Does God Have a Soul and Can You Document It Biblically?
Steve, does God have a soul? Can you document it Biblically? Did Jesus have a soul? Or are God and Jesus different from us? If God has a soul, how does this fit into the Trinity? Does each member of the Trinity share one soul? Or does each member of the Trinity have its own soul?
Steve’s Answer:
God made flesh mankind in His own image (Genesis 1:26). And since He made us all with souls, then yes, He too must have a soul.
After all, one’s spirit is the intellect and personality of one’s soul. So, since God has a Holy Spirit, then yes, He must also have a soul with which to carry that Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is simply the intellect and personality of His soul, which, in turn, is His very self.
In Isaiah 42:1 God Himself is speaking, and He confirms He has both a spirit and a soul. As it’s written:
Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Likewise, here are some more Scriptures confirming the fact that Father has a soul:
Lev 26:11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
Lev 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
Lev 26:13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
And here, from the same chapter of Leviticus is more Scriptural evidence, direct from God’s mouth, that He has a soul:
Lev 26:27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
Lev 26:28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
Lev 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
So yes, God has a soul. And that soul is His very self, just like your soul is your very self. Likewise, in the book of Jeremiah there are a great number of individual verses in which God confirms He has a soul. Here are four of them:
Jer 4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Jer 5:9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 5:29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 9:9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Likewise, in Jeremiah chapter 32 our heavenly Father once again confirms that He has a soul:
Jer 32:38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
Jer 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Jer 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Here’s another verse confirming the fact that God has a soul:
Zechariah 11:8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
So yes, every individual being has a soul, including God.
Did Jesus have a soul? Of course He did.
Since God has a soul, and Jesus is God in the flesh, then yes, Jesus has a soul, as well. As it’s written in two different places in the New Testament in which Jesus is talking:
Mat 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Even the Old Testament documents the fact that Jesus has a soul. As it’s prophesied of the coming Messiah:
Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Same Soul?
So yes, Jesus has a soul. And not to confuse you, but because I don’t cotton to the traditional church belief that God and Jesus are two separate beings, I’d dare say that God’s soul and Jesus Christ’s soul are the very same soul. After all, Jesus said this:
John 10:30 — I and my Father are one.
John 14:9 — Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
In other words, Jesus and the Father are the same personage. As it’s written in Isaiah 9:6:
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace are all the same entity, which is to say, that child born to Mary. Likewise, in Isaiah chapter seven it’s written:
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Of course, the name “Immanuel” means “God with us.” So Jesus was God with us. He wasn’t a separate entity apart from God. As it’s written, within that flesh body we know as “Jesus Christ” dwelt “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”:
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
The word “all” in that verse is translated from the Greek word pas (i.e., Strong’s G-3956), which means “the whole.” Not just a part, but the whole Godhead dwelt within Jesus. That would, by necessity, include God’s very soul.
The word “fullness” in that verse is translated from the Greek word pleroma (i.e., Strong’s G-4138), which means to be completely filled, as opposed to being incompletely filled. In other words, everything that God is composed of (including His soul) dwelt inside of Jesus.
God’s Three Offices
As you know, the phrase “the Godhead” refers to the three offices of God, i.e., the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That’s what some Christians refer to as the “Trinity,” even though the word Trinity occurs nowhere in the entire Bible, and was not accepted by Christianity until somewhere around the 4th century. In other words, Christianity prospered for some four hundred years without the doctrine of the Trinity.
So inside the flesh body that we know as Jesus Christ dwelt “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” meaning God Himself, His very soul and its spirit, dwelt within Christ, just as our own soul and its spirit dwells within our body.
Always keep in mind that one’s soul is one’s actual self. That flesh body you sport is just an overcoat for your soul. Your body is not the real you. Your soul is the real you. Some call the soul the “inner man.” And that’s correct. Your body is just the covering for the soul. When the flesh body dies, it goes back to the earth from which it was made, but the soul and it’s spirit — the self — returns to the Father in heaven (i.e., Ecclesiastes 12:6-7).
I hope that makes sense. Each soul is a separate entity that has its own spirit, which is to say, its own intellect and personality. The body worn by each soul — whether it’s a flesh body for a human, or an angelic body for an angel — is simply the overcoat for the soul and its inherent spirit.
So when Jesus said “I and my Father are one” and “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” He was letting us know that the Father had actually entered into His flesh body as it was developing in Mary’s womb. In other words, it’s my belief that God’s soul parked itself in that flesh body we know as Jesus Christ, and animated it.
Yes, just as each one of God’s children — which is to say, each one of the billions of souls God originally created — has to come through this flesh life one time, in like manner God Himself came through the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. As it’s written:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
So it’s my belief that the soul in Jesus Christ was God’s own soul. There are not two separate ruling souls in heaven, one calling itself “God” and one calling itself “Jesus.” There is only one God, and therefore only one soul of God.
Separate Beings?
I’ve even heard some Biblically illiterate preachers claim that all three “personages” of the Holy Trinity — i.e., the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — are three separate entities from one another, which is to say separate beings from each other.
In other words, these so-called “ministers” claim that God the Father is one separate being, Jesus is another separate being, and the Holy Spirit is another separate being, as if, in heaven, you could walk up to each one of them individually and shake hands with them.
But that’s ridiculous, for three different entities would require three different souls, which is to say, three different selves.
And that’s precisely why the Jews and the Muslims of today accuse Christians of blasphemous worship of more than one God, i.e., our Biblically-illiterate religious leaders can’t grasp the simple fact that we worship a single God who works through three separate offices.
- On the throne, He’s the Father.
- On the mercy seat, He’s the Savior.
- And inside our hearts and minds where He dwells, He’s the Holy Spirit, which can reach out from His soul and touch us, and even dwell within us through His great power, like a spiritual umbilical cord running directly from Him to us.
And inside our hearts and minds where He dwells, He’s the Holy Spirit, which can reach out from His soul and touch us, and even dwell within us through His great power, like a spiritual umbilical cord running directly from Him to us.
But He’s the same singular entity, fulfilling those three different offices at once. As it’s written:
Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
And as it’s further written:
Eph 4:6 — One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
To sum up, yes, God has a soul. And so did Jesus. But since Jesus is God in the flesh, it was the same soul. There are not three separate souls for three separate ruling beings. That’s actually quite blasphemous, for it implies three separate yet somehow interrelated ruling Gods. And there is only one God. Period.
Regards in Christ,
Steve Barwick
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