What Happens to the SPIRIT at the Second Death?
Addressing the death of an unredeemed person, Ecclesiastes 12:7 says “the spirit returns to God who gave it.” “Spirit” here refers to the “breath of life,” aka the animating life force from God, noted in what theologians call ‘the creation text’:
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.
Keep in mind that the Hebrew words for ‘spirit’ – neshamah and ruach – can also be translated as “breath” or “wind.” It’s the same with the Greek word for ‘spirit,’ pneuma.
The souls of unredeemed people of course go to Sheol (Hades) when they perish to be held for Judgment Day wherein they will be resurrected to stand before the LORD, as observed here:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11-15
As you can see, on the Day of Judgment the LORD will resurrect every unsaved human soul held in Sheol (Hades) for Divine evaluation. How does God resurrect these dead souls? By sending a “breath of life” (or “spirit of life“), which animates them and enables them to stand before their Creator. Their bodies will also be resurrected. As you can see in verse 15, “anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” which is where God will “destroy both soul and body” (Matthew 10:28).
This is when “raging fire will consume the enemies of God” (Hebrews 10:27). Christ gave an illustrative example of this in his Parable of the Ten Minas: “But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them — bring them here and kill them in front of me” (Luke 19:27). When this “everlasting destruction” takes place (2 Thessalonians 1:9) the “breath of life” — aka “spirit of life” — merely returns to God who gave it.
This of course refutes the doctrine that unredeemed people possess an “immoral soul” apart from Christ, which the Bible denies point blank:
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Could it be any clearer? Immortality and eternal life are only available to people through the gospel of Christ; it’s not something we intrinsically possess apart from redemption in Christ! Elsewhere, Scripture makes it plain that God only gives eternal life to those who seek immortality (Romans 2:7), which is available through the Son and nowhere else. If unsaved people inherently possessed immortality and eternal life, why should they seek it? Obviously because they don’t have it, which John attested to:
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
This question of course ties into the issue of human nature — spirit, mind and flesh — which you can read about in detail here.
Related Topics:
IMMORTALITY — Only Available Through the Gospel
HELL (Human Damnation) — Questions and Answers
Q&A on SHEOL / HADES, the Intermediate State of the Unsaved
comments powered by Disqus