THE VALUE OF A SOUL

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16: 26

(a) Man is a multi-dimensional being – body, soul and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23). The physical body is the dwelling place of the God-created spirit. It is the spirit of man that illuminates the soul, which is the emotional and intellectual part of man. Man is thus spiritual in the sense of possessing both spirit and soul. He is physical in that the real person is resident in a physical body that is of the dust of the earth (Eccl. 12: 7).
(b) Oftentimes, man tends to spend more time pampering the body that has limited earthly life and neglect the soul which is made in the image of God and will continue living after this earthly life.
(c) Jesus said that the soul is worth more than the rest of the world put together. He asked: “What will it profit a man if he will gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26; Mark 8:36).

OUR SAVIOUR ASKED THESE QUESTIONS OVER 2,000 YEARS AGO – NEVER BEEN ANSWERED.

It is a two part question:
(a) “For what will it profit a man if he will gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Or,
(b) “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Christ is simply teaching that it is a foolish bargain if we should try to exchange our souls for the world. Therefore we need to recognise the value of our souls.

WHY IS THE SOUL OF MAN SO VALUABLE

1. The value of a soul is measured by the source from which it originates.
(a) Man was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7).
(b) Yet God does not have a physical body like ours (John 4:24; Luke 24:39).
(c) Therefore it must be our soul or spirit that is in God’s image.
(d) It is that part of you that possess wisdom, intellect, emotion and will – just like God. That makes man different from animals.

2. The value of the soul is measured by its eternal quality
(a) The soul will never die, it will live forever.
(b) The body soon dies and returns to the dust where it originated, while the soul returns to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).
(c) It is the soul that will stand in judgment when the body resurrects in a new form (Heb. 9:27; 2 Cor. 5:10).
(d) The soul in its resurrected body will bear the brunt of the judgement either in heaven or in hell (Rom. 2:7-9).
3. The value of the soul is measured by the devil’s interest in it.
The devil is greatly at work in our world, and he is after our souls. He is walking around like a wounded lion (1 Pet. 5:8).
4. The value of the soul is measured by God’s concern for saving it.
God is very passionate about our souls.
(a) He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).
(b) “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
(c) God sees man’s soul as the most valuable thing in the whole world, which is why He sent His son to redeem it. So what will it profit a man…? (Mk. 8:36).

5. The value of the soul is measured by the price paid for its redemption.
(a) The Bible says “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
(b) What are you doing with your soul? Are you gambling with it or just taking a change with it?