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Scripture Reading: Heb. 4:12; Matt. 16:24, 26; Luke 9:25; Rom. 8:6b, 4; 1 Cor. 6:17
I. The spirit being concealed in the soul just as the marrow is concealed in the joints — Heb. 4:12.
II. The soul needing to be broken so that the spirit may be divided from it just as the joints need to be broken so that the marrow may be divided from them.
III. The composition of the soul — the mind, emotion, and will — needing to be denied.
IV. The denial of the mind, emotion, and will being the denial of the self — Matt. 16:24, 26; Luke 9:25.
V. The living and operative word of God exposing and discerning the thoughts of the mind, the intentions of the will, and the desires of the emotion — Heb. 4:12.
VI. After the breaking of the soul — the denial of the mind, emotion, and will — whatever is left being the spirit.
VII. Setting the mind on the spirit — Rom. 8:6b.
VIII. Walking according to the spirit — v. 4.
IX. Being one with the Lord in the spirit — 1 Cor. 6:17.
In this lesson we need to point out to the saints how to discern the spirit from the soul.
Hebrews 4:12 shows that the spirit is concealed in the soul just as the marrow is concealed in the joints. Our spirit is like the marrow, and our soul is like the joints. In other words, our spirit is altogether wrapped up, enveloped, in our soul. The soul is the envelope that hides our spirit. So to discern our spirit from our soul, we must know where our spirit is. It is within our soul. Here we can also see the situation of our spirit. Our spirit is surrounded, enclosed, by our soul. To discern our spirit from our soul, we need to see the position and situation of our spirit.
If the joints are not broken but are whole, the marrow can never be divided from the joints. In order to divide the marrow from the joints, we have to break the joints. This shows that without our soul being broken, our spirit can never be separated from our soul. In order for the contents to be divided from its cover, its wrapping, the cover must be broken. This is basic. Our soul must be broken. If we let our soul remain whole, there is no possibility for our spirit to be divided from it. To discern the spirit means not only to realize the difference between the spirit and the soul but also to divide the spirit from the soul. Thus, there is the need of the breaking of the soul.
The soul is composed of the mind, emotion, and will. All these components of the soul need to be denied. We should not give any ground to our mind, our emotion, or our will. They all have to be denied in our spiritual life.
To deny our mind, emotion, and will is to deny ourselves. In Matthew 16:24 the Lord Jesus told us that to follow Him we need to deny ourselves. Matthew 16:26 compared with Luke 9:25 shows that our soul, our soulish life, is our self. The soul is the self. Thus, to deny the contents of the soul — the mind, emotion, and will — is to deny the self. Here we have to see that the denial is the breaking. To deny the mind, emotion, and will of our soul is to let the soul be broken. The real breaking of the soul is the denial of the self.
By the context of Hebrews 4:12, we can see that the living and operative word of God exposes and discerns the thoughts of our mind, the intentions of our will, and the desires of our emotion. Because the word of God exposes our inner situation, it discerns our entire inner situation. This is because the word of God is living and operative. Living refers to the nature of God’s word, and operative refers to the function of the word. The word itself is living, and it operates, functions.
All the saints, including the older ones, need to understand why Paul mentions the word of God for the dividing of our spirit from our soul. This is because every time God speaks to us, His word always exposes and discerns our inner situation. Hebrews 4:12 is mentioned based upon the fact that God spoke to the children of Israel, charging them to go on directly into the good land. What God spoke to them exposed their inner situation and made their inner situation clear to them.
The children of Israel were absolutely in their soul. They were considering how tall and strong the Canaanites were and how weak they were. The Canaanites were giants and big in number, and the children of Israel were small in number. The children of Israel were considering all these things and were afraid of the Canaanites. This consideration, this thinking, was in their soul. Then the word of God exposed and discerned this to show them that they were in their soul. They did not exercise their spirit like Joshua and Caleb did. Joshua and Caleb did not remain in their soul. The Bible says that they had a different spirit (Num. 14:24, 30). They were exercising their spirit, so they had the faith.
Paul compares the staggering Hebrew believers to the children of Israel in ancient times. To Paul’s registration the Hebrew believers were staggering. They were not clear what to do — whether to remain in Judaism or to go on in the Christian life. They were in their soul, not in their spirit. So Paul spoke the word of God to them to expose their inner situation and to help them to discern that they were in the soul, not in the spirit.
By this we can see that every time we read the word in the Bible in a living way, the word always either requires or demands something of us. This demanding word, or requiring word, always exposes and discerns our inner situation so that we know whether we are in the soul or in the spirit. To discern our spirit, we need to receive the living word. The more we pray-read the Word, the more it becomes living to us. This living word shows us where we are, in the spirit or in the soul. It is by this that our soul is exposed and our spirit is discerned from our soul. The word of God always shows us our inner position and inner situation. If we are to discern the spirit from the soul, we cannot stay away from the living and operative word of God.
After the breaking of the soul — the denial of the mind, emotion, and will — whatever is left is the spirit. First, we have to see that the breaking of the soul equals the denial of the mind, emotion, and will. After this breaking, or this denial, surely we still have something left. If the unbelievers denied the mind, emotion, and will, nothing would be left. But the more we deny the mind, emotion, and will, the more our spirit will rise up and stand up. Some saints may ask how they can know the spirit. We need to tell them to let their soul be broken to the uttermost by denying their mind, emotion, and will. Then whatever is left is the spirit. This is the way to discern the spirit. The spirit is what is left over after the breaking and denial of the soul.
In Romans 8:6b Paul charges us to set our mind on the spirit. We must have the soul broken first. We must deny the mind, emotion, and will. Then we can set the mind on the spirit. Otherwise, it is impossible for anyone to set the mind on the spirit. The soul must be broken, and the self must be denied, including the mind, emotion, and will. Then something is left over. Then we have the clear ground to set our mind on what is left over. That is the spirit.
In Romans 8:4 Paul charges us to walk according to the spirit. If we do not have our soul broken, our mind, emotion, and will denied, and if we do not set our mind on the spirit as the leftover, we cannot walk according to the spirit. If we walk according to our mind, emotion, and will, this means that we walk according to our soul, according to our self, not according to our spirit. It must be after the breaking of the soul, after the denial of the mind, emotion, and will, and after the setting of the mind on the spirit, that we walk according to the spirit.
At this point, it is easy for us to go on with the Lord in the spirit. Here we need to use 1 Corinthians 6:17 — “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”
If we do not know how to discern the spirit from the soul, this means that we do not allow the soul to be broken and the self to be denied. It is not until we have the soul broken, the self denied, that we have the clear ground to set our mind on the spirit. Then we can walk according to the spirit, and we can be one with the Lord in such a spirit, a spirit fully discerned from the soul. Then the spirit is not concealed in the soul but discerned from the soul, the broken soul.
