spirit vs. soul (pp. 9-17)

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>For The Believers In The Body Of Christ</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="For The Believers In The Body Of Christ"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>spirit vs. soul  (pp. 9-17)</B>   |   <A HREF="id465.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Fall of Man and Its Remedy (pp. 1825"><U>The Fall of Man and Its Remedy (pp. 18-25)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id562.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Carnal Christian (pp. 2939)"><U>The Carnal Christian (pp. 29-39)</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spiritual Food"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Spiritual Food</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Psalms, Hymns Spiritual Songs"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gospel Outreach"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gospel Outreach</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id159.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"About Us"</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id186.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Related Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id639.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="JESUS IS LORD!"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">JESUS IS LORD!</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  </div> <div>  </div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>spirit vs. soul  (pp. 9-17)</I></div> <div> <B>The majority of Christians are unaware of the distinction between the spirit (</B><B>pneuma</B><B> in Greek), the soul (</B><B>psuche</B><B> in Greek) and the flesh (</B><B>sarx</B><B> in Greek).  The result is that in their daily lives, they are often unable to discern between the three realms of life in their personal experience.  This inability can vitally affect their spiritual peace.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The devil is creating in the souls of believers such perfect imitations of the pure life of the Spirit of God - who indwells their spirits - that the most earnest Christians are liable to be deceived.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The believer who has been taught personally "</B><B>the dividing asunder of soul and spirit</B><B>" (Hebrews 4:12) by the Holy Spirit, before comprehending the distinction with his mind, is better able to understand and "</B><B>rightly divide the word of truth</B><B>" (2 Timothy 2:15).</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Now, regarding the difference between the words soul and spirit, it is striking that, according to Gall, the distinction is made not only in the English language, but also in every classic language beginning with Hebrew.  Yet in English translations of the New Testament, only two passages bring out the distinction clearly:  "</B><B>Dividing asunder of soul and spirit</B><B>" (Hebrews 4:12), and , "</B><B>Sanctify you... spirit and soul and body</B><B>" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).  These two passages, however, are sufficient even for readers of English language Bibles to see that man is tripartite-made up of spirit, soul, and body--and not bipartite--made up of soul and body only.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Tertullian </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >called the flesh, or physical being, the "body of the soul," and he called the soul the "vessel of the spirit."  The soul lies between the spirit and the body, he said, for "direct communication between spirit and flesh is impossible; their intercourse can be carried on only by means of a medium."  That medium is the soul.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Pember </B></FONT>explained the functions of body, soul, and spirit very well when he wrote, again in <I>Earth's Earliest Ages,</I> "The body we may term the <I>sense</I>-consciousness; the soul the <I>self</I>-consciousness; and the spirit the <I>God</I>-consciousness."  In addition, he wrote that the  body "gives us the use of the five senses" and the soul gives us the "intellect which aids us in the present state of existence, and the emotions which proceed from the senses."  The spirit, however, is the highest part of man, which comes "directly from God, and by which alone we apprehend and worship Him."</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Dr. Andrew Murray</B></FONT> concurred with this when he wrote, in "<I>The Spirit of Christ,</I> that the gifts that the soul was endowed with when man became a "<I>living soul</I>" (Genesis 2:7) were those of consciousness, self-determination, or mind and will."  These were to be only the "mold or vessel" into which the life of the Spirit was to be received.  He also wrote, "The spirit is the seat of our God-consciousness; the soul, of our self-consciousness; the body, of our world-consciousness.  In the spirit, God dwells; in the soul, self; in the body, sense."</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Pember </B></FONT>also wrote about the creation of man and how the tripartite being was formed:  "God first molded the senseless frame, and then breathed into it the '<I>breath of lives</I>' (Genesis 2:7; the original is in the plural)."  He stated that this "may refer to the fact that the inbreathing of God produced a twofold life--<I>sensual</I> (in the meaning of pertaining to the senses) and <I>spiritual</I>."  He added in a footnote that perhaps the use of the plural in "<I>breath of lives</I>" meant that through "the inbreathing of God became the spirit, and at the same time by its action upon the body, produced the soul."</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Quotes from Church History"><U><B>MORE QUOTES FROM OUR HERITAGE</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>