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?
Your soul vs spirit?
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J
joecoten
Guest
Our spirit is our consciousness. When God created us, He created us spirit beings. When one is born again, it is the spirit that is born again.
The soul consists of our mind, our will, and our emotions. We have a thought, it may produce an emotion, and we might use our will to act.
I hope this helps!
The soul consists of our mind, our will, and our emotions. We have a thought, it may produce an emotion, and we might use our will to act.
I hope this helps!
The breath of God animates all life. Man became a living soul when God breathed this
breath of life into the physical body of man that He had created from the dust of the ground.
The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division
of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
breath of life into the physical body of man that He had created from the dust of the ground.
The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division
of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
J
joecoten
Guest
The problem with this forum is a newbie will ask a question, you give them a good answer, and someone comes along with a whackadoodle idea and confuses them. Anyone who knows anything about the inner man and sanctification (not thinks he knows), know that a person consists of a spirit, a soul, and a body. Sheesh!
That's a hard question. The way I look at it is the soul is the life of the physical body; it lives on after physical death. Spirit is the mind or consciousness; it's a part of the soul and is intricately connected with it.
For me this is something that I haven’t been able to understand for 25 years. It doesnt bother me that I don’t get it, but it’s just not clear in my head.
‘The trinity on the other hand is something that I completely get and seems very natural for me.
But this trinity in us …. I still don’t get.
A friend of mine explained it as : a cup of tea (body), water (soul) and tea bag (spirit) and that’s the only thing that kinda made sense to me but it’s still confusing.
No biggie tho. It’s not a problem for my faith or anything.
‘The trinity on the other hand is something that I completely get and seems very natural for me.
But this trinity in us …. I still don’t get.
A friend of mine explained it as : a cup of tea (body), water (soul) and tea bag (spirit) and that’s the only thing that kinda made sense to me but it’s still confusing.
No biggie tho. It’s not a problem for my faith or anything.
As I see it, Spirit is what moves your body, and may fight in this world, and will be extinguished, in part, when you die. Soul is your, for lack of better word, philosophical essence, the ideas that drive you and are you, that will also reside in your new body when you're given a new spirit in the new Jerusalem.
The Gospel of John Chapter 1 really helped me with this. God is eternal, before and after and, most importantly, also Outside of Time. Heaven and Earth are time bound, and came into existence when God spoke. The very word that God spoke to create Heaven and Earth is Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a bit like a Phone App version of God, vs a Laptop App, except that with the Heavan and Earth Firmware update of The Cross, Jesus is the Operating System that allows God to be around us without smiting us for our filth.
Thank you @apwall21 for using computer analogies because it’s something I understand well.
Another friend of mine who’s in I.T. gave me another version which made even more sense to me.
‘He said, your body is basically the body that you see. The mind is your soul and your spirit is basically a VPN connection to God when you accept the Holy Spirit, The Trinity and Jesus as your God and savior.
Another friend of mine who’s in I.T. gave me another version which made even more sense to me.
‘He said, your body is basically the body that you see. The mind is your soul and your spirit is basically a VPN connection to God when you accept the Holy Spirit, The Trinity and Jesus as your God and savior.
The Trinity is not really a doctrine I follow, because as humans, we're too tied to this worldly flesh to be able to see how Jesus was before he gave up Heaven for Flesh, and because, to me, it confuses the points of the Gospel. Jesus goes to sit at the right hand of himself??
I agree in flesh with the Muslims, because I am too carnally sexual, but also too literal, God would not have laid with a female as you would with your wife when you want children. That's not only not God's nature to be touching human filthy flesh, it's not of the nature of a human to be in contact with the entire eternal in any capacity and not be smooshed by righteousness. According to Luke, as I read it, The Spirit was able to work as the sin covering, between God and Mary, for Mary's inequities so that she could be implanted.
The Trinity is not wrong; since The Holy Spirit is a presence of God in this Corporeal Universe and maybe Time, and Jesus is God because he came from the mouth of God and Orders all of Corporeal And Time for God, and God is still God.
But Jesus separated himself from God too many times for me to think he is God, as do the scriptures. But as Jesus gave us in Parable, "We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" And as John noted, we're now also Children (Sons and Daughters) of God, brother and sister to Christ. Are we now God??
“I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’ "
At least, that's how I see it. There are probably others who have an even better, probably more accurate view.
J
joecoten
Guest
There was a time when I had all my pet doctrines. After all, I had been anointed and used by God to aid in planting a church in a move of the Holy Spirit. But 3 years later a series of unfortunate events humbled me. I went to a 5-day retreat that was not related to my group. I'd never met people with such a solid grasp on the word as those I met there.
When I went back to my room at night and followed their instructions, I experienced what I believe are referred to as signs and wonders. The Spirit of God moved powerfully. This week was a turning point in my life. These people taught that we are spirit, soul (mind, will, emotion), and body. All of their teaching was from the bible.
I understand that there is a plethora of teachings on just about every biblical subject and that many people will argue with me every step of the way when I put forth what I learned that week.
When I went back to my room at night and followed their instructions, I experienced what I believe are referred to as signs and wonders. The Spirit of God moved powerfully. This week was a turning point in my life. These people taught that we are spirit, soul (mind, will, emotion), and body. All of their teaching was from the bible.
I understand that there is a plethora of teachings on just about every biblical subject and that many people will argue with me every step of the way when I put forth what I learned that week.
Thanks again for your response.
‘I am trying to understand this topic more from a technical perspective as opposed to a spiritual or theological perspective.
You also gave a great explanation there from a technical perspective where you mention that we as we exist in this format, cannot comprehend the entire existence Or the mind of God. Its just not possible and this is also confirmed scientifically Confirming that human knowledge has limits and we cant possibly know even if the entire universe was revealed to us In detail.
‘So with all that being said, from a technical perspective I understand Trinity pretty comfortably in higher dimensions. So it’s very simple for me. But to understand the technicality of the trinity in us (body, soul spirit) is still a difficult concept for me.
Here’s how Trinity makes sense in my mind using the analogy of higher dimensions:
T
TheNarrowPath
Guest
If I had to explain to a 5 year old I would say a spirit is like a ghost and it can move, enter you. A soul you are born with and have that always.
The way I see it is a soul is there to be saved by the holy spirit.
That is definitely not what the Bible says. Jesus has gone to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. And why should this be a problem for any Christian? The Bible is very clear that this is exactly what God has revealed to us. So there is no avoiding the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, since it is tied to the doctrine of Christ -- that Jesus is God.
Since the spirit is dead in those who have not been regenerated, yet their minds are alive and active, it should be evident that the spirit is neither the mind nor the soul, but is that part of the person which (a) communicates with God and (b) comprehends spiritual things. It is only after the Holy Spirit regenerates a sinner that the spirit is "quickened" or brought to life. The spirit is distinct from the soul and yet closely connected.
P
Polar
Guest
The Bible indicates we are tripartite beings, flesh, soul and spirit.
Why would scripture indicate we are to worship God in spirit and in truth if we were unable to do so? Our souls are not our spirits. The Bible has much to say about our makeup.
We have this concise verse from I Thessalonians Now 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. I Thess 5:23
We also have these verses concerning our spirits as apart from our souls:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. I Corinthians 2:14
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Romans 8:9
Actually, the part our spirits play is extensive in our walk with Christ.
P
Polar
Guest
That describes some sort of metaphysical interpretation, replacing spirit with mind, and is helpful to no one.
I believe in the doctrine of dichotomy but not to the point of dogmatic. I believe this to be in the realm of only God can fully understand. So I have no problem with your view.
Interesting so do you believe your memories will not carry over as the soul leaves the body?