I would say that most people and even some Christians do not realize that they are more than just a soul and a body. We are more than feelings and emotions. It’s more than living life out of a flesh and blood body. When we die it’s over as some people would think. We just cease to exist. That is so far from the truth. When I was very young, I was afraid to sleep at night. I was worried that I wouldn’t wake up in the morning. I was afraid of death. This troubled me for years. I was so relieved when I woke up in the morning. After wrestling to stay awake and to finally go to sleep. When I became a Christian the fear of death no longer had a hold on me. ( Heb 2:14-15). Praise God!
What does the Bible say about what we are? How does God see us? How should we see life and how to live? In the Book of Job we read this verse: Job 32:8 (NKJV)-8 But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.( Num 16:22, Num 27:16, Heb 12:23).
The Apostle James tells us that when we die our spirit is separated from our body. James 2:26 (NKJV)-26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. He informs us that we have a spirit. He didn’t say a body without a soul is dead. Jesus in His resurrected body makes a distinction between spirit and body. Luke 24:39 (NKJV)-39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
What does your spirit look like?
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Thessalonians prays for the Christians there. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV)-23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice He defines them as spirit, soul, and body. So we are not just a soul and a body. Everyone who is born has a spirit, soul, and body. God breathed His life-giving spirit into Adam and he became a living being. Genesis 2:7 (NKJV)-7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. When sin entered they died spiritually and then they died physically many, many years later. We may be spiritually dead or spiritually alive. What determines that is whether we receive or reject Jesus Christ. (Eph 2:1-3, Eph 2:15 ).
When we are Born Again we become spiritually alive. The Bible says we become a New Creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)-17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Our Bodies and our souls don’t change. What changed is our spirit. Is there an Old Testament type or shadow of what Humans would look like? Yes! It is seen in the Tabernacle that God instructed the Israelites to build. There were three parts to it. As seen in this diagram. We also are a three-part or a triune being.
Galatians 6:15 (NKJV)-15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
In Ephesians, Paul prayed for the Christians that they would be strengthened by the Holy Spirit through the Inner Man. The Inner man is the spirit of man. Ephesians 3:16 (NKJV)-16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, He tells us in Romans that it is with His spirit, the inward man that He delights in the law of God. ( Rom 7:22). It is the Holy Spirit that bears witness with our Born Again spirit that we are the children of God. (Rom 8:16). The witness is not with our body or with our soul. That is with our feelings and emotions. This is important because when it comes to our walk of faith we can’t go by our feelings alone. ( 2 Cor 5:7). I remember when I first got saved I didn’t feel saved. My feelings and actions weren’t totally in line with what the Bible said I should be. I had to trust what God’s Word said about my salvation. ( Rom 10:9-10).
In the book of Luke Jesus tells the story of the man named Lazarus who died and was in paradise, Abraham’s bosom. He had a physical appearance, a soul with emotions, and feelings. He could feel, hear, see, and speak. He was aware of his surroundings. We can conclude He had a spirit and a soul awaiting a resurrected body. He was recognized by the rich man. We can conclude that his spirit looks like the physical body that he had before he died. It wasn’t some kind of spiritual blob or immateriality without form.( Luke 16:19-31). The Apostle Paul in his New Testament letter speaks of our spirit as an Inner man or new man. Ephesians 4:24 (NKJV)-24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Colossians 3:10 (NKJV)-10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, Apostle Peter calls the spirit man the hidden person of the heart. 1 Peter 3:4 (NKJV)-4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.( Prov 20:27).
We are not identified by just our soul( mind, will, emotions) or our body. We are not identified as Jews or Gentiles but as a New Man. The spirit of man. ( Eph 2:15). This is how God sees us. We need to see ourselves as a New Creation. A spiritual being with a soul and a body. Our spirit I believe looks just like our physical body. I believe when we die our spirit and our soul go to be with Jesus in heaven.2 Corinthians 5:8 (NKJV)-8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. ( Eccl 3:21). An interesting verse in Corinthians tells of Apostle Paul’s experience of being caught up to the third heaven while still alive. (2 Cor. 12:1-4). ” I know a man in Christ.” Paul speaking of himself. He was conscious of where he was, what he heard, and what he was seeing as a man in Christ, a spiritual being. He couldn’t discern whether in the body or out of the body. I think that is why our physical body, our soulish part, and our spiritual body are so closely connected. That is why only the Word of God can separate it for us ( Heb 4:12). Even angels, demons, and Satan have a spiritual body or form They can feel, see, hear, speak, and move. They can be recognized if seen in the spiritual realm ( Psalm 104:4, Zack 4:6, Luke 1:19, Luke 10:18, Luke 11:24, Matt 8:28-29). God is a spirit being. He has a spiritual form ( John 4:24, John 1:18, John 5:37). in the physical. (Luke 11:24).
