Question:
What is the “doctrine of the immortality of the soul?” Does the Assembly teach it? Why or why not?

Answer:
When we refer to the “immortality of the soul,” we are stating the fact that THE SOUL CANNOT DIE. Even though the Bible never uses the expression “immortal soul,” or words similar to that, the truth of the immortality of the soul is definitely found within its sacred pages.

There are several passages of Scripture which teach it, but the key text is found in Matthew 10:28, where we read, “And fear not them which kill the body, BUT ARE NOT ABLE TO KILL THE SOUL: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy [loss of well-being, not loss of being] both soul and body in hell.” Here we are clearly taught that the soul lives on after the death of the body, and although it does not state emphatically here that the soul will never die, we can surely draw that inference.
Another portion of the Word of God which teaches the immortality of the soul is in Luke 16:19-26. The Lord Jesus spoke in this passage of two men who had died and of their conscious existence after their death. One was in conscious bliss (vs. 22, 25) and the other in conscious torment (vs. 23-25). And the Lord went on to say that there was “a great gulf fixed” (vs. 26) between them, implying that this condition (of the one being in bliss and the other in torment) was forever.
The Lord told the penitent thief on the cross, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). The thief’s body died and was buried, but his soul and spirit went to be with the Lord in paradise. The Apostle Paul was “willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8) and he told the Philippians “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), words which would have no meaning if the soul after the death of the body. Other Scriptures could confirm the teaching of immortality of the soul, but I few passages are enough to assure the Spirit-taught precious truth.In answering the second part of the question, let me say that I would surely hope that all true believers have seen this precious truth and are seeking to show it to others. But let me add that it is the Holy Spirit Who is the Divine Teacher (see John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:9-13; 1 John 2:20, 27) and the assembly is but the custodian of the truth that has been committed to it (see 1 Timothy 3:15). Believers are stewards who have been entrusted with truth, whether it be the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:4), or any other truth (see 1 Corinthians 4:1; 1 Peter 4:10, 11). So when we are taught a truth, such as the “immortality of the soul,” let us be zealous in showing this truth to others, and count upon the Spirit to teach it to them.