It is really important to understand how we are put together – Body, Spirit, and Soul.
The body is the part of us we know best. We see it, feel it, and take care of it every day. In Greek, this is the flesh, where hunger and pleasure are sensed. We observe physical things with our five senses, and there are not many questions we have about its operation. It is mostly obvious.
The next layer is our soul (in Greek, psyche), and it has three parts.
Emotions – We feel in this layer, and can perceive many things that are not sensed by the physical body. It is somewhat well described and understood, even that there can be mysteries hidden there.
Mind – where we think and process what we feel in the body and emotions. This is a powerful place, and many battles are fought here, the good and the bad. This is where we hear self-talk, etc.
Will – is an incredible force in our being. It is capable of telling the body to do things that are unimaginable, and to fight to the death if needed (consider the mama bear…). It also can tell the emotions to “not feel that anymore”, or tell the mind to “not think that anymore”.
Spirit (Greek, pneuma – air or spirit) is the least understood place in our being, and is a theme that is in all cultures, and is the subject of almost ALL religions. This is our eternal place of life given by God. This is the place where we are “reborn” and made new and perfect, transitioning from death to life.
Our construction has a similarity with the temple from the Old Testament. The outermost place is the court. Further in is the holy place. Then there is the holy of holies, where the presence of GOD is.
In all of creation, God has ownership. He gave dominion (authority) to mankind to manage His creation through the covenant He established in Genesis. God will ALWAYS honor His end of the covenant – it is His nature. He also gave man the unique option of choice, whether to obey Him or not. That means that your body, soul, and spirit is yours. ENTIRELY. God will not barge in and take control to make you accept him as God. It is the only place in all creation that God has established that He has given all authority to another. YOU are in TOTAL control of your temple. NO ONE has more authority over you than you do. What you do with your temple is your choice. If you want to put filth on the walls of your holy place or defile it in any way you choose, it is your choice. The covenant also says you will reap the harvest of what you have sown. Hummm….
When we accept Jesus (get saved, born again, etc), we don’t get a new body or new soul. We DO get a new spirit – HIS spirit. This is part of the new covenant promise. This is the place where the Holy Spirit resides (the temple of the Holy Spirit). The body and soul are still in whatever condition it was before salvation (except if you had any healing or deliverance at that time). This is the part of us that must be changed by our own choices.
Now consider the position of these layers. The spirit in the center. Everything that is good and beautiful that God made new is there. In order for these things to be able to manifest in the natural, it would have to pass through the soul, then to the body to be revealed in the physical realm. And the opposite direction, what is on the outside must pass through the soul layers (or filters, if you will) to get to deeper levels of processing. Everything that passes through these layers will be “colored” by what is in those layers (good, bad, or otherwise). This begins to explain why there are so many “interpretations” of truth.
We are told to “be transformed by the renewing our minds”. Having this transformation would allow us to think more like Christ (presuming the renewing process has advanced enough to be improved from the lost condition). That also means we would process our emotions and thoughts differently, and we would not be controlled by them.
When our will is surrendered to God, the most powerful part of us is enabled to be determined to honor HIM, and is ready to do life His way. We can overcome by the blood of the lamb, and the word of our testimony, and not fearing death.
With Holy Spirit in the center, Him working with our surrendered will, a renewed mind, and not carried away by our emotions, we can have victory over the flesh, and let the incredible power and fruits of the spirit come through us to our brothers and sisters, and to a lost and dying world. To do this, we need to understand His LOVE for us, and not let the filters in the middle distort that truth. We need to rid ourselves of the lies we have been taught (and told), and apply the truth that sets us free.
