The Bible seems to present humans as consisting of three parts: body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12).
This is called the “tripartite” nature of man. Much like the divine Trinity, the three parts of a human make one being. Though distinct, the three parts of a person work together to live, exist, and interact with God and creation.
The Three Parts: Body, Soul, and Spirit
The body is the physical side of a person. It touches the material world through the five senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch.
The spirit is the spiritual side of man. It interacts with God and the spiritual realm through its own set of “senses,” things like faith, hope, and prayer.
The soul is the life of a person. It is the animating principle of a person, and is responsible for imagination, memory, reason, and emotions. As such, the soul serves as the command center for the person. Neither the body nor the spirit can function on its own; both look to the soul for direction and action.
What Happened to the Three Parts of Humanity in the Fall?
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they died spiritually and sin corrupted their body, so that it too began to die.
Nevertheless, they remained “alive” because their soul remained. Yet the soul, the animating principle of a person, can only function through the spirit or through the body. The spirit, which was dead, could do nothing for the soul.
The body, however, was only dying, and so the soul could function through the body. Yet because of the corruption of sin, the body produced only sin and death. This is what Paul refers to as “the flesh.”
What Happens to the Three Parts of a Human in Regeneration?
In the Hebrew Scriptures, God promised to give a new spirit to His people (Ezek 36:26), which we now know was the “Holy Spirit” that came at Pentecost (Acts 2).
The Bible also says that in the future resurrection, we will be given glorified and incorruptible bodies (1 Cor 15:52). When that happens, each person will once again be as God intended and planned, perfect in body, soul, and spirit so that we can live and function as a whole, united person.
But that time is not yet.
In the present age, unbelievers have a soul which often seeks to do good, and wills to do good, but since they do not have the Holy Spirit, they cannot do anything to please God. And since their body is corrupted with sin, the soul cannot obey God through the flesh either.
Once a person believes in Jesus for eternal life (this is a function of the soul), God sends the Holy Spirit to regenerate, indwell, baptize, and seal the new believer. The old, dead spirit of man is replaced by the Holy Spirit of God.
As a result, the soul of believer can choose to walk in the Spirit or walk in the flesh (Gal 5:16-26). Yet due to the force of habit, addiction, bad choices, or just plain ignorance, we often choose instead to life through the flesh, which results in sin.
Though we may desire to do something else, and now have the ability through the Spirit to actually live differently, the body of sin drags us down into death and destruction with it (Rom 7:24).
We will see tomorrow why this study is important (It helps us understand what Paul is talking about in Romans 7).
Here are a few images which I found online which seem to show what I am saying in a graphic representation of our three parts:
Have you read or studied much about the three parts of man? Some believe we have only two parts: the body and a soul/spirit. What are your thoughts on the three parts of man? Do you have anything to add to what I have written above?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_(theology)
Yes, that seems to sum up the idea pretty well.
We were made in the image of God. God is a three part being. Not three persons. God is a spirit. He has a spiritual nature. God robed Himself in flesh. God was seen in the flesh. According to I Timothy 3:16 (KJV); “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. God has a physical body which we know as Jesus Christ.”
Because we are made in his image, we are also a three part being. We are a living soul (the part that makes choices, mind, will, emotions, etc) , We have a spiritual nature , we have a body. But we are only one person. Just as God is one being, not three. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD”
I also forgot to add Isaiah 45:5, I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: Isaiah 45:6 also, That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
You are completely wrong Denise
Thanks for that comment but if Adam was a spiritual being according to this teaching how come Apostle Paul taught otherwise the the first man Adam was a natural man not spiritual? 1 Corinthians 15: 40-53. Particularly verse 46
Yes Adam is spirit man, why ? Because, God said Let Us Create a man into Our Image, in Our Likeness, which means Adam is a spirit man, he is the Image of God, the only problems he needs to regenerate to the Spirit of the Living God
Adam was created in the image of God (Genesis 2:7) “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground [Body], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [a Quickened Spirit]; and man became a living soul [Soul].” After the fall, men were made in the image of Adam, after his likeness (see Genesis 5:3). The difference between being created in the image of God and born in the Image of Adam… Created In God: Adam had a Spirit that was alive unto God, A body that could be eternal and a soul that was sinless, joined to the spirit. Born in Adam: Men are born with a dead spirit and a dying body and a soul joined to that dying body… When a man is saved, his spirit is quickened/made alive, his soul becomes sinless as it is spiritually circumcised or cut away from his sinful fleshly body (which was not fully redeemed and continues to decay… but one day will be fully redeemed at the resurrection)
As the passage explains, when Adam & Eve sinned their spirit is lost. It is regained at Pentacost. But my argument is, there was Moses Abraham like people before Pentacost. Are they all without spirit?
