Daily Archives: May 23, 2012

Body, Soul, and Spirit: The Tripartite Being

23 Wednesday May 2012

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The Tripartite Being

Now may God himself, the God of peace, make you pure, belonging only to him. May your whole self—spirit, soul, and body—be kept safe and without fault when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:23, NCV

Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth.’ So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. ~ Genesis 1:26-27, NCV

 

 

Whether we are men or women, boys or girls, each one of us is a three-in-one person. In other words, we reflect the tripartite nature of our Creator God, who is the quintessential Trinity.

Concerning our tripartite nature, each one of us has a BODY (external, physical layer responsive to humans’ touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing); a SOUL (inner, non-physical layer responsive to humans’ thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, affections, desires, emotions, memory, intellect, imagination, will, conscience), and a SPIRIT (innermost, non-physical layer, before the Fall and after regeneration, responsive to God’s Grace, Word, Faith, Love, Prayer, Forgiveness, Discipline, Correction, Repentance, Hope, Holy Spirit, Illumination, Sanctification, Glorification). Without a doubt, each one of  us has a physical part, which is our BODY, and two non-physical parts: our SOUL and our SPIRIT. 

Now, contrary to some popular opinions, the biblical Scriptures do differentiate between mankind’s living SOUL and mankind’s central SPIRIT. According to biblical Scriptures, mankind became a living SOUL after God breathed the breath of life (His Holy Spirit) into Adam, the first man (cf. Genesis 2:7). However, after Adam’s Fall, every human being’s non-physical central SPIRIT is spiritually dead, yet because of God’s Holiness, Love and Grace, He establishes a way to interact with mankind’s non-physical central SPIRIT, especially when God wants to influence, regenerate, redeem, justify, inspire, correct, discipline, teach, sanctify, and/or glorify a human being (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12).

Then too, based on the Babylonian Talmud, rabbinical tradition teaches that God created souls AND spirits. Rabbinical tradition also teaches that the “unborn” souls and spirits, that is, those souls and spirits that are waiting for God to unite them for the first time with their earthly bodies, live in the seventh heaven (Araboth). Lastly, rabbinical tradition teaches that the righteous souls and spirits that have been separated from their bodies also live in the seventh heaven (cf. Babylonian Talmud Chagigah 12b).

Now because too many people believe that mankind is only a physical being, and because too many people believe in the more popular bipartite view of body and spirit (a view in which the soul and spirit are understood to be the same thing), mankind, as a whole, only will be able to understand fully the triune God (see Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14), after each one of us better understands this Divine Truth: We are triune beings who, according to biblical Scripture, have been created in God’s Three In One image (cf. Genesis 1:26, NCV). More important, in order for us to understand fully the Christian doctrine of immortality, meaning the endless/eternal conscious existence of the human SOUL (see Romans 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 2 Timothy 1:10), we first must understand fully mankind’s tripartite nature.

Just as Almighty God Himself is a Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), each one of us also is a Trinity (Body, Soul, and Spirit). Of mankind’s three distinctive parts, God has the strongest affinity for mankind’s unregenerate SPIRIT. Every human being is born with a sin nature; mankind is born in bondage to sin and, thus, every unsaved person is out of fellowship with God. Because, mankind’s old sin nature is worldly, the BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT are habitually selfish, greedy, and proud. The apostle John agrees, because he writes:

These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. (1 John 2:16, NCV) 

In other words, because mankind’s unregenerate SPIRIT is spiritually dead to God’s Divine Truths, the gates to every lost SOUL’s affections, desires, and faculties (intellect, wisdom, common sense, conscience, etc.) are not turned toward God. Consequently, everything that can tempt a human being’s lost SOUL and influence what he or she thinks, does, and/or says will enter into a lost SOUL through the BODY’s five unchecked “gateways”: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and fingers and hands.

For the abovementioned reasons, before mankind’s unregenerate SPIRIT can receive God’s spiritual Truths  about an eternal life with God and about everything that would make the natural man and woman, boy and girl, an overcomer in this world (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 John 5:4), God first has to regenerate mankind’s SPIRIT. Once the SPIRIT is born again from above (cf. John 3:6-8), this SPIRIT then is able to receive God’s spiritual Truths and is able to convince the BODY to die daily while convincing the SOUL to be spiritually renewed daily (cf. Romans 12:1-2).

