Leading the Captives to Freedom

An overview of Personal Prayer Ministry

by Pastor Pete Beck III

These meditations are copyrighted, but feel free to download them for personal use or to forward to friends.

 

 

Body, Soul and Spirit

The Bible says:

 

The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 (NET1)

 

God formed a body and breathed upon it. The word for breath in Hebrew and Greek is the same word for wind or spirit in both languages. When God put spirit into the lifeless body an amazing thing happened. The union produced a living being, or literally a "soul". The New Testament confirms this tripartite composition of humans.

 

Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NET1)

 

Some theologians think there is practically no difference between spirit and soul, limiting mankind to two parts, but Paul used three distinct words. The writer of Hebrews also distinguished between soul and spirit.

 

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (NET1)

 

Though it is difficult for us to determine where one begins and the other ends, we must make the distinction, if we are going to understand how God made us. We should also consider that God made us in His image. God has clearly revealed Himself to be a trinity, three persons in one being, a mystery that is impossible to completely comprehend but one that must be accepted if we are to know the God of the Bible as He has revealed Himself to us. It is not surprising then that we are also a trinity of a different sort. I am one person made up of a body, soul and a spirit. Why is this important?

 

As you may have guessed, there are practical applications. God's great salvation covers every part of our being. There is a salvation specifically for my spirit. It was accomplished by Christ in the past, once and for all. It is a finished work to which nothing can be added or subtracted. Through the new birth this salvation becomes part of my personal history and experience. It makes me completely righteous in God's eyes forever.

 

But when this priest had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. Hebrews 10:12-14 (NET1)

 

Admittedly, I am condensing a large amount of theology into a few sentences, but this book is an overview, not a systematic theology. So, please try to track with me. We can discuss details at a future date, perhaps.

 

Speaking of the new birth, Jesus taught us:

 

What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6 (NET1)

 

When we become Christians through faith in the finished work of Christ, our spirits are reborn. Jesus, the second Adam, is a life giving spirit. The spirit is the innermost part of our being, the part that is capable of connecting directly with God. It is the hidden part of a person where intuition dwells and which is capable of knowing through revelation. It is the place where our spirits are united with God's Spirit in the mystery of redemption.

 

But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NET1)

 

God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 (NET1)

 

Through justification, our spirits are made completely righteous. It is the one area of our being that is already saved. This is what some people call "past salvation". When Jesus said, "It is finished," as he hung upon the cross, he was seeing things through God's eyes. God is not bound by time and sees our salvation as a done deal; although, to us it is still very much in process. It is important, however, for us to grasp that our spirits are already saved. Otherwise, many scripture verses will not make sense to us. For example, take Romans, Chapter Seven, when Paul states:

 

For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. ²³ But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:22-25 (NET1)

 

The "inner being" to which Paul refers is the spirit which is joined to God's Spirit, which always delights in God and wants to do His will. But we are not just spirit. We have bodies which are still waiting for a salvation which will be completed at the resurrection of the dead. Regarding the resurrection, Paul says that we are "saved in hope".

 

Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. Romans 8:23-25 (NET1)

 

The "firstfruits of the Spirit" refers to justification and the resultant union with God's Spirit Who indwells every believer. We groan inwardly because these perfect spirits have to live in mortal bodies which are still subject to the curse of physical death. God chose to wait until Christ's return to complete the salvation of our bodies. When Paul refers to being saved "in hope", he does not mean that our resurrection is in doubt. The Greek word for "hope" means "confident expectation". In other words, we persevere in an eager expectation that God is going to resurrect us from the dead, just as Jesus promised.

 

Now this is the will of the one who sent me — that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day. John 6:39 (NET1)

 

Hope is stretched out faith. The salvation of the body is still in the future; although, it is not in doubt. In fact, from God's perspective, which is outside the constriction of what we know as time, it is already accomplished, as revealed in the following passage.

 

because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30 (NET1)

 

Every verb in the above passage is in the Greek aorist tense, which means they describe once for all completed action. Our glorification, which will one day take place at the resurrection, is already a past tense event for God. Jesus really meant it when He declared, "It is finished." Hallelujah! But from our time-bound perspective the salvation of the body is in the future.

