Re: The soul and the body - two separate beings?
By the way, the definition of the soul is the spirit and the body combined are the soul of man.
(Gen. 2:7)
7 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.
The breath of life means that Adam spirit came down from heaven and entered into the Body that God created for him.
Ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
"persuasion . . . long-suffering . . . gentleness . . . meekness . . . love un-feigned . . . kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile"
As we go through lifes experiences and we deal with them in a way that would please God, Our soul gets stronger. When we die our spirit leaves our body so our body dies. Our spirits return to God who gave it life.
Befroe we were born and our spirits entered into our bodies, our spirits lived with God in Heaven.
(Heb. 12:9)
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
(Acts 17:29)
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7.)
Someone referred to life on earth as a journey and to death as a return home. Whether or not this someone was familiar with Holy Writ, he or she had it right. We are the spirit children of God, and we are members of his family. We have been sent to earth for the purpose of obtaining physical bodies, gaining experiences, and proving ourselves under the tutelage of parents and within the framework of a family unit (see Abraham 3:24-26). One day, however, all of us will die or experience a separation of our bodies and spirits, and our spirits will be "taken home to that God who gave them life". The bitterness or sweetness of such return will be determined by our closeness to God, our acquisition of Christ-like virtues, and our faithfulness to family.