Does fallen mankind have an immortal soul?

Calvin seemed to think so.

Let's look into this. I will start with 2 Cor 5:5-8

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have (present tense) a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

 

We need to be very careful with the tenses: past, present, future...

"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed (present tense), we have (present tense) a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Paul equates "our earthly house" with our earthly body - see verse 6.

Verse 4 states that "our earthly house" is mortal.

verse 6 "While we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord"

Why? 1 Cor 15:50 "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God"

Our current house is sinful and therefore mortal. Sin cannot enter heaven. Clearly we must be changed: "We will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality." verses 52,53

When are we "changed"? "we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised" verses 51,52

7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Paul is not saying when we die we automatically go to heaven. He is saying that he prefers to be absent from this body of sin and to be at home with the Lord.

 

How do we have "our earthly house" (our fallen bodies) and simultaneously have "a building from God"?

BTW, if folks knew the gospel this question would not have to be asked.

The question is, when was your glorified life taken to heaven?

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Col 1:13,14 NASB

Eph 2:4 "God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

 

This idea, in some Christian circles, that our current, sinful humanity has something good in it that floats off to heaven upon our death, is total rubbish. It's nothing more than pseudo-christian, paganism.

 

Our humanity indwelt with iniquity. Paul calls it "indwelling sin" or "our sinful body".

The primary meaning of iniquity (sin) is not an act but a condition. As a result of the fall, man by very nature is spiritually “bent,” so that the driving force of his very nature is love of self. Paul defines it as “the law of sin and death” [Romans 7:23; 8:2]. It is this condition that is the basis of all our sinning, and which makes us slaves to sin [Romans 3:9-12; 7:14].

 

I know, I know...what about Ecc 12:7?

6 Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

So far we have a series of metaphors.

7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

"The dust" is a metaphor too. When Adam sinned he was told by God, "You (will) return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

So when we die we go back to dust, eventually....

Gen 2:7 states, "then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

And our breath goes out...meaning we breathe our last. Since God breathed life into us at the creation, it metaphorically goes back to Him when we die.

To read into this series of metaphors that a disembodied spirit returns to Him is more like witchcraft than anything Biblical.

 

Speaking of deception....

1 Sam 28:3 Now, Samuel was dead. All Israel had mourned him and buried him in his city, Ramah. Meanwhile Saul had driven mediums and diviners out of the land....

4 The Philistines rallied and, coming to Shunem, they encamped. Saul, too, mustered all Israel; they camped on Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he grew afraid and lost heart completely. 6 He consulted the Lord; but the Lord gave no answer, neither in dreams nor by Urim nor through prophets. through whom I can seek counsel.” His servants answered him, “There is a woman in Endor who is a medium.”

Verse 11 “Whom do you want me to conjure up?” the woman asked him. “Conjure up Samuel for me,” he replied. 12 When the woman (medium) saw Samuel, she shrieked at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” 13 But the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” “I see a god rising from the earth,” she replied. 14 “What does he look like?” asked Saul. “An old man is coming up wrapped in a robe,” she replied. Saul knew that it was Samuel, and so he bowed his face to the ground in homage.

• Light has no partnership with darkness. A witch is of Satan - she had no power to raise anyone from the dead. Therefore this appriation wasn't Samuel. It was a demon appearing as Sameul.
• God gave Israel the charge to wipe out all mediums in the land. Why would He partnership with a medium?
• In verse 13 Samuel is called "a god"....He was prophet, not a god. Another clue that this wasn't Samuel the prophet.

Saul was deceived by the power of Satan. Why?

2 Thess 2:9 "the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved."

 

The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence (i.e., the grave). Ps 115:17

The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no more reward, and even the memory of them is lost. Eccl 9:5

The teaching that fallen man has an immortal soul/spirit comes from the father of lies.

Next time you're at a funeral and the preacher has so and so floating off to heaven, after the funeral, and when no one is around, pull him to the side and ax* him a question. (*Trying to keep up with the young crowd)

Asked him this: What good and holy thing was in believing grandma that it didn't need Christ's righteousness and independent of the resurrection went straight to God in heaven?

What part of dear old grandma was so righteousness that it allowed her to skip the death sentence that came upon all men since Adam?

"There is no one who is righteous, not even one"...not even Grandma...