Good question but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever the the spirit of God has always been active at creation the spirit hovered over the waters thats the holy spirit.He has always been present to help those who walk by faith.Was it David that killed Goliath no it was the holy spirit working through him.The problem with the old testament is that the spirit came on people as required for believers in Christ he lives in us all the time that was what Adam and Eve lost that personal close walk with God Jesus restored that in saying that there was always the option to repent and walk by faith in the old testament.Look at Enoch he was raptured so was saved because he walked by faith with God same as us today.Abraham also his faith was counted as righteousness because he believed God. brentnz
Actually Adam and Eve didn’t lose their spirit and their spirit didn’t die else they would’ve died on the spot (James 2:26). They had a body, soul, and spirit before and after the fall.
Graig thanks for that question, if really the spirit of God in Adam died, does God die???? the spirit of God is God, then could a god spirit die??? This is common sense. And if God breathed his spirit in Adam for the purpose of communicating through the spirit but that spirit died when Adam sinned, how did God communicate with Adam after that spirit died? how did God communicate with Cain and Abel? how did God communicate with Isaiah who said he was a man of unclean lips and he sits among people with unclean lips also??? how did God communicate with murderers like Moses and Paul to mention but a few?????
If we are body, soul and spirit where does the mind reside if we have to transformed by the renewing of our mind.
In the bible we have a small s for spirit and a big S signifying the Holy Spirit. Where is the small spirit when the Holy Spirit comes along. Do we not have an inner man that struggles with the Holy Spirit? What is the inner man? When the Holy Spirit came along our broken spirit had to be healed in order for it to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and take precedence. What is our broken spirit?
It also states in Psalm 19:7 that the word revives the Soul which means it was dead at one point.
This has raised so many questions. I always thought we had a small spirit that needed to submit to the will of God
Carol I have been raising alot of questions about the Doctrine of man developed by word of faith theologians beginning with E W Kenyon (1868-1948) Kenyon mentored Keneth Hegin(1917-2003) Hegin mentored the current breed of word of faith tele evanglists who are now spreading that ancient greek philosophy ian at atabout the nature of man. But they sprinle scriptures to justify that ancient philosophy which is not christian at all.
Your mind is a part of your soul. The Holy Spirit dwells in your spirit. Everything he explained is accurate Carol
The mind is in the soul
You are very correct that man is a three part being. You’re also correct how the soul of man function; however, the spirit of man function much more than what is stated in your writing. Much more importantly than the other two.
It is the spirit of man that can be renewed, strengthen, and rightfully regain control over the soul and body – through Jesus Christ our Lord – Amen.
SHALOM ~
Amen & Amen Yes the Spirit would gave to take control over the Soul to keep on the straight and narrow path..
The Bible clearly states Spirit, Souls and Body!
You got it Backwards?
Our dead spirit is made alive and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us.
What Anita said makes the most sense to me and is the way I have understood it. Our brain is the flesh, physical apparatus that communes with God. However, Jesus talks about the heart a whole lot. Just recently it had been discovered that the heart actually has a brain of its own and I guess basically affects our brain and mind and that is why we are exhorted to think on those things that are noble and of good repute; it must go to our heart and change it
I don’t know if the bible teaches this… we teach this; the bible assumes, defines, and alludes this.
Thomas , the Bible does not teach this staff, it was was developed by Greek anchient philosophers and when philosophy was introduced in theological schools, the rest is history. It is now hard to convince some one that the doctrine of man is based on Greek philosophy.
completely agree. it is Watchman Nee and Kenneth Hagen who introduced the fundamentals and implications of human-trinity to me and they are the best possible explanations I’ve found that remain both biblical and practical in their application.
with so much right and wrong we need it broken down for all to understand much clearly, God is not the author of confusion.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
“And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I go the other direction. We have many parts: Eyes, hands, feet, just like Paul lists in his body-of-Christ metaphor. (1Co 12). The soul and spirit are simply two more body parts; the soul is kinetic and energetic, and the spirit is immaterial.
Frankly, I find a lot of tripartite teachings are Freudian psychology, repackaged for Christians.
Thanks for the posts. I will check them out and consider your arguments. Again, I don’t want to be dogmatic on this. The Bible is not super clear on this. Of course, even if Freud taught this, it doesn’t mean its necessarily wrong.
Thanks Leslie, this is not christian staff. it is the age long Greek philosophy. every inch of what is beingt is wrong to the core. If the breath of life is the holy spirit, then all living things like animals also have the holy spirit???? The entire teaching is not logical. Moreover, our spirituallity begins and ends with Jesus. Knowing all the details of how you were reated before the fall does not count.what we are supposed to know is the fall of man and how we can get hope in Jesus. Eternal life is not in knowing the nature of man, but its in knowing the only one true God and his son Jesus.