More important, because a person’s regenerated SPIRIT affects the BODY’s five senses and the SOUL’s affections, desires, and faculties (intellect, wisdom, common sense, conscience, etc.), the now Holy Spirit illuminated born-again SPIRIT is able to check whatever comes through the BODY’s five gateways so that the SOUL ends up surrendering its affections, desires, and faculties to God’s affections, desires and faculties. The point here is that the Holy Spirit’s most important goal is not only to make a believer’s BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT one (make all three parts immortal), just like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One (all three Persons are eternal); but also the Holy Spirit’s job is to make every imperfect (unholy) BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT holy (perfect), like the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are HOLY (perfect)—like each of the three Persons of the Trinity is identified as being HOLY! This call to Holiness is the ONENESS reality Christ Jesus prays for in John 17:21.

For the above-stated reasons, Christ Jesus prays:

Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. ~ John 17:21, NCV

It should be noted here that there is no way that human beings ever could be in GOD, in Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, if one of human beings’ three parts (Body, Soul, and Spirit) is not HOLY. Moreover, there can be no doubt that this threefold perfection (holiness) is what the apostle Paul means when he writes:

Now may God himself, the God of peace, make you pure, belonging only to him. May your whole self—spirit, soul, and body—be kept safe and without fault when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:23, NCV

Thus, for Christ Jesus as well as for apostle Paul, the bottom line is: Holiness is the Oneness reality of the triune God’s nature. For sure, God’s Holiness character is fundamentally essential to His identity—essential to knowing who God really is. So because His innermost nature is Holiness, God’s Holy disposition is without a doubt the main reason why both the unity and the diversity of the triune God hold together. Put differently, Holiness is the true essence of God, for Holiness not only is the name of God but also Holiness is most characteristic of His nature. God’s Holiness, thus, defines or strengthens all of His godly attributes. For these reasons, where godly Oneness is concerned, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are indivisible (inseparable), because they are perfectly joined together, having the exact same mindset, judgment, AND holiness (character or disposition or nature).

Furthermore, it is God Himself who calls us to Holiness, for the purpose of sharing in God’s Holiness character. Not only does the Scripture confirm that God graciously invites us to “…share in God’s nature…” (2 Peter 1:4, NCV), but also, as mentioned earlier, this sharing in God’s Holiness is the ONENESS reality that Christ Jesus prays for in John 17:21. That’s why, as God’s Holy Spirit takes each one of us through God’s progressive sanctification, or the process by which we obtain God’s kind of Holiness, so that we also will have the same kind of Oneness that is in THE Trinity, we can rest assured that our wholly sanctified (fully pure and fully Holy nature) not only means our SPIRIT and SOUL are perfected but also means God has fulfilled the promised transformation that gives us our glorified BODY’s.

In other words, the work of the sanctifying Holy Spirit is to make each born again, saved, and justified believer a Kingdom of God resident who, like Christ Jesus, epitomizes the indivisible (inseparable) Oneness reality. In view of that, just as each of the three Persons of the Trinity is identified as being HOLY, eventually each of our three distinctive parts (BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT) also will be identified as being HOLY. Consequently, each believer’s BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT will be perfectly joined together with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and THEY ALL will have the exact same mindset, judgment, AND holiness (character or disposition or nature). AMEN!

Strong Encouragement

23 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in Heavenly Insights

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This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us]. ~ Hebrews 6:18, AMP

 

Not only are we to have hope, and comfort from that hope, but also we are to make use of our hope and comfort.  Like ships are to a tempestuous sea, subject to the dangers of being tossed and driven, or even shipwrecked, our bodies, souls, and spirits are subject to the dangers and perils of temptations, persecutions, and afflictions. Just as the ships that are tossed and driven by the storms of nature need to be anchored in something that is steady and sure, our bodies, souls, and spirits must be anchored in a sure foundation, a steadfast hope, that will prevent us from becoming shipwrecked. For believers, that sure foundation is Christ Jesus—believers’ hope; their strong encouragement, which is set before them.

In several respects, Christ Jesus not only is the object of our hope but also He is the Rock upon which we can anchor our hope. In Christ Jesus, we have the assurance that our hope in our High Priest, who has made it possible for us to go beyond the veil and enter into the presence of God, will never fail us. Because of Christ Jesus’ sacrifice and His intercession, God has made it possible for our hope to be fastened solidly, steadfastly, and irrevocably to our Savior and Lord.

Moreover, Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection also provide us with the most earnest and perfect examples of a first-fruit hope, a hope that maintains that just as Christ Jesus was resurrected from the dead we too will follow in a like manner after Him. And, our Lord also assures us that we have a sure hope in the fact that He will accomplish the WHOLE work and design of God, which is to watch over our heavenly interests and concerns (our prayers), to watch over our safety and well-being in this world, and to watch over our positions in heavenly places.

