Understanding Your Spirit, Soul and Body

When Yeshua sacrificed Himself He did it to bring restoration to our entire being. Not merely our spirit which is so often preached and not just for the world to come. To fully grasp what He did for us we must first understand what we are. According to scripture we are comprised of 3 parts: our spirit, our soul and our body.

1 Thessalonians 5:23
But The God of peace shall make all of you perfectly holy and shall keep your whole spirit, soul and body without fault for the arrival of our Lord Yeshua The Messiah.

In this verse the Apostle makes it abundantly clear that a man is comprised of 3 distinct parts and that God is in the process of sanctifying each. The more we participate in this work our Heavenly Father is doing the more we become like His Son Yeshua.

We Come In 3 Parts

Part 1 The Body

We are all aware that we have a body. This is the part we are most aware of and it is the part that dictates the behavior of every carnal and unregenerate man. This is the part of us where we find our senses and which interacts with the natural world.

It is often translated as “flesh” in the scriptures. In and of itself the body or flesh is not a bad thing. It only becomes bad when we make our decisions based on what our flesh desires. The man lead by the flesh is a carnal man. A spiritual man, on the other hand, devotes his body to the service of God and to holiness:

Romans 12:1
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Part 2 The Soul

In scripture the soul is metaphorically called our heart (and our kidneys). It is our will, our emotions, our  conscience, memory, knowledge, cognitive ability… it is what makes you who you are.

We often find men described in the scriptures as “souls” because who a man is, is dependent upon the state of his soul.

In Romans 7 when Paul is describing how he cannot overcome sin on his own he is describing the struggle of an unregenerate man seeing the goodness of the Torah and wanting to obey it but finding himself unable to because his spirit was still dead and the Torah is spiritual.

Romans 8:4-8
⁴ so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Part 3 The Spirit

This is the part that is most evidently changed when we first commit ourselves to following Yeshua. Our spirit goes from death to life when we are truly regenerate.

Once we are united with Messiah He gives our spirit life because He is a “life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45).

After our spirit is brought to life our soul is able to choose which to listen to, our natural flesh or our spirit. We are then able to keep God’s Torah and commands because they are spiritual in nature.

Romans 8:12-14
¹² So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.¹⁴ For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Salvation Affects All 3

Ultimately, we will be completely transformed, given glorified bodies and when Messiah appears we will be “like Him” (1 John 3:2) even though we do not yet know exactly what that means we know that it will be glorious.

We are promised a complete transformation and while we get to see first fruits of it today in our personal holiness and in physical healings we do not yet see the fullness of it. Until the day we go to glory we must wait and work day by day living out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).

Romans 8:15-17
¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Question: Do you see these forces at work in your life? Based on your actions which one leads your decisions?[reminder]