Thomas, you are right. It is unwise to be dogmatic on this. But it seems to me that this makes the best sense of what the Bible hints at, and also fits best with reason and experience.
reason and experience? whose? I don’t think the division into 3 can be supported from anything except that it is traditional in some circles. But there are many circles. Thessalonians reflects a Greek circle. The unity of the person is reflected in the Psalms – but the person there is both individual and corporate just as the ‘body’ of Christ is individual in Jesus and corporate in us. Just as Israel is son and God is to the tradition ‘avinu she-ba-shamayim’ our father who is in heaven (Yes that is Rabbinic tradition).
This tension between the one and the many underscores our own shared language. We are more one than we imagine.
I agree. I somewhat hinted that we are “three in one.” The unity is the primary thing, but the unity consists of three “parts.” And there is no such thing as “personality” apart from the corporate reality. We are, as Rene Girard says, “interdividuals.”
It is true that the Bible is not completely clear not this topic. Through my studies I have come to believe that body + spirit = soul. Gen 2:7, Job 32:8, John 20:21-22
Yes, those are good texts to argue for some sort of merging.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Does this mean that man has four parts?
Great text as well. I think some synonyms are being used here. In my own thinking, the mind resides in the soul and operates through the body and the spirit. The strength is the body, and the heart is the spirit.
If you argue for mind being a synonym for soul in Mark 12.30 could not spirit be a synonym for soul in 1 Thes 5 23? There is evidence for this since spirit and soul are used interchangeably throughoout the Bible. I don’t know what the answer is, is there an answer? Many assume that there must be an answer in the Bible and if we study it hard enough we will find one. But what is the question? The question is essentially an analytical one: How may pieces make up man. It was the enlightenment that divided subjects up into watertight compartments, giving us chemistry, sociology, botanty and the like. I don’t think that Paul would have thought like this. When he speaks of spirit, soul and body he means the whole undivided man which will be preserved blameless at Christ’s coming. Should we use a verse that emphasises man’s unity to divide him up?
This is a topic that simply can not be dealt with adequately in the limited extent of a blog. When I wrote my doctoral thesis in 2007, I started to give the three part definition. Then I saw something in the Bible, and more…, and ended up with a 50 page or so chapter on the topic. Since then I have studied the topic much more and compiled an extensive resource on it.
I found that the three part view provides easy answers to some questions, but inevitably created serious problems elsewhere. Take your remark of the heart being the spirit, for example. In Hebraic thought the heart is the seat of the emotions – and according to general trichotomist views the soul is the seat of the mind, will and emotions. So we already have a disparity.
The metaphorical use of the word ‘kardia’ dominates New Testament knowledge, and it covers the whole range of activities that takes place within one’s inner self. These activities include thinking, grieving, rejoicing, desiring, understanding and decision-making. Sin and evil reside in the human heart according to a number of Old and New Testament Scriptures, e.g. Genesis 6:5; Deuteronomy 15:9; Proverbs 12:20; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Matthew 12:34; Matthew 15:18-20; Acts 5:4, Romans 1:21; and Hebrews 3:12, to name but a few.
In other words, if the heart and spirit are the same then it implies that the spirit of man (as a so-called separate entity) is the seat of sin and evil.
Think of the heart as the Holy of holies in the temple of the body on which the throne/altar (seat of one’s soul) is. That’s why to me is Jesus’ Spirit isnt seated on the seat of the soul (the heart of the person) then that heart is easyily given over to yhe appetites of the fleshiness of the person. Thats why regeneration is important. It is Christ in you. Christ seated on the throne of your heart and rightdully so the one you worship and are led by, not natural man.
with so much right and wrong we need it broken down for all to understand much clearly, God is not the author of confusion.
Hi Jeremy,
I also hold to the three part construction of man, even though the terms soul and spirit in the Bible appear to be used sometimes interchangeably.
Your statements—“The spirit, which was dead, could do nothing for the soul.” and “The old, dead spirit of man is replaced by the Holy Spirit of God.”—I have never heard of before know.
The following will explain what I believe.
I have never been a Calvinist, an Arminian a Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian. In fact, I never learn about those four positions until the mid 1980’s. I was in ignorance of them for a long time. After I started hearing about Calvinism in the mid 1980’s, I figured I better study up on the details of what Calvinism was. In the process, I learned about all four of those positions.
