What Is A Soul Worth?

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Matthew 16:26

Jesus was speaking to His disciples about self-denial and the importance of following Him when He asked the very thought-provoking question stated above.  What is a soul worth?  To many the soul has little worth or value.  To them it is all about pleasing the flesh.  John describes this in I John 2:16 as “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”  Multitudes spend their entire lives seeking worldly wealth, fame, and pleasure, and, in the end, come up short because they failed to consider what would happen to them when they died, and it is a proven fact that one out of every one dies.  Everyone either has already died or will eventually pass from this life into eternity either by means of the grave or whenever God decides to “wrap up” this world as we know it.  While these bodies of flesh will see death, each and every soul will go on to live either in God’s heaven or the devil’s hell.  My former pastor has said that everyone who has ever been born is still alive somewhere.

Matthew Henry makes this comment about the nature of the soul:  “Every man has a soul of his own.  The soul is the spiritual and immortal part of a man, which thinks and reasons, has a power of reflection and prospect, which actuates the body now, and will shortly act in a separation from the body.”  A man or woman cannot survive without his or her soul.  Genesis 2:7 makes it clear:  “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.”  Everything that a person accumulates of material possessions in this life only benefits him or her in this life.  He does not take any of it with him.  The 49th Psalm has a lot to say about those who trust in riches rather than in God.  Verses 7-9 speak specifically to the immeasurable value of a soul.  The Psalmist said that no amount of wealth can buy redemption for a soul because the soul is so precious.  No amount of earthly wealth can keep a soul out of hell.

The songwriter had it right when he wrote that “money can’t buy you happiness when you’re growing old” or at any other age for that matter.  To lose one’s own soul is to miss out on eternal life in heaven.  The question becomes, “Why would anyone choose to lose their own soul and forfeit the abundant life in Christ here and the future glories of heaven?  Those of us who are saved, born again and experiencing the beauty and richness in living for Christ perhaps have forgotten what it was like when our old sin nature was in charge.  It is unregenerated man’s nature to sin.  He cannot help it.  He has no power on his own to keep from committing sins and transgressions.  His whole mindset is geared toward selfishness and pride.

I John 2:15b tells us the “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”  John also wrote in John 3:18-20 that one who does not believe in Jesus, the Son of God, is already condemned because he did not or will not receive the Light, Jesus, to cleanse him but would rather remain in the darkness of his evil sins.  He does not want the Light to expose his evil ways for he knows he will suffer punishment.  Would he not be so much better off to exchange his sinful ways for the abundant righteousness of Christ?  He is worried about being punished for his evil deeds not realizing that his punishment has already been inflicted upon the One to whom he only has to repent, believe, and turn from his sins.  The law of double jeopardy comes into play here.  When Jesus died on the cross, He was the One who was convicted and sentenced to death for the sins of mankind.  All those who repent, turn from sin, and place their faith in Him cannot be tried for their sins because that would be putting one on trial whose sentence has already been passed and punishment has been executed.  Since God created the soul by His breath, as long as He lives, so will the soul either with Him in heaven or with the devil in hell.  What is a soul worth?  More than words can say.