07.14.2021 | SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY
SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY
The Bible teaches us that every human being is a three-part being.
“The N.T. reveals human nature as tripartite. We are spirit, soul, and body.” – Jack Hayford Bible Handbook
1 Thessalonians 5:23 – “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.”
Hebrews 4:12 – “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
1. What does it mean that we are spirit, soul, and body?
Our spirit is God-conscious: we can hear His Voice. We can sense His Presence.
Our soul is self-conscious: The soul is made up of our mind, will, and emotions.
Our body is world-conscious: We interact with the world through our five senses.
Neil Anderson shows us what it was like before the fall.
When sin entered the world, our spirit died. We were separated from the Presence of God.
Our minds without Christ are darkened and filled with unbelief and confusion.
Our emotions were filled with negative feelings of rejection, anger, and bitterness.
Our wills made wrong choices and seemed captive to selfishness and sin.
Our bodies were vulnerable to sickness, disease, and addictive behavior.
The Good News is Jesus came to rescue us and deliver us!
When we receive Jesus, our spirit is born again, resurrected, and alive in Christ!
When we turn to Jesus, we repent with our will, and surrender our minds, emotions, and physical bodies.
We begin to grow in Christ, and we begin to be changed into His likeness.
2. Why is it important to understand spirit, soul, and body?
a. The truth of spirit, soul, and body helps us understand walking in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 – “I say then walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”
Walking in the Spirit is living under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
“Walking in the Spirit is walking in proper alignment.” – Cleansing Stream
Alignment – Our bodies under our soul, our soul under our spirit, our spirit under the Holy Spirit.
As we walk in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit renews our minds, heals our emotions, and shapes our wills.
b. The truth of spirit, soul, and body helps us understand the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit lives in every believer.
1 Corinthians 12:3b – “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is an outpouring of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is poured out from heaven and poured out of the believer.
John 7:38 – “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
“When we receive Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes in. When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, He flows out.” – Dennis Bennett
c. The truth of spirit, soul, and body helps us understand praying in the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:14 – “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. Speaking in tongues is my spirit praying to the Father through the Holy Spirit in a language I have never learned.”
1 Corinthians 14:15 – “What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding.”
d. The truth of spirit, soul, and body helps us understand deliverance, especially in the life of a believer.
A born-again believer cannot be demon-possessed.
A born-again believer can be demon oppressed, tormented, and influenced.
Born-again believers can have areas of their lives that need to be liberated.
Ephesians 4:27 – “Nor give place to the devil.”
What are some of those places in our lives that give the enemy a foothold?
Unhealed emotions are open doors. Unforgiveness is an open door. Strongholds of fear in our minds are open doors.
2 Corinthians 3:17 – “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 – “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”