Immortality

Mike Johnson

“Death is not a period but a comma in the story of life.”

In a sentence, a comma indicates a pause.  A period is end punctuation and is used to show the end of a sentence.  With this idea in mind, the above quotation says a great deal.  It speaks of the immortality of the soul.

There is more to our existence than life on earth, as we have an immortal soul.  We do not live forever in our bodies as life on earth does end.  However, the soul lives forever.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 describes death.  It says, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.”  This passage shows a distinction between the body and the soul.  It shows the continued existence of the soul after death.

It is not just the souls of the righteous, which are eternal.  Everyone has an immortal soul.  This fact is good for the righteous because they will dwell eternally in heaven.  However, it will be dreadful for the wicked.  Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 25:46 when he spoke of the destinies of the wicked and righteous.  He said, “…and these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”  The words “everlasting” and “eternal” come from the same word in the Greek.  The word means “never-ending.”

We need to keep in mind the immortality of our souls. Therefore, it is essential to become a Christian and be faithful in our service to God (Acts 22:16; I Cor. 15:58) so we can dwell “forever” in heaven.  Remember, death is not a period: it is only a comma in the story of life.