The Relationship of
Flesh and Spirit
Physical Things vs. Spiritual Things
"...Ye MUST be born again" John 3:7 KJV
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
(John 3:5-6 KJV)
Each man and woman born into this world is a being made of three (3) distinct components:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV)
1: The BODY. This is your PHYSICAL component of being. It is flesh made from a collection of unremarkable mineral elements (but is mostly water) and is in harmony with the nature and spirit of this world. It grows, matures, begins to deteriorate, eventually dies, and then decomposes back into its constituent elements and remains a part of the dust of the world. The body is a part of you but is NOT ALL of what defines who YOU are.
"And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,"
(Proverbs 5:11 KJV)
2: The SOUL. This is who YOU are; it is a part of your SPIRITUAL component. This is your individuality, your "I AM" so to speak, your "heart." Although your individual soul did not exist before your mother and father procreated you, it will exist forever. It cannot be killed by man:
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
(Matt. 10:28 KJV)
When your body dies your soul (YOU) will leave the body of flesh:
"And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin."
(Genesis 35:18 KJV)
3: The SPIRIT. This is the source of power and control for both your body and soul; it is either evil or good, darkness or light, unholy or Holy, unclean or clean, of Satan or of God:
"But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of."
(Luke 9:55 KJV)
Where your soul spends eternity after it departs is determined by your personal relationship to God (saved or unsaved). You are an eternal being. You determine your own destiny. In fact, the Bible says that you are a "god" (small "g"):
"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"
(John 10:34 KJV)"So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
(Gen 1:27 KJV)
(see also
Isaiah 41:23
and Psalms 82:6)
The unsaved man or woman,
those who have only the first birth, are in eternal
danger. Since the body and soul of the unsaved man or
woman is bonded to the dead spirit of this present world,
then when this world's physical elements and spiritual
components (including "Death") are cast into
the lake of fire (see Rev 20:13-15), those eternal souls, living or
already dead, will perish with them.
So, what exactly is the difference between the relationship of the unsaved soul and the saved soul? What does being "Born Again" actually mean? The answer is something that God does for you at the moment you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior: An OPERATION.
Have you ever been
operated on by a doctor? The doctor uses a knife to cut
away something that is diseased. Well, God's "operation"
is similar. Using the Sword of the Lord instead of a
scalpel, the Great Physician (Luke 5:31) severs the direct (but unseen)
connection between your soul and your flesh:
"For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
(Heb. 4:12 KJV)"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead."
(Col. 2:12 KJV)
This "operation" is a spiritual circumcision. Your flesh is cut away from your soul and you are given God's Spirit:
"But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God."
(Romans 2:29 KJV)
After you have accepted the free gift of salvation through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as you grow and mature in the Lord (your continuing sanctification), you will begin to notice some changes in how you think. You will find that your heart (soul) grows more and more in agreement with God and His law (which is spiritual), but your flesh will still want to go the way of the world. All true born-again Christians have a split personality so to speak. And even when you work not to sin (you don't work to stay saved), sin still happens along your path of Christian growth. Paul sums it up quite well in the book of Romans:
"I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
(Romans 7:21-25 KJV)
Your soul is saved, but your flesh, your present physical body, is still dead and cannot be salvaged. It will perish and return to the earth (you get a new body later). Your present flesh will still lust to do those things that are unlawful, while at the same time your heart and the Spirit will condemn those thoughts and feelings and empower you to avoid the temptation. But no Christian is perfect in the flesh, and as you go through this life you will sometimes give in to those feelings and will sin in the flesh (but not in your heart).
FACT: Christian people DO SIN at times (but in the flesh only) after they are saved:
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
(1 John 1:8 KJV)"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:"
(1 John 2:1 KJV)
When this happens, and the guilt begins to set in, the Christian starts worrying about losing his/her salvation or committing the unpardonable sin. Well, it can't happen. FACT: It is NOT POSSIBLE for a Christian's SOUL to sin, because that soul has been born again by His (God's) seed into God's family:
"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
(1 John 3:9 KJV)
Physical circumcision is permanent and cannot be reversed; once that flesh is cut away it is gone forever. The same metaphor applies to circumcision of the heart; once that body of flesh is cut away your soul can't be reattached to it. And Praise God for that!
Salvation is the FREE GIFT of God, and eternal; it is not earned (or retained) by good works:
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
(Romans 3:23 KJV)"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
(Gal 2:16 KJV)
If you are not good enough to earn it, why do so many Christian people think that they can un-earn it? Once you have given your soul to God it is His forever! If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ then you are loved of God and don't have to worry about holding onto God because HE WILL HOLD ONTO YOU.
Here is an off-site link that further deals with the "Tripartite Man" (body, soul, & spirit). Here is another off-site link that "rightly divides" the differences between Church Age Salvation and Tribulation Salvation.
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 8:38-39 KJV)
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:5-8)