Spirit and Soul and Body

leafriverlizzie · 07-07-2005, 07:52 AM

1 Thessalonians 5:23 --And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have often wondered about the spirit, soul, and body. Are the spirit and soul two separate things or are they the same thing? Sometimes the scriptures talk about man's spirit and sometimes about man's soul.
I would like to know your opinions on this and any scriptures you might have to back up your opinions.
Thanks!

Rebel Hog · 07-07-2005, 09:35 AM

Defintion of Terms

[blockquote]
"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Thess. 5:23).
"For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit ..." (Heb. 4:12).
[ul][*]Note: Here the point of this Scripture is that soul and spirit can be defined as being distinctly different. [*]What follows are Nee's 3 definitions. The term, "outermost man" is not found in Scripture. [/ul]
1. Inward man -- the Spirit

[blockquote]
When we come to know Messiah, God's Spirit dwells within our human spirit causing us to be born again (Jn. 3). We become a "new creation" (2 Corin. 5:17).[/blockquote]
2. Outward man -- the Soul[/blockquote]
[ul][ul][*]Just as we are dressed in clothes, so our inward man (spirit) wears an outward man (soul). [*]The soul is the place that contains our intellect, emotions, and will. [*]We express to others what is in our spirit through the soul. For example, while we may receive a prophecy in our spirit, to express it the content (words) must be transferred to our soul and then spoken through our body (mouth). [/ul][/ul]

[blockquote]
3. Outermost man -- the Body[/blockquote]
[ul][ul][*]The spirit and soul "wear" the body. [*]People are generally more conscious of the outer and outermost man and hardly recognize or understand their spirit at all. [/ul][/ul]

leafriverlizzie · 07-07-2005, 09:44 AM

Interesting post Bro. Reb. I had never thought about it in that way. Thanks for responding.
I have another question to throw out there for anybody who would like to respond.
If the soul and the spirit are two separate things, which one goes to heaven or hell?

DaveH · 07-07-2005, 09:44 AM

Rebel has already beat me to it. I was going to cite this scripture reference:

Quote:

"For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit ..." (Heb. 4:12).

To me, that's a pretty clear indication that the soul and spirit are two distinct entities. I had no explanation of HOW they were different, just that they are. The analogies provided may very well be accurate.

DaveH · 07-07-2005, 09:52 AM

Lizzie--I believe that BOTH of these go with you to Heaven. This is where we can get mixed up again. Although scripture does point out that there is a difference between them (and I just stated it), I don't think that they will be more than one representation of each person in Heaven. To use the analogy Rebel provided, the inner man (the spirit) would still wear the outward man (the soul).

I'll have to do a little searching before I comment further--I'm just attempting to answer here from my human mind and that sometimes gets me in trouble!

leafriverlizzie · 07-07-2005, 09:57 AM

Thanks for your response Dave, this is something I have been wondering about since I was a young teen but I have never heard anybody really speak about it.

Rebel Hog · 07-07-2005, 09:58 AM

But, the Bible does speak of a spirit in man that returns to God at the time of death ( Ecclesiastes 12:7; Psalm 146:4; 104:29; James 2:26; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59). What is this spirit? As we have already seen, humans do not have an immortal soul that continues on after death. Yet, humans (both good and bad) appear to have a non-physical essence that does return to God at death. This spirit in man gives humans the ability to learn and think. It makes their minds, different from that of animals ( Job 32:8; 1 Corinthians 2:11; Zechariah 12:1; Isaiah 42:5). Apart from the human brain and body the spirit in man is not conscious. As shown above the dead have no thoughts or awareness ( Ecclesiastes 9:5-6; Psalm 6:5; 146:3-4).

Acts 7:59
[59] And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

leafriverlizzie · 07-07-2005, 10:44 AM

Bro. Reb, I haven't had time to look at these verses you have in your post yet since I am running back and forth between the computer, housecleaning, and getting things ready for Hurricane Dennis. I'll look at them later though.

I did notice though, that Mat. 10:28 talks about both the body and the soul in hell -- "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. " Also Acts 2:27 -- "Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." It might not mean what I think it might though.

All this brings up another question. If we will still have both the soul and the spirit in heaven or hell, and if they are two separate things, would they be similar to the living concept that Bro. Reb showed but this time with a spirit, soul, and immortal body? Or would the soul or spirit be the immortal body?

The Rev · 07-07-2005, 11:01 AM

Bro Reb nailed it. It can't be said any better than that.

Rebel Hog · 07-07-2005, 11:22 AM

How the immortal-soul idea entered Christianity
When did the concept of the immortality of the soul enter the world of Christianity? The Old Testament does not teach it. The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia explains: "... We are influenced always more or less by the Greek, Platonic idea that the body dies, yet the soul is immortal. Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness and is nowhere found in the Old Testament" (1960, Vol. 2, p. 812, "Death").

[blockquote]"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7, K.J.V [/blockquote]
Notice that man BECAME a living soul. It does not say that he RECEIVED a soul, but rather he BECAME a living soul. A human being therefore does not HAVE a soul, they ARE a soul. Two ingredients went into the creation of this living soul, the dust of the earth, and the breath of life.