QUESTION:
Is Man’s Soul Eternal?
ANSWER:
“I give unto them Eternal Life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” [John 10:28]
“This is the record, that God hath given to us Eternal Life, and this Life is in His Son.” [1 John 5:11]
“I just want to ask you, wasn't it something about, you was worried about backsliding or something like that? Something on that order? Well, look, let me tell about your experience. Now look, sister, this may hurt a little bit in the audience. Now, if you don't believe this that... I'm talking to the woman. See? God don't run His business like that. Now, you know you were once saved. You know that. Well, if God saved you here, knowing He was going to lose you down there, He defeats His own purpose. He can't... You can't... He can't lose you. He might have to take you off the earth because of your sin, like the man in the Bible, who was living with his own mother, and they turned him over to the devil for the destruction of the flesh that the save--that the soul might be saved. But He can't lose you. You're His. Before the world begin, He ordained you to Eternal Life. And it's the devil trying to cheat you out of it. Call him a liar. Jesus Christ, Jehovah-jireh, has provided a place for you. Go get it. Live happy. God bless you.” [Jehovah-Jireh Discernment, Edmonton, AB 57-0810]
“A man is made like a sheep. And a sheep cannot find its way back, I'm told; when it's lost, it's totally lost. And that's the way with man. When he is lost, he is absolutely helpless. He must have a shepherd to guide him. And man when he chooses, as the days go on, we find man continually getting worse, choosing rather to walk by sight, than stead of by faith, by the Unseen. And when he does that, he robs the inner man, which is the soul. And that's the eternal part of man. [Looking At The Unseen, Jeffersonville, IN 58-1003]
“A soul that's saved has Eternal Life. It cannot perish or nothing can ever take it from you. It's gone into the books of God to be raised up in the last days. The great thing is the first thing. First the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, other things shall be added.” [Watchman What Of The Night, Jeffersonville, IN 58-1130]
“As long as you got a Pentecostal Experience in your heart, pentecost in your soul, giving you Eternal Life, then God has promised you that, "You'll never be touched with the second death;" that, you got Eternal Life and can't be touched with the second death. See? You got... you're..."Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." Now, don't grieve It (do things that's wrong). If you do, you'll pay for it; 'cause the Bible said, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed until the day of your redemption." Is that right? "Grieve not the Holy Spirit." [The Smyrnaean Church Age, Jeffersonville, IN 60-1206]
“Divine healing is not on the same basis as salvation. Divine healing was included in the Atonement, truly. The old atonement had Divine healing, and the new one is a much better than the old one. So if it's better, it's got to be better in every way, but Divine healing... Salvation of the soul and you become a new creature, Eternal Life. You don't have eternal health by healing, but it's an attribute. It's--it's the earnest of your resurrection. If there's no Divine healing, then there is no resurrection. See? But now, what is it? It's your own personal faith in a finished work of Christ at Calvary.” [Abraham, Brooklyn, NY 56-1208]
“Don't settle for nothing less than an old fashion experience of the New Birth, to be born again of the Spirit of the eternal God, when your soul and God locks together and you become one.” [Life, Jeffersonville IN 57-0602]
“From there, unto the great home of the living God where the soul never dies, where there's no sickness, sorrow, or old age... No death there cannot enter that blissful, holy place. Lord, let their soul take it's eternal rest from this hour on upon that great promise. "All that the Father has given Me will come to Me. And he that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out. I'll raise him up at the last day, give him Eternal Life." And again, it is written, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me hath (present tense) Eternal Life, shall not come to the judgment, but is passed from death unto Life." Grant it, Lord. I commit them into Thy hands now.” [Door To The Heart, Phoenix, AZ 60-0312]
“I pray Thee, most merciful God, with all my heart and my soul, that Thou will this night receive those that You seen them put their hands up. They're in such a condition. They realize that they've got to face a endless eternity. And I pray, God, that You'll never let them perish. May this be the time that the eternal God will place His Spirit in their heart, and they will receive Eternal Life, and be born anew right now, right in their seats where they're sitting. God, You know their hearts and may it happen just this moment. May it from this hour on, they be a changed person.” [Faith Once Delivered To The Saints, Indianapolis IN 57-0610]
“I'm going to be responsible at the day of the judgment for my ministry. God gave me this ministry to win SOULS. Divine healing is just not for the healing of the body; it's to catch SOULS. See? The body may be healed; it'll get sick again. That's right. And it's got to die. But that soul, once born and connected in the Kingdom of God, has Eternal, Everlasting Life. When aeons will roll on, aeons of time, it'll still be the same.” [The Infallible Word Of God, Chicago, IL 56-0406]
