Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Bible Study Community!
I remember as a new Christian believer many years ago that our Pastor at the time had a hard time explaining the Book of Romans, Chapters 6, 7 and 8. I know this because he announced from the pulpit that he was experiencing difficulty so what he taught didn’t fully stick with me. It wasn’t his fault and I needed a lot of personal study time with some help from others as the years have gone by to get a better grasp on this difficult but highly important part of the New Testament.
Those three chapters are the Apostle Paul’s scholarly explanation of how we came from sinner to saint by the absolute grace of God and how understanding that equips us to be victorious in Christ. I don’t claim to have all the answers even now but I’m happy to share what I understand for you to ponder and then make your own determinations. Understanding these things leads to discovering the will of God and who we actually are in Christ instead of depending on church tradition which is frequently faulty. What does the Word of God actually say and how does it relate specifically to you?
There is a fundamental principle in Scripture that we routinely violate in church ministry: we can only see part of the truth. No one person has all the answers including the Pope, the greatest of the TV preachers, your Pastor, me or anybody else. We ALL see things in part (1 Corinthians 13:9) and we won’t have the “full” understanding about the things of God until Jesus returns (1 Corinthians 13:12). Nevertheless, we tend to talk and teach as though we know everything for certain and the Internet is full of religious people proclaiming “heresy” or “blasphemy” or “apostasy” or some other negative judgment over a number of ideas that seem worthy enough to at least be considered. I even like some of those ideas.
So, in this article I have summarized some basic concepts that at this moment seem to me to be the best representation of Scripture as a whole. The Word of God must all fit together and make sense. And, we need to be willing to separate ourselves from traditions that are based on ideas taken out of context when there are scriptures clearly to the contrary. Our minds need to be open to the possibility that long-held beliefs might be wrong and should be reconsidered. Indeed, I believe that the Holy Spirit has been revealing to a remnant of true believers a gradually increasing understanding of Scripture over the past six hundred years since the Reformation and that includes within the Catholic Church. Maybe this article will serve to prompt you in that direction.
Some Basics
This week I want focus on a fundamental difference of belief in the Body of Christ as to whether we are two or three-part beings. The traditional view is that we have two parts: a physical body and a second part that has two names: soul and spirit. In other words, there is a natural part of us that is manifested in the body and a second part where the uniquely personal non-physical parts of us are located: mind, will, emotions, conscience, etc. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word(s) translated into English seem to support this two-part point of view.
But in the New Testament we find one of those pesky contrary references where it clearly refers to three distinct parts: spirit and soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We can force it to fit the old way of looking at things or we can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us why the greatest and most prolific writer among the Apostles seems to have departed from the past to come up with three parts instead of two. Interestingly, the two-part idea is currently held by evangelical and denominational Protestant ministries as well as the Catholic Church. The three-part belief prevails among the Pentecostal denominations and ministries including Charismatics and independents. To be sure, these are generalizations and as always there are exceptions; nevertheless, this is the prevailing picture.
Why is this important? For one thing, Christians have been really slow about figuring out who we are in Christ and what that means. For another, we have been commanded to continuously pursue and expand our understanding of His Word so that we can come to know the truth. It is understanding the truth that sets us free so we can become true disciples (John 8:31-32). And practically speaking, it seems a lot easier to understand the entire New Testament, and particularly the three chapters from the Book of Romans mentioned above, if we are in fact three-part beings with a spirit that has been separated from the soulish part.
Going from Two Back to Three
And so, after a lot of study over the years, here is the way I understand this as we build on recent articles (look for them in the Archives). We are born with a sin nature which means we came into the world predisposed to and ruled by sin. We were originally created at the foundation of the world with three parts in the image of God who just happens to also be a three-part being. Unfortunately, we inherited a sin nature from Adam and the original spirit-part of us became dead to the things of God. Without God, the human spirit has no function so the Old Testament correctly discerns its joining to the other non-physical part of us called the soul. Our former spirit has no function because God is Spirit (John 4:24) and doesn’t relate to us in the natural. In short, the human spirit ruled by sin is without life and we were indeed beings with only two functioning parts: soul and body.
With that in mind, there are a couple of key scriptures that need to be considered together in order to explain how true Christian believers have been changed from two to three parts:
Hebrews 4:12 = “…the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit…”
1 Peter 1:23 = “…you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring Word of God.”
If you’ve been born again then according to Scripture in red letters, you’ve been born of the Spirit by which you are able to both see and enter into the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-5). What has made that possible? It is apparent to me that when you born again, the Word of God acted as the seed that brought life back to the spirit part of you and separated it from your soulish part. It is the spirit part of you that is now alive and one with the Holy Spirit. Where once you were only two functioning parts ruled by sin, you are now a three-part being, set free from sin (Colossians 1:13). And, you’ve been partially restored to the image of God. Thus, it is the spirit part of you that has been redeemed (Galatians 3:13) and perfected, and it the spirit part of you that has the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
The other two parts of you are in process. The soulish part consisting of your non-physical attributes (mind, will, emotions, conscience, etc.) is being gradually transformed into the image of Christ by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2). But the physical part of you is beyond redemption and will have to be replaced someday in the fullness of time (Philippians 3:21). Indeed friend, it’s the now-perfected part of you that the Holy Spirit has become one with. The other two parts aren’t ready for that and yet for centuries the Church has taught that the Holy Spirit is somehow willing to live as one with a sin-tainted soul that is specifically undergoing a process of transformation. Surely not. Rather, He has become one with your now-perfected spirit man.
Finally, when you were born again, you crucified your old man (your sin nature) and became a new creature (Romans 6:6 and 2 Corinthians 5:17)). Your sin nature is dead but the Bible says your have something called the “flesh” that opposes the things of the Spirit. Your sin nature is dead but you still have “flesh” to contend with? How does that all fit together? And that is where, Lord willing, we will take up this topic next week. I hope to see you then!
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