Now, what is the difference between your soul and your spirit? "Man, is it not the same thing?" Well no, it's not, definitely not. So, in this article, we're gonna look at what the Bible says about your soul and your spirit.
Now, the Bible is very clear: there's a huge difference between your soul and your spirit, and you need to know what that is. Hebrews 4:12 says: "For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword." Now, read to this: "Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow.
So the Word of God cuts right between our soul and our spirit. In 1 Thessalonians we read: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." So, from these verses, it is very clear that you have a body, a soul, and a spirit.
But you need to know that your spirit only becomes alive, the moment when you are spiritually reborn, that means, when you become a real, reborn Christian. I'll explain a little bit more on this a little bit later on. But it's interesting, that God, is three in one: the Trinity, right?
And so, we are made in His image, and we are also, three in one: body, soul, and spirit. The spirit is called, 'Pneuma'. The Bible also explains this as the 'inner man'. The soul, 'Psyche' is the 'outer man'. The body, the 'Soma', is the 'outermost man'.
So let's have a closer look at these three
First, the body, is very clear, right? You see it when you look in the mirror; It's how you interact with the world through your five physical senses: Smell, Taste, Touch, Hear and See. And then, your body also wants physical desires, like food, shelter, sex, clothing, and so forth.
Now, let's move on to the soul, the Psyche... Now, this is the part where people communicate with YOU. This is basically YOU; it consists of yourself, meaning, your identity, your personality, your character... and then, your emotions; which is your feelings and passions... and then, your intellect; which is your mind and your thoughts and then, your will; which is your own will and desires... and then, your conscience.
And then, very importantly - not a lot of people know this but it is also a dwelling place for evil, meaning your sinful nature and evil spirits. So, if somebody hits you or poke you in your physical body, you feel pain, right? And when somebody uses abusive words, you also feel pain, in your soul.
Now, from the moment you're born, you only ever operated through these two; through your body and your soul, that's all you ever knew. But, you were missing one part; your spirit because you were born spiritually dead.
Your spirit is totally different from your soul
The spirit is the part where we get spiritual discernment, peace, and revelation. It is the part where we communicate with God Himself. So our spirit has a deeper discernment between right and wrong. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." And then, in our spirit, we also have peace.
Romans 8:6 says: "The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace." And our spirit also receives revelation which is insight and understanding from the Spirit of God. Ephesians 1:17 says: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Him." And now, our spirit is also the part where we have communion with God, where we can have that deep relationship between us and our Father.
God says in Ezekiel 36:26: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes." Wow, that's amazing! And then also, the spirit is also the part where true ministry happens, where we share the gospel with other people.
You know when you hear a preacher that preaches full of the power of the Spirit of God, it has power and it changes people. But then, when you have a preacher who just preaches the Bible, right, but from his soul level, without the spirit, it has no power at all.
Acts 1:8 says: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Now, it's interesting that the Bible also talks about this in the Old Testament, in Joel
Joel 2:28 says: "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream, dreams, your young men shall see visions." Now, this is just incredible, right? That's why some people don't understand Christians. It's because it's spiritual - it's not physical.
Also remember, that your spirit, is also the home of the Holy Spirit, who comes and lives inside of you. When does this happen? It happens the moment when God justifies you; the moment you become a reborn Christian. So remember, your body is a temple of God, His home.
Corinthians 6:19 says: Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God and you are not your own." All right, so now that you know the difference between the body, the soul, and the spirit, you need to know how to walk through the spirit, how to live through this new spiritual nature.
Now, your spirit communicates between you and God, that's how you communicate and worship God. But now, this spirit needs to lead and guide your soul and body, to act and operate within the will of God. So in other words, your own will, your emotions, your intellect - needs to be guided by your spirit and how it lives in the world.
Let me just also give you a warning here
most Christians today, because of all the preaching that's going on today, want to feel the Spirit in a natural, physical way, but you can't; Especially young Christians, they want to feel it, but you can't feel it in a natural, physical way and that's where most of the problems of young Christians come from. Jesus says: "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from, and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. So you can't feel it in a natural, physical way that... that you're used to, but you can feel it in a different kind of way, of knowing; it's part of the peace feeling deep inside of your 'inner man'.
Now, you will start to understand what I'm talking about as you grow more spiritually. But the Spirit is the part where you communicate with God and where He communicates to you. James says: "For as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works, is dead also." Now, I want you to listen very closely here; when God opens up our spiritual eyes that, is the moment when we really start to live for the first time; because the Spirit gives life to us and God Almighty speaks to us in our spirit, and our spirit, then leads our soul and our body, in that faith.
Jesus says: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life.", in John 6:63. Now, this is very important, if you want to understand your spirit more. You need to understand that you can't understand it, you can't grasp it really with your soul level, because your soul is full of imperfect emotions and thoughts.
So, how do you do it then?
You understand it, through studying the Word of God - to be able to understand spiritual truth... it's just like, the way you look into the mirror every morning; you look into the mirror to make sure your appearance looks good before you leave the house, right? And you trust the mirror to show you the truth of how you look... And in the same way, the Bible is the mirror for us, to see the real truth of our soul and our spirit.
We read in James 1:23 - 25: "For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in the mirror - For he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
But he who looks into the perfect Law of Liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." So, the Bible is compared to a perfect mirror; it shows us the truth of God, and of ourselves. If you style your hair in the morning, you might feel it looks okay or feel that it doesn't... but you cannot trust your feelings, you have to go and look in the mirror, and then you will always see some areas that need fixing.
So you trust the mirror over your own feelings - and in the same way, you need to trust God's Word, the truth of life itself, to show you the truth of you, of God, and your purpose in this life. Now, that was a lot, so let it sink in and God bless you.
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