Soul or Spirit?

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on October 5, 2011 at 5:04am

Choco,

Many people believe that the soul and spirit are the same thing but that isn't so. A Christian Spirit is what God places within you as you accept Christ as your Savior. It is perfect. Many times it will be described as your heart.

Your soul is your mind and many times described that way. Your soul is your conscious thought. It actually pairs with your flesh most times. EXAMPLE: You think, I think I will go for a drink. Your flesh wants that drink. Your soul pairs with what the flesh wants and you actually want that drink.

The better way is pairing your soul with your spirit. Your spirit which is the spirit from Christ or of Christ doesn't want you to take that drink because you might have issues with drinking. If you renew your mind (soul) (as spoken of in Romans 12:1-2) to agree with your spirit instead of your flesh will negate the idea because you know you can't drink.

This is the basest of explanations. If you will go to www.awmi.org and and open audio teaching and listen to Andrew's teaching on Spirit, Soul, Body.

 

Blessings to you in the Name of Christ our Savior....

Rita 

 ²³ Now may ^bthe God of peace himself ^csanctify you completely, and may your ^dwhole ^espirit and soul and body be kept blameless at ^fthe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

^b See Rom. 15:33

^c Ex. 31:13; John 17:17

^d 2 Pet. 3:14; Jude 1

^e Luke 1:46, 47; Heb. 4:12; [1 Cor. 14:14]

^f See ch. 2:19

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. 1 Th 5:23

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on October 5, 2011 at 8:23am

One of the longest threads in the AAG archives is called: Do we possess three entities namely a "Body" "Soul" and "Spirit"?

 

http://www.allaboutgod.net/forum/topics/do-we-possess-three-entities

 

I actually asked the same question a while back, check it out. LT''s response was very good.

http://www.allaboutgod.net/forum/topics/body-soul-spirit

 

Reply by LT on February 27, 2010 at 7:47pm

 

Here is a food for thought:

The Bible uses two different words in the N.T. to describe two different parts of man. These words are "psuche" and "pneuma." The simple fact that there are two different words lend to our understanding of two different things.

 

Before I go on I want to say that there are some things that we cannot know fully in this life and this qualifies as one of those times. We may develop a base understanding on this topic, but will not grap it fully.

 

Often we make the mistake of trying to define these three parts as individual independant segments. Here is an example using part of a math formula:

Spirit = A

Soul = B

Body = C

Thus A+B+C=Whole Man

 

When we study Scripture we find that the answer is much more complex. Let's use another math style formula:

Spirit = A-B

Soul = B-C

Body = C-D

Thus (A-B)+(B-C)+(C-D)=Whole man

 

The point of this is that in Scripture instead of 3 single units we see 3 units that overlap and thus makes it even more difficult to distinguish between them. Using the last math formula we see that the spirit and soul do in fact connect and at times overlap which gives them an appearnce of being interchangable. Next we see that the soul overlaps with both the spirit and the flesh. Third we see that the body overlaps the soul. Notice in the formula that body and spirit never overlap and are buffered by the soul.

 

Can Scripture support this view?

Spirit and Soul:

- Difference: Hebrews 4:12 uses the two different words to describe soul and spirit. The same word is not used and thus implies two different things.

- Overlap: Worship - Soul glorifies and spirit rejoices in God as seen in Luke 1:46-47

Soul and Body:

- Difference: Both the body and soul can be destroyed as described in Matthew 10:28. Key point is that there are two parts.

- Overlap: Matthew 6:25 uses "psuche" in relation to what you will eat, drink or wear. These are physical things.

You find all three present in 1 Thes. 5:23 using three distinct words.

There are other parts that fit into this whole understanding. The heart and the mind come into play. The heart relates primarily to the spirit and the mind to the soul with some exceptions.

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by LucyP on October 11, 2011 at 9:33pm

Where did D come from ';-)

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on October 12, 2011 at 2:41am

The second equation is totally independent of the first. "D" is simply a part of the body in the new equation showing the complexity of our make-up. The point of the equation is to show that the soul (B-C) is directly connected to the flesh and spirit and serves as a buffer between spirit and flesh.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by LucyP on October 12, 2011 at 2:54am

Thanks LT, lol maths not my strong point! can you tell?

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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on October 5, 2011 at 8:26am

Is the Soul and Spirit one and the same with different responsibilities or are the soul and spirit individual components with distinctive attributes

I am more incline to believe that the words are interchangeable, consequently being one multifaceted component. Let me give it a stab here and try to explain.
Each of us consists of a material body driven by an immaterial personal self. The real David, the essence of myself is not the flesh, which Paul calls a tent, a temple etc. The real me is the spirit/soul. Scripture calls this self a "soul" or "spirit."

1 Thessalonians 5:23
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 Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 (New King James Version)
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In the past I have use these verses to support that we are a trichotomy, but I am not sure that to be the case now. I see the power of God's word to enter the deepest recesses of a person's being, and not a sort of division into constituent parts. Do you see what I am trying to say? The word is able to make a distinction of the different attributes of one component per say and not emphasize the separateness of the two.

I am very aware the verses above would make one think that body, soul and spirit are separate components but bear with me. I believe the spirit and soul are used as synonyms in the bible. I know that when the terms are placed together as in the verses above, it is difficult to find any significant difference in meaning. I mean compare the fourfold representation of heart, soul, mind, and strength found in Mark 12:30.

Soul emphasizes the distinctness of a person’s conscious selfhood; spirit carries the distinctions of self’s derivation/source from God and dependence on Him, within one component needing multiple descriptions. Not sure that makes sense to you, but I don’t know how else to describe it.

Now, we are both Soul and Spirit, but that does not imply that they are two different things. The common idea that the soul is a component of the worldly awareness (through the senses) only, while the spirit is a distinct organ of communion with God, brought to life in regeneration, is not something I see clearly establish in scripture.

Here is why I believe soul and spirit to be one:

If I believe that soul and spirit are separate then that view leads one to anti-intellectualism whereby spiritual insight and theological reflection are separated to the crippling of both. – theology being regarded as “soulfish work” and unspiritual, while spiritual perception is viewed as unrelated to the work of teaching and learning God’s revealed truth.

Hope that makes some sense and I know I have not answered your question as to what components make up the soul and the spirit, but since I am inclined as to think of them together I see no distinction of such sort. I do see how the soul/spirit is multifaceted and perfectly intertwine. But I would not debate this fiiercly.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Schuller on October 11, 2011 at 9:26pm

The shortest answer to this question is, I think, is that a person is 'made up' of 3 'parts viz. spirit, soul and body. When we die the body returns to the ground from whense it came, the spirit returns to the Lord from whense it came and the soul returns from where it desires to be eg either heaven or a lost eternity. Therefore it is easy to conclude that there is a distinct division between spirit and soul. It is commonly taught that God is not "after" your spirit he is after your soul. So what makes up the soul. The soul contains all your emotions, all your day to day decisions allyour demeamour, in short every item that makes up who you are. I think it is Paul who talks about the two wells that we have to be put up with. I believe that he is talking about the spirit and soul. I hope that cleared up some confusion.  

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