I was saved in late 1963, then joined the Army for a 4 year hitch, then started to studying the Bible in late 1964. When I first came across Eph. 2:1 and Eph. 2:5 (during my hitch in the Army), I understood the phrases “…you were dead in your trespasses and sins…” and “…when we were dead in our transgressions…” to be hyperbole and did not do a wooden-literal-interpretation of them; I viewed them as exaggerations of the condition of unsaved mankind. I certainly did not get the idea from those verses of anything like total depravity or that fallen man had to experience any kind of supernatural transformation of the will/heart in order to be able to accept God’s convicting/convincing/persuading/call/drawing, instructions, teachings, commands, promises and gifts. I started hearing about the idea of total depravity in the mid 1980’s.
I have always believed that fallen mankind has always retained the inherent-free-will ability that God sovereignly designed into Adam and Eve to be able to accept or reject God’s convicting/convincing/persuading/call/drawing, instructions, teachings, commands, promises and gifts.
I believe God’s calling/drawing of fallen mankind is by the convicting/convincing/persuading work of the Holy Spirit using the word of God, creation and our conscience (Rom. 1:18-20; Rom. 10:8-17; 1Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12; Luke 8:21; Jn. 15:26, 16:13; 2 Thess. 2:13).
I believe humans are born corrupted sinners [The old man (Rom. 6:6; Eph.4:22; Col. 3:9)] having two natures, good and evil, because of Adam’s and Eve’s sin, that is, fallen/corrupted/sinful mankind is now bi-natured having two natures [a good nature and an evil/sin nature (Gen. 2:16-17; Gen. 3:1-7; Rom. 7:22-25), thus knowing good and evil] in accordance with Adam’s and Eve’s sin of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The new man is a Christian born again {indwelt by the Holy Spirit (after believing in Christ as his savior) and should be walking in/after the Spirit}; that is, the new man has a good nature, evil/sin nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit and should be willingly walking in/after the Spirit (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 8:3-26; Gal. 5:16-25).
Excellent summary. That is pretty much what I was taught as well. I currently am somewhat uncomfortable talking about a sinful “nature” as it seems to encourage dualistic thinking. Paul’s term for this seems to be “flesh” or “sinful flesh.” But that is basically quibbling over synonyms.
Hi Jeremy. I would take issue with the statement that the spirit of a person is actually ‘dead’. I certainly can’t find anything to support the notion of body, soul and dead spirit. I much prefer the concept of death equating to separation.
This seems to make sense in the light of verses such as Isaiah 59 God doesn’t say he can’t hear because our spirits are dead but that he won’t hear us because our sin has caused a separation.
It is further complicated though in that this separation will ultimately lead to death so that’s why the unregenerate person is already as good as dead.
I guess my reasoning is also tied to countering the Reformed position that we are all spiritual corpses without any life hence we are unable to respond to the spirit of God unless he first regenerates us.
I’m also nor sure about the Holy Spirit replacing our spirit at conversion. But I have not yet thought this through so maybe a topic for future discussion.
Yes, this post was fraught with potential problems. I too think of “dead” as “separation.” I just wonder what the nature of this separation is. I didn’t intend to hint that a dead spirit is a non-existent spirit.
The widely held position that the spirit of the human died when Adam sinned is obviously an assumption derived from the fact that he continued to live to the age of 930 years after his original sin. This assumption may be fuelled by Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 15:45:
The first Adam was made a living soul [psuche]; the last Adam a quickening [life-giving] spirit [pneuma] (KJV).
There is, however, no indication of a spiritual death (or even separation) in the above or any other verses of the Bible.
Gen 4, for example, shows the continuous conversation of God and man. It was only after Cain’s conversation with God that he was sent out of His presence.
“Dead” as a NiCad battery is dead.
Put it into a charger, and it is “live”.
Andrew this teaching of doctrine of man is not a christian doctrine but it came from Anchient greek philosophers such as socretis and Plato and Aristotal. So when christianity entered Greece that human philosophy entered Theological Seminaries and the rest is history. It is now hard to remove it in pentecostal charismatic churches
Dear Naloka Baker,
I noticed you alluding that Aristoteles and Plato believed that man was a division of three. I see others giving actual references/examples that both of these Greek fellas held to only ‘soul and body’ but where the SOUL had a three part division. I am NOT looking at arguing, only wanting to understand, therefore not interjecting in this discussion at https://redeeminggod.com/humans-three-parts-body-soul-spirit/
Kindly and respectfully can you give me actual examples from these two men showing that they taught three division of man. Eager to learn.
Thankful for any clarification, Sonni
And please note I am not seeking to argue, only wanting to understand the Greek or not Greek influence on this matter.
Paul is inspired by Holy Spirit, as all scripture is God-breathed not man’s vain imaginations. You can trust Holy Spirit wrote the ENTIRE Word of God and none of man’s “thinking” philosophies, popular thought, pagan beliefs got in there or the whole new testament is under question, and rest assured Holy Spirit WROTE IT ALL. (Not yelling, just empasizing). Ask God to help you see that being made in His image means as He is 3 in 1 bring, so He made man also as a 3 in 1 being, or we are no different than animals.
