Generally, in Scripture, the nature of man is expressed as body and soul, or body and spirit, with soul and spirit used as synonyms. A couple of times we read of man as body, soul, and spirit. When some passages refer to man as a “soul” and others refer to man as “spirit,” is there a difference?

Soul as Life, Spirit as Unseen or Invisible Reality

“God is a Spirit,” and by its nature “a spirit hath not flesh and bones” such as Jesus had while on earth (John 4:24; Luke 24:39). Genesis 1:27 records man’s creation in these words, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” It is clear that man is made in God’s image in terms of our spiritual nature, not our fleshly nature. This uniquely separates man from the animal world.

The spirit or soul of man, like God, can never pass out of existence – it is immaterial, incorporeal, and immortal. The spirit departs from the body at death, as Solomon said, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” The spirit will return to the resurrected body on the great resurrection day (John 5:28-29). Therefore, when God creates the soul or spirit of a man, it will never cease to exist.

In a basic or simple manner, “soul” represents something which is living as opposed to non-living, animate as opposed to inanimate. “Spirit” refers to an invisible or unseen being or reality such as the wind, breathe, God, or man’s invisible nature made in God’s image. Since the spirit of man is animate, he may properly be called a soul where soul is intended to be a synonym for spirit. Since the body of man is animate, he may properly be called a soul where the intended idea is that man is a living creature on earth.

Therefore, soul may be used in some passages to refer to man simply as a living creature in common with other living creatures on earth. “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” (Gen. 2:7). Soul may be used in other passages as a synonym for spirit because man as a “spirit” being survives the death of the body. “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” (Matt. 10:28).

When soul is used as a synonym for the spirit in passages such as Matthew 10:28, it means man is a living creature whose life will continue to exist after the death of the body.

In some manner soul and spirit can be distinguished when used together in such passages as Hebrews 4:12, which mentions separating the two: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Here “soul” refers to man as a living creature while “spirit” refers to his existence as an invisible immortal being.

When soul is used with spirit in a passage such as 1 Thessalonians 5:23, it may refer to man as animate, living. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In this passage Paul prays for man as a tripartite being:

1. As a body: a physical instrument we use in God’s service.

2. As a soul: a living creature, stressing the gift of life which should be dedicated to God and used in His service while we live on this earth (Gen 2:7).

3. As a spirit: an invisible being with consciousness, intelligence, moral capacity, and volition who will never die.

Yes, man’s nature may be expressed as body, soul, and spirit, with some slight distinction between soul and spirit, but often soul and spirit are used simply as synonyms.

Soul and Spirit as Synonyms: Luke 23:46 and Acts 2:27, 31

Soul and spirit may used as synonyms as can be shown in passages such as Luke 23:46 and Acts 2:27, 31.

We read in Luke 23:46, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” His body was taken down from the cross and buried in the grave, but his spirit went to Paradise in the hades world as he said in verse 43 to the penitent thief, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The spirits of both Jesus and the thief departed from their bodies and returned to God’s keeping in the hadean world.

When we die, the body is buried in the grave, and the spirit goes back to God who keeps all the spirits in the hades world until the final resurrection day of all men (John 5:28-29). That is why the rich man and Lazarus were still alive and conscious in Luke 16:19-31 after their bodies were buried. Their bodies were in their graves, but their spirits were still very much alive and conscious in the hades world. The spirit of Lazarus was in the part of hades for the righteous called Paradise or Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man was in the part of hades for the wicked to be tormented while awaiting the resurrection day.

Regarding the spirit’s departure to the hadean world, Acts 2:27-31 is a parallel passage, which says,

Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;
thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

First, we should clarify the term “hell” as used here in the King James Version (KJV). There are two Greek words translated as “hell” in the KJV. The one Greek word is hades, meaning the place of all the dead. The other Greek word is gehenna, meaning the final place of eternal punishment – both body and soul are cast into gehenna according to Matthew 10:28. That will happen after we are raised from the dead and receive our final reward or our final sentence of punishment as per John 5:28-29.

In Acts 2:27 and 31, the word hades is translated “hell” in the KJV, but this is not gehenna. The American Standard Version, the New King James Version, the New International Version, the English Standard Version, and all others give the translation in Acts 2:27 and 31 as hades. In the Old English of 1611 it was understood that “hell” might refer to hades or to gehenna, depending on the context. In our time we understand it more clearly if hades is not translated as “hell” because for us it seems the modern English word “hell” refers to the final place of eternal punishment for the body and the soul.

The prophecy given by David in Psalm 16:10 is quoted by Peter in Acts 2:27 and 31 to show that Christ has fulfilled it: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” He fulfilled it because when He died, His body was buried in the grave and His spirit went to Paradise in the hades world, but on the third day He was raised from the dead. Therefore, His body did not remain in the grave to decompose or to see corruption, and His soul did not remain in the hades world. On the resurrection morning as recorded in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20, Jesus arose and the tomb was empty. Therefore, His body came out of the grave and His soul came out of the hades world.

