Written by Paul J Bucknell on September, 01, 2020

A Preexistence State? Have Christians existed before their life on earth?

A conversation with a brother spoke with me about a prophet on the radio who spoke about the preexistence of souls. I’ve studied Hinduism and other religions, but he tried to align his teaching to the Bible. Having seen the seriousness of my brother, I listened intensely to his words and its given application.

The Question

Do humans, like Jeremiah, have a preexistent state? It says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…” If we have a former spiritual state, is it important that we understand ourselves in this way?

The Discussion on Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5, NASB)

God knew Jeremiah before his conception in the womb. The formation takes place at conception rather than at birth, after the child has developed.

The words, “I knew you” are significant for the issue of preexistence. The prophet went on teaching that since the Lord said that He knew Jeremiah before his bodily existence, his spirit must have existed before he was born. He says that a person cannot be known unless he exists, and on that basis, concludes that Jeremiah must have existed before his birth. From here, the prophet went on broadening the discussion to include himself and all believers.

The brother said that later the prophet discussed the importance of this teaching to help a person better understand one’s life.

God knew Jeremiah

I do like how the prophet took the Word of God seriously, paying close attention to the words comprising the Word of God and relating it to one’s life. But does God’s Word substantiate such teaching and application?

The three phrases used in Jeremiah 1:5 comprise Jeremiah’s call into ministry. They are interrelated.

(1) Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.

(2) And before you were born I consecrated you.

(3) I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.

The lines relate to each other, each one building upon the former, going from know, consecrate, to appoint. The foundational phrase, line 1, is the one that we are closely analyzing. Line 2 amplifies the first. The third expounds on the second and Jeremiah’s calling as a prophet. Only the first two lines, though, concern us. Each affirms that God knew Jeremiah before being conceived.

In summary, God knew Jeremiah and his calling before he was born on earth. God used these words to strengthen Jeremiah for his long, arduous ministry. By stating that God prepared him from birth, he could be sure that God built in all he needed when creating him to face his difficult life. This encouragement has similarities to another article I wrote on Isaiah’s words from Isaiah 51:1-2, “Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug.” God fashions us for specific purposes.

The believer grows in confidence when he realizes that God has specially designed him before birth for the challenges one faces. (This truth becomes more valuable when growing up in horrendous situations.) I think it’s safe to assert that every believer is known of God before he or she is born. They can trust the Lord for whatever they face. This truth can be extended to all believers because we know that God chose all believers in Christ before the world’s foundation.

“³ Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (Eph 1:3-4).

The same argument can continue here as in Jeremiah. If God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world, we must assume God’s familiarity with us, well before our birth. God chose each believer in Christ (skipping over unbelievers in this discussion) before the world began. This means God’s redemptive plan, involving Christ and the redeemed, was known before the world began—hence before our birth. But does it mean we existed before our conception?

The Trouble Starts Here

The words of this radio prophet went beyond this theological assertion.

He concluded that since “God knew him,” Jeremiah existed before he was born. He broadens this to all believers by saying that if God knew Jeremiah, He also knew us before we were born.

But Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ephesians do not go as far as this prophet. Is it true “I knew you” requires preexistence? I think not. I understand how one might draw this conclusion, but it is not substantiated. Furthermore, we have another solution that is in teaching with the broad scope of God’s Word.

God’s Plans

Our Sovereign God, who knows all things from start to finish, faithfully carries out His plan for our lives. He is intimately aware of our lives and what we need (Psalm 139:1-10). Think of a plan to build a house. You can work out the details of it in your mind before you build—in many cases, this is demanded. This is the architect’s job. The architect passes on the plans to the builders, and the construction workers complete the building.

But the formation of some idea, such as an architect’s plan, is clearly not the same as building it. Many thoughts go through our minds but never come into completion. (How Covid-19 shook up our plans!) For example, God revealed the temple description to Moses (Ex 25-31), and then, after a narrative (Ex 32-34), we see the erection of the tabernacle from its description (Ex 35-40).

We can safely assume that God has His hand in our life affairs much more than we understand. It’s like Ephesians 2:10, where the Lord designed all the good works we are to accomplish—ahead of our lives.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:10)

How can God prepare our good works ahead of time if we were not existent? It’s possible because God knew us. This does not mean we were already formed, however.