 

You have probably surmised that there must be a present salvation, too. If so, you are correct. Hebrews 12:14, quoted above, says, "For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy." In other words, our spirits have been made perfect, but we are also in the process of being made holy on a day to day basis. This is called the salvation of the soul or transformation.

 

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice — alive, holy, and pleasing to God — which is your reasonable service. ² Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (NET1)

 

Our souls consist of our minds, wills and emotions. What is known as "personality" is the soul. Our daily battle against sin and the sin nature is waged mostly in the mind. If the mind caves to temptation, it engages the body to do that which it should not. Likewise the desires of the natural body, which are often amoral in nature, test the mind to see if it will abide by God's will or not. We are tested every day to see if we will believe in power of Christ's finished work, trust in the promises of God, rely on the power of the Holy Spirit and eagerly anticipate the second coming of Christ and the salvation He will bring at the resurrection. We rely upon God's daily provision of grace to see us through.

 

For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NET1)

 

The God who justified us when we were still enemies and helpless to save ourselves by sending His Son to die on the cross gives us "daily bread" and daily grace to live for Him. The God will raise us from the dead when we are helpless to raise ourselves is also the one who daily pours out on us the benefits of grace.

 

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah Psalms 68:19 (NKJV)

 

By this time, unless you are already familiar with this teaching on body, soul and spirit, you may feel as if you have been drinking from a fire hydrant, so to speak. I hope you do not feel overwhelmed with so much information. If you do, don't be in a rush to move on from here. Take time to consider these things and search the scriptures to see if what I have written is the truth or not. After years of study, I am convinced it is the truth and is extremely important.

 

Unless we understand the three-fold nature of salvation, many scriptures will be confusing to us. We are to "rightly divide" God's Word, and part of that involves determining whether the text refers to our spirit, our soul or our body. The second point involves our identity. Unless you understand that your spirit really does love God and wants to serve Him, you may falsely believe that the "real you" is hostile to God and His ways. There is a huge conflict between our spirits and our "flesh" that rages most every day.

 

For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. Galatians 5:17 (NET1)

 

If we go back to the Genesis passage at the beginning of this chapter, we see that our souls are formed out of the combination of spirit and body. The spirit is made perfect through the new birth, but the body has not yet been perfected. Therefore, as I see it, we have a built in conflict in our souls. We have an element of the new creation joined with that which is still of the old creation. How could there not be a conflict? Paul uses the term "flesh" because I believe he wanted to make the link to the imperfect bodies in which we still live. Our bodies are not evil, just imperfect and sin affected by sin's curse via Adam. (This is proved by the fact that people who are truly saved still die physical deaths.) The combination of the imperfect body from the old creation with the perfect spirit of the new creation creates an inner conflict between the new nature and the sin nature.

 

It is crucial that we are able to distinguish the one that is truly "us" from the imposter from the old creation that wants to rule us. From where do we derive our true identity? Is it from the sin nature or the new nature? Paul answered that question decisively.

 

But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me. Romans 7:16-20 (NET1)

 

The devil condemns us for the sins we commit and the evil desires that war in our souls. He continually tells us that we are "no good". But Christ does not condemn us because he already bore our condemnation on the cross so that we can be new creations in Him.

 

I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24 (NET1)

 

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (ESV)

 

Some believers even begin to question whether or not they are genuinely saved. How could a true disciple have such evil desires and do such wicked things? If we are deceived by such thinking, the basis for victory over the power of the sin nature through faith in Christ's finished work is removed. We must see ourselves as God sees us - a finished product, complete in Christ, victorious over our enemies, and able to walk in the Spirit.

 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 (ESV)

 

We must believe what the Bible says about us even if our current experience does not yet agree. God's Word alone is the foundation for faith, not our experience or what we logically derive from our experiences. This is vital if we are to live out the freedom that is ours in Christ. Who we really are is who we are in Christ. We will talk more about this later.

 

Thirdly, we must base our current faith walk with God on what Christ has done in the past and what he has promised to do in the future. Paul wrote:

 

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. Romans 5:1-2 (NET1)

 

We stand in faith by grace today because of what Christ finished long ago. Likewise, our motivation to press forward in obedience to God is also rooted in the future. Because we have a sure hope of resurrection, we have a strong motivation to live a holy life.

 

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. ³ And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (NET1)

 

In summary then, the doctrine of body, soul and spirit is central to our experiencing true freedom in Christ. The truth will set us free.