Are We Immortal Now?

The Bible never once describes the soul as immortal—that is, not subject to death. In the beginning, Adam’s heritage as a created son of God was not death, but eternal life. Had Adam remained obedient to the will of God, he would never have died. But when Adam and Eve sinned, they forfeited their right to life, and by disobedience became subject to death. Their sin infected the entire human race (Romans 5:12). Since “the soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4), people are now all mortal—subject to death.

The Hebrew and Greek words for “soul,” “spirit,” and “breath” occur in the Bible 1,700 times, and not once is the human soul, spirit, or breath referred to as now being immortal. Nor is there any hint in the Bible that humans have any conscious existence apart from the body.