The Preexistence of Our Souls

The Scriptures do not speak of the preexistence of our souls or spirits. I know of no other Bible verses that go beyond this point that speak about human preexistence, whether it be of our souls or spirit.

A much better explanation is available. God knows us in His mind, along with all His other plans. This teaching should cause us to humble ourselves and recognize that the best things we have done are driven by a great God working behind the scenes of our lives. It’s this same truth that brings God’s wrath on those who deny Him and brag about their accomplishments apart from Him.

If people preexisted before their birth, there is nothing to indicate it. For example, do you see Jeremiah speaking to God or even listening to God? No. There is nothing that gives an indication of Jeremiah’s preexistence. Jeremiah is non-existent at that stage. The same is true of the saints mentioned in Ephesians 1:3 or 2:10. God has His redemptive plan but carries it out later in time just as the creation.

God knew us, but we did not know Him.

God knew His plans for us, but we did not.

A Bigger Problem

Others have suggested the teaching of preexistent souls (e.g. Church Father Origen and philosopher Plato), but when we authoritatively teach what is not in Scriptures, then people will go astray.

If I rightly understand this prophet’s teaching, we should get to know our ‘pre-self’ (my term) to understand ourselves better and find complete fulfillment. Those who hear such teachings will begin to get excited about how this prophet knows about his preexistent life and seek to know similar things about their pre-lives. This is very dangerous. We see absolutely nothing of this pursuit of knowing our preexistent lives in the Scriptures—either commanded, exhorted, or exemplified.

Many verses teach us to obey, follow Christ, learn God’s Word, faithfully serve Him and do other things, but absolutely nothing about seeking our ‘pre-self’ identity or knowledge. Dangers arise when we begin to take our eyes off of Christ. The Scriptures repeatedly instruct us to know His Word and fix our eyes on Christ and His work, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

Paul similarly calls us to join him in seeking what is ahead—not behind.

“I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:12-14)

The suggestion that we need to look at our preexistence lives to understand our present lives highly distorts the Christian’s life.

Theological Difficulties

If we are consistent in our thinking, we will need to connect this teaching of a preexistence state with the Scriptures, properly integrating the teaching with other theological constructs. But huge obstacles come before us when we do this.

For example, when does a person’s soul or spirit begin? It would be blasphemous to claim we existed forever, making us like God. Even Adam didn’t have a spirit until the Lord breathed it in Him (Gen 2:7).

And what about verses like this one, “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46)? If the body is first, then how is it that the spiritual come before the body as this teaching infers?

Furthermore, if we have a soul/spirit before the creation of human beings, then are we not implying that it was done in eternity? The Scriptures teach that everything but God had a creation date.

Or how does a preexistent state work with our sinful nature? Were we perfect in the spirit before coming to earth? These questions are speculative and lead us away from Christ’s completed work on the cross.

How is it that we can be in Adam if we coexisted with him? Romans 5:12-21 reveals that we are all his descendants, which only comes through bodily connections. A preexistent state greatly confuses, if not flat out denies, this teaching.

Our Resolve

The Scriptures teach that God elected to save us in Christ before the world’s formation. That is very different from saying He created us before we were on earth. God’s plans to include us in His saving plan does not mean we existed before that time.

I respect pondering upon the phrase, “I knew you,” but if we look closely, Jeremiah never thought, said or sung, “I love you, Lord, too” during his pre-self period! There is no evidence of Jeremiah’s preexistence, but only that God knew him, making it unidirectional.

Furthermore, only Jesus Christ, the “I am” is said to come to earth (i.e., Emmanuel, incarnation). Our existence started with our parents, though God in His plans knew us and specially crafted our bodies for His good works.

In conclusion, we are not to speculate on our preexisting lives but pursue God’s Word to love Him and serve others.

Discussion Questions on the Preexistent State

1. What truths can we draw from Jeremiah’s statement, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jer 1:5)?
2. What is the difference between planning something and doing it?
3. Name a few things you have thought of but have never done?
4. How is planning different for God, considering He is sovereign and knows the first from the end? Does He do all that He plans?
5. Does the New Testament teaching speak of the importance or need to be familiar with our preexisting life to grow strong as a Christian? Explain.
6. What does the New Testament teach about how a Christian spiritually grows? How have you been spiritually growing in this past week?
7. What is the danger of speculative thoughts?
8. How does the teaching that God knew you and planned for your salvation before you were born encourage you?
9. When does Biblical teaching become speculative?