Let us observe these two statements:
"...Thou shalt surely die"(Gn, 2:17).
"...Ye shall not surely die" (Gn, 3:4).
The first is a statement made by God to man that if he sinned, he would surely die.
In the second, we have the voice of the serpent telling the woman that even if she sinned, there would be no death, neither for her nor for her husband.
God's affirmation to man has nothing to do with the spurious doctrine of the mortality of the soul, especially since it had already been created eternal by God when He breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life (Gen.2:7). A breath not breathed into any other being or living soul.
Satan's intent was to deceive Eve, claiming that they would not die physically. But God had told them that they would surely die.
If they did not die physically after sin, it would be proven that God did not tell the truth.
They ate and did not die, which made it seem that God had deceived them, however the Lord spoke of SPIRITUAL DEATH (separation from God), that is, the fall of man.
In spiritual death there is separation from God because of sin that divides man and the Eternal, but one could never conclude from this that the soul is mortal, in the sense of ending or extinguishing itself as happens with the physical body.
Today, Satan still speaks through doctrines devoid of divine revelations, contrary to the Word of God, as he did here at this beginning.
The enemy's technique is the same: to try to change God's truth into a lie. They announce the lie of the mortality of the soul in our days, the "Russellites" and the "Sabbatarians", positioning themselves as adherents and workers of satanic cunning.
"It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." (I Co, 15.44 ).
To enjoy the fullness of God's wonders, we must strip ourselves of this animal body, with physical disintegration, as happens with the seed, and clothe ourselves with a spiritual body, whose power and action cannot be limited by time, space, or anything else.
WHAT IS THE SOUL?
I Ts, 5.23 and Hb, 4.12 describe the existence of body, soul, and spirit:
"And the same God of peace sanctify you wholly; and may your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians, 5:23).
"For the word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews, 4:12).
The body being the material part (Soma or Sarkos); soul (life) possessed by rational or irrational animals, is Nephesh or Ruah; Spirit (eternal breath) possessed only by man, Psishe or Pneuma.
To answer what the soul is we need to know what the texts above tell us, since in our translation soul refers both to the spirit (breath of life) and to blood (life of the flesh).
In the originals we find the Hebrew and Greek words designating each part, that is:
Soma/Sarkos: indicates the body and is used to refer to all animals.
Neophesh/Ruah: indicates animal soul, and Ruah is sometimes translated as spiritual soul referring to man.
Psishe/Pneuma indicates the spirit (spiritual breath) and is only used when referring to man, however sometimes it is translated using the word soul in Portuguese.
The soul, spirit, or divine breath in man (Hebrew: Neshamah) that God breathed exclusively into man, does not apply to irrational beings as stated in the following verses: Gn, 2.7; Jo, 27.3-33; Is, 42.5-57; Pv, 20.27; Js, 11.11-14; and Dt, 20.16.
The words Ruah, Nephesh, and Neshamah are used to designate soul in the spiritual sense, and Ruah and Nephesh serve to designate animal soul (blood) as well, while Neshamah is applied to designate only animals.
Matthew 10.28: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul (Psishe), but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna"
Ecclesiastes 12.7: "the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it".
Acts 7.59, Stephen exclaimed: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (Pneuma)".
In Luke 23.46, crying out with a loud voice he said: "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit (Pneuma) having said this, he expired".
We also have Luke 16.22-23; Philippians 1.23; Hebrews 12.23; Revelation 6:9.
Extracted from the book:
WHAT IS WORK IN RESTORATION ?
Author: Pastor Samuel Alves de Arrruda. São Paulo: Maanaim Publisher. 1995. 1st ed, p.53-54