What is the soul? 

The Bible tells us what the soul is. We read, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7.) First God created Adam's body, then God breathed the breath of life into him and Adam BECAME a living soul. Adam did not receive a soul. Man is a soul. 

The word soul is translated from the Hebrew word "nephesh," which means "a breathing, sentient being." When God created Adam – the body was not the soul. Neither was the breath of life breathed into Adam. But when the body and the breath of life were united, man became a living, breathing, animate being, or a soul. 

Body + Breath of life = Soul  

Without the body or without the breath of life, there is no soul. The soul dies.  Ezekiel 18:4, “the soul that sins shall die.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, “the dead know nothing…”

What happens at death?

The soul dies but God remembers every single human soul. And God has promised to resurrect every soul. Jesus said, “…an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good (the true followers of Jesus) to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil (all the rest of mankind) to the resurrection of judgment.” John 5:28-29 (ESV).

In the resurrection, God will remember the person and give him life in a body appropriate for his character. The saints will receive a divine, spirit body (2 Peter 1:4) and the world will receive healed human bodies. (Isaiah 35:5-6). 

What will the resurrection of judgment be like?

It will be a time of teaching, forgiveness, and restoring. Isaiah 26:9, “With my soul have I desired thee in the night (the present nighttime of sin and death)…for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” 

Jeremiah 31:34 (ESV), “And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” 

Numbers 14:21, “…all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.”