Your soul vs spirit?

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HealthAndHappiness

HealthAndHappiness

Well-known member
#21
Jul 7, 2022
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Almost Heaven West Virginia
#21
ChristianWarriorGW said:
I have a hard time knowing the difference between a person's spirit and a person's soul. Can you please give me an analogy that a 5 year old can understand explaining the difference? What does a person's spirit and a person's soul consist of each?
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This can turn into a lengthy theological study, so how about if I just establish a few principles that might help shed light on the subject. Good question btw. We studied this at a bible institute. I told my pastor/ teacher that the rest of the church should learn about this.

Read John chapter 3.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John-Chapter-3/

Jesus tells a pharisee of high position that he MUST be born again to see heaven. He was establishing that there's more than body and soul.. Nicodemus was spiritually dead. His dead spirit needed the eternal life of Christ to make his dead spirit a living spirit. The Bible says that the world is dead in trespasses and sins.
I will post a video at the end that provides a brief explanation as Jesus did for Nicodemus.

Now once a person is saved or spiritually born, his hair and eye color doesn't change. His body remains the same as does his soul. The soul must therefore be the inner man that makes us who we are from the first birth. Remember that because AFTER the spirit of a man is born, he can now do things that he could not before.
1. He can talk to God and God will respond.
2. He can understand the Bible in much more profound ways that go beyond mere academics.
3. He has been given the gift of everlasting life. There are more things too, which are secondary to this, but that's good for now.

The spirit is everything that completes us in the ways that God desires for all. Since we are given the same choice as Nicodemus was in the first half of John's gospel, we can choose to be spiritual born.
Here's that video. Hope it's a blessing. Please let me know if you have any further questions after watching this.

 
HealthAndHappiness

HealthAndHappiness

Well-known member
#22
Jul 7, 2022
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Almost Heaven West Virginia
#22
F

FreeGrace2

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#24
Jan 31, 2021
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#24
This may already be answered biblically, since I didn't read most of the posts, but there is a difference between soul and spirit, although there are verses that show overlapping.

God created man "in His image". It wasn't blond hair and blue eyes, obviously. God is Triune. God created man trichotomous; with body, soul AND (human) spirit. God's warning to Adam was that eating of the forbidden tree would cause immediate death of the human spirit and eventual death of the physical body. In the Hebrew, the warning is literally: "in the day that you eat of it, dying (physically), you shall die (spiritually). So there are 2 deaths involved in the warning. And "on that day" both Adam and the woman died spiritually. They lost their ability to worship and fellowship with God, so they hid when the Lord came calling in the cool of the evening.

Their spiritual death means they became dichotomous, just body and soul. Their human spirit was dead, non functioning. Recall what Jesus told the woman at the well about how to worship God: "you must worship in (human) spirit and in truth (God's way). Jn 4:24

When a person believes in Christ (saving faith) they are said to be born AGAIN or RE-generated or made alive. These words refer to the dead human spirit. So, an unbeliever, who is dichotomous becomes trichotomous when they are saved. Now they have a functioning human spirit with which to worship God.

While the Bible doesn't say specifically, it seems obvious and logical that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is in the regenerated human spirit.

So, what does 1 John 3:9 mean?

"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God."

"God's seed" refers to the regenerated human spirit, where the Holy Spirit dwells. From THAT nature, man cannot sin. That's the point.

So, when a believer does sin, it comes from their human nature, which resides in their soul (mind). Paul talked about praying from his mind (soul) and his spirit. 1 Cor 14:14 - For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

So there is clearly a difference between them. And Heb 4:12 also makes that point:
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

This shows that they are different but related. Most think this is just noting that soul/spirit is immaterial and Joints/marrow is material, but it is deeper than that.

Joints are between bones, and marrow is within bones. That's the relationship between joints and marrow.

Both soul and spirit contain natures; the soul contains the human nature, by which we sin, and the human spirit is where the Holy Spirit dwells.
 
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