 

Holy Spirit, please teach us how to express our love for God’s peace, joy, and happiness that He gives us, because we know that we safely can hope for, trust in, and depend on Him to keep His promises. Help us to see, Holy Spirit, that our hope of glory, our fear of the Lord, and the comforts of the Holy Spirit are our “strong consolations” (KJV) that strengthen and encourage us, even in the midst of our strongest trials and tribulations, as long as we remain anchored in (if we lay hold upon) the Gospel and the Person of Jesus the Christ.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Taken from Heavenly Insights

Real Wisdom Is The Fear Of God

23 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in Heavenly Insights

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The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding. For by me [Wisdom from God] your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased. ~ Proverbs 9:10-11, AMP

The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful and godly Wisdom, instruction, and discipline. ~ Proverbs 1:7, AMP

 

According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, there are three basic definitions of “real” wisdom. Two of these definitions are secular in nature and application, but the third one is clearly spiritual in nature and application.  The three basic definitions of “real” wisdom are:

 (1) the ability to learn how to live a successful, prosperous life by yielding to the world’s methods or systems—submitting to the world’s rules and principles (secular wisdom); (2) a philosophical study of what it means to exist in a world in which people are being held accountable for their own actions (as exercised by the use of their free will), even though they don’t have any conclusive knowledge about what is right or wrong, or what is good or bad (secular existential wisdom); and (3) wisdom is the spiritual life; it is living a life that involves not only noting and recording something but also surrendering to and obeying authoritative directions so that the proper moral and intellectual judgments can be applied. This spiritual wisdom begins and ends with God, as well as begins and ends with believers’ faith in God’s Son as their Lord and Savior (biblical wisdom).

It should be clear that the third definition of wisdom pertains to the above-cited Proverbs 9:10-11 and Proverbs 1:7 Scriptures.  Without doubt, the real essence of wisdom is spiritual, because our lives are meant to be more than lives that only seek to be rewarded in some physical manner, and our lives are meant to be more than lives that only follow (live by) a set of rules or principles.  Even though biblical wisdom also emphasizes that our life’s successes and well-being can be achieved in this life, the major emphasis of biblical wisdom is that it (wisdom) must become our guide for daily living, and this objective is accomplished through the exercising of our Christian faith. 

The fact of the matter is that ALL wisdom, whether secular or spiritual, starts and ends with God. The secular wisdom about how to be successful in this life by acquiring knowledge, virtue, character, justice, wealth, or even family comes from God. That’s right. The successes obtained in this life in these mentioned areas also are biblical wisdom’s major focal points. However, the missing area, especially where secular wisdom is concerned, is the God kind of faith. The God kind of faith is the greatest focal point of biblical wisdom’s major focal points, because it is by acquiring faith in God and in His Son, Christ Jesus, as our Savior and Lord, that human beings are able to gain a Godly perspective, which only comes from the spiritual insights about living that He gives.

The bottom line is that our Godly perspective is “the fear of the Lord,” which simply put means living our entire lives in love, worship, submission, and obedience to God’s Perfect Will. Therefore, if we have faith in God, our corresponding action must be “the fear of the Lord,” because both wisdom and knowledge begin and end with “the fear of the Lord.”  Moreover, it is our faith in God that keeps us believing that He constantly watches over the wisdom He gives us, as well as watches over EVERYTHING that happens in this life (cf. Romans 8:28).

This world is a battleground between wisdom (wise living) and folly (foolish living), as well as a combat zone between righteousness and wickedness, good and evil, or right and wrong. But, God has placed in His creation a wise order, which speaks to mankind about God’s Wisdom—speaks about the Creator and every revelation He gives about His creation. God reveals knowledge and wisdom to us, not only through what some think is our voice of reason, but also He speaks to us through His entire creation. Those of us who fear God know that His creation speaks to us and lets us know that EVERY bit of ALL life has been created by God and belongs to God. 

Moreover, we know that His authoritative Word (the Bible) also speaks to us about what is good and evil, urging us to choose to do “good” and to choose to avoid doing evil. The Word of God is the reason why our “fear of the Lord” initiates our faith in God, which in turn sets us on a journey toward obtaining heavenly insights by way of observation and instruction. However, the people who refuse God’s heavenly insights (refuse to hear His creation when it speaks, and refuse to be instructed by Him) will not operate in the kind of faith that will have the appropriate corresponding action. As a consequence, the foolish men and women, those who refuse to observe the voice of God’s creation and who refuse to follow God’s written instructions, will become people who are not loving, worshipping, submitting, nor obeying the God of creation.

 

Dear Lord, let us NEVER become as fools who despise Your wisdom and instruction. Holy Spirit, help us to maintain our faith in God as our Creator, our Lord, and our Savior so that we will fear God by living our lives entirely dedicated to His Will and His Ways, for we know that “the fear of the Lord” is the beginning and end of wisdom and knowledge.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Taken from Heavenly Insights