Body - Soul - Spirit
Genesis 1: 27 -- So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 2: 7 -- And the Lord God formed man [man's body] of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul.
Isaiah 43: 7 -- Even [For] every one that is called by my name: for I
have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
We all like to think that we are right in our understanding of the
Bible. I have read that there are over 22,000 different
"Christian" denominations. Each thinks that they are the ones
that are right. Being convinced that you are right
is no guarantee that you are. There is only one
that is always right. God. God has
provided us with his word which is precisely correct when rightly
divided.
The bible interprets itself if we allow it to. Most use the
Bible as a grab bag of sayings to prove preconceived
notions. The principles of rightly dividing the
word allows us to see and understand the simple yet profound truth of
God's love mercy and grace. We can appropriate the power and
promises of God if we are willing to rightly divide the word and allow
it to interpret itself.
There is much confusion among the "Christian" denominations concerning
the very basic concepts of Christianity. For instance there
is great debate whether or not a person can be "saved" and then become
not saved. There is debate and misunderstanding
over the soul and whether the soul is the same as the
spirit. These debates are really the
froth on top of a much deeper lack of
understanding.
Much of the confusion stems from not understanding the difference
between body, soul and spirit. There is a distinct
difference. Many believe that the soul and spirit are the
same thing, yet the Bible makes a clear distinction between them. Three
distinct aspects of a Christian are pointed out in this
verse. Spirit, Soul and Body.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul writes: "And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
In the beginning the first man's body was formed from the
dust of the earth.
Genesis 2: 7a -- And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground
...
The Hebrew word for "formed" is yatsar which means "to fashion out of
something that is already in existence." God formed man out of a
substance which already existed, which was dust. The word "man" is adam
which means "red earth". Our bodies are composed of the same elements
that are in the dust of the earth.
Genesis 3: 19 -- In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till
thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The human body was formed (yatsar) from the dust of the
ground. Everything must finally return to it's original
state. Therefore, the body must return to dust. This is true
for mankind and also of animals.
Ecclesiastes 3: 20 -- All go unto one place; all are of dust, and all
turn to dust again.
Now let's consider the Hebrew word "nepesh" which is translated "soul."
The soul is that which gives the body its life.
Look at Genesis 2: 7 again with particular attention to the second part
of the verse.
Genesis 2: 7 -- And the Lord God formed man [man's body] of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul.
"Breathed into his nostrils" is the figure of speech condescensio where
human characteristics are attributed to God. When God
bestowed life into Adam, He MADE man a living SOUL. The word
"made" in Hebrew is asah and means "a substance required of which the
thing made consists." The soul is that
which gives life to the body. The soul has nothing to do with
whether you are born again or not. As long as a
person breathes, he or she has a soul.
I Peter 3: 20 -- Which sometime were disobedient, when once the
longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a
preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
During the flood, these eight souls were spared. Were they Christians?
They couldn't be since Christ had not yet come. Noah, his
wife, their three sons and their wives were eight alive
souls. Let's look at a New Testament example:
Acts 27: 37 -- And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore
and sixteen souls.
Paul and Luke were sailing to Rome on this ship and they were the only
believers. But the Bible states there were 276 souls on board. There
were 276 "alive people" on that ship including Paul and Luke.
Soul is that part which gives life to the body. When soul is confused
with spirit, all sorts of misunderstanding results.
Some Christian and Eastern religions talk about the immortality of the
soul and the transmigration of the soul.
But the Bible does not agree.
Not only do men have a soul, but every animal also has a
living soul. This remains true while a man or an animal is alive. Note
that the word "life" in the following verses is the same word as "soul".
Genesis 1: 30a -- And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of
the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there
is life (soul), . . . . .
Genesis 1: 20a -- And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life (soul), . . .
Animals have soul life or breath-life. In the following
verses, the word "creature" is "nepesh," the same word used
for "soul".
Genesis 1: 21a -- And God created great whales, and every living
creature (soul) . . . .
Genesis 1: 24a -- And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living
creature (soul) . . .
Body and soul are not eternal. When the body dies it reverts
back to the earth. When the body dies the soul ceases to be
alive. Only the spirit is eternal and continues to live.
So, what part of man was created? His spirit was
created. God is Spirit. He created first man in his
image: Spirit. God formed a body for the man to habitate,
bestowed soul life to the body and called it adam which means
"red earth." Body and soul were formed and made to be first
man's earth suit.
Since the fall of Adam, mankind has been what Paul calls the "natural
man" or the "old man:" Just body and
soul. The natural man has no spirit because Adam
and Eve's spirit died when they ate of the forbidden fruit.
The "red earth" body continued to live because it had soul life but
began to deteriorate due to the lack of spirit. So in essence
after the fall of Man, a mere shell of Adam and Eve were turned out of
the garden where they could no longer function because they were no
longer spirit. Natural man is a mere shell of what man was
intended to be.
I Corinthians 2: 14 -- But the natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Genesis 1: 1 -- In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
The literal meaning of "to create" is "to bring something out of
nothing" or "to bring into existence something which never existed
before." After God formed, made, and created the
earth and it's inhabitants (animals, fish, snakes, mosquitoes, etc.),
He created man.
Genesis 1: 27 -- So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them. What is
the image of God?
John 4: 24a -- God is Spirit: . . . .
God created man as spirit, His image. In the
beginning:
God
created the spirit man.
God formed the body of man.
God made the soul of man.
We are born as "natural man" body and soul. We inherit the
characteristic traits and body style of our ancestors, all the way back
to Adam and eve. We also inherit the tendency to
sin and the effect of sin which ends in
death. As "natural man" we are
the living dead, walking through this world as grass that will soon
wither and be gone. The natural man is subject to the god of
this world and is trapped with no hope, waiting to die.
The natural man has soul, breath life. Most of the world
religions are soul centered religions. Transcendence of the
soul, reincarnation, the study of chi are all soul
based. Much of so called Christian religion is soul
based with the focus on performance and attaining a higher level of
consciecness or elimination of "sins." Paul calls
this soul-religion the weak and beggarly elements. (Stoichea
in the Greek)
There are many born again believers who have Christ in them, with power
from on high tricked into following after body and soul focused
religion. In doing so they quench the spirit and pass up the
blessings of living like a child of God. It was already
happening in the time of Paul:
Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service
unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are
known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements,
whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you
labour in vain.
Those of us who God has called out of the devils world and into his
family have Christ in us: The spirit recreated in
us. We have regained what Adam and Eve lost: The
spirit. We are once again spiritual beings, with
eternal life who have a body and soul for our earth suit.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.
1 Peter 1:23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
(KJV)
We are a distinct people of the spirit. We should no longer
focus on the beggarly elements of this devilish world but instead we
should be pursuing the words of the spirit:
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who
first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Col 1:27 It's Christ in you, The hope of glory.
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Neil
