Man is born mortal and does not possess an innate immortal soul; immortality must be added from outside him, as a baby born naked must be clothed afterward. Paul says this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality (I Corinthians 15:53-54), and that Jesus Christ alone has immortality among those born human (I Timothy 6:15-16). Eternal life is a gift of God in Christ (Romans 6:23), tied to receiving the fruit of the Tree of Life, which is God's Holy Spirit. God barred Adam from that tree lest he eat and live forever, so humans have no guarantee of eternal life within them until God gives His Spirit, which seals believers as the guarantee of the inheritance until the resurrection (Ephesians 1:13-14). Until then the dead sleep in the grave, and the human spirit of understanding returns to God. The gift comes at appointed times, each in his own order. Those who enter the New Covenant, believe the gospel, and put on the image of their Savior put on immortality at Christ's return in the first resurrection, becoming priests who reign with Him a thousand years. The rest of the dead are raised later to physical life and given opportunity for salvation. Those who knowingly reject God's way receive no immortality but die the second death.

Immortality, as revealed in the sacred writings, is not an inherent possession of the soul or the human spirit. The soul, defined as our life or being, is not immortal by nature, for it is written that the soul who sins shall die. This truth underscores that life can cease, contradicting the notion of an everlasting essence within us. Moreover, the spirit in man, which grants us mind power and the capacity to reason, does not possess life or immortality of itself. It is a distinct entity, a spiritual record of our character and experiences, yet it requires the infusion of life from God to be functional. The scriptures clearly state that immortality is something we must put on, a gift to be received through the grace of God. It is not already within us, for if it were, why would we need to seek it? Eternal life is promised to those who pursue righteousness and godliness, fighting the good fight of faith to lay hold on it. The apostle declares that only He, the Sovereign, possesses immortality inherently, having gone through the process we too must follow. In Him was life, a life He is willing to bestow upon us as immortal life in the resurrection from the dead. Thus, true immortality awaits us in the Kingdom of God, not as a present possession, but as a future hope to be granted by His divine power.

While death and the afterlife are often shrouded in confusion, biblical scripture consistently presents a clear, unified narrative: death is not an immediate transition to an immortal realm, but a total cessation of existence akin to sleep. Formed from dust and given life by God's breath, humans do not possess inherent immortality—a doctrine rooted in Satan's first lie—for God alone is immortal. At death, the body returns to the earth and existence ceases until the future resurrection, when rewards, eternal life, or complete destruction are rendered. Ultimately, true life is restored only through the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead, offering humanity the ultimate hope of waking from the dust to shine like the stars forever.

In examining the relationship between putting on immortality and biological death, Paul's discourse in I Corinthians 15 establishes that his subject is biological death, since he speaks of the body being sown in corruption and raised in incorruption, sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body, and uses the term sleep, a common euphemism for death. When Paul declares that not all believers will sleep but all will be changed, he draws a clear contrast between death and change rather than an equivalence. Some interpreters attempt to reconcile this statement with Hebrews 9:27 by claiming that the change from mortality to immortality is itself a form of death, or that physical death is a necessary prerequisite for such change. This reasoning is shown to be a non sequitur, since Paul explicitly states that not every believer will die biologically, yet all will be changed to immortal life—an assertion that would be contradictory if change depended on or equaled death. The adversative "but" in verse 51 underscores that Paul is contrasting, not equating, these two concepts. A study of the Greek verb allasso, translated "change" in these verses, reveals that it never appears elsewhere in Scripture in connection with death, and none of the other six Greek words denoting change are linked to biological death either. Thus, there is no scriptural support for treating change and death as organically or causatively connected. The conclusion drawn is that biological death and the change to immortality are distinct realities—change can occur without a preceding biological death, and the two are not linked as cause and effect. Turning to Hebrews 9:27, the statement that it is appointed for men to die once functions as part of an analogy comparing human death and judgment to Christ's one-time death and His second appearing for salvation. This passage does not specify what kind of death is meant, nor does it exclude the possibility of dying more than once—it simply affirms that all people will experience death at least once. Since the context does not define or limit the term "die," it cannot be assumed to refer only to physical death. This opens the possibility that the writer of Hebrews uses "die" in a broader or different sense than Paul does in I Corinthians 15:51, a distinction to be explored further. The overall discussion establishes that putting on immortality, as described by Paul, is a change that stands apart from biological death, contrasting with the more general and undefined use of "death" in Hebrews 9:27.