Many people seem to believe that a person’s soul and their spirit are essentially the same, but does the Bible support this belief?  And, if a person’s soul and spirit are not essentially the same, what is the distinction?

We will begin by focusing on the two scriptures that immediately follow.  [Note:  When we quote Scripture in this article, we use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible.  And, when bold print is shown in the scriptures that we quote in this article, it is to focus on certain words that we will be addressing in our subsequent discussion.]

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says,  “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And, Hebrews 4:12 declares, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Both of these scriptures clearly indicate that the soul and the spirit are two different aspects of a person, so it can readily be concluded that a person’s soul and their spirit are not the same.  But, what is the difference between a person’s soul and their spirit?

Strong’s Concordance of the Bible defines the Hebrew word nephesh that is translated soul as “a breathing creature.”  In contrast, Strong defines the Hebrew word ruwach that is translated spirit as “breath.”  This implies that a living human being is a soul and their spirit is what gives them life.

Likewise, Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines a soul as “a breathing creature” but goes on to say, “The Hebrew term may indicate not only the entire inner nature of man, but also his entire personality.”  As for the term spirit, Unger, like Strong, defines it as “breath,” but indicates that the term spirit is “also the spiritual, immortal part in man.”  .

Webster’s Dictionary’s primary definition of a soul is “an entity which is regarded as being the immortal or spiritual part of the person and, though having no physical or material reality, is credited with the functions of thinking and willing, and hence determining all behavior.”  With regard to the term spirit, Webster’s primary definition is that it is “the life principle, especially in human beings, originally regarded as inherent in the breath. . . .” and goes on to indicate that the spirit may be regarded as the soul.

Now, we will address whether or not the Bible indicates that both the soul and the spirit of a person are eternal.  We will begin by determining what the Bible says about the term soul insofar as it relates to human beings.

Matthew 16:26 asks, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  [Note: Mark 8:36-37 has almost identical wording.]

Strong says Matthew 16:26 indicates that a soul is eternal.  According to Strong, the meaning of the Greek word zemioo that is translated as lose in this scripture means “the act of forfeiting what is of the greatest value, not the casting away by divine judgment, though that is involved, but losing or penalizing one’s own self, with spiritual and eternal loss.”  This indicates that the loss is eternal, but Strong does not make it clear as to whether or not the existence of the soul is eternal.  However, all the Bible commentaries that we checked with regard to this scripture either state or imply that a person’s soul is eternal or immortal.

Now, we will focus on what the Bible says about the term spirit insofar as it relates to human beings.

Luke 23:46 states,  “[W]hen Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “‘Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.’”  And having said this, He breathed His last.”

Acts 7:59 says,  “[T]hey stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”

And, in First Corinthians 5:3, 5: Paul says with regard to a man who apparently was a Christian, but had committed sexual immorality with his father’s wife,

For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged, as though I were present, concerning him who has so done this deed. . . . [D]eliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

The first of these last three scriptures indicates that Jesus Christ believed His spirit would go immediately to be with God the Father after He (Jesus) died, and the second scripture infers that Stephen believed likewise.  Since both Jesus and Stephen believed that their spirit was going to be with God after their mortal body died, they obviously regarded their spirit as more than just the breath that gave them mortal life.  Furthermore, in the third scripture, Paul made a distinction between the fate of a person’s physical body and the fate of that person’s spirit.  Thus, a person’s spirit is eternal – it does not cease to exist when that person’s mortal body dies.

Conclusion

Every living person has both a soul and a spirit. A person’s soul is essentially who a person is in terms of personality, moral character, etc.  In contrast, a person’s spirit is the force that gives life to that person.  Most significantly, the Bible indicates that after a person dies physically, that person will ultimately be resurrected and will enter eternity having both their soul and their spirit.

[Note: Some people may wonder if animals also have a soul and, if so, whether or not it differs from the soul of people.  The Appendix that follows briefly addresses these two matters.]

Appendix

Do Animals Have a Soul?

Animals also have souls, according to an article entitled “Do Animals have Souls? What the Bible Says,” on the web site The Times of Israel.  The following are excerpts from that article:

In the first creation story man and woman are created in God’s image and He decided to let humans govern all animals. But it also tells us that animals have a soul. In Genesis 1:30 it reads,

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

This describes animals having hayyah (life). However, in the Hebrew it also has the word nephesh in combination with hayyah, which is the exact same wording as the description of the soul in the creation of Adam in Genesis 2:7. In other words, though nephesh is only translated as “life” here, the Hebrew speaks of the soul. Animals thus have a nephesh hayyah just like Adam.

Nephesh hayyah is also used to describe all the sea animals and flying creatures Yahweh created in Genesis 1:20-21. Genesis 1:24 says that cattle, creeping things, and beasts also have a nephesh hayyah, as well as fish in Leviticus 11:10.

The cited article implies that the term soul does not pertain to the moral nature of a person, because the Hebrew word that is translated as soul in many scriptures is applicable to animals as well as to people, and there is no credible reason to believe that animals have a moral nature.

Excerpts from an article entitled “Do Animals Have Souls Like Human Beings” on the web site Catholic Answers provides the following additional perspective:

The soul is the principle of life. Since animals . . . are living things, they have souls, but not in the sense in which human beings have souls. Our souls are rational–theirs aren’t–and ours are rational because they’re spiritual, not material.

Animals . . . can’t do anything which transcends the limitations of matter. Although some animals seem clever, they don’t actually possess conceptional intelligence. They can’t, for instance, conceive of the abstract notion of justice.

Animals . . . also lack a moral sense.