Man: Body, Soul & Spirit
Man is composed of three parts, body, soul, and spirit. Question, what happens to the saved upon their physical death?
The body returns to the dust of the ground, and the soul and the spirit go to be with the Lord. Does Scripture prove this statement? Lets take a look.
The Physical Body of a Person.
The physical body of a person is of real substance; an organized system. It may be referred to as the animal frame of mankind, as distinguished from the spiritual nature of man. Paul speaks of the body, as in flesh and blood in opposition to the spiritual body.
1 Cor.15:42-44, Speaking of the physical body, "it is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown (the body committed to the earth) a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body (flesh and blood,) and there is a spiritual body."
1 Cor.15:50, supports ver.44, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Man in his present state of unsoundness and unhealthiness cannot inherit the kingdom of God. In this life, the present man is not suited for heaven. So when the Holy Spirit works in the spirit of believers, they can expect their bodies to be transformed into a superior state. Therefore the whole man, his body, soul, and spirit can be with the Lord.
Rom.8:11, "But if the Spirit (Holy Spirt) of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (give life to) your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you."
Meanwhile in this physical body, the flesh of man exceeds in influence over the soul and spirit, and can overpower his thinking, and before regeneration (being born again) he is inclined to the side of sin. But after a person is born again in the spirit, the Holy Spirit can incline a sinner to walk into the Light of Jesus Christ.
The Spiritual Body of a Person.
The spiritual body of a saved person is moulded by God's Holy Spirit. This spirit body is not conformed to the animal body. In Luke 20:35-36, Jesus is speaking of those who take part in the resurrection, "they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world = (age) and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, not are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection."
1 Cor.2:14, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
1 Thes.5:23, "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." All three need to be, and will be transformed to the image of the Son.
The soul of Mankind.
The soul of a person. It is the seat of the senses, desires, affections, appetites, passions, and is common to all men.
The soul of men can best be described as the thoughts, the concerns people have about things. As God cares for His creation, especially His people, so should we also. He considers our situations, preserves our existence, gives us our strength, our powers, governs our acts, and promotes our welfare. So also are we to be like Christ. We are to concern ourselves with our friends, family, neighbors, and with His Holy Word.
Matt.6:26-30, "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, not gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" Ver.30, "if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"
So in our soul, our thinking, our desires, our passions, we can,
1. Aim to please God, by embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, obeying His word, turning from sin, promoting God's love to all.
A. 2 Cor.7:10-11, "godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation --- that ye sorrow after a godly sort, what carefulness = (diligence) it wrought in you, yea, what clearing = (plea, or defense) of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge = (vindication!) In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear = (proved) in this matter.
B. 1 Pet.5:7, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."
2. Or we can work sin in our lives, seeking after sinful lusts, pleasures, personal and business advantages, etc. In these things Christians are forbidden.
A. Matt.6:34, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof."
B. Phil.4:6, "Be careful (anxious) for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be make known unto God."
This is the body soul and spirit of mankind. We can eat the bread of life with care, or carelessly. Carelessly is to do it under pain, distress and difficulty, subconsciously being under the apprehension of that terrible day of judgement. Or we can do it with care. We need not to answer in words, but we do need to make ourselves ready to manifest a fixed resolution, and prepare our endurance for long suffering.
The thief on the cross who acknowledged the Lord, was told by Jesus.
Luke 23:43, "to day shalt thou be with me in paradise." That is, his soul and spirit would be with the Lord in paradise. The soul and the spirit will be aware of their surroundings, where they are, and whom they are with.
II Cor.12:4, "How that he (Paul) was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."
Rev.2:7, "To him that overcometh will I (Jesus) give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
Jesus was a type, and gave us an example
Luke 23:46, He cried unto His Father moments before His death, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
Acts 7:59, When Stephen was stoned, moments before he died, he cried out to God, "Lord Jesus receive my spirit."
Upon being born again, having true faith and repentance, it is said of a believer,
John 8:52, Jesus said, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death." The word "keep," is in harmony with, John 8:31, "if ye continue in my word," expressing a permanent principle of that faith to which Jesus referred, "never taste (see) death." That is the soul and spirit of a Christian shall never see death.
a. John 5:24, Jesus said, "he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, (judgement) but is passed from death (physical death of the body) unto life." When resurrected (raptured) we will have already been judged righteous. No further judgement is forthcoming.
b. John 6:40, Jesus said, "every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up (the body) at the last day."
c. John 6:47-51, Jesus said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
The soul and spirit of the saved, shall not taste of death. The corruptible body returns to the dust of the ground. It will never taste of the second death. Rev.2:11, Jesus said, "He that overcometh (is born again) shall not be hurt of the second death," (the second death is, Rev.20:14, the body, soul, and spirit shall be cast into the lake of fire.) When the Lord returns for the bride (that is the saved) the corruptible body will be raised as an incorruptible body, reunited with the soul and spirit of that man, and be forever with the Lord.
