Vital Topic 27 - Immortality

1. Introduction

Millions of human beings, of all religions, believe that the human soul is immortal. In other words, the soul of man cannot die. The word ‘immortal’ means ‘not subject to death’ but ‘living forever’ To be sure everyone agrees that the human body dies. Indeed every time one attends a funeral its obvious that the body dies. But what of the soul? Does it die? Can it die? Clairvoyants, witches, spiritualist mediums and countless people of all religions believe that the soul is immortal; it cannot die. But that after the death of the body the soul ascends to heaven or some other place to begin another stage of existence. Is this true? Do souls go on for ever and ever and ever and ever? Another frequently asked question is ‘Can Angels die?’ Or are they ‘immortal also?’ We find the answers to these questions in the Bible. 

2. The Soul Can Die

The human soul is not immortal; it can die.

Ezekiel 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… (verse 20 repeats this fact) 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. 21: But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22: All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23: Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”

In other words souls can die: and if sinners cling to their wickedness their souls will not live for ever, but will die as surely as their bodies will.

3. God Alone Has Immortality

We have seen from the above verses that souls are not immortal. The Bible goes further to say that God alone has immortality.

1 Timothy 6:

13: “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14: That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 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.”

4. Everlasting Fire

But, some will ask: “If the souls of persistent sinners can and will die, what about those passages in Scripture which tell of eternal fire? Surely the souls in those flames are alive for evermore and are therefore immortal?” To understand what the term ‘eternal fire’ means we will go to a Bible text which mentions ‘eternal fire.’

Jude	7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Genesis 19:	24: “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25: And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”
Genesis 9:	28: “And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.”

These verses tells us that the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrha were destroyed with ‘eternal fire.’ But is Sodom still burning? The obvious answer is: No it isn’t. It's fires went out centuries ago. A visit to the Dead Sea site of ancient Sodom and Gomorrha reveals no ‘ever-burning’ cities. Instead you will find an abundance of ash where once those evil cities stood. The ‘eternal fires’ have long since gone out. Only ash remains; a grim reminder that eternal annihilation awaits persistent sinners. In short, the flames weren't eternal but their effect was! That's what eternal fire means: ‘eternal destruction,’ ‘eternal annihilation’ and ‘eternal death.’
For more see Hell-fire & Purgatory.

5. When Are The Wicked Annihilated?

The wicked are annihilated by eternal (everlasting) fire after the great Day of Judgment mentioned in the book of Revelation. This fire is called the Lake of Fire! It is totally impossible for anyone to imagine its extent. But one thing is certain - its effects will be eternal. No soul will come out of the Lake of Fire alive! But when it has finished its work of annihilating sinners it will go out as surely as did the fire which burned Sodom and Gomorrah, to ashes.

Revelation 20:

11: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

6. Are Angels Immortal?

This is a frequently asked question; even by those who agree that sinners will not burn forever, but will be burned up in the fires of Hell. What does the Bible say about the punishment of the evil angels who follow Lucifer (Satan) in his rebellion against the Almighty God of Israel? It says this, that Yahweh has plans to destroy the Devil and his angels in a Lake of Fire! Indeed that is why the Lake of Fire has been designed. It is prepared, we are told, for the Devil and his angels. The Lake of Fire will burn everyone cast into it to ashes; and that includes Lucifer and the evil angel host who followed him. The Lake of Fire is called the second death. I repeat, no one will come out of the Lake of Fire alive. It deals death - eternal death - to all who enter it! Here are the texts to prove this.

Lucifer

Isaiah 14: 12

12: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13: For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15: Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

Ezekiel 28:

12: “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13: Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14: Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15: Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16: By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17: Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18: Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19: All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”

In other words, angels are not immortal. Like human beings, they can die. Like human beings, they can be raised to life again. The Two Witnesses are examples of how angels can die and be raised to life again. Also like human beings, if thrown into the Lake of Fire, (which was originally designed to annihilate them) angels can be burned to ashes. That is what the Holy Bible teaches.

Malachi 4:

1: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3: And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.”

7. Conclusion

How is it with you? Do you want to be immortal? Believe it or not all those who put their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) the only begotten Son of God, will be clothed with immortality at His return when the resurrection of the just will occur.

1 Corinthians 15:

51: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54: So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56: The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57: But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

The alternative to Faith is Doubt and eternal annihilation. I would be failing in our duty to God if I didn't warn of the fate of those who refuse to accept the Almighty's offer of salvation. Theirs is an awful end; a total waste of life. I pray that you will not entertain it.

Revelation 21:

8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

See the Gospel Page for details on how to ensure your salvation.