Scripture tells us that God formed our lifeless bodies and then “breathed” His life-giving spirit into them. At that point we became a “living, breathing creature”, or a soul. A soul is not something we have, it is something we are.
Yes, just as we “are” a body and “are” a spirit. It is all very complicated and difficult to express accurately in words. That is what makes theology so fun!
in my opinion makes theology very frustrating to me, it seems that the Bible is not cut and dry on these issue, and it really bothers me
The word Hayyim (lives) is the word “life” when reading the “breath of life”- (reference Genesis 2:7). I looked at this myself and familarized myself with following Hebrew grammar rules to recognize a plural word (hayyim) by taking letter hay (hay plus yod is “life”) and pluralizing the Hebrew word “life” is done by adding the yod plus mem letters at the end, just like Elohim used in the context of triune God is a singular plural word using the same grammatical rule (adding Hebrew letters “hay” and “mem”) to pluralize it. I hope this wasn’t confusing.
Great post. . . find these are words we use so often without any definiteness. And finding understanding can sometimes be like grasping water. These things that are non material are the most interesting parts of any of us. . . more so than the body. . . and that even more so getting older. The bible gives the great opposite between spirit and flesh, these inward parts/nature of us that are opposed to each other. But it also mentions heart and soul and mind. Thinking these are all different, that heart is different than soul and spirit mainly because that’s the way they’re written about. . . that they’re not interchangeable. Find that we can commune with God when he makes our spirits alive but the soul will be saved if we endure to the end. Have heard it said and used to believe that the heart was like the soul, specifically the emotions, and believe you wrote above that heart is another way of saying spirit. But thinking heart is different than soul or spirit, that heart is that in us that allows us to lay hold of things and by which we set our whole being on something. As the bible says, with the heart we believe, even more so than with our mind. In living this walk, find I am alive in spirit thru what God has done but also find that flesh is active and kicking. Into that conflict find my soul with its thoughts and emotions and choices can get really torqued and twisted if my heart is not set on God, if it’s not active living faith. But if my heart’s all in, find the soul follows. In a practical way, find that although my spirit may be alive to God, that flesh works thru the soul to move my heart away from being all in with God. Finding the heart is that which links spirit and soul. . . that while the flesh works thru the soul to move the heart, the spirit works thru the heart to move the soul. Regretting that these words don’t do justice to the reality. There is only one verse where heart, soul and spirit are gathered, Hebrews 4 talking about the word dividing soul and spirit, and discerning what is in the heart. And that verse is in context of entering the rest of God now, that we are in the good of the reality of God in this world. Entering doesn’t depend on having precise definitions of these things in our heads, but if there is a definiteness about them, it doesn’t help to mix things.
I’m catching up on my blog reading this afternoon, so I realize this is an older post, but really great summary of this issue, Jeremy. I agree with your descriptions of body, soul, and spirit.
Thanks, Chuck. That means a lot.
In the 1970’s I read a book by Watchman Nee called the Spiritual man and subsequently lost it but have acquired an e-version of the book and it deals specifically with this subject. If you would like a copy you can download it from here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6wuqd5SHNxHNi01bUVPLUpZLU0/view?usp=sharing
Thanks. I think I read that too… Do you remember what he says?
I have been a Christian for more than 17 years, I have found that the bible (especially the new testatment) can be interpreted so many different ways, I find that frustrating and disturbing. I want clear cut answers and cannot find them in reading the bible.
I guess God wants us to seek us, maybe that is why the word seems vague to me at times. I love the Lord and want to know God more, but I find the bible not clear cut and sometimes confusing, then you add doctrines that people want to push or interpret, and I really find myself frustrated.
These are matters of life and death and eternity, yet here we are trying to figure out if our interpretation is correct or not, and looks like we will not know for sure until we die (which could be too late).
Yes. I think some things are quite clear in Scripture, such as that truth that eternal life is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. But when it comes to some of these other issues, I don’t think the question is “who is right and who is wrong” but rather, “does this interpretation help us look more like Jesus?”
Gladys i sense your frustration but we have a teacher who explains the word to us
he is wonderful he opens the word to me all the time i listen to him because from him comes wisdom he is the most humble and gentle of teachers and always leads us into truth.He is our friend our comforter and the one who empowers us when we are weak and he is the holy spirit and once we receive him he never leaves us.jeremiah33:Call to me and i will answer you and show you great and mighty things…brentnz
You stated “The old, dead spirit of man is replaced by the Holy Spirit of God”.
You have forgotten:
Upon death, “…the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” The spirit remains until death (Ecclesiastes 12:7), and Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46).
