Regardless of whether or not the spirit of a person has consciousness in heaven, scripture is clear that a person's soul does have consciousness there.
Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
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QUESTION: WAS MANKIND (ADAM) CREATED WITH AN IMMORTAL “SOUL”, OR WAS MANKIND (ADAM) CREATED AS A “LIVING SOUL” FROM SOMETHING?
[A.] Gen 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. (see also 1 Corinthians 15:45; Acts 17:25; Job 12:10)
[1.] “the dust of the ground” + [2.] “the breath of life (of God)” “breathed into his nostrils” = [3.] “man became a living soul”.
[B.] Gen 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
[C.] Job 4:19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
[D.] Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
[E.] Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
QUESTION: WHAT IS A SOUL (LIVING or DEAD)?
A “soul” (H5315, G5590; Leviticus 22:11; Hebrews 4:12) is a “life” (Genesis 9:5; Matthew 6:25; Luke 9:56; Acts 15:26, 27:10; 1 John 3:16; Revelation 12:11, &c.), “person/s” (Genesis 14:21; Numbers 5:6, &c.), “creature” (Genesis 1:21,24; Leviticus 11:46, &c.), or “beast” (Leviticus 24:18). It can also be defined as a “being”.
QUESTION: IF MANKIND (ADAM), WHEN ALIVE, IS A “LIVING SOUL”, ARE “BEASTS” THAT ARE ALIVE ALSO “LIVING SOULS”?
Num 31:28 And 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, and of the asses, and of the sheep:
See also Joshua 6, 10 & 11, in every instance where it is written that Joshua destroyed “all the souls that were therein” (Joshua 6:21, 10:28,30,32,35,37,39-40, 11:11) it included both “persons” (mankind) and “beeves”, “asses”, “sheep”, &c of the “beasts” that were in those cities.
QUESTION: CAN A “LIVING SOUL” DIE AND BECOME A “DEAD” SOUL, HAVING NO LIFE ANYMORE?
Yes, see
“dead”: Leviticus 19:28, 21:1, 22:4; Numbers 5:2, 6:11, 9:6-7 (2),10. If the “dust of the ground” from which any “living soul” is “formed” is destroyed or damaged beyond sustaining life, or if the “breath of life (of God)” is taken back by God, that “living soul” becomes a dead soul (person, creature, beast, being):
[A.] Eze_18:4 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.
[B.] Eze_18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
[C.] Rev 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
QUESTION: IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANKIND AND BEAST IN DEATH?
[A.] Gen 2:17 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.
[B.] Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (for Catholics, see ‘Ash Wednesday’, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”)
[C.] Ecc 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
QUESTION: ARE MANKIND (“LIVING SOULS”) WHICH ARE ALIVE, “MORTAL” OR “IMMORTAL”?
Job_4:17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? (see also Romans 6:12, 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:53-54; 2 Corinthians 4:11)
QUESTION: IF MANKIND HAS LIFE CONDITIONALLY, WHERE DID THE TEACHING OF “IMMORTAL SOUL/SPIRIT” COME FROM?
[A.] Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
[B.] Rev_12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (see also Revelation 20:2)
[C.] Lev_20:27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
[D.] 1Ch_10:13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
[E.] 1Ti_4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
[F.] Rev_16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
QUESTION: IS THERE ANYONE IN THE BIBLE WHO HAS IMMORTALITY, OR IS INHERENTLY IMMORTAL?
1Ti 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
