A Pastoral Reflection on Who We Really Are
This Pastoral Letter is addressed to a young man named Patrick and is about one of life’s most profound questions: what is the soul?
With warmth and biblical insight, we explore how Scripture reveals that we are more than just physical beings; we are living souls, breathed into life by God Himself.
Drawing from Genesis, the Psalms, and the teachings of Jesus and Paul, we unpack the soul’s divine origin, its moral and spiritual purpose, and its eternal destiny.
This thoughtful reflection invites readers to look deeper at their own lives and discover the God who gives life not only to the body, but to the soul.
Dear Patrick,
Your question about the soul is an interesting one. It seems there are a lot of younger people asking a similar question these days. This ‘soul-searching’ is happening because so many of your generation are dissatisfied with what life seems to offer them and they are wondering if there is something more.
What Is Life All About?
As soon as we leave the womb and emerge into the world, we are driven by basic instincts … or we scream blue murder until these ‘needs’ are met by those who love us. Initially, just food, shelter and clothing are our basic needs. The older we grow, the more sophisticated and demanding our appetites become. We crave not just the next meal but for approval, influence and other measures of ‘success’. Just as the body has appetites so does the ‘soul’. At some point, a fulfilled life searches for more, that missing bit.
Something More
The Bible teaches us that we are more than just a body, that we have a soul as well. Nobody doubts the existence of their body and clear reasoning tells us that there is another bit to every human being, the soul. The Bible teaches that the soul is the essential, God-breathed life within a person—distinct yet inseparable from the body, and central to spiritual identity, moral responsibility, and eternal destiny.
Looking At Your Soul
Throughout the Bible, the clear teaching is that God made humans in His image, that we are more than animals:
‘For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well’ – Psalm 139:13-14
The Origin and Nature of the Soul
Right at the start, you can read in Genesis 2:7 about the soul’s divine origin:
‘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.’
The Hebrew word ‘nephesh’ is used here, often translated as ‘soul’ or ‘life’. The soul is not merely a ghostly essence—it’s the animating principle of life, encompassing emotion, will, and consciousness. It’s what makes a person a living being, unique and with our own personality.
Two Parts In One – Duality and Integration
You may not have thought of it like this before Patrick, but the Bible teaches this dualistic view, that whilst humans are body and soul, they are deeply integrated. Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 15 where he contrasts Adam as a ‘living soul’ with Christ as a ‘life-giving spirit,’ highlighting both physical and spiritual dimensions. I’ll come back to this amazing chapter a bit later.
The soul is often linked with the heart and mind, representing the seat of thought, desire and moral choice. You can see this in Deuteronomy 6:5 – ‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul’.
Not to confuse things too much, but the Bible also refers to our ‘spirits’ but often the words ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ are used interchangeably.
Moral and Spiritual Significance
The soul ‘lives’ within the ‘flesh’ (the body). Paul writes about a battle between what the flesh wants to do and what the ‘born-again’ spiritual inner you wants to do. The ‘Body’ wants to please the ‘flesh-appetites’ but the ‘newly alive soul’ (if born-again) wants to please God. This goes someway to explaining the internal struggles that many of us feel in our walk with God – see Romans 7.
The soul is accountable to God. It can be troubled, joyful, sorrowful, or restored. See Psalm 23:3 – ‘He restores my soul’, for the body is not something that stands before God in its present form. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15 about the different types of body – that of an animal, of a bird or that of a fish. He then shows that there is a ‘heavenly’ body and an ‘earthly’ body. The resurrection body for someone who has trusted in Christ is like that of Jesus when He was raised from death. This resurrection body is no longer subject to physical laws like gravity. See 1 Corinthians 15:40 – ‘There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendour of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of the earthly bodies is another.’
Jesus emphasized the soul’s eternal value when He said: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). This underscores the soul’s immortal destiny and need for salvation before it is separated by physical death from the body.
Eternal Implications
The soul survives physical death and faces judgment. Hebrews 9:27 says, ‘It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.’ You can see that our souls have a conscious existence after death for in Revelation 6:9, there is a reference to souls ‘under the altar’ in heaven itself.
If you wanted more on this Patrick, you could read Wayne Grudem’s book of Systematic Theology Chapter 23. He looks in great depth at the theology of this by investigating Greek and Hebrew words. Hopefully, my letter has answered some of your pondering.
The main thing here is that God the Spirit Who was at work in the beginning of creation to give the breath of life to humans is the One Who gives spiritual life to those whose souls become ‘alive to God’ (see John 3, Romans 6 and 8).
Here’s a worship song about the cry of the soul as you think this over: ‘Set a Fire’ by United Pursuit:
More reading – https://connect4life.org.uk/c4l-boosters/one-life-live-it/
Keep seeking and you will surely find … that’s one of God’s promises to you Patrick.
Your fellow traveller,
Oggy
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