
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
Soul? Spirit? What’s the difference? What part of me wants to follow God’s instructions and what part does not? Isn’t it all just ‘me’? I know that some of me truly wants to follow God’s will for my life, while some of me just, well… doesn’t. Why is that? Since I am saved by God’s grace, why is there this conflict within me?
I want you to know that I have struggled to get a handle on this for a long time. Either I am dense (vote here __) or this concept is not spoken about very much, or it is tough to grasp, or I am dense (vote early and often).
How is one to begin to understand the whole idea of mind, soul, body and spirit? What’s the difference and what are the implications for life here and now? As a man, which parts of me are eternal/sacred and which parts are temporal/sinful? When God’s word divides my soul and spirit, what does that mean?
I can tell you this, in all of the time I have spent in churches I have never heard anyone preach about this from the pulpit; have never heard anyone break it down so that the differences made sense. That is, until I heard part of a series a while back from Pastor Reza Safa on this very topic. I am a fan of his. He is a converted Muslim and one of the guys whose word you can pretty much trust (like John McArthur or James McDonald). He is also being used by God in a major way to convert Muslims to Christ. God caused him also to be the catalyst to start us on this journey together.
We know that in Genesis there was conversation between the 3 members of the Godhead where it was determined that mankind would be made in the likeness of, well, of themselves.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26
There is nothing here to indicate that “our image” means just our physical appearance/bodies, but this statement surely speaks to our total being (think ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ as well).
So let’s start with the body:
We all have mind pictures of God. What is your picture of our Father? Morgan Freeman? George Burns (look it up youngsters)? Charlton Heston with that beard? I know: he was Moses…
And what about Jesus? Lily white surfer boy? Come on folks. Paul said that long hair on a man was an affront to God. Jesus looked like a regular Jewish guy. Isaiah 53:2b says “…he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” So he was an average (not ugly and not beautiful) looking guy. Probably olive skinned like most people who live in the region.
In The Shack by William Young (a must read for anyone who is hurting and has separated from God because of it) Jesus is pictured as a typical man we would meet on the street in the modern day Middle East, except Young has him as a carpenter in plaid shirt with a tool belt and sawdust all over him. There is an interesting moment when Mack (the central human figure in Young’s tome) and Jesus have a very frank discussion about Jesus’ human appearance:
'I guess I expected you to be more,' (be careful here, Mack), 'uh...well, humanly striking.'
Jesus chuckled. 'Humanly striking? You mean handsome.' Now he was laughing.
'Well, I was trying to avoid that, but yes. Somehow I thought you'd be the ideal man, you know, athletic and overwhelmingly good looking.'
'It's my nose, isn't it?'
Mack didn't know what to say.
Jesus laughed. 'I am Jewish, you know. My grandfather on my mother's side had a big nose; in fact, most of the men on my mom's side had big noses.'
And finally, how do you picture the Holy Spirit? A ghost? A mist? Who knows?
I think we can be pretty sure that there are parts of us that physically resemble God. But which parts? If you look around you will see all colors, shapes, sizes and body types. Some of us are small, some are large; some are tall, some are short; some are outwardly beautiful and some (like me) have a face for blogging. So take your pick. We will find out in heaven!
Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed (the Hebrew word is ‘ruach’, also translated ‘spirit’) into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature (soul). Genesis 2:7
If you do a little research you will find that the human body is indeed made of the same base elements as dirt. Google can be your friend. So God created first a body, and then breathed his spirit into that body to bring it to life.
You may think that all bodies are temporary. Not so much. Ultimately, God tells us that we all will inhabit some kind of body that lives on and on and on. Thank God that for Christians it will not be this one. Mine is broken. And chubby (working on it).
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
So we live in a body, which was formed from the dust of the earth.
Now as to the soul:
God breathed the breath of life (ruach) into Adam’s nostrils and “Adam became a living creature (soul)”. To wax Hebraic again for a moment, the words for ‘living creature’ are nephesh chayya, which is often translated as ‘creature’, ‘soul’, ‘mind’, ‘person’, ‘heart’ or ‘self’, depending on the context. It is the same word used to describe all creatures God created:
So God created the great sea creatures (nephesh) and every living creature (nephesh chayya) that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:21
According to the Companion Bible: “The word nephesh occurs 754 times in the Hebrew Old Testament…it is translated ‘soul’ 472 times, while in the other 282 places it is represented by forty-four different words or phrases.”
