Spirit, Soul and Body

I never really understood the difference between “soul” and “spirit”. I gather from the movies that the soul is something the devil wants. “Spirit” to me means either Holy Spirit or evil spirits. I thought maybe these words can be used interchangeably. So, it was good that Ps Vernon Fall helped explained it to us in class yesterday.

But to hear the explanation, you must be prepared for an adventure through the bible. Are you ready? Here we go….

Based on 1 Thessalonians 5:23, our human body comprises of Spirit, Soul and Body.

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When our spirit leaves the body, we die physically. To understand this further we need to ask ourselves “What does it mean to be born again?” Born again means “to be born from above - doing things God’s way and not man’s way”.

In John 3:3, Jesus said, “ I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

Unless we are born again, we cannot understand the things of the Kingdom of God. That Is why it is a waste of time to argue/debate with unbelievers on God’s words as in John 3:6, it says

“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

1 Corinthians 2:14, it is written:

"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Unbelievers consider the truth of God as foolishness. He may understand it in full details but he does not receive it because for him it is just foolishness or nonsense.

In John 3:4, we can observe a NATURAL MAN’s natural understanding to the meaning “Born again”:

"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

But to a SPIRITUAL MAN, once we are born again we are able to understand the things of the Kingdom of God.

John 3:5
"Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."

So, why must we be born again?

1. In Romans 3:23, it is written “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

We sin because of one man, Adam:
2. In Romans 5:12, it is written “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned”

3. In Ephesians 2:1,2, it is written: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."
The “ruler of the kingdom of the air” is satan. Therefore it is a spirit that works in unbelievers.

By nature, before we were saved, we are of the devil, children of wrath, God’s wrath.

Ephesians 2:3

"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."

But, praise the Lord! We are now saved from God’s wrath.

Romans 5:9

"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!"

Jesus bought us (redemption) back to God when He died for us on the cross.

Romans 3:24

"and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

We are saved not because of good works that we have done but because of God’s mercy. It is a gift from God! The bible says so:

Titus 3:5
"he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit"

1 John 5:11

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."

Eternal life means God’s life and God’s nature. God has given eternal life to us already for those who believe in Jesus. Right now! This life is in his Son, Jesus. This is what the bible says about Jesus:

John 14:6
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

There are no other gods. The bible says so:

Acts 4:12
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

1 John 5:12
"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."


In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God made this promise to Israel about a new covenant. He said, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

As what Ezekiel wrote, the day has now come when the Lord has washed our heart, washed our life; and washed our inner man now that we believe in Him. He has put a new heart in us and he has put his Spirit in us.

We now have a new heart, a new spirit. So, that’s the explanation to what “SPIRIT” means.

As unbelievers, their spirit is ruled by the devil. As children of God, our new spirit is of God - God’s life, God’s nature in us. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (the devil).

Our SOUL consist of the will, the mind and the emotions. The devil has access to our soul but NOT our spirit because that is of God.

Colossians 1:13
"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves."

1 John 4:4
"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

We have His nature, His life. Now that we are in Him, we do not make very good sinners. Why? Because he has begun His good work in us who believe! We still sin, but we are lousy sinners.

Philippians 1:6
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Now that we can distinguish between spirit and soul, we must guard our soul. We must know that when our thoughts and feelings contradict God’s word, we must :

1. Recognize that that is from the devil – hurt, anger, discouragement (all evident in our church crisis)

2. Cast it out in Jesus’ Name

3. Stop thinking that thought

4. Fill it with God’s words

It is important to read the bible to hear what God says. This morning while in the car, I was hungry and saw a tiny box of raisin I left in my car since yesterday. I picked it up and ate a raisin. Then, I asked God, can I eat this? A big “NO” came to my mind. I said “OK, Lord, but why?” No reply. Then I remembered the above lesson and thought of this morning’s verse that I was meditating on from Exodus 23:25

“Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you”

Ah ha! So, that “NO” was definitely from the devil. I thanked the Lord knowing He would protect me from sickness even though the raisins were a day old. It is good to be able to trust God’s words and to reject what is from the devil and eat my raisins!