Our spirit is not replaced by the Holy Spirit but filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15), and sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13).
I always appreciate your insights and work even if I don’t always agree with everything, so firstly a big thank you for your ongoing and refreshing work.
On the topic of man’s nature and substance, we don’t have to rely on what the bible ‘seems’ to say, because we have rather emphatic and repeated teaching directed to that very topic from the beginning.
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Gen 2:7) And this is a good translation. The man is one substance, the dust of the ground, and that one substance is animated by the breath of life, and while it remains in his nostrils he is a living being. There is no hint that the ‘breath of life’ is anything other than the property of the substance of the physical body that renders it living. The living man is the living being, a physical being of one substance, dust.
When the man’s animation fails, he becomes a dead being, which being decays and returns to the ground. He does not ‘go to heaven’ or to anywhere else other than the metaphorical abode of the dead, being the rhetorical device used to describe death under the departure metaphor. The departure metaphor also is used to describe our individual transience we are ‘a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.’ (James 4:14). Now is it a contradiction to teach both that the mans is ‘of the dust of the earth’ and also ‘a mist’? Of course not, the mist teaching is a teaching of the transience and temporality of personal life and existence. In the same way that the man literally comes from and returns to dust, metaphorically he is a mist that emerges and disappears without a trace.
Now, upon what basis can we look for and read into the biblical witness that man is not solely a temporary being of dust? That he is made up of two or even three different substances?
Granted there is a lot more to the biblical witness than our substance. The testimony on our substance is clear and consistent. But there is further teaching that develops other topics than our substance: the life and existence of our community, and our identification with either the seed of the snake or the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman is the body of Christ, the community of spiritual life and fellowship with God. This body, the scripture teaches, is, unlike the personal body of the man, immortal. The salvation is the redemption of the body, the resurrection life of the immortal body. If we belong to that body, we have eternal life in that body. If we belong to the body of death, we are identified with its futility and its slavery, its sickness and its death.
For example: ‘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.’ (1 Thes 5:23) Paul is writing about the spiritual resurrection life that was to fully arrive at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is writing of his hope that they, his First Century audience, would not only survive physically alive until that day, but that they would be preserved blameless and entirely pure until that time. The stringing together of a few different terms does not a substance dualism or tripatatism make. He is not intending to give a lesson on the substance of the individual man, and he does no such thing here.
But in 1 Cor 15 he does give a discussion on the nature of man, the first man of the dust of the earth, and the second man from heaven. He affirms that the first man is of the dust of the earth, but contrasts this with the second man from heaven. The first man is a physical body, the second man a spiritual body. The resurrection life is not of the physical body, but the spiritual body. Flesh and blood do not inherit the kingdom of God. The resurrection life, when it comes in fullness, is the life of fellowship with God at the feast of Is 25:6-8, which he quotes in 1 Cor 15 as being the source of his resurrection doctrine. The wedding feast is the restoration of the fellowship with God lost when man was expelled from the garden, it refers to spiritual life, not physical life. The time of the feast is the time of the reversal of Is 65:13-15, when ‘the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Mat 8:12), and when ‘The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.’ (Mat 22:7). It is also the time when ‘the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’ (Mat 21:43) and when ‘the power of the holy people has been finally broken’ (Dan 12:7) and also when the law that was the power of sin would be broken (1 Cor 15:56). This explains why Paul would write to the thessalonians in 1 Thes 5:23 that they should be preserved entire and blameless until that day of resurrection at the coming of the Lord Jesus, it was to come in their life-times with the fall of Jerusalem. The death to be overcome by the fullness of resurrection life at the coming of the Lord would be the death of Hosea 13, the spiritual death of Israel, which is why he quotes Hosea 13’s promise of victory over that death as his resurrection hope in 1 Cor 15. This helps confirm the meaning of the ‘spiritual body’ of the resurrection of 1 Cor 15: it is the corporate body of Israel rather than the personal body of the believer. This is also confirmed by Paul’s insistence that he was on trial for the one hope, the hope of Israel, concerning the resurrection of the dead, as taught by Moses and the prophets. Upon what basis do we teach a different hope, a different substance of man, and a different form of personal eternal life?
Definitely we are tripartite in nature as they are so are we the father is the soul the son is the body and the holy spirit is spirit.In Jesus We see those 3 parts operating in harmony as he is so are we.
Where does the soul go after death ??
-body to sand
-spirit to paradise
– soul to ———- ??? Where?
Proverbs says The heart is the most deceitful of all things. This makes sense on your pictograph of the heart
straddling between the soul and the spirit. Not all spirits are God’s much less trustworthy but I do believe a closeness to Jesus and a fellowship one can be comfortable in is what keeps us able to vear from spirits we cannot trust.
