Man is a tri-part being
He is a spirit, who lives in a body and possess a soul
Human beings are complicated because they are created uniquely by God. Each one of us is different; we come from various backgrounds and have different personalities. But we’re actually all the same with the same blood
1 Thessalonians 5:23 “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Bible is telling us here in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that we were all created with three parts—a spirit, a soul, and a body:
- The spirit as our inmost part is the inner organ, possessing God-consciousness, that we may contact God (John 4:24; Rom. 1:9).
The human spirit is the deepest part of a person. By means of this innermost part, we can contact God in the spiritual realm. No other creature was created by God with this third part. 2. The soul is our very self (Matt. 16:26; Luke 9:25), a medium between our spirit and our body, possessing self-consciousness, that we may have our personality.
- Our soul perceives things in the psychological realm. In fact, in Greek—the original language of the New Testament—the word for soul is psuche, which is also the root word of psychology.
Our soul is our personality, who we are. With our soul we think, reason, consider, remember, and wonder. We experience emotions like happiness, love, sorrow, anger, relief, and compassion. And we’re able to resolve, choose, and make decisions.
Now let’s read the next section about our body and how our three parts are related:
- The body as our external part is the outer organ, possessing world-consciousness, that we may contact the material world. The body contains the soul, and the soul is the vessel that contains the spirit.
Our body exists in and contacts the tangible things of the material world using our five physical senses. The body is the visible, external part of our being, and it contains the soul. Our soul is the vessel containing our spirit.
The natural man verses the spirit man
1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned”
This verse does not define the natural man, as such; rather, it uses the term to describe one who does not understand God’s words and thoughts. The one who can understand God’s words is a “spiritual” man (verse 15 says).
In 1 Corinthians 2:14, the Scripture we just read, Apostle Paul uses the word natural to refer to someone still in his original (sinful) state.
Natural men are those who are occupied with the things of this material world to the exclusion of the things of God. They are led by instinct rather than by the Spirit of God. They intuitively choose sin over righteousness. They are the “pagans” Jesus refers to in Matthew 6:32 who only seek after the things of this world.
The supernatural work of God is to change the natural man into a spiritual one. When a person trusts Christ, God exchanges what is natural (received from Adam) for what is spiritual (received from Christ). “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
The Christian life is a supernatural one. We no longer walk according to the dictates of the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:14).
As believers in Christ Jesus, God is able to speak to us through either of the following ways.
- through His Word, the Bible: Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” …
- through His Spirit (Holy Spirit)
- through Trusted Advisors including His Prophets
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