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The Bible speaks of man as Spirit, Soul and Body. The great apostle Paul says: "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" (1 Thessalonians 5: 23).
It is evident that man is one totality of spirit, soul and body. I believe that this is the full plan of God. Even in Heaven, man will be spirit, soul and body (Though our Bodies in heaven will be glorified bodies and not the same bodies of sin which we currently dwell in.) Why? Because every part of the human being has a purpose.
Purposes
God created man on His own image. Therefore, the real, most important and essential part of the human being should be on the image of God. The Bible says that God is Spirit (see John 4: 24). So the man who is in the image of God is the "spirit" man. I can't say that I am on the image of God because I have hands, feet, nose, mouth...etc. I am on the image of God on the inside.
Though we lost the image of God partially when we fell with Adam in sin, still our spirit remains to be the most important part of the human being. The human spirit is the means by which we can communicate with God and with the spirit world, whether it is the angelic world or the demonic world.
With the soul, which is constituted of the Mind, Emotions and the Will, I can analyse, take decisions, and control my whole actions. The Soul is the way I communicate with myself. It is the world where I can think about Ideas, and is the common ground of the Spirit and Body, in fact it is the "Battle ground" between the two. This is the area of the intellect.
While the Body is not meant to be only the physical flesh and blood of the human being but rather the sinful desires of the flesh which has only an effect on the human body, but not anymore on the human spirit.
The Word of God: the way to discern between the spirit and soul
Paul said: "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" (Hebrews 4: 12).
It is very important to study these deep words contained in this verse. The Word of God, the Bible, is the powerful sword or knife to distinquish between Soulish (human, natural, influenced by the flesh) things and Spiritual (Spiritually driven, Godly, God-Ordained) things. Therefore, for me to discern which ideas, motives, visions and dreams are from God, I need to go deep into the Word of God. The word of God mentioned here is not the mere intellectual reading of the Bible, but rather the RHEMA Word of God (the Spoken word of God straight to our situation, anointed with the Holy Spirit).
(To be Continued)
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