“What Is A Soul?” Do You Want the TRUTH? February 13, 2026 by Tammy Roesch Posted in What Happens When You Die? Tagged Does the soul go to Heaven When You die?, Soul, What is the Soul? What Is A Soul? I’ve been having a very interesting Bible study with a friend and the subject came up about a SOUL. What is a SOUL? Many believe that when you die, your SOUL goes to Heaven and your body decays here on earth. That is not what the Bible teaches. Here is my understanding of a SOUL ~ All it Is Is A PERSON. Look at Genesis 2:7 ~ “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.” MAN + GOD’S BREATH of LIFE = A LIVING SOUL ~ A PERSON See 1 Peter 3:20 (KJV) “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” Now read the same verse from a modern translation. “those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.” Breath of Life Goes Back to Heaven The Bible does not separate the BODY from the SOUL in a LIVE or DEAD person. When we die, the ONLY THING that goes back to Heaven is the BREATH of LIFE that God breathed into us in the beginning. Without that breath of life, we are a DEAD SOUL, A DEAD PERSON, with it, we are a LIVE SOUL, A LIVE PERSON. When Jesus comes at the resurrections, He will give all the DEAD SOULS, DEAD PERSONS. back the BREATH of LIFE that they lost when they died and they will become LIVE PERSONS once again. What About the Thief On the Cross? Some use the Thief on the Cross as evidence of the soul going right to Heaven when he died. Just a couple weeks ago, Al made a short video (less than 10 min.) that clearly explains that passage showing that it is in 100% harmony with the rest of the Bible. Here is a link to it…please take the time to watch it . I think it will really shed a light on this topic. The “souls under the altar crying” is symbolic….just as in Genesis 4:10, God told Cain after he had murdered Abel, “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” There was no sound of Abel’s blood crying from the ground, just as no one who dies today, their blood does not cry. It was just a symbolic phrase God used to say how horrible the death of the martyrs were. Abel was the first of all the Martyrs. Let me know if this answered the question, “What Is a SOUL?” . If you enjoyed this read, check out my husband’s book, you will like that, too!
