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Spirit / Soul / Body - (Part 1)

Category:
Author: UEC Team
Date: September 19, 2016

Scripture

[ecko_quote source="I Thessalonians 5:23"]Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit (man’s spirit), and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [/ecko_quote]

Devotion

I am writing these devotions for those who have a desire to grow in the Word of God and in their Christian life.  I would like to focus few devotions on the subject of “man’s threefold nature- spirit, soul and body”. We, as Christians, must understand this threefold nature. If we want to appreciate and understand the word of God clearly, we must know our three part being. Therefore, it is my sincere request and prayer that while you go through these devotions, the Holy Spirit God would reveal the truth into your spirit. I believe in my heart after concluding these series of devotions on this subject, it would revolutionise your understanding of the scriptures and also show you the areas where your ultimate focus is required. As you know, we are on the battlefield, and our battle is not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers which are operating through human beings. We must be aware of our weak and strong zones to put forth our resources to appropriate use. Therefore, it is essential for every Christian to understand their position and disposition. Unless you allow the Holy Spirit to give you revelation on this basic fundamental truth, your understanding of the Bible will be skewed.

The study of man’s three-fold nature always intrigued me. Over the years I sought earnestly to learn to differentiate between these three. It would be easy enough for us to distinguish between body and the other two. However, it is sometimes difficult to make a distinction between spirit and the soul. Nothing but the Bible can help you with that. Further misunderstandings on this subject abound. Much of the teachings have been taught in error, even from the pulpit. Some have said to me, I have always thought the spirit and the soul were the same. I have always preached in that way. However, I said to them that they cannot be the same. Otherwise, why would the Bible say, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit… (Hebrew 4:12). If they were the same, they could not be divided. If they were the same, Apostle Paul would not have said, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 5:23).

You must know that you are a three-part being consisting of spirit, soul and body. They are three distinct, different Greek words- spirit (pneuma), soul (psuche), and body (soma). One way of saying is, you are a spirit, you live in a body, and you have/possess a soul. I knew without an argument that with this physical body, we contact the world. The body deals only in the physical realm. No one disputed that. Then, as I studied further, I saw that it is the spirit of man that can contact God, for God is a Spirit. You were created in the likeness and the image of God. God is a three -part-being; Father, the Word (Jesus) and Spirit (I John 5:7). The new birth is a rebirth of the human spirit, for Jesus told Nicodemus… you must be born again (John 3:7). Nicodemus, being natural, could only think naturally, so he said, “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”. Jesus answered, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”.

In brief, a man’s three-fold nature is this:

spirit soul body
 Spiritual realm Mental realm Physical realm
Fellowship with God Man’s intellect, emotions, feelings; reasons and thinks The house in which we live
Know's God The sensibilities and will Five senses

What's next?

I want you to begin thinking of yourself in this new light. Don’t think of yourself as just a physical being. Think of yourself as a spirit being who possess a soul and lives in a body.  Today, I just covered the introduction. I will continue our devotion into explaining man’s three part being in our forthcoming daily devotions. Please don’t miss it.

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