Soul vs Spirit

John 4:21-23

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

You are spirit—this is important you have been given an opportunity at eternal life

You are a spirit in a physical body. When you get born again, the Holy Spirit moves in and becomes intertwined with yours, and you have become one with Him. Seriously, I did my best to explain to you a couple weeks ago how hard He’s been working through the millennia to get His Spirit in you. You belong to Him as His creation, Satan is trying to steal His possession, but God is taking it back. He just has to get you and I to believe what He’s saying about us (Romans 6:11-12). You are a partaker of the divine nature and you have been given everything [In Christ] that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4).

One with Him

John 17:19-22

19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may  be one, even as we are one:

But—there is a war raging

Romans 7:23

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and  bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

A prisoner of war

2 Corinthians 13:14 fellowship of the Holy Spirit

Consider the close proximity of the soul [mind, will, emotions] to the spirit, and the close proximity of the soul to the world. Are we allowing the external or the internal to influence us?

Colossians 2:8-10 ESV philosophy of world

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Ephesians 6:16  shield of faith

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Psuchikos

14 But 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.

There is a big difference between the brain and the mind. A man can be a genius but dead to the things of God [ATP > Mitochondria] but the mind of the soul influenced by [a] spirit functions at a higher level than the brain, because whatever influences the mind is what truly drives the direction of all the movement. God’s will is that the Holy Spirit would commune with our spirit and that our spirit would lead our soul: mind, will, emotions in the right direction.

The natural mind cannot perceive these things

Pneumatikos

15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Through the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we have the mind of Christ in us… v 12

The heart thinks & speaks. The heart is listed as the soul, as a mixture of both thoughts and emotions.

Proverbs 23:6-7 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Matthew 12:34-35 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Knowledge-wisdom-understanding

Proverbs 2:1-16

Because the body is close to the soul and the soul close to the body proximity of the soul, the external problems of the fallen world affects our senses through our [mind, will, emotions], we bring the world in and it causes a war that filters through our soul and desires to penetrate and affect our spirit.

Peter- the external world through his senses affected what he leaned upon. Reminds again of the proximity of the soul to the external world and how your environment can affect your inner man, how the chaos of the world will affect the object of your faith and attempt to engulf you in its storm. The enemy will use the tactic of fear based on what your physical senses experience in your external world

Isaiah 26:3-4

Stayed-Lean upon/ rest

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

The Riven Side: Part 1 and Part 2

Romans 7:22-23

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

In our world laws carry weight and authority. The Laws spoken of in Romans 7:22-23 speak of laws that govern the spiritual realm and have an affect or result in our physical world.

1. the law of God after the inward man

2. law of my mind

3. the law of sin which is in my members.

• I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind

When we talk about the Law of sin, in essence, we are talking about the sinful nature. Some other ways to say that would be the source of sin, the factory of sin, the power of sin, or the noun of sin.

But we were separated from the old life that was dominated by sin when we were born again. Illustration of the drape

What is sin?

Romans 14:23.    Judgment against self, with anything, not certain we should, we shouldn’t

And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

James 4:17

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

It’s important for us to consider these passages because sin is not always what we like it to be. I say like it, because we conveniently choose the stuff that others struggle with but we don’t. In our minds, it protects our spirituality and places us in an elevated position.

Sinful things we might struggle with and not consider sinful

1. Submission to authority

2. Living in fear

3. Watching unclean things

4. Manipulation—manipulation has a root called control

5.   Unteachable—know it all spirit  

                                                        Battle in the mind

V 7:23 The law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

We have to establish some vocabulary here so that we can make sure that we are on the same page:

1. the law of sin—(sinful nature) when I connect that to my members, now I have one aspect of the meaning of the word flesh. While it’s true that the word for sin is hamartia and the word for flesh is sarx, so hamartia means sin and sarx means:

• the meat of an animal (as food),

• the body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit), what is external,

• or as the means of kindred) [flesh and blood—family]  why is human nature weak and frail & full of passions??

• human nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or (specially),

• carnal(-ly, + -ly minded), flesh

2 thoughts:

1] both the body as opposed to the soul and spirit

2] a carnal mind

can both be labeled the flesh, so with that said, it’s important for us to know that the soul is not completely disconnected from the flesh [because the mind is part of the soul: mind, will, emotions = soul]

And the soul is not completely disconnected from the Spirit, we know the word can separate them.

Flesh is used to describe a carnal mind and the mind is part of the soul. A carnal mind is the opposite of a spiritual mind. Can a Christian have a carnal mind?

1 Corinthians 3:1

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.                                              Pneumatikos.           Sarkikos—fleshly

1 Corinthians 2:14 psychikos—soulish

But 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.

So the soulish or natural man can be a Christian who does not think with the mind of Christ; instead, he operates in a carnal mindset, with his own mind, without a renewed mind.

Ephesians 4:20-23   renewed- renovate

20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

So the soulish part of man known as the mind can partner with sin and operate carnally or fleshly, which is not God’s will and anything that is not of faith is sin.

Return to the drape illustration but keep the face/ head on the opposite side

And that’s where I feel the Lord wants me to spend the rest of the time…looking at the laws in relation to the mind—specifically the renewed mind/ the mind of Christ.

1. the law of God after the inward man

2. law of my mind

3. the law of sin which is in my members.

How does my inward man affect the law of my mind? After I’m saved, the Spirit of God lives in me. God told Jeremiah 31:33 that in the New Covenant, He would write the Law of God on the heart. My interpretation of that is this—when I got saved the Holy Spirit came to live in me. In what part of me does He live? His Spirit lives in my spirit and so I can know right from wrong spiritually, but the mind of my soul man may not be convinced. The renewal of the mind is more than just reading your Bible. The renewed mind is a mind that is gaining revelation. Revelation comes from the Holy Spirit, but without knowledge, it’s difficult to gain revelation.

Knowledge—wisdom—understanding

Illustration: I don’t like algebra, so I skip class and refuse to do the homework. Okay, and you will fail the test unless you’re an absolute genius and being a genius won’t get you through spiritual life. No, you have to have knowledge, then apply the knowledge in your daily life and with the help of the Holy Spirit, through the word and daily applying the word will result in wisdom and through this, the Lord gives revelation.

Romans 8:1 we all have aspects of our mind that are carnal

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit—a carnal or un-renewed mindset can fall under condemnation

So if I’m operating in the law of God I will have freedom- right?

Romans 8:2

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Take the drape and throw it over the head and behind

So now let’s define the Law of God as [The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus] then the Law of sin [sinful nature] will not affect the Law of my mind [my soul/mind will line up with my spirit and believe what God says instead of what I’m trying to believe based on the negative influences of the enemy.

The flesh is the opposite of faith. Faith is all about abiding in a specific place and not allowing yourself to be disconnected. I can’t forget a thought the Lord gave me once from the song rock of ages. There is a word in the song that says let the water and the blood flow from your riven side be a double cure.

Song - Rock of Ages Cleft For Me

The word riven means to be split. God took a rib out of the first Adam to make him a bride and God split the ribs of the last Adam and grafted into Him a Gentile bride:

Romans 11:17

And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

John 15:4-5

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.