Often gang, the word used is ‘mind’. So we see that the soul and the mind are the same thing in biblical thought. Your soul/mind/person/heart is what and how you think; your personality. Some people are loud, others are quiet; some are cerebral, some don’t really like to think deep thoughts; some are happy to be isolated, while others want to be surrounded by other people all the time. Some like sardines and some don’t. Even our tastes buds are different!! Oh well, more liver and onions for me…
Now don’t confuse your soul/mind with your brain. Your brain is the part of your body that God gave you to allow you to express your soul/mind while you are still in that body. If you turn off a person’s brain, they can express nothing here and now. And yet we are told that the soul (your personality) lives on as well.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Animals have souls, and God knows they have minds of their own. As do insects and reptiles. Trees do not. Nor does the okra I enjoy fried up in the summer time. God gave souls only to animated beings.
The difference between us and other creatures begins with the way we were brought to life. God breathed life into Adam’s nostrils. Such was not the case with others. God took extra care with his final and favorite creation. He breathed. This speaks to intimacy, to love and relationship. We do not see our Father walking in the garden in the cool of the evening with his dog, but with Adam, because Adam (not Lassie) was his friend.
Thus the bible tells us that we have a soul, like every other animate living thing on God’s Earth.
Still with me here?
Now on to the spirit:
The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God… Romans 8:16
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10
Let’s start here. We know that God is, at his very core, a spirit.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24
He is The Eternal Spirit. The one who has no beginning and no end; The Alpha and Omega. There has never been a time when he did not exist, and will never be a time when he ceases to exist.
And here is how our spirits differ from God’s. He is eternal. We are not. Our spirits were created at some point. While I will not get into the debate over when, I will mention this: God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you...” This speaks to God’s intimate knowledge of each of us; that he knew us before we were even a twinkle in dad’s eye. At some point in God’s eternity he knew you and his plan for your life. Now I am not suggesting that we co-existed with him in eternity. Only that his plans for us have been around for a very long time.
We see that our spirits are eternal.
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5:28-29
In Luke 16 Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. How Lazarus, a man of faith, but a poor beggar, and the rich man, a man without faith; both died. Lazarus was immediately escorted to Abraham’s side to await his heavenly reward, while the rich man was in a place of torment awaiting judgment.
Thus the bible tells us that our spirits live on and on and on.
Now we really have to get this one right. Let me be clear:
I am (and you are too) a spirit, who has a soul and lives in a body.
Now this spirit can be alive (in Christ) or ‘dead’. We need to be sure that we understand this. When the scriptures speak of lost men being ‘dead’ it is not just a reference to the body, but to the spirit of a man. When sin occurs for the natural man, the lost man, his body, soul and spirit are aligned with the forces of evil. He is acting from the only thing he knows. He is of his father, the devil. He is headed for an eternity of separation from God. This is the real meaning of ‘death’ in spiritual terms. He is a dead man walking, although he may not know it nor care.
When a Christian sins, it is not the death of his spirit. Jesus has already paid the price for every sin he has ever committed, or ever will. Man’s struggle is a spiritual one, not because of his body, but because of his mind/soul. Satan does not want your body my friends. He wants your spirit. He wants you dead forever, like he is. Of course, since he can’t do that (and he knows it), he will settle for making us walk apart from God. He will settle for making us sick in our minds/souls. Separated from God’s love in our minds. Thus immediate repentance and a very close walk with Jesus are the only answers to leading a sanctified life.
Paul speaks to this struggle when he says in Romans:
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 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 7:14-25
So there is a battle. A spiritual battle. Christians fight it every day. No one holds a gun to my head and makes me sin. My spirit man hates what I do. It breaks my heart. I want so much to please my Lord and yet…
Thanks be to God who forgives my sin and sees me as his friend and beloved son.
Once again, I am a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body.
Let me encourage you to fight the good fight. Stay close to God through his word. Know that, in your spirit man, you are saved and being saved and pleasing to our Father. Know that when you do sin, it is not your spirit, but your body and soul that are the causes. Stand firm! And the grace of God will guard your hearts in Christ Jesus.
Sam Handlang
St. Louis, Missouri
February 12, 2015
sam.handlang@gmail.com