August 30, 2020
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Last time we looked at the concept of sin, and where it originated. We recognized sin started with Adam, and since that day we all have a sinful nature. None of us likes to be reminded of sin, yet it is something each of us falls into, time and time again.
Romans 3:23 tells us "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"
From age 10 onwards I have wanted to be a faithful follower of Jesus, and be obedient. Yet I had a continual struggle against sin.
This led me to worry about the state of my conversion. If I was a born-again Christian, how come I seemed to mess up time and time again? I read the verse in 1 John 3:9 which says "Whoever is born of God doth not sin", and wondered what was wrong with me!
I imagine I am not the only one with these questions.
Today we are going to find out why Christians still sin.
Spirit, Soul and Body
The key verse to understanding this, is 1 Thessalonians 5:23. "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