difference between soul and spirit

granpa said:

my understanding has always been that every animal that breathes has a soul (nephesh)
I am pretty sure thats right because thats whats written in genesis too.

teh spirit on the other hand is unclear to me.
Jesus said the spirit was like wind and in hebrew the word for spirit is 'wind'.

but isnt wind what we breathe?

is the metaphor mixed?

Am I missing something obvious?

Click to expand...

The point Jesus was making there was that spirit is invisible unlike the physical.

IN Genesis.. dust of earth is breathed upon and man became a living soul... .like dust and water make mud.. take away the water and you are back to dust..

Our spirit is the part of us that is made to contact God and contain His life.
One part of our spirit is our conscience.
In Romans 9:1 Paul said, “My conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 8:16 says: “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit,”
Another part or function of our spirit is fellowship with God.
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness” (John 4:24). Ephesians 6:18 mentions “praying at every time in spirit,” Worshiping God and praying in spirit are both forms of fellowship with God.
Intuition, a direct knowledge of God is also a function of the spirit. First Corinthians 2:11 says, “For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him?”

Our soul, is our mind, emotion and will.
“I will praise You, for I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, and my soul knows it well” -Ps.139:14.
Lamentations 3:20 says, “My soul remembers them well and is bowed down within me.” Knowing and remembering are functions of the mind.
The will is our choosing and making decisions. “So that my soul would choose strangulation and death rather than my bones” (Job 7:15).
“My soul refuses to touch them…” (Job 6:7).
And our soul is the seat of our emotion. In Song of Songs 1:7, the Shulamite speaks to her beloved, “Tell me, you whom my soul loves.”
Psalm 86:4 - “Cause the soul of Your servant to rejoice…”