The outer circle represents the human body, the
inner circle represents the soul, and the innermost circle is the human spirit.
As you've read in our text verse above in 1st Thessalonians 5:23-24, the Bible
does recognize the distinction between spirit, soul and body. It is important
that each Christian have a basic understanding of the spirit, soul and body.
Learning this truth will help you understand the Bible and human psychology
well. This is true psychology, which means “the study of the soul.” Notice in
our text Scripture above (1st Thessalonians 5:23-24) the order in which the
Bible lists these three elements: spirit, soul, body. In almost every case,
people usually mention the body first, and then the soul and the spirit lastly.
This is because the spirit is generally ignored by humanity and people live in
the flesh.
God warned Adam and Eve that they would die the
DAY they sinned. Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die.” So why did Adam continue to live until he was 930-years-old?
(Genesis 5:3). The Bible doesn't tell us when Eve died, but we know that she
continued to live after sinning in the Garden of Eden, later giving birth to
numerous children. Why DIDN'T Adam and Eve die the same DAY they sinned, as God
had said? It is because they DID DIE, spiritually, but not physically.
Romans 5:12 teaches that Adam's sin brought sin
into the world; and therefore, death (Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is
death...”) upon the human race. Adam and Eve's spirit DIED the moment they ate
of the forbidden fruit. Every human being since, except for Jesus Christ (Who
was born from above, the Son of God) has been born spiritually-dead. Now you
understand why there is a need to be born-again, that is, born spiritually. “Ye
must be born again” (John 3:5). The first birth is a physical, or natural birth.
The second birth is a spiritual, or supernatural birth.
The soul is composed of three elements: a mind
to think, a heart to feel and a will to decide. Animals have a soul and a
spirit. Animals have a mind to think, a heart to feel and a will to decide and
a spirit to communicate with God. A person's spirit is their true being, their
very existence, which is given by God alone. Ecclesiastes 12:7, “Then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who
gave it.” As our Creator, God gives the human spirit at conception, and our
spirit returns into the Lord's hands the moment that we die. Hebrews 10:31, “It
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
I like the Biblical word, Godhead, that is, if
you have a trustworthy King James Bible that contains this all-important word
in Acts 17:29; Romans 1:20 and Colossians 2:9. All modern Bible versions attack
the doctrines of Christ's deity and the Godhead. The Bible does in fact
differentiate between the soul and spirit of a man. Hebrews 4:12, “For the word
of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Man is created in
God's likeness.
Just as God is threefold in existence, that is,
one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) Who exists in the three separate, equal, distinct and
unique Persons of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The
Bible calls this “the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” in
Colossians 2:2. Man is also a threefold being in nature, just as is His
Creator.
At death our soul and spirit are separated from
the fleshly body. This is the first death. If a person dies the second death
(Revelation 21:8), then their body, soul and spirit will be separated from God
and cast into the Lake of Fire forever. When the Bible mentions the soul, it
always includes the human spirit, for they are inseparable. Matthew 10:28, “And
fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible
admonishes all mankind to fear God, for He alone has the power of Heaven and
Hell.
Self-righteous people condemn other sinners to
their grave in hypocrisy; but only God can condemn (damn) a person to Hell for
all eternity. It matters not what men may think or say about you, all that
matters is what God thinks about you. You need HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, that is,
Christ's righteousness which God imputes to us the moment we receive the gospel
as payment for our sins to be saved. Christ died, was buried and resurrected
three days later. That's the gospel message. Believe it and the work is done. We
are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, plus or minus
nothing!
We learn below in 1st Peter 3:18 that we are
made alive (quickened) by God's Holy Spirit at salvation. Jesus taught
Nicodemus that He needed to be born of water (physical birth) and of the Spirit
(by God's Spirit).
Ephesians 2:5 and 1st Peter 3:18, “Even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;) ... For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit.”
The Spirit of God comes to indwell (live
within) us the very moment that we acknowledge our guilt of sin, that is, our
sinnership, and trust upon the gospel news that Christ died, was buried and
rose from the dead, having shed His blood for our sins...
John 3:5-7, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye
must be born again.”
No one can enter into the kingdom of God
without being born anew of the Spirit of God, born from above. Being born-again
means to have He, Jesus Christ, Who is the beginning, born in us. What a
beautiful Saviour!
The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit lives
within the body of the believer. 1st Corinthians 3:16-17, “Know ye not that ye
are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man
defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy,
which temple ye are.” The believer's body is the tabernacle of the Holy Sprit.
The unsaved do not have God's Holy Spirit, Who is literally God in us. The
unsaved only have darkness in them. Jesus is the light, Who brightens our soul
as Christians.
Jesus is the light. John 1:4-5, “In him was
life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and
the darkness comprehended it not.” Jesus is the light that shines in darkness,
lighting men's souls with righteousness.
We all have darkness in us as sinners. It is in
our nature. John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil.” Everyone has darkness in them, but the Lord is the light that shines in
that darkness. 2nd Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We can be saved and have our
sins forgiven if we'll believe the gospel.
The gospel means “good news” or “glad tidings.”
Romans 10:15b, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” The gospel is composed of three
things according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto
you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and
wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures.”
Satan and the fallen angels (demons) are
spirits. As such they attempt to influence and corrupt the human spirit. Music
is spiritual in nature. Books, movies and doctrinal teachings are spiritual in
nature, that is, they influence the human spirit. This is why the Bible says to
try (or test) the spirits in 1st John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world.” The Bible teaches that we are in a spiritual war continually.
Ephesians 6:13, “For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Our battle in not against flesh and blood that we see; but rather, against
spiritual forces that are unseen by the human eye and undetected by the senses.
It is critically important that we abide in the
Scriptures as Christians, so that the thoughts and intents of our heart will be
be discerned and we can change to be what God wants us to be. We cannot change
without the Bible. God's Word is a Lamp to light our path. Psalms 119:105, “Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a
great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath
the light shined.” —Isaiah 9:2
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