“Man shall not live by bread alone," said the Lord, "but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And a man's physical being, to be taken care of, is not all the reason God put him on the earth. Because what He does with this physical being amounts to very little. It's his soul what counts. It's the inward man that did not come from the earth; it come from heaven, and that's the eternal part of the human being.” [Looking At The Unseen, Jeffersonville, IN 58-1003]
“Riches is when the Kingdom of God has come into the human HEART, changed his emotions, and made him a new creature in Christ Jesus, and give him Eternal Life. That's the richest thing on earth.” [The Unity Of One God In The One Church, Jeffersonville, IN 58-1221E]
“That's how we can never die, because we was always. We're a part of God, the offspring of God, and He's the only Eternal thing there is. [Brother Branham knocks on the pulpit three times--Ed.] Amen. You can no more die than God can die, because you're Eternal, with Him. Amen!” [Is This The Sign Of The End, Sir, Jeffersonville, IN 62-1230E]
“The first death is separating from our loved ones. We're go in the Presence of God, never out of His Presence. See? Now, if there's a second death, then it'd have to be the death of the soul. And then he that overcomes the world, or overcomes the things of the world, has Eternal Life and shall not be touched by the second death. There you are, Eternal Life.” [The Smyrnaean Church Age, Jeffersonville, IN 60-1206]
“The first man, you can't see him. God... second man was a halo. And now He takes a third man and makes him like a little white cloud, coming over, we can see him; Holy Spirit coming down. And he's all man. That's the soul of man, eternal then.” [Who Is God? Cleveland, OH 50-0815]
“The Spirit can come out here and anoint you to do certain thing, and you do it, but that don't mean you're saved. Think of it. Caiaphas prophesied. Judas cast out devils. See, the Spirit anointed him. This rain falls on the just and the unjust, the weeds can rejoice with the wheat. But it's what it is at the core. There's where you can, intellectuals, can accept and say, "Oh, sure, that looks good. I believe that." That still don't do it. No, sir. And the spirit can actually make witness of it, and still it isn't so. Because if that soul hasn't come from God, it can make all the impersonations out here, but it cannot be real. You can act healing, you can act like you have. You can act like you receive it. Christians can act like they're Christians, and act and be ever so good at it, but that don't mean they're saved. That's exactly right, see. The Spirit can be there, the real, genuine Spirit. The Holy Spirit can anoint you, that still don't mean you're saved. It's that inside soul that never dies, it's got Eternal Life. It always was Eternal Life. See? It come from God, it goes to God, it's the soul.” [Works Is Faith Expressed, Shreveport, LA 65-1126]
“There is one life. And I believe a man that has Eternal Life can never die, and I believe there is a complete annihilation of that soul that sins, for the Bible said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die," not the man, the soul that sinneth. So Satan must surely die to be completely destroyed. How I disagree with the universalist that say that Satan will be saved. He sinned, and he's the originator of sin. And his soul sinned and he was a spirit. That spirit shall be totally annihilated to be nothing left of it.” [That Day On Calvary, Jeffersonville, IN 60-0925]
“We believe in the immortality of the soul, absolutely. We believe there's only one form of Eternal Life and that's the Life that you get from Christ Jesus. That's exactly right. Therefore, we do not believe in eternal punishment. We believe in a hell fire, brimstone burning, but we don't believe it burns forever. If it does, you got Eternal Life. There's only one Eternal Life; that comes from God. That's right. You'll be burnt maybe for a million years, ten million years, I don't know; but you can't have Eternal Life. You can't burn forever... You can burn forever, but not eternal. There's a difference between "eternal" and "forever." "Forever" is forever and forever (conjunction) means "a space of time." But eternal…You do not have eternal punishment. You have Eternal Life, 'cause there's only one form of Eternal Life, and he that has Eternal Life lives and is blessed of God forever. But the soul that sinneth, that soul shall what? Die. Then it hasn't Eternal Life. Certainly. It has--it has its punishment, but not Eternal Life.” [The Serpent's Seed, Jeffersonville, IN 58-0928E]
“We want a soul-healing service, to heal the inside, because that is what's going to last, you get Eternal Life. Eternal Life does not vanish or grow old. It stays, remains the same.” [The Patmos Vision, Jeffersonville, IN 60-1204E]
“When you die and that soul leaves you, it never changes. No, sir. Death doesn't change the soul. It changes its dwelling place, but it's still the same soul. So if it isn't born again, and a part of the Eternal Spirit of God, it had a beginning. Anything with a beginning has an end. That's the reason God is the only thing is Eternal. Unless you're born again and have Eternal Life (the Greek word Zoe there means "God's Own Life" in you), you'll perish. But where God's Life is in you, you can no more perish than God can perish, that's right, because you are a son, an offspring of God, and have Eternal Life. Oh, that's the thing the church needs. Then when God is in you, then He lives His Own Life through you. See? And that's how we--we know that we're Christians. Then you're concerned about your brother, if the Spirit is in Christ.” [Convinced Then Concerned, Tempe, AZ 62-0118]
Bible References: John 10:28; I John 5:11
[Answer provided by Bro. Ken Andes, Minister, Lynden, Washington, USA]