I think that the spirit and the soul are the same thing, but both used as a figure of speech which is often appear in the Bible. Also such a word as “heart” used in the Bible to define certain spiritual context of individual, which is also figure of speech.
For example: GOD hardened pharaoh’s heart about 5 times during the period of Exodus, but not the physical heart but the spirit of pharaoh, so the “heart” here is only a figure of speech, a metaphor. See
Ezekiel 18.31,
Ezekiel 36.26.
Many people stumble on the verse mentioned here by Ron Gurley
Hebrews 4:12. And some people assume that we have spirit and soul in our physical body and some of the Adventist thinks that a soul is our actual physical body.
When GOD created Adam, Adam was just a corpse. Adam had body and was fully made by GOD from his hair to his toes, but he was not alive. What makes Adam alive is a Breath of the Lord, and only when Adam became a living being. See
Zechariah 12.1.
GOD did not Breath into Adam twice or more times but only once to make him alive. This means that Adam received only one part of GOD’S everlasting Spirit, another words, GOD’S ENERGY OF LIFE (not the Holy Spirit as some mistakenly think), to be alive, and nothing else. With this everlasting ENERGY of GOD’S Spirit, Adam also received intelligence. Therefore, it is have been said that Adam was made in the image of GOD, not physical image, but intellectual spiritual image and became a possessor of all spiritual qualities and feelings that GOD Himself have.
The only difference between spirit and souls can be found in certain description of the spiritual status of different individuals. For example, if a person ungodly he or she can be considered as a person of soul (in some languages of the world the word “soul” has extension to identify a person as “souler” or in other similar variation, all depends on language used, which means a person with soul (alive) but not religious.
A religious, a spiritual person, who accepted and worship GOD called as spiritual person, he or she has a spirit (soul of whom converted to spirit), and as Scripture said, in such people the Holy Spirit of GOD abides.
Explanation to this phenomenon is this that a soul (life giving energy of GOD) of a person is converted to a spirit, changed to a much higher status due to belief in the Lord, and because of it a person became a spiritual person.
Note that such person did not received any additional spirit to his soul, but his or her soul was change and converted to spirit according to faith in GOD, and such a person rightfully can be called now as a spiritual person. Without faith in GOD such person will remain only as a person of soul, alive, but not religious, because he or she did not dedicate their soul to GOD in order to be spiritual and convert their souls to a spirit in which GOD will abide.
But these differences between soul and spirit described only from a human point of view, but in the Bible soul and spirit always intermixed together and in general identifying one or another spiritual condition or status of a person.
To GOD Father and to Jesus Christ both these terms “spirit” and “souls” applied equally without any difference.
Isaiah 42.1
1."Here is My Servant Whom I uphold, My chosen, in Whom My
Soul delights, I have put My
Spirit upon Him, He will bring forth justice to the nations." See also
Matthew 12.17-18, .
1Thessalonians 5. 23.
See, GOD does not have both Souls and Spirit, but and as a figure of speech identified His LIFE GOVING ENERGY as Souls and as Spirit, which are the same thing in this context and in others throughout the Bible.
But in prophesy about Jesus Christ Isaiah wrote:
Isaiah 53.11
11."As a result of the anguish of His
Soul, He will see it and be satisfied. By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many as He will bear their iniquities."
Of course Jesus Christ is a Spiritual Person and possessed Holy Spirit of His Father, but here His Spirit was called as a Soul, which can be interpreted and understood as His Holy Spirit, no any difference in both of these cases between soul and spirit.
So separation of the spirit and soul written in
Hebrews 4.12, from human point of view is a separation of soul (life giving energy of GOD) from spirit that has faith in GOD, which means that the Word of GOD separates ungodly soul of a person from godly spirit of the same person, in order to make that person completely godly, another explanation that Word of GOD killed ungodly soul in order to give life to godly spirit in that person, which all are figure of speech under this context. But in reality the Word of GOD converts a soul of a person into a spirit in order for a person to be a spiritual being.
In
Ezekiel 37.4-10 the Spirit of GOD described as a
Breath (LIFE GIVING ENERGY) that gave life to multitude of corpses, which is exactly as it was described in Genesis when GOD
Breath was given to Adam.
So the point is that spirit, soul, Breath of GOD, identify same thing, spiritual context of GOD and human beings as one spiritual life form, and there is no other spiritual forms of any kind are present. The only difference that our spirit (soul) can be holy or not holy.
Concerning instances there Holy Spirits descends on certain people, it descends on people for a certain purpose, to do certain work that otherwise will be impossible for human being to do without GOD’S help, but after when goal is accomplished, the Holy Spirit of GOD usually departs from such person.
John 3.6.
6. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
John 4.24
24.GOD
is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Romans 2.28-29
28.For a person is not a Jew, who is one outwardly nor is true, circumcision something external and physical.
29.Rather a person is a Jew, who is one inwardly and real, circumcision
is a matter of the heart, it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others, but from GOD.
(Verses 25-29. Spiritual and Physical Circumcision: (Leviticus 26.41) (Deuteronomy 10.16, 30.6) (Jeremiah 4.4, 9.25-26) (Ezekiel 44.7.9) (To Romans 2.25-29) (Colossians 2.11-13) (1Corinthians 7.19)
Romans 5.5
5.and
hope does not disappoint us, because
GOD’S
love has been poured into our
hearts through the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
1Corinthinas 2.11-15
11.What human being knows what is truly human, except the
human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehend what is truly
GOD’S, except the
Spirit of GOD.
12.Now we have received
not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit that is from GOD, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by
GOD.
13.And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the
Spirit,
interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
14.Those who are
unspiritual do not receive the gifts of
GOD’S Spirit, they are foolishness to them and they are unable to understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
15.Those who are
spiritual discern ("But he who is spiritual appraises" KSB) all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.