Does, or did, the devil have a soul?
There is not one scripture in the Bible that refers to the Devil (or any other angel) as having a soul. Because of this, we must “tread lightly” when Scripture is silent on any given subject. We must avoid using “human reasoning” which could lead to a “wrong conclusion.”
We do know from Scripture that MAN was created as a “tri-part being” made up of BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT, for we read in 1st Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole SPIRIT, SOUL and BODY be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (NKJV). We have no problem relating to our BODY, but it is hard to distinguish between the SOUL and the SPIRIT. Yet God tells us that His Word is able to do so: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, PIERCING EVEN TO THE DIVISION OF SOUL AND SPIRIT, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). We also know that the spirit and the soul are the “immaterial parts” of a man or woman; they cannot be seen for they are not physical. We also know that when God, who is a Spirit, created man He said, “Let Us make man in our own image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26) and I believe this refers to the “spirit” in man. The spirit in us is the “highest part” of our tri-part being and it gives us the ability to know God and communicate with Him. Animals were created with a body and a soul (see Genesis 1:20-25…DARBY translation), but being without a spirit they cannot comprehend God or communicate with Him. Thus the “spirit” gives us “God-consciousness.” Sadly, when sin entered the world “man’s spirit died,” which simply means that his spirit was now “separated from God.” Adam and Eve no longer desired to communicate with God and thus they hid from Him (Genesis 3:1-8).
What is the SOUL? If the spirit gives us the ability to know God and have fellowship with Him, what is the function of the soul? This is very hard to describe, since the word soul often refers to the “whole person” in Scripture. We read in Acts 2:41 “that day about three thousand SOULS were added to them.” Yet we saw in 1st Thessalonians that it is a separate part of the person and this is borne out in other verses such as Mark 8:36, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses HIS OWN SOUL.” Some have thought of the soul as “the seat of man’s affections.” In other words, it is the “EMOTIONAL part of man.” We know that we can be MAD, GLAD and SAD and display other emotions as well and these seem to come from our soul. The Lord Jesus Himself was a true Man and He exhibited these emotions and referred to them as coming from His soul. In Matthew 26:38 He said, “My SOUL IS exceedingly SORROWFUL, even to death.” In John 12:27 He said, “Now My SOUL IS TROUBLED, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour.’” I am sure there is more to the soul than just our “emotional makeup,” but these verses surely teach us that the soul relates to our emotions.
Does the devil have a soul? Again, we do not read in Scripture that he does. We do read that God created angels to be “SPIRIT beings” in Psalm 104:4, “Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.” They too have the ability to know God and communicate with Him and we read in many scriptures that they worship God and serve Him (Isaiah 6:1-3; Luke 2:8-13; Daniel 6:22; 9:21-22; Luke 6:22; Acts 12:7-10 and Hebrews 1:14). Yet the devil is now a “fallen angel” and like fallen man he no longer desires to worship or serve God, but is “spiritually separated” from Him and openly opposes Him. But we did see that the “soul in man” is the “seat of his emotions” and thus it could be that the devil has a soul since he does indeed display emotions. We read in Revelation 12:12 & 17 that after he is cast down to the earth “the devil has come down to you, having great WRATH” and “the dragon (the Devil) was ENRAGED with woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring.” But we must avoid being dogmatic since the scriptures do not speak of angels having a soul. (DO) (592.5)