1 Thessalonians 5:
23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.…
Hebrews 4:
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Some have an issue with the idea of spirit, soul and body. SDA, for example, teach that spirit and soul are the same. I do not agree because God's Word makes the distinction.
This is one of the instances where it is necessary to study the scriptures in some depth to arrive at the correct understanding. I've been greatly helped by others who have dug deep in God's Word before me. The following is by no means comprehensive, but I hope it helps.
We need to go back to the formation of man in order to see how God has made us. God breathed the breath of life into the man and he became a living being. The KJV translation "soul" is incorrect. So what do we see? A man, made in God's image, who could think, who had amazing mental powers, who could choose and who expressed emotion. Adam was definitely alive, but we are told that he was in effect neutral. He was neither for God nor against God.
God gave man the right to choose his alliance. Man was incomplete, even though "good". There were two particular and special trees in Eden. One was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The other was the Tree of life. God warned Adam that the tree of Knowledge was deadly. If he ate from that tree, he would surely die.
We know the sorry tale and the terrible consequences. Adam rebelled, committed high treason and so was evicted from Eden. Now God warned Adam that he would die. Yet he could still think - he worked out how to form a covering of leaves, he could still feel - he was afraid, and he could still choose, as the years that followed demonstrate. So his soul was not dead. Obviously his body did not die for nearly 1000 years.
So what died? It was Adam's spirit. And it is plain that death does not mean the end of existence. There are many references to the spirit of man in both old and new testaments.
Lord Jesus tells us that God is Spirit and true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth. That tells us that true communion with God is Spirit to spirit. God dwells in the spirit of man, not in his soul. That is why unbelievers cannot truly worship God.
The spirit of fallen man is suppressed, effectively overruled by the soul. Children are more sensitive to their spirit when they are young. They often just "know" without any logic or reason. If a three year old reacts badly to someone, take note. That person may well be not what they pretend to be. That intuition is educated out of us as we grow up. Logic and reason overrule.
When we get born again, our spirit is made alive again. And that is where Lord Jesus is pleased to dwell. God will not live in a dead spirit. However, we bring all our false notions, self will, habits of a lifetime, and dependence on reason and logic with us. Our spirit man is not automatically dominant as it should be.
This is why we need soul and spirit to be separated. Lord Jesus said that the truth sets us free. The Sword of the Spirit brings about that separation, if we will spend the time to allow God's Word to do its mighty work. Part of this process is the renewing of the mind. At first, our minds baulk at God's ways. They make no sense. As we learn God's ways through his Word, our minds will come into line and stop arguing against Him.
The born again spirit is the most important part of man, the real "us". It where we come to know truth. Once we know a truth, nothing can take it from us. If we have a mental concept only, our minds can be changed. If someone talks me into something, I can be talked out of it. However, once I know something, nothing can take it away. "Knowing this" is a vital spiritual principle. It is also why our faith has to be tested. When we know something, we are stable and unyielding. That is faith. If we have only mental assent, supposed faith will evaporate under pressure. Faith is spiritual. It is one of the three things that abide eternally.
A few paragraphs cannot do justice to this subject. Those who are interested should get a copy of "The Spiritual Man" by Watchman Nee. It's worth the effort to read and seek the Lord's help to understand.
23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.…
Hebrews 4:
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Some have an issue with the idea of spirit, soul and body. SDA, for example, teach that spirit and soul are the same. I do not agree because God's Word makes the distinction.
This is one of the instances where it is necessary to study the scriptures in some depth to arrive at the correct understanding. I've been greatly helped by others who have dug deep in God's Word before me. The following is by no means comprehensive, but I hope it helps.
We need to go back to the formation of man in order to see how God has made us. God breathed the breath of life into the man and he became a living being. The KJV translation "soul" is incorrect. So what do we see? A man, made in God's image, who could think, who had amazing mental powers, who could choose and who expressed emotion. Adam was definitely alive, but we are told that he was in effect neutral. He was neither for God nor against God.
God gave man the right to choose his alliance. Man was incomplete, even though "good". There were two particular and special trees in Eden. One was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The other was the Tree of life. God warned Adam that the tree of Knowledge was deadly. If he ate from that tree, he would surely die.
We know the sorry tale and the terrible consequences. Adam rebelled, committed high treason and so was evicted from Eden. Now God warned Adam that he would die. Yet he could still think - he worked out how to form a covering of leaves, he could still feel - he was afraid, and he could still choose, as the years that followed demonstrate. So his soul was not dead. Obviously his body did not die for nearly 1000 years.
So what died? It was Adam's spirit. And it is plain that death does not mean the end of existence. There are many references to the spirit of man in both old and new testaments.
Lord Jesus tells us that God is Spirit and true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth. That tells us that true communion with God is Spirit to spirit. God dwells in the spirit of man, not in his soul. That is why unbelievers cannot truly worship God.
The spirit of fallen man is suppressed, effectively overruled by the soul. Children are more sensitive to their spirit when they are young. They often just "know" without any logic or reason. If a three year old reacts badly to someone, take note. That person may well be not what they pretend to be. That intuition is educated out of us as we grow up. Logic and reason overrule.
When we get born again, our spirit is made alive again. And that is where Lord Jesus is pleased to dwell. God will not live in a dead spirit. However, we bring all our false notions, self will, habits of a lifetime, and dependence on reason and logic with us. Our spirit man is not automatically dominant as it should be.
This is why we need soul and spirit to be separated. Lord Jesus said that the truth sets us free. The Sword of the Spirit brings about that separation, if we will spend the time to allow God's Word to do its mighty work. Part of this process is the renewing of the mind. At first, our minds baulk at God's ways. They make no sense. As we learn God's ways through his Word, our minds will come into line and stop arguing against Him.
The born again spirit is the most important part of man, the real "us". It where we come to know truth. Once we know a truth, nothing can take it from us. If we have a mental concept only, our minds can be changed. If someone talks me into something, I can be talked out of it. However, once I know something, nothing can take it away. "Knowing this" is a vital spiritual principle. It is also why our faith has to be tested. When we know something, we are stable and unyielding. That is faith. If we have only mental assent, supposed faith will evaporate under pressure. Faith is spiritual. It is one of the three things that abide eternally.
A few paragraphs cannot do justice to this subject. Those who are interested should get a copy of "The Spiritual Man" by Watchman Nee. It's worth the effort to read and seek the Lord's help to understand.
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