Near-death experiences- The biblical viewpoint

Does man have a immortal soul ?

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Gen 2:7
Therefore "dust of the ground" (body) +"breath of life" (spirit) = "living soul"

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Eccl 12:7
Therefore "body" - "spirit" (breath of life) = Death

Let us look at some confirming text.
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Breath and spirit are here equated.
Ezek 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Rev 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.

We clearly see that a soul can die.

It is like a light bulb it need electricity to be a light.
Light bulb +electricity = Light
Body + spirit = Living soul

Another illustration is that the body is the hardware and the spirit is the software.
Hardware + software = functioning computer
Body + spirit = Living soul

Death is like a sleep

Death is like non functioning hardware unable to run the software, a light bulb disconnected from electricity.

Please review the story of Lazarus found in John 11.

"These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him." John 11:11-14
Jesus equates the dead Lazarus to a sleep.

"Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already." John 11:17

"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again." John 11:21-23

Notice Jesus did not say that he was already in heaven, but pointed Martha to the hope of a resurrection.

"Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." John 11:24

Notice Martha hope was in "the resurrection at the last day" not in an "immortal soul".

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? John 11:25+26

The hope of the Christian is in a resurrection. Death is but a sleep (an unconscious waiting for the resurrection at the 2nd Coming of Christ).

And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
John 11:44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. John 11:43+44

End of story. Lazarus did not report traveling to heaven or other out of body hallucinations.  He was dead and to have these "visions" the mind must still have some function.

Only God Has immortality within himself.

"Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." 1 Tim 6:15+16

Man is mortal and can posses immortality and eternal life only only when connected with God the source of life.

Man has no inherent immortal soul.

Luke wrote it.
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Acts 2:29
For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand," Acts 2:34

Solomon told it.
"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." Eccl 9:5+6

David confirmed it.
"The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." Psa 115:17

Job spoke it.
"So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." Job 14:12
"His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Job 14:21

What then is our Hope?

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5:28+29

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Th 4:16+17

"Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Cor 15:51-53

Surrender your life to the God of heaven not the prince of the power of the air. Because;
"the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Pet 3:10

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev 22:12

At the coming of Christ those who are asleep in Christ will awake.  God will creates for us a new glorious body and united this with our unique "software" that he has carefully preserved.  We will again have consciousness and our memory will be complete and we will again be a living soul. 

The first lie was a immortal soul

  "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:"  Gen 3:4

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."  Rev 12:9

This is no small matter for Satan is still deceiving the whole world with the lie of a immortal soul and communicating with the dead.

Conclusion

What then do we conclude the NDEs are?  They are what we concluded in our research section - vivid pleasant limbic lobe centered Hallucinations, with a rational physiologic mechanism.  In fact some who have a correct biblical understanding of death have interpreted their NDE as a vision of the second coming of Christ.