Therefore, when Luke 23:46 explains that His “spirit” went back to God when He died, Acts 2:27 and 31 explain the same event by using the parallel or synonymous term “soul.” Notice the “spirit” of Jesus in Luke 23 and the “soul” of Jesus in Acts 2 respectively, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” When His spirit left his body, His soul entered the hades world – His spirit and His soul are the same thing. His invisible “spirit” or in other words His living “soul” did not perish when His body died but simply departed from it, yet remaining alive and conscious all the while.

Just as both soul and spirit are used in reference to Jesus, so also they both are used in reference to Job: “Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 7:11). For Job to speak “in the anguish of my spirit” means exactly the same thing as Job complaining “in the bitterness of my soul.” His soul is his spirit and his spirit is his soul. His body was covered in sores and could turn to dust at death but not his spirit or his soul. It is alive and conscious in the body and out of the body.

Spirit and Soul Applied to God, Man, and Animals

“God is a Spirit” in John 4:24. Man is a spirit in Ecclesiastes 12:7: “the spirit shall return unto God.” Now, in another context, spirit can also refer to the life of an animal, not because his spirit will never die but because of the application of the basic meaning “invisible” – we cannot see the life of the animal. For instance, Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:21, “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” Both man and animal may thus be said to have a spirit, but it is not the same kind of spirit – only the spirit of man is made in the image of God and goes upward at death in returning to God, not downward to the earth like the animal which no longer exists.

The so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses try to use such passages as Ecclesiastes 3:21 to teach the false doctrine that the spirits of men and of animals are exactly the same – therefore, when man dies his spirit does not survive to live anymore, but he is only like the dead animal. They make the same false claim regarding the word soul because the Bible applies the Hebrew term to both man and beast. The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not understand how to study a word according to its context.

The Hebrew word translated “soul” is nephesh. This term is translated as “living creature” in reference to animals in Genesis 1:24 (God created “the living creature”), Genesis 2:19 (Adam named “every living creature”), and Leviticus 11:46 (“every living creature” was distinguished as clean or unclean). Yet, in other passages such as Leviticus 4:2 the Bible speaks of man as “a soul” meaning a person or a living creature who commits sin. Therefore, it is clear nephesh or “soul” in that verse refers to man and not to animals.

Because God Himself is a living being, the term soul (nephesh) is occasionally used in reference to God. Looking forward to the time when He would send His Son as His servant, God said, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles” (Isa. 42:1). In this prophecy of the coming of Christ, God the Father calls Him “mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.” In Jeremiah 6:8 God said, “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.” If the Jews refused to repent, God warned “my soul” will depart from them, in which case they will have no protection from God but will be destroyed by Babylon. God speaks as a living soul in these passages.

Here is the bottom line regarding the terms soul and spirit. Soul and spirit are synonyms which may refer to animals in some passages, to man in some passages, and even to God in some passages. When the two words apply to animals, this is because animals have life and that life is invisible to the eyes. Thus, “life” (“soul”) and also the invisible part (“spirit”) may apply to animals. Now, we understand well that this kind of soul or spirit is not made in God’s image. Only the soul or spirit of man is made in God’s image as is clear in Genesis chapter 1, especially verses 26-27. Since man has “life” he is a soul. Since our life is “invisible” we are spirits. And, this life (soul) or invisible nature (spirit) is made in God’s image – thus the soul or spirit of man will never die.

The meaning of soul and spirit must be determined in part by the basic meaning of each term and in part by the context in which the term is used.

Conclusion: Are You Ready?

Does the nature of man include body, soul, and spirit? Yes, with some slight distinction between soul simply as life and spirit simply as the invisible nature in God’s image. Are soul and spirit often synonyms? Yes, because man is uniquely created in God’s image as a living creature, which like God Himself, is invisible to our eyes. As a living creature, man is a soul. As a living creature whose inner nature is invisible, man is a spirit. In this regard soul and spirit are synonyms.

Why do we need this information? It helps us prepare for our future existence in a future world. Man as a soul or spirit lives in a body of flesh but can exist apart from the fleshly body at death. While the body waits in the grave, the soul or spirit of man waits in the hades world for the great and final resurrection day. On that day, the body will be raised and changed never to die again, and it will be reunited with the soul or spirit for eternity. On that day, we will enter our final home in heaven with God or in hell with Satan. A beautiful song entitled “There’s A Great Day Coming” challenges each one of us to prepare for that last great day:

There’s a great day coming, a great day coming;
There’s a great day coming by and by,
When the saints and the sinners shall be parted right and left,
Are you ready for that day to come?

Ron Halbrook, 3505 Horse Run Ct., Shepherdsville, KY 40165-6954