1 Peter 1:8-9 English Standard Version

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

This is one of the few verses that directly connects salvation to the saving of our souls.

John 3:16-17 English Standard Version

For God So Loved the World

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The most famous quote about being saved indicates the purpose is eternal life and does not state exactly what we are being saved from or what is being saved.

Is the soul life?

John 6:63 English Standard Version (ESV) It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

If the spirit is life and the flesh is of no help, and the soul is flesh, mind, will, and emotions, then what is being saved?

1 Corinthians 5:5 English Standard Version (ESV) you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

It seems by this verse that the flesh is not going to survive death, only the spirit.

Perhaps the confusion about saving the soul is over the issues of our conformance into the image of the Son. Our minds are being changed, our will is being changed, and our emotions are being changed. This is a daily process and when we are resurrected into the incorruptible form for the sake of eternal living, whatever souls we have will have been translated into perfection and no longer in need of being changed.

Until then we are left with the daunting task of conformance, a changing of the mind, will and emotions of the individual.

Thank God He did not leave that task up to us.

Psalm 139:13 English Standard Version (ESV) For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

Life begins at conception. The parents are the parents no matter what happens.

Being born again in the spirit is exactly the same. We are children of the living God no matter what happens.

If a child is born blind the parents are still the parents. We are children of God if we remain spiritually blind, we are still children of God.

Now there is nothing human parents can do about a child born blind.

God is not powerless to leave us spiritually blind.

How can we see without having some sense of what to look for?

The television is on and the show is picturing beautiful waterfalls in Norway. I can see this beauty without being there. If I want to see it for myself, I must go there to see it for myself.

Preachers and teachers paint a picture of the kingdom of God. We get to glimpse into the kingdom without going there. It is beautiful, just like our large screen 4K television. We can go there and see it for ourselves but just like a trip to Norway, we must put in the effort to get there to see it for ourselves.

We can learn from the parable of the Ten Virgins that we must buy oil for our lamps for ourselves and no one will do it for us.

Psalm 119:105 English Standard Version (ESV) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

If the only Word we get is from our teachers and pastors on Sunday we may enjoy the picture but we will never get there without investing time in the Word by ourselves, buying the oil.

Time is the only thing we can invest in opening our spiritual eyes.