“What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:29, Mark 8:39)
These words of Jesus ask a very compelling, very deeply personal question. On the one hand it suggests a trade must take place, but as we look into this question we begin to ask ourselves rather more profoundly who possesses our soul, what our soul really consists of, how the current possessor of it received it, and what things of value can be equated to the value of our soul that would permit the equal (if possible) exchange to take place.
That’s a lot to consider.
Before we get too carried away with metaphysics and interpretive philosophy, we need to understand that Jesus was not asking questions that cannot be answered. If anything, he provides an answer to the question that is very pointed and, admittedly, somewhat difficult to absorb if we are to accept it.
Without the benefit of Jesus, this question is entirely open ended and, truthfully, very unanswerable because we would be left to wander from philosophy to philosophy, very likely ending up with a far more complicated and probably incorrect understanding of what our soul is, what its value is, and whether it can be traded at all.
There is a popular meme circulated on the Internet today that a United States Veteran is someone who “wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America.” It references the sacrifice that a soldier gives when they are putting themselves under the command of a military that may tell them to go and perform actions that might result in being injured, maimed, or killed in the line of duty. To that end we are reminded of another of Jesus' statements, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).
It is a noble sentiment, and serves to help us understand the concept of sacrifice. Whether that is really true of all veterans is something I don’t care to speculate upon, but Jesus made it clear that there is no greater love than this, and by reference he indicated his love for us by laying down his life, not for a temporal salvation, but for an eternal salvation of our souls.
We might face wars and tribulations in this mortal frame, but there is a greater matter of importance to God - our eternal soul. It is the principal reason Jesus was sent to be among us in the flesh. Without that eternal principle.in place, Jesus coming to the earth in the flesh would have been superfluous, as would his sacrifice, and his resurrection from the dead.
When nations go to war against one another, there are usually just a few reasons for doing so, but almost universally those wars deal with physical things, whether territory, commerce, systems of government or the rights associated thereto. Nations do not go to war because they want to protect the eternal welfare of the souls of men and women.
Yet as simplistic as that is for a view of the causes of war, it is true. No nation goes to war because they want to enable men and women to be forgiven of their sins, nor do they go to war because they believe by doing so that they can overcome death itself and become immortal. Truth be told, these wars we face are of a strictly temporal nature - they only exist because of the expediencies of time, territory, and freedom as they exist in a mortal time window.
Again, not to diminish the efforts and sacrifices of our veterans, for they have many of them striven heroically, valiantly, and honorably for an ideal that they held to be true and worthwhile. Without their offering, many of us would never get the opportunity to discover the wonders of what God can do for us.
If these were spiritual wars, however, we would be facing very different kinds of threats. But there is a spiritual war, and we all must wage it heroically, valiantly, and honorably, and the consequences of victory or defeat will indeed be eternal.
If as suggested earlier this war we wage is for our eternal soul, then perhaps we need understand what that means.
In simplest terms it is about life or death, but even those terms need to be understood somewhat more clearly. Life is about living and growing, a prospect which consists of hope, joy and satisfaction. Death, on the other hand, is as opposite life as can be expressed. Death, in context, must therefore be about suffering and diminishment, hopelessness, anger and persistent unabridged shame. Recall that this is the eternal state of life or death. There are temporary parts of both, but the eternal component is what the war is about.
The offering of Jesus on the cross is what sealed the opportunity for both conditions to exist; without his offering there could only have been one: death. His suffering on the cross was the price to pay for making life an option instead of only just death. His resurrection from the dead is what sealed the physical nature of that eternal choice, since man consists of both a spiritual and physical part. Without the physical part, man would be only man in part instead of the fullness of spirit and body he was originally created to be. With Jesus' resurrection, it ushered in the reuniting of body and spirit that is to take place for the eternal condition we are to exist in, whether it be to life everlasting or to death eternal.
So what did Jesus really mean when he asked “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
If it is indeed true that the only option for man without the crucifixion of Jesus was death, then Death owned us. This change of ownership happened with the first sin of Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God while yet in the garden of Eden. Therefore, a change of ownership is once again necessitated so that we may be on the part of Life.
But didn’t Jesus “pay it all?” Certainly - inasmuch as he created the opportunity for life, but it, like death, has a cost which must be paid. You see, the reason Adam and Eve sinned in the first place was because they had the choice given to them, and they chose disobedience. For us, the same choice remains, but we each have to make the choice, it is not made for us.
Were it so simple as just saying, “Well, if that is the case, I’ll choose life instead of death!” then it wouldn’t really be much of a war, would it? Soldiers prove themselves on the battlefield, they don’t get adulation just because they signed up for the service.
We know this because the apostle James told us, “Therefore wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead and cannot save you?” (James 2:18).
Lest it should be misunderstood, this is not the same as earning a way into eternal life.
“What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Under what terms does that ownership revert to God? If God cannot dwell in an unholy temple, then we must become holy temples. We cannot be made into a temple of the Holy Ghost unless it is sanctified and purified, and that requires repentance. By definition something that is holy is something that is sanctified and made pure, and no unclean thing can withstand the presence of God or it would be consumed.
If we do the works that are not holy, we become unholy and unfit for being a temple of the Holy Ghost. But if we do those things that are good, we fulfill the conditions of repentance, and by the crucifixion we can be forgiven, becoming fit to become temples of the Holy Ghost. Therefore the price we pay is not to be filthy with sin, but pure through repentance and forgiveness. Then is Christ able to dwell in us and ownership of our soul goes to him who created us in the first place.
What is a man willing to give in exchange for his soul? The price is repentance and obedience so that we might be indwelt with the Holy Ghost. But that obedience requires fulfilling the commandments, and after repentance the next step is baptism. By baptism we covenant with God and seek forgiveness of sins through the crucifixion. But to be indwelt with the Holy Ghost requires another baptism, one of fire and the Holy Ghost.
Why two different baptisms? One sweeps the house clean, while the other fills it up. This “secures the deed of title” to our soul, as it were.
Having done these things, the exchange of ownership takes place, and we agree to let God define our lives rather than the occupier and chief resident of Death, Satan.
However, the choice given to Adam and Eve, and the choice given to us, is a never-ending choice. You see, before they sinned, the souls of Adam and Eve were solely owned by God. They had everything, but turned it aside even for just one brief moment. But they repented. Having repented, it became their life-long pursuit that they should no longer taste the bitterness they found in sin - shame and remorse of conscience. Every day we face that choice, even if we have gone so far as to be obedient to the commandments to repent and be baptized. A holy temple can become defiled by sin, and so it is for us.
Our “work” as Jesus told the apostles, is to believe on him whom God hath sent - Jesus Christ (“This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” - John 6:29). The term “work” is not just the casual familiarity with, and occasional reverence of, our savior, it is a commitment to always remember him and keep his commandments. Why is this so important? Because God will destroy all unholy temples in the end, so that the only ones that remain are those that have remained pure and undefiled, wherein he can dwell.
Faith without works is dead, as said James, and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
This is what we must give in exchange for our soul so that we may inherit eternal life.
