I have been told that man has three distinct features, body, soul, and spirit. If this is true, where will they go upon death and at the second coming of Christ? Willie Moore, Sylvania Heights Church of Christ
The short answer is that when a threesome, “body” represents the physical nature of mankind (also shared by the animal world), “soul” represents the breath of life (also shared by the animal world) and “spirit” represents the immortal nature of humanity (resembling the spiritual nature of God and not shared by the animal world). Upon death, the body returns to the earth and the spirit returns to the custody of God: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Of course, the breath of life ceases when one dies. Upon the resurrection at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, bodies of the righteous dead will be resurrected, changed for an immortal, eternal dwelling with God in heaven and joined by their immortal spirits: “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:49-53). See also Romans 8:11, Philippians 3:20-21 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). See also the following articles in the Archive of Gospel Gazette Online:
