Dear Faith Family,
"then the LORD God formed the man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath [spirit] of life, and the man became a living creature [soul]." (Genesis 2:7)
What are we, humans? Are we mere animals with advanced minds? Or are we eternal souls encased in temporal bodies? Or is there something more to us? What constitutes the complete person?
I am sure you've spent countless hours pondering such questions. Or none at all! Regardless, if we are to grow into our family name, to be and become ones who are, by God's grace, "...saintified completely," we have to consider, as Paul says, what we are: "your whole spirit, soul, and body..." (1 Thes. 5:23).
Our scriptures, like most ancient texts, describe the human person as something both material and immaterial. We are bodies, but not only flesh and bone. We are more than our physical makeup. We think, we feel, we desire, we devote. We recognize these internal activities not merely as chemical reactions in bodily parts, but as something (or at least coming from something) real in-of-itself.
In much of Western thought, the immaterial part of us came to be known as the soul. A part of us that is, like the wind or breath, something real but that we are not able to grasp like other real objects. So, one might even consider such a thing a spiritual soul—a real part of us that is somehow connected to, but different from, our physical self.
Again, our scriptures attest to the truth that we are indeed more than just our physical bodies. But the scriptures and the early church understood that there is an important reason to consider that the "other" part of us is actually two parts. The soul, yes. That part of us that thinks, desires, and devotes. But also, the spirit. A part of us related to, but not to be confused with, the soul, as Genesis 2:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, and other passages describe.
Now, admittedly, you may think the distinction is merely semantics, since other passages seem to conflate the two or mention one rather than both. And while it is true that holding to a three-part person is not a demand of orthodoxy, I believe the scriptures' revelations, and the early church's descriptions of what a human is (spirit, soul, & body) help us both understand and become who we truly are.
To sum up a long and much more detailed conversation from Sunday, the spirit, as we come to describe it in the scriptures and early church, is "the thing in man that is essentially more than man, something which does not 'rise from below' but 'comes down from above.'" It is, in other words, the very life, or breath, of God that begins us, persists us, and through which we are born again,
"Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God... You must be born again.... born of the Spirit.'" (John 3:5-8)
For indeed, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth." (John 4:24) That is why Paul would say, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16).
To say we are spirit, or spiritual, is to say that there is more to being human than what is going on inside or outside of us. That spirit is what is more than us, what forms us into the image and likeness of God. To be spiritual is to recognize that our true life comes from without, not merely from within. Or, in the words of one theologian, we "do not so much exist, as partake."
How do we partake? How is our "whole spirit...kept blameless at coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"? Well, to answer that, you'll need to do a few things. Maybe some things you (and we) do regularly. Here is how you can find out...
(Re)Listen or Watch(!) the Sermon
Reflect & Share
First with the Lord and then with your GC or a faith-filled friend.
Where, when, and in what circumstances
am I most aware (and experiencing) that there is more to me, than me?
Where am I living as if enslaved to lusts rather than submitted to the Spirit?
May we become who we are made to be in Christ, together.
Love you, faith family. God bless.