Wow! That Is True Brother Jeremy.
Let Me put things in is place. there’s a spirit, soul and body. in the beginning God created man. and it was unliving thing and what did god do next he want ahead and breath into the nostries the breath of life which is the spirit:
the word “spirit” derived from a greek word called “nea” which means air and spirit. when adam sin was happened next: was the tie down of the spirit which seems is dead but not actually. the spirit is still living, but it has been tie or weeken to a point that it could not do things in it own because the flesh has taken over to the man, that paul decribed at a “natural sinful man” remember the spirit is the life of The soul Of man. “he became a living soul” spirit does a lost, that i could not have time now to state here. the spirit can’t end up in hell because it’s incorrupteable and it’s also giving as a gift to man living soul.why the soul is you particularly where your emotion, thinking, thought evil or good, and etc located.
thanks.
Thanks for this helpful article
Where in the bible does it say that the Holy Spirit replaces the spirit of those who believe in Jesus?
Sir i want to know about animal .
Anilmal has soul or not
David, I try not to get into discussions about animals, but yes, the animals have spirit bodies and must have souls. The soul is the animator of both the animals’ physical and spirit bodies. Without a soul they would not exist.
This is the clearest teaching I have ever seen on this subject.
The passage in Ezequiel 36 does say that when we come into a new relationship with God, He will cleanse us, change our disposition and in fact, put a new spirit in us, the old one that died in the fall is no longer taken into consideration. The one we get is absolutely new.
However, in the same passage we read that in addition to a new spirit, the Holy Spirit (His Spirit) comes to indwell the new believer.
We are in fact restored to spirit, soul, and body but now indwelt by the Holy Spirit to guide us.
¡What a blessing!
When Lazarus died in John 11, what happened to his body in the four days he was in the grave? In reference to the four days, does it take four days for the soul to Leave the body.
Blessed my heart, really want to out the how body, soul spirit work..
Thank you now I understand.
We consist of our body the spirit and a soul. The spirit in the body makes a living soul. I believe that the spirit could survive and receive everlasting life without the body which would die anyway. I believe that the spirit and the body together becomes a living soul. A woman can get pregnant and a baby will grow and can be stillborn because the baby does not contain the spirit so the woman just gave birth to a dead body if the baby had contained a spirit then the woman would have gave birth to a living soul. When the person dies one might want to believe that they are now a dead soul but are they when it takes a spirit and a body to make a living soul. Cuz when you die now the body is there absent of the spirit, so are you still a soul when you missing one of the ingredients which is the spirit to complete. No a dead body in my opinion. When the Bible says that we could possibly live forever he is not talking about our body / soul. The soul is not immortal but the spirit is I believe the spirit exists before we were born therefore again if a woman has a stillborn child that is absent of the spirit. This is why I say the body cannot become a living soul without the spirit but the body cannot function without the spirit either. The body can die but the spirit can’t only God can do away with the spirit.
Wish to know more about GOD as SPIRIT
Francis Sequeira
I have struggled with living spirits in my body they tell me who they are and say they have my spirit they say my spirit is in hell so I’m wondering how to get my spirit back and if this is possible
Jeremy: I enjoyed your website. Yes, we have a physical body, a spiritual body and a soul, but although you have come close to a proper description, you did not start with the science behind it all, science created by Jesus, our Redeemer and Creator. Please take a look at the work I have done over the past 30 years. You will find it at johnbeiswenger.com. Most important, I would like to start a dialog with you. God bless you, Jeremy
The “old dead spirit of man” is not “replaced” by the Holy Spirit. The dead spirit of man is “born again” by an act of the Holy Spirit.
Does unbelievers have Holy Spirit? if they have what is the role of the holy spirit in their lives
Thank you so much for explaining complicated terms in a simple way. It helped me a lot in understanding about myself and God.
But I would like to know which part of us will go to heaven…. Is it our soul or spirit or both of them.
May God Bless you, your family and ministries.
how does the tripartite work
“Much like the divine Trinity, the three parts of a human make one being. Though distinct, the three parts of a person work together to live, exist, and interact with God and creation.”
If I am understanding you correctly here, this analogy incorporates a partialistic understanding of the Trinity.
The Trinity has classically been understood in this way: “The Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not the Son or Holy Spirit; the Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son.” God is inseparable and each person of the Trinity is fully divine, even as the three persons of the Trinity are distinct. So, God is one divine essence, existing in three distinct, co-equal, co-eternal persons.
If, however, man is body, soul, spirit as you describe, one would have to hold that body is man, soul is man, and spirit is man–and here, “man” understood as being the fullness or totality of humanity. But this is not what you argue. You make the case that body, soul, and spirit are not only distinct, but separable and ordered to different ends: body–>physical world, soul–>life, spirit–spiritual world; and only together do you have the fullness of humanity.