Jesus is the God of the living. We see in Matt.17:2, The apostles see Moses and Elias who had been long dead, talking with the Lord Jesus. John sees in heaven twenty-four elders sitting before the throne. Paul was taken into God's paradise. Jesus tells of Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham.
Hope you enjoy this article. I enjoyed writing it.
Phil LaSpino
Comments by others.
prays4u
Location: The Endless Mountains of Sayre, Pennsylvania
Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 12:30 am
Thank you for your hard work... and study IS hard work! Especially to compare line upon line and precept upon precept. Your study brought me back to something I realized not that very long ago... that although we as Christians have a rapture to look forward to, the unsaved man has a rapture to dread! Meaning, that although, should the Lord tarry, we believers will be raptured for a joyous occasion, after the unsaved die, and their soul is in Hell, at the final judgment, their body will be ressurected to join their soul before the Lord on His throne only to be cast forever into the Lake of Fire. This is quite sobering... and something not too many of us think of... we feel that the death the unsaved die is terrible... but can not begin to imagine how much worse it will be at the final judgement for them!
Again, great work... and very thought provoking!
_________________
Blessings!
prays4u
www.TinyURL.com/YUQQKD & www.TinyURL.com/YPOV4V
Comments from others.
filmdavid.com
Post subject: You are what you eat, how you feel, what you think
Deceived in the BODY
When someone receives an organ donated to him by someone because his own is failing, the recipient’s body naturally rejects it, treating it just as if it were some foreign object. Because of this, doctors must prescribe medication to “fool” the body into thinking the organ is his own. In other words, the body is essentially “deceived” into receiving an organ which is foreign. However, if he were permitted to live in his natural state, he would naturally reject the organ. No doubt you have gotten a sliver of some kind somewhere in your body. The area would become inflamed and infected. It would just get worse until you finally removed it.
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If you were one day to receive some account number in the form of a “chip” (see www.RFID.ShortURL.com) under your skin on your right hand, your body would react to it. It would become infected in that area until you were somehow able to pick it out with a needle or tweezers, if you could get to it. Unless the body was “conditioned” into receiving it, or you took some type of medication to accept it, you would naturally reject it. Often the thought crossed my mind, “Why does Revelation 14:11 seem to be an irreversible step?
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“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
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It has always seemed to me to be so illogical that the simple act of “receiving” a “mark” or computer chip, or account number in one’s right hand would result in eternal consequences. Why couldn’t that person simply dig it out like he would a sliver or some other foreign object? It is because he has been conditioned into receiving it. Essentially, he has been “brainwashed” not only into taking this account number, but also conditioned to subscribing to it’s system as well.
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Just as if they had some medication prescribed for them to accept some foreign donated organ, so the masses of humanity have “allowed the world to pour them into it’s mold.” (Rom. 12:1). Their body, soul and spirit are “deceived” into receiving it without reacting as if it was some “foreign object”.
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During the course of our lifetime, most of us have our body conditioned to junk food, usually things that are of no nutritional value, but the body eventually “gets used to” things that poison us - and adapt to it, though it doesn’t change the fact that it is detrimental to our health.
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Deceived in the SOUL
We are constantly faced with “alien” elements of the world in our day to day lifestyle. Therefore, in the area of the soul, we are also continually exposed to input that is naturally foreign. However, in the same way, the soul is “deceived” into receiving it as natural, usually because it appeals to our “feelings” or emotions.
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Here is an example: I once knew a woman whose young son developed bitterness toward his father, who was no longer living with them. She took him to a secular psychiatrist to see what they could do to deal with his bitterness. He recommended that they make a dummy out of clothes, stuff it like a scarecrow, and hang it from the ceiling in some room in their home. Then he suggested the son pretend that it is his father, and beat it with a baseball bat, saying “I hate you, I hate you”. His thinking was to work the hatred out of his system. That type of thinking is on the par with a practice during George Washington’s time known as “blood letting”. President Washington was ill, and doctors thought that draining blood out of his system would rid his body of the disease. He died as a result.
On the surface - on a secular level - often ideas like this might make sense logically, but spiritually, it is deadly. However, if one can be conditioned into thinking it is right, they can be deceived into accepting such a mentality - although it is nothing more than poison to the soul -only magnifying the problem of unforgiveness and bitterness.
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Deceived in the SPIRIT
In the same way, our spirit can be conditioned by a way of thinking, with a counterfeit mentality based on humanism and false beliefs. Through rationalism and leaning on one’s own understanding, we will accept and believe this foreign thinking. Constant bombardment by a system of thinking daily will ultimately “brainwash” our spirit to believe and accept it. Essentially it is likened to consuming some medication that permits our spirits to assimilate this foreign thinking, philosophies and beliefs.
We need to continually “wash” our minds and hearts (“That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” - Eph. 5:26), from that which conditions us to this mindset. If we don’t, we will ultimately allow the world to pour us into it’s mold.
“Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom. 12:2.
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