Articles
The Value of a Soul
Our soul is the only possession we have that will leave this world. It is something we do not buy, but we are given by God. It was the life God breathed into Adam. Genesis 2:7 says, “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.” It is the part of human life that man cannot kill, but God can. In Matthew 10:28 Christ says, “And 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 soul and body in hell.” This is the soul we are going to talk about in this article.
First of all I would like to ask the question; “What is your soul worth?” The New Testament tells us that our soul is worth more than the whole world. Once again in Matthew 16:24-27 Christ says, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Everything that is in this world is made of a corruptible material. It rusts, falls apart or decays. It is only of value for a little while and then returns to dust. Our physical body is the same way, but our soul within is made of incorruption (1 Corinthians15:50-58).
Well since our soul is incorruptible it must go somewhere when this earthly life is over. The next question I would like to ask is; “What is our soul’s final destination?” In Luke 16:19-26 we are told that our soul will be in one of two eternal destinations. Christ says here, “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” There is no escaping the fact that our soul shall be judged by the works we have done (Romans 2:5-11).
The final question I ask is; “How can our soul be saved?” I believe we must be obedient to the word of God. Not just obedient to part of it, but to all of it. In James 2:17 tells us that faith without works is dead. In verse 19 James says that even the demons believe. I don’t think this means the demons will be saved because of this belief. For one to be saved there are numerous things throughout the scriptures that we must do to have our final destination to be with God our Father. We all need to search the scriptures daily to make sure we have done everything that God requires of us.
In Titus 3:3-8 Paul writes, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
In conclusion what is your soul worth to you? The Bible tells us it is worth more than the entire world. It is the only thing we will leave this world with. Where is your soul’s destination? It has just one of two places to go; Heaven or Hell. Have you made the necessary preparations? Have you been obedient to the gospel of Jesus Christ? If not why not? What is your soul worth to you?
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