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A very important verse in the New Testament is 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto 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.
The order used by the Holy Spirit in this verse is very important. The first part mentioned is the spirit, then the soul, then the body. Outwardly we have a body, and inwardly we have the spirit. Between these two, as a medium, is the soul. From the inside to the outside are the spirit, the soul, and the body. From the outside to the inside are the body, the soul, and the spirit.
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. The soul is the soul and the spirit is the spirit, and these two can be separated just as the marrow can be separated from the joints. The marrow is within the joints; yet the marrow is not the joints, neither are the joints the marrow. They pertain to the physical body and are mentioned with the spirit and the soul. So in this verse we have again these three parts—the spirit, the soul, and the body.
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.
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 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."
Since 1 Thessalonians 5:23 speaks definitely that we are a tripartite being composed of the spirit, the soul, and the body, the heart could not be a separate part in addition to the spirit and the soul. The heart is a composition of the first part of the spirit and all three parts of the soul. It includes the conscience (Heb. 10:22), the first part of our spirit. Thus, it condemns (1 John 3:20) as does the conscience. It also includes the mind, the will, and the emotion, which are the three parts of our soul. Thus, it thinks (Matt. 9:4) and has thoughts (Gen. 6:5; Heb. 4:12); it rejoices (John 16:22) or has sorrow (John 16:6); and it purposes (Acts 11:23) and has intents (Heb. 4:12). Hence, the Scripture shows us clearly that our heart is composed of the conscience, the mind, the emotion, and the will. It is equal to a part of our spirit and the whole of our soul. Since the heart is thus composed of parts of our spirit and soul, it is very closely related to both.
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.
Because man is of three different parts, he is able to contact three different worlds. First of all, there is the physical world with so many material things. We contact the physical world by our physical body through the five senses of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. Then there is the spiritual world. Is it possible for us to contact the spiritual world by the five senses of the body? Of course not. The spiritual world can only be contacted by our spirit. In our spirit we have a spiritual sense by which we can sense God and spiritual things. There is also a psychological world which is neither physical nor spiritual. Suppose someone gives you a gift and you are very happy. Does this happiness belong to the physical or to the spiritual world? Neither. Experiences such as happiness, joy, and even sorrow, belong to the psychological world. The English word "psychological" comes from the root of the Greek word that means "soul." Thus, the psychological world is of the soul, in which are the things pertaining to the soul.
Man has been created in three parts in order to contact the three different worlds: the physical, the spiritual, and the psychological.
As man was made by God in three parts to contact the three different worlds respectively, so we must use the corresponding part of our being to contact each one. To contact the things of the physical world, we must use the body. To contact the things of the psychological world, we must use the soul, the psychological part of our being. If we would contact the things of the spiritual world, we must use our spirit. We can only touch the things of a certain world with a certain organ of our being.
The substance of everything requires the proper organ to substantiate it. If you would substantiate sound, you must exercise your ears, the hearing organ. For color, you need your eyes, the seeing organ. If you exercise your ears to listen to color, you cannot substantiate it, for you are using the wrong organ. To taste food, you must use your tongue. Each substance must be substantiated with the proper organ.
What kind of substance is God? John 4:24 tells us that God is Spirit (ASV, margin). Can we contact God by our physical body? No! This is the wrong organ. Can we contact God by the psychological organ, the soul? No! This is also the wrong organ. We can only contact God by our spirit, because God is Spirit. John 4:24 not only tells us that "God is Spirit," but also that "they that worship Him must worship in spirit." This is a very important verse, in which are covered two spirits. The first is the divine Spirit, God Himself. The second is our human spirit. Since God is Spirit, we must worship Him in our spirit. We cannot worship Him in our body or in our soul. Since God is Spirit, we must worship Him, contact Him, and fellowship with Him in our spirit and by our spirit.
