The Conditional Immortality of the Soul (part 1)

I want to explain and defend my view of the soul, God's Infinitely compassionate nature, and what I believe is a heresy that has crept into the Church's Theology through the Greek Culture and Religious mythology. I was raised in a Fundamental Baptist  Sect, which strongly taught the innate Immortality of the Human Soul. Since moving to the Anglican Church, I now create my Theology based on three factors: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. I affirm the The Creeds of the Early Church: Apostles' and Nicene. Looking to the Book of Common Prayer for practice of things related to my Faith in Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church.

In most Protestant, Evangelical, the Roman Catholic See, and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the view of the human soul is that it is innately Immortal, that is, that once born, that person will live for the rest of eternity either spending it in Eternal Hellfire with Satan and the fallen angels or in Heaven with God the Father and our Messiah Jesus. There are exceptions in every branch of the above mentioned Churches but still Innate Immortality is widely held as Orthodox. I want to challenge this view of the human soul and assert that Immortality is a gift granted by Jesus Christ and his atonement for fallen humanity.  "and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." ( 2 Timothy 1:10)

First we will look at Scripture, apply proper hermeneutics, and see if the doctrine of Conditional Immortality is supported in the Book of Life. From the very beginning of the Bible God gave humanity the Choice of whether to follow His commands or to follow our own path.

"And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Genesis 3:2-3 God didn't tell Adam and Eve that if they ate of the fruit they would spend an eternity burning in hell. Of course God made a way for redemption through the shedding of blood, of Christ's atonement on the Cross, and His defeat of DEATH.In 1 Timothy 6:16 Paul tells Timothy, of God, "who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." Humanity is not given immortality. The dictionary definition of immortal includes- "unending life. not subject to death or decay; having perpetual life" God alone has these attributes. Humanity is only given Immortality as a gift from God, Romans 2:7 " to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;" Why would God give believers the gift of immortality if we possess it innately? Man is obsessed with never dying. From the very beginning of time, Immortality has been the most sought after ideal of humanity.Above money, sex, fame, has been the desire to live forever.This is why the Gospel of Christ is so appealing, it offers us immortality,an unimaginable paradise, eternal life spent with the God that created us,the Christ that saved us, and the Spirit who guides us.  John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  Notice Jesus didn't say burn in hell for eternity, but perish... Die. God created us to worship Him, even after we sinned against His holiness, He loved us enough that He sent His Son to provide a way for us to be with him. Perish in John 3:16 is the Greek word “apollumi” literally meaning to 'be destroyed'. 

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Why would Paul  use eternal life instead of mentioning that sin earns us a one way ticket to an eternity burning in hell? Matthew 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Jesus tells us not to fear men but rather fear God who is able to destroy both body and SOUL in hell. That doesn't sound like immortality, lets also look at James 4:12 " There is one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor?" God of course is the Lawgiver and he will either save or destroy the Soul. In Philippians 3:19 "Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." Speaking of those who reject the Cross. Genesis 3:22 "Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever". Obviously God did not want us to live eternally as sinners, our punishment must be death.1 Corinthians 15:53 "For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality." In this passage Paul is speaking of the Saved in Christ victory over Death and from the above verse not just a physical but also a mortality of the Soul. John 12:25 "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life". Romans 8:13 " for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live." Obviously this is speaking of spiritual death not physical death. We all die the first death, but only those who reject the Gospel will experience the second death. Death is punishment and it lasts forever, that's why Scripture says it's eternal because it is an everlasting punishment! 2 Thessalonians 1:9  "They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might"