Hymns 742
Scripture Reading:
1 Thes. 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 THREE PARTS OF MAN—SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY
1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “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.” Man is of three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body. It is easy to confuse the spirit with the soul. Some people have thought that the spirit and the soul are synonymous terms. But the Spirit of God states clearly in His Word that the spirit and the soul are two different entities and that there are three parts to our human being. These are joined by two conjunctions: “spirit and soul and body.” It is also this way in the Greek text. The grammatical construction clearly shows that the spirit differs from the soul just as the soul differs from the body. The soul is not the body; neither is the spirit the soul. These are three distinct parts of one human being.
Another verse which shows these three parts of our being and the distinction between them is Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow.” The soul and spirit are not one entity, since this verse indicates that they can be divided asunder.
In Luke 1:46-47, we can also see the difference between the spirit and the soul. Mary said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God.” Firstly her “spirit hath rejoiced in God,” then her “soul doth magnify the Lord.” These are two things done by her two different organs—her spirit and her soul.
Philippians 1:27 further reveals to us that the spirit and the soul are not one entity, but two. It says that in striving for the gospel we must “stand fast in one spirit, with one soul” (ASV). It is possible for us to be “in one spirit” (not the Holy Spirit, but our human spirit), but not “with one soul.” These are two different matters related to our two different parts—the spirit and the soul.
So, according to the Scripture man is a tripartite being, composed mainly of the spirit, the soul and the body. This is very basic for our partaking of the Triune God.
THE THREE PARTS OF THE SPIRIT—
CONSCIENCE, FELLOWSHIP, AND INTUITION
Just as our body has many parts, so does our spirit and our soul. Our spirit is composed of three: conscience, fellowship, and intuition. The conscience is for us to discern right from wrong, to justify or to condemn. Romans 9:1 compared with Romans 8:16 proves that the conscience is a part of our spirit. Fellowship is for us to contact God and to commune with God. This is shown in John 4:24 and Romans 1:9. Intuition means to have a direct sense or feeling in our spirit, regardless of reason or circumstance.
|
First Corinthians 2:11 indicates that our spirit can know what our soul cannot. Our soul knows by reason or by circumstance, but our spirit can perceive without these. This is intuition, the direct sense in our spirit.
|
The three parts of the soul—
MIND, EMOTION, AND WILL
The soul is also of three parts. The main one, the mind, is for thinking, considering (Psa. 13:2), knowing (Psa. 139:14), and remembering (Lam. 3:20). In the mind we have thoughts, ideas, concepts, reasonings, understanding, knowledge, etc.
Emotion, another part of the soul, is for us to love (1 Sam. 18:1; S.S. 1:7) or hate (2 Sam. 5:8), to like or dislike, to be joyful (Isa. 61:10; Psa. 86:4) or grieved (1 Sam. 30:6; Judg. 10:16). All our emotional feelings, positive or negative, are in this part of our soul. The will is also a part of the soul. It is the part through which we have our purposes and choices (Job 7:15; 6:7) and make decisions (1 Chron. 22:19). When I consider or reason, I am using the mind. When I feel happy or sorrowful, I am in the emotion. When I make a decision to do a certain thing, the will is in operation. The mind, the emotion, and the will are the three parts of the soul.
Psalm 51:6 reveals that within our being are “the inward parts” and “the hidden part.” Hebrews 8:10 compared with Jeremiah 31:33 proves that the mind is one of “the inward parts.” The rest of “the inward parts” must be the emotion and the will. Therefore, all the parts of our soul are “the inward parts” of our being, while our spirit is “the hidden part.”
THE PURPOSES OF THE PARTS OF MAN
The purpose of our body is our human existence. It is by our body that we may exist and live physically and practically for the Lord. Our body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for our body (1 Cor. 6:13). The Lord prepares us a body (Heb. 10:5) that we may exist and live for Him. Thus, we must offer our body to the Lord (Rom. 12:1) and glorify Him in our body (1 Cor. 6:20).
The purpose of our heart in God’s intention is that it may love Him. Mark 12:30 says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” Our heart is a loving organ, prepared by God for us to love Him. The purpose of our spirit is to contact the Lord (John 4:24), to receive Him (1 Cor. 6:17), and to contain Him (2 Tim. 4:22). Our heart is the loving organ, whereas our spirit is the contacting, receiving, and containing organ. The Lord whom our heart loves is contacted, received, and contained by our spirit. What then is the purpose of our soul? Its main purpose is to reflect and express the Lord. Second Corinthians 3:18, in the original text, has the thought of reflecting. Our soul, that is our person or our personality, must be the very organ, as a mirror, to reflect and express the Lord. Thus, we love the Lord with our heart; we contact, receive, and contain Him with our spirit; and we reflect and express Him with our soul in all that we think, like, and decide—in all that we are and all that we do. (The Parts of Man, pp. 1-9)
Further Reading: The Parts of Man, ch. 1; CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, “The Believer’s Experience of Transformation,” ch. 2