John 3:6 says, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The two spirits are here mentioned again. They are related to our being born again. To be born again is to have our spirit regenerated by the Spirit of God. That which is born of the Spirit, the Spirit of God, is spirit, our human spirit. We are not born again in our body or in our soul, but in our spirit. The Spirit of God comes into our spirit and regenerates us in our spirit. Then He dwells in our spirit and mingles Himself with our spirit.
Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit [the Spirit of God] Himself beareth witness with our spirit." Here are the two spirits again—the Holy Spirit of God bearing witness with our human spirit. This proves that God's Spirit is in our spirit, and these two spirits are working together. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." These two spirits are mingled together as one spirit. We are one with the Lord in the spirit. This is why it is difficult to distinguish in many New Testament verses whether the Holy Spirit of God or our human spirit is referred to. These two spirits are mingled together as one. This is exceedingly vital.
If the Holy Spirit is in our spirit, then where is Christ? He is in the Holy Spirit. Not only is He in the Holy Spirit, but He is the Holy Spirit! First Corinthians 15:45 states, "The last Adam [which is Christ] was made a quickening spirit." The word "quickening" means life-giving. Christ was made a life-giving Spirit. Could this life-giving Spirit be any other than the Holy Spirit? Of course not. Second Corinthians 3:6 says, "The Spirit giveth life." Who is this Spirit that gives life? The answer is in verse 17 of the same chapter: "Now the Lord is that Spirit." So Christ, the Lord, is the Spirit that gives life. This is indeed wonderful! Christ is the Spirit, we have a spirit, and these two spirits are joined as one. How can we contact Christ? By the spirit! The only way for us to contact Christ is to exercise our spirit, because Christ is now the Spirit, and this Spirit is the Holy Spirit in our spirit. If we exercise our spirit, we can contact Christ. This is the secret.
Since Christ, as the life-giving Spirit, dwells in our spirit, we need to discern our spirit from our soul that we may contact and experience Him. We may know that man is composed of the spirit, soul, and body, but to discern the difference between the spirit and the soul is a real problem. To know the difference between the body and the soul is easy, but to discern the spirit from the soul is rather difficult. The following illustration is most helpful. Suppose we find something that we would like to purchase. The more we consider it, the more we feel that we would like to have it. Eventually, we make the decision to buy it. The emotion is exercised, since we like it; the mind is exercised, because we have considered it; and the will is exercised, because we have made the decision to buy it. Therefore, the whole soul is exercised. But when we proceed to buy it, something very deep within us protests. Our emotion likes it, our mind considers it, and our will chooses it; but something deeper than all these protests. This is the spirit. The spirit is the deepest part within us, the very inmost part of our whole being. It is absolutely different from our soul.
In our body we have the physical life as mentioned in Luke 8:14. In our soul we have the psychological life, that is our human life, as mentioned in Matthew 16:25. In our spirit we have the spiritual life, that is the divine life, the eternal life, as mentioned in John 3:16. The unbelievers have only physical life in their body and human life in their soul. They do not have the eternal life of God in their spirit, because they have not received Christ as life into their spirit. Therefore, they can only live by the body and by the soul. Sometimes they act according to their flesh, and sometimes they do things by desiring, by reasoning, and by choosing. This means they are living by their body and by their soul. They are not able to live by their spirit. But those of us who have received Christ into our spirit can live by our spirit with Him as our life. We can say that I have been crucified, and it is no more I, but Christ that lives in me (Gal. 2:20). The Greek word for "I" is "ego," which is the soul, the self. Our soul, the self, has been crucified and put to death, and there is no more "I," but Christ that lives in our spirit. Thus, we can and must live in our spirit, since Christ is living in it.
We must first realize that Christ is the Spirit in our spirit. Then we need to discern the difference between the spirit and the soul that we may deny the soul and live by the spirit. When we live by the spirit, Christ will have the first place in everything. Then we will experience Christ in the spirit, and we will learn how to apply Him in our daily life.