Therefore, for the analogy to hold, one would have to argue that each person of the Trinity is distinct and separable, is not fully divine, and is ordered to ontologically different ends.
Am I misunderstanding you here?
Moreover, if the whole human being was originally created of (human) body, (human) soul, and (human) spirit, then on your view, are those who are spiritually dead not fully human? How can equal human dignity be grounded if those who have not followed Christ are missing a part (spirit) of humanity?
Hello my name is Maryann Faust my husband Charlie Faust passed away 2019. We sperated 2017 and were going to renite soon I seen him before he passed away and said I have a Beautiful wife you never know why God can do. I knew we were going to get back together. I was excited and happy. days went by and I dreamed that we came walking out a food market and he said everybody I got a beautiful wife he said out loud, I laughed then I dreamed said Charlie
Charlie then I woke and said oh my God why did I say that.
I got a called said my Husband passed away. 2wks later I was at gas station pumping gas. A man walked up towards gas station and said out loud
I got a beautiful wife I looked in shocked. then he went in gas station
and walked fast sis not buy nothing came out and stood there and turned his head to left. my husband usually do that. he stood there. I was staring at him and was in shocked I was going to say to him Charlie u made it. which meaning Eternal Life. I then got into car drove off he was still standing there. I went home called the funeral home and told them what happened
she then said was u scared. I said no. I was in shocked. My husband was letting me know he is ok….he had same image of my husband.
n
I would say #4parts as your description of #2parts above (body, soul/spirit) are actually 3 since as you described there is a difference b/t Spirit and Soul.
Also, I see the Original (dead) Spirit from GOD as different from His Holy Spirithat came/comes later.
Scripture says Hispirit(Holy) gives Life to our Spirit(the previously dead1 also from Him). In other words Re-birth means His Dead Spirit w/in us (1singular aspect of GOD, from GOD, returning to GOD when you die) joins/comes2Life when you Believe.
Therefore, we would actually be 4 Spiritually speaking, Body, Soul, Spirit, Holy Spirit and the arrival/interaction of these 4 (confused w/3 b/c Soul/Spirit are inseparable except by GOD/Truth) are described by the 3 different Baptisms referred to in Jesus’ Ministry.
1) Upon repentance(John the Baptizer) and doingood/producing fruit according to righteousness; turning from evil. As demonstrated by water on the skin (seal).
2)Upon Belief🌬️💨in the Upperoom after appearing resurrected w/scars to the Disciples they; Believed. This one He breathed-on them, where does air around you go? Inside you, when you breath. This is indicative of the Holy Spirit being ‘within us’ upon Faith/Belief.
3) Upon Obedience. When the Disciples ‘Obeyed’ 10 days in a row in the Upperoom they received the 3rd Baptism; by Fire/flame. I’m not sure whathis1indicates…💁🏽♂️
When you die is your Soul present with the LORD?
This was very informative! How can I read the other information mentioned in this article as it relates to ‘Mind, Body, and Soul?’
Simply thank you for your time to have the conversation. Just as the revelator John struggled to describe spiritual things revealed by GOD concerning the upcoming End Times, explaining the Trinity and Tripartite concepts are difficult for our carnal minds to ponder. I think you did a good job, despite the contentious spirits that envitably take over comment sections. 😆 (Philippians 1:16-18)
Good enough to water the thirst of the lost souls who are seeking Christ’s salvation to loose strongholds that bind our spirit man. I pray all find the wisdom that sets us free, in Jesus’ Might Name! The main point is we are all sinners who need a risen Jesus to return us sinners to our pre-fall posture with the Holy ABBA FATHER. Hallelujah!
The soul does not remain. The soul also dies. Ezek 18:4
Hello, it is really helpful. But I am still a little confused about another term which seems included in the soul but sometimes also interchangeable with it — that is the “heart” (“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”-Deut 6:5 ) Would you please also help explain this a bit? Thanks much in advance!
this artical was a great insight for my ph and for some answers i really needed help with. thank-you
Jesus died long time ago and promised the Holy Spirit to men. He gave it first to His disciples, the disciples to those who accepted and believed in Jesus. in our generation, at birth has God already put the Holy Spirit in the newborn then to be baptized by the priest? please clear my doubts
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Got here through listening to George Harrison. I am trying to understand this concept of body, soul, and spirit. I think you explained it well. I know I need help because my spirit feels in turmoil. I feel like the amount of lying going on around me is overwhelming me. I am looking for the truth, I believe God is the truth. I’m having trouble hearing Him due to the chaos of life. Thanks for writing about this subject it helped get me thinking. God bless!