In Your Born Again spirit, you are not deficient, incomplete, lacking, impoverished, bankrupt, or missing anything in any way. In Your Spirit-man, you are complete, worthy, whole, holy, perfect, blameless, sanctified, and righteous. You may not feel this way but this is how God sees you. God sees us in Christ. He sees us as a New Creation. So many times we see and focus on our failures, shortcomings, insecurities, past mistakes, and deficiencies. How bad we had it, or our bad upbringing. We need to see things differently. We need a new vision of who we are in Christ. ( 2 Cor 5:21, Col 2:10, Eph 4:24). You are in Christ if you are Born Again. It’s just that our soul-(our will, feelings, and emotions) needs to catch up with who we are in the spirit and who we are in Christ. Then our behavior and actions will change. We become more like Christ. This comes with the renewal of our minds daily.- Romans 12:1-2.
This is a game changer in living the life of faith. We are living from the inside out. We are not living by our feelings, emotions, attitudes, and physical appetites. We are not living just by physical limitations either. The New Man is righteous, holy, and blameless. How do you see yourself from day to day? Do you see yourself as poor, sick, and tired? Do you see yourself as fearful, a failure, incomplete, and disappointing God? How we think in our hearts determines a lot in how we treat ourselves, and others and how we view life ( Prov 23:7a). 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV) –7 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. The two become one in Him. We don’t have two spirits. The Greek word for Joined is to cleave, to Glue, to cement together: It is exclusive of another. The same Greek Word in Matthew 19:5 (NKJV) –5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? We are one spirit with the spirit of Christ. Acts 17:28 (NKJV) -28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, (Identity)as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.‘In Him- in Christ, we live, not in our past, not in our failures, not in our hurts and pains that we have gone through! We are living from the inside out! We are just like Jesus in our spirit. 1 John 4:17 (NKJV)-17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. How are we in this world? We have a spirit, soul, and body. The Bible tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. ( 1 Cor 3:16, 1 Cor 6:19-20). Apostle Paul tells us we will bear the image of the heavenly man.( 1Cor. 15:49). A spirit and soul with a resurrected body that looks like Jesus. ( Rom 8:29).
This can be a lot to comprehend. I don’t think we fully understand it all. I know I don’t. Thank God we can grow in this revelation and understanding of who we are in Christ. We are so used to going by what life dictates, our feelings, emotions, and physical appetites. What we feel, hear, taste, touch, and smell. To live from our spirit is a whole new paradigm. To live this way is to live by the truth of God’s Word.
The Word of God reflects back to us like a mirror of who we are in the spirit.
We can’t see our spirit that is why God’s Word is so important. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)-18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. ( James 1:23-25). James tells us don’t forget what kind of man you are! That is our problem at times. We forget! That’s why we have to remind ourselves. It is Christ in us the hope of glory! ( Col 1:27). We are who God says we are! This is walking in the spirit. ( Gal 5:16).
When you look in the mirror what do you see? Christ in you or your fleshly self? Do you see all shortcomings, failures, or even your ego, pride, earthly successes, and accomplishments? You may trust in your own morality and good behavior. The truth is God sees you differently. You were lost and dead spiritually. By receiving Christ, you were made alive spiritually. You are loved by God, You are forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Christ. His love is shed abroad in your heart. You are accepted not rejected. You are a son and a daughter of God( Rom 5:5, Eph 1:6). You are more than a touchy, feeling person. You are a New Creation in Christ! What we need is to be spiritually minded. The only way to think differently is to renew our minds with God’s Word. Romans 8:6 (NKJV)-6 For to be carnally (Fleshly) minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ( Rom 8:5). It is through your spirit and the renewing of your mind that you can harness your feelings, emotions, and physical appetites. This is why you can walk in the love of God and not be controlled by them anymore. You can be Christ-centered and not self-centered.
In conclusion: You have a new identity in Christ through the Born Again experience. ( John 3:3-8). Don’t let the Devil steal it! He wants more than anything to keep you in the sphere of your feelings, emotions, and physical appetites. He wants to keep you in your past. He is the accuser of the brethren. He is a thief and a liar. There is no truth in him. (John 10:10, John 8:44, Rev. 12:10). The Bible tells us to acknowledge every good thing that is in us in Christ. (Philemon 1:6). Are you telling yourself daily that you are loved by God? That you are the righteousness of God in Christ? That you are complete in Christ. That you are qualified, rendered fit, and enabled. That you are accepted in the beloved? That you see yourself as the victor and not a victim. That you are the prosperous and healed of the Lord. That you have a hope and a future. ( Jer 29:11). Thank God for A.A. It has helped a lot of people. But you are more than: “My Name is John and I am an alcoholic”. If you are Born Again! You are a New Man in Christ! That is the real you! How do you see yourself today? It’s time to look in the mirror of God’s Word.
In Christ’s Love;
Brent and Linda Bushen
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