May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it
—1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)
Just as God is three‑in-one—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—so am I. I am spirit, soul, and body. The body is seen. My soul is what some might call my personality. It indeed is where my mind and emotions determine my attitude. My body and soul are tied together. For example, what I hear with my ears directly effects how I feel. If I have a terrible fear, that fear affects my physical health. Who I believe I am is who I see when I look in the mirror.
Soul (mind) and body comprise the flesh. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6, NJKV). My spirit is separate from my soul and body. They don’t communicate naturally. I can’t access the spirit in any natural way. But my spirit is where the Holy Spirit speaks. My spirit is also the conduit for the power of God. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26, NKJV). The life-giving part of me is the spirit. The soul is where I “flesh out” what the spirit receives. Without the spirit, I have no life. Without the spirit whatever work I “do” for Him has no life.
You cannot feel or hear spiritual truth. The only way to understand spiritual truth is through the Word. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63, NKJV). If you want to understand what your spirit is like, you must go to God's Word. You can't go by feelings. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:23, 24, NKJV). The Word of God is like a mirror you look into to see your spiritual face—certainly not the natural one your mind reveals to you. The Word reveals who you are in your born-again spirit.
I have never looked directly at my face. I have always looked at my reflection and believed what my mirror told me. The Word of God is a perfect reflection of what spiritual truth is. The Word of God gives me a perfect representation of my spiritual self, and it is the only way to see who God says I am. I want to be tied to the spiritual part instead of believing what my natural man says I believe. I want the Holy Spirit to determine my emotions and what I think. My soul is the clearinghouse, and it is where I find renewal in the way I think. Jesus lives in me. If I draw near to God in my born-again spirit, He is closer to me. My soul draws near to who He says I am, and I believe the truth of His Word in my mind—in my soul.
© 2019 Lynn Lacher
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