Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 22
May 28, 1970
NUMBER 4, PAGE 1-2a

The Value Of The Soul

Vaughn D. Shofner

Jesus Christ evidently intended to fortify His disciples against the temptations which the sacrificial demands of preaching the gospel was about to expose them when He included the question, "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mt. 16:26) To obtain the intended meaning of this question, one must consider it contextually and accept the preceding words and pay attention to the comments that follow.

Trying to make the word "soul" mean no more than "life" has forced the proponents to use countless words of explanation, trying to make the idea sensibly connect with the meaning of the question, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Ibid.) However, simply allow the word "soul" to mean "spirit," and the endless explanation is unnecessary.

Following the question, "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" our Lord immediately adds, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works"(Ibid. v. 27). So, if "soul" means "life," this statement cannot be forced to have any connection with the preceding question. Intelligence shouts that there is absolutely no connection between the proposition, "Man has nothing more valuable than life," and the proposition, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father, and shall reward every man according to his works."

A casual consideration of the soul readily reaches the conclusion that there is nothing in this world so valuable that we can exchange our souls for it. The excellence of the makeup of our souls proves the proposition. Reason and revelation prove that intelligence is the property of the eternal soul. To vaguely consider the intelligence presents capacities beyond dimension. It seems to me that every transmittable perception is included in the diversified operations of the intelligence — affection, volition and countless sensations and impressions, ideas and thoughts which require mental acceptance in order to function. And to know that in heaven the only perceptions available toward the exercise of the soul are those of happiness and pleasure. In heaven the sensible pleasures will be infinitely more exquisite. There the love of God will have no hindrance; the promises of Christianity will be fulfilled. There the labors of the righteous will be rewarded; there the vastness of the power of God will be displayed in favor of the saved soul.

The immortality of the soul establishes its dignity and demonstrates its matchless value. There are some who deny the immortality of the soul, lead by the idea that the close union of the soul to the body demands dissolution of the two together. But this supposition completely vanishes as the soul functions and thus reaches the understanding that relates to the disparity between the properties of the two. Inherent in the soul of man, in the image of his Creator, is the ability to know of something that transcends the material world. Inherently, the soul of man yearns for life beyond this life. These desires of immortal duration, this faculty of thinking and reflecting, of expanding and perpetuating the mind; this superiority of the soul, intended to elevate mankind above beasts, if the soul is not immortal, places the beast above man, and leaves man filled with bitter reflections full of regret and pain. Although God has placed us in the world, yet His great designs do not limit our prospects to it. Although God has lodged our souls in frail perishable bodies, yet He does not intend to involve them in the dissolution of these temporal frames. Thus convinced of our immortality, we envy not the beasts of the field, content with their own organs, pleased with unrestrained desires that are fully satisfied, and thus we are made to accept the proposition that there is nothing so valuable in this world that we can afford to exchange our souls for it.

Kind reader, reflect for a time upon the astonishing works that God has performed in favor of the souls of man, and be persuaded by the inestimable price that God has given for the redemption of them. Saith His Holy Scriptures, "Ye are bought with a price." (I Co. 6:20) "Ye were redeemed from your vain conversation, not with corruptible things, as silver and gold; but with the precious blood of Christ." (I Pet. 1:18, 19) Go, study the revelation of Himself and His ways, and behold the types which prefigured this sacrifice; the shadows that traced it out; the ceremonies which depicted it; and by the perfection of the preparations, decide wisely of the dignity of the substance prepared. Learn it on Mount Calvary, and shudder at the wrath that fell on the head of Jesus Christ. Observe the unbridled mob foaming with rage around the cross, and glutting their savage souls with His unbearable suffering; and by the horror of the unjust causes that resulted in His death, judge of the death itself. Souls must have been very precious in the mind of God to cause Him to redeem them at so great a price. Thus the proposition of inspiration is sustained: there is nothing in this world as valuable as the soul.

Gentle reader, it is so evident that God loves us, and He has done everything to conciliate our esteem. For us He sent His Son into this world. For us He disarmed death. For us He opened an easy way to a glorious eternity. Let us accept the words of Jesus Christ, "what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"as though they meant to inform us of the disposition of a man in despair, who, laden with all the miseries that can burden a person, surprised at having parted with such a soul at a price so small, stricken with the terrible crime of losing it, who wishes, but too late, to give everything to recover it. Let us enter into and remain in the plan of our Creator, and resist the deceitful promises which the world, the flesh and the devil use to seduce us to turn from the proposition that there is nothing in this world so valuable that we can profitably exchange our souls for it.

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