Mark 8:37 “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

What is a soul? Is it the heart? Is it the brain? Is it that thing that makes a person special? Could it be our connection to the spiritual realm? What is a soul? How can it be measured? Augustine said that the soul was “a special substance, endowed with reason, adapted to rule the body." Yet the Miriam-Webster dictionary states that a soul is “ the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life”. The Oxford dictionary claims that the soul is “the spiritual element of a person, regarded as immortal.” Wictionary defies the soul as “The spirit or essence of a person usually thought to consist of ones's thoughts and personality. Often believed to live on after the person's death.”

If the dictionaries of the world do not know how to define or determine what a soul is, then how are we able to do so? All we know is that the soul is important, but how important is it?

Leviticus 17:11 tells us about sacrifice for the soul, while Deuteronomy 4:9 reminds us to maintain and keep our souls pure, to tell of God's mighty works. Joshua 22:5 gives us an idea of what God wants from us. Job talks about the salvation of the soul, while Ecclesiastes reminds us that the soul can desire sinful things. Hebrews 6:19 speaks of a hope for the soul.

What we do know about a soul is this: It does not belong to us. We have given the loan of our soul, a lease so to speak. Christ came to redeem our souls. He came so that we might have life. Most people think of their soul as their own personal belonging. Yet here we see that this is not true! Jesus asks what a man can give to get his soul back. If a man can forfeit his soul by his actions, he can not get it back. Think of it this way. Our souls are in a spiritual pawnshop. Christ purchased our souls from the stealer of souls, from the deceiver, from the one who purchased this world and everything sinful in it from Adam and Eve. Christ has redeemed our soul and holds it in trust for us.

We do not sell our soul because we do not own our soul. What can a man give (or with what currency can he purchase) to get his soul? We have nothing valuable enough to trade in so we can ransom our soul. Let us remember that the world owned our soul, and then Christ purchased it back. We are bought by Christ, no matter what definition we use for soul, we owe everything to Him. Let us be able to say in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The royal banners forward go; The cross shines forth in mystic glow;
Where he in flesh, our flesh who made, Our sentence bore, our ransom paid:
Where deep for us the spear was dyed, life's torrent rushing from his side,
to wash us in that precious flood,where mingled water flowed, and blood.