Questions from our Small Group

What is the difference between the spirit & the soul?

Wow! This is probably one of my favorite topics to talk about!!

1 Thes 5:23 “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ESV

We are a triune being just like God! In Gen 1:26 “God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  ESV

We are first and foremost, a spirit. We have a soul and we live in a physical body. 

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, God said in Gen 2:16 & 17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  And we know that when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they did not physically die immediately…but Adam did die 930 years later.  But they did experience “spiritual” death at the moment they sinned and disobeyed God.  Rom 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death (spiritual death which will also affect your physical body and your soul).

Simply put, the spiritual death that Adam and Eve experienced was separation from God.  Sin separates us from God and the life of God, that’s why we must be born-again.  We are born into a sinful world and our nature is to sin.  When we ask Jesus into our heart and confess that He is our Lord and Savior, God transfers Jesus’ perfect, sinless life over to us (spiritually):

                2 Cor 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ESV

                2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ESV

                1 Cor 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 

                Heb 10:14 For by a single offering He (Jesus) has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.  ESV

                Heb 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus ESV

When we are born-again, we are told that God creates in us a new spirit (the real us). But our soul and body have not experienced this full and complete salvation. 

Our soul consists of our mind, will, emotions and imagination. According to scripture, our soul is not saved which we’ll look at shortly. 

Our physical body is not saved either but because of Jesus’ work at the cross we are able to enjoy physical healing while on this earth. See Isa 53:4-5; 1 Pet 2:24; Rom 8:11; Mt 8:16-17; Mk 5:34.

The Greek word that Paul uses in Rom 10:10 for salvation is “soteria” from the Greek root word “sozo”.  Sozo means to save, to rescue, to deliver, to heal and to preserve.  

The following scriptures reveal that our soul (mind, will, emotions and imaginations) are not saved but can experience God’s truth and transformation:

Rom 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” ESV

James 1:21 “…receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” ESV

Col 3:2 “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” ESV

See also Ps 1:1-3 and Josh 1:8

I could say a lot more about spirit, soul and body but I think one of the most important truths to take away from this is that we MUST realize that we are a spirit with a soul living in a physical body.  We (the spirit & soul) will live forever but most of us spend more time on our physical body, and our soul and spend little to no time whatsoever on our spirit. 

Jesus said in Mt 4:4 that man does not live by bread alone (physical food for your physical body) but rather by every word that comes from the mouth of God (spiritual food for our spirit). He also said in John 6:63 that His words are spirit and life meaning that His words bring us spiritual life.  In Prov 18:21 we are told that Life & Death are in the Power of the Tongue…even people who don’t believe in God, Jesus or the Bible understand and respect this truth.  This is a major principle in the New Age community and with New Age teachers such as Wayne Dyer. 

It is extremely important to our life here on this earth and our life eternally that we give attention to our spirit and make sure we are growing (spiritually), eating well (spiritually), getting (spiritual) exercise on a DAILY BASIS.  YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!!