convinced that be-
cause no one is perfect, all that is required is to do the
best that you can.
The deep spiritual matters would be left un-discovered.
People would have eyes, but they would be unable to see.
They would have ears but be unable to hear.

25
Because they believed they would go to Heaven or Hell at
death based on their deeds, they would not be concerned
about the Judgment or the Resurrection. Because they
believed the soul was immortal they would believe that
God would allow evil-doers to be punished and tor-
mented for eternity. If the soul is immortal then loved
ones in Heaven would be conscious and aware of what
transpires on earth. People would believe that upon enter-
ing Heaven they would become angels.
The Truth
People need to understand what the Scriptures actually
teach about salvation. They have to understand their need
of a relationship with Christ. We are saved by Christ’s
merits not our own merits. Christ needs to become our
life if we are to be saved. Since we are made in God’s im-
age, we are saved through that design.
Our dormant spiritual natures that are dead through sin
must be crucified by the power of Christ’s crucifixion,
and buried by the power of His baptism, and we must be
hidden in Christ by the power of His ascension. Through
the power of His resurrection, we must be made alive
again by His indwelling us by the Spirit. We must abide
in Him and He must abide in us. In this way we are both
saved by Him and perfected by Him
This power that we receive from Christ and His blessed
acts is obtained through faith in the promises contained
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in them. These were promises of victory to believers to
overcome sin and death.
This relationship with Christ must be sustained by faith
on a daily basis. As we believe entirely in His promises
we are saved from day to day.
We must not become absorbed in the world or its prac-
tices for we are here as Christ’s ambassadors. Our mis-
sion is to tell as many people as possible the truth about
Christ, His love and His plan for saving us.
As Christ’s second coming approaches quickly and
Judgment is around the corner, we must be in this saving
relationship with Him. Even if we die before the second
coming, our relationship with Him will save us. Nothing
else can save us.
The Two Resurrections
God saves our inner natures, the outer natures are corrupt
and must be replaced by a miracle at the resurrection.
The sinful body that was always your potential downfall
is done away with and you are given a glorious body like
His. Even those believers that are still alive at the second
coming will be changed, in the twinkling of an eye, from
corruption to incorruption. This is what happens at the
first resurrection at the time of the second coming. This
resurrection is only for those who are saved.

27
The second resurrection is for the wicked, those who re-
fused the relationship with Christ, because they thought
it unnecessary, or because they took pleasure in sinning.
In these folk the sinful inner nature was not replaced by
Christ’s life, and because they did not accept His death in
their place they must die for their own sins. Unfortu-
nately, these are resurrected to hear the judgment against
them for their evil deeds and they are cast into the lake
of fire prepared for Satan and his angels and they all,
along with sin and death are destroyed in the fire.
Postscript
You have a part to play in saving the people of the world.
This is what God designed you for, this is your destiny.
God gave you free will so that you could choose to serve
Him instead of sin. You can be saved and you can warn
others so that they can be saved. If you do not exercise
your free will you will be lost and others will be lost be-
cause you did not warn them.
It is my prayer that this booklet will help you to choose
the right path, to choose Christ as your Savior and that
you will become part of the process of reconciliation for
others. In Christ’s name and power I ask it.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36,37, KJV.

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Bible Versions Used
KJV: King James Version
RSV: Revised Standard Version
ASV: American Standard Version
Dby: Darby’s Translation
YLT: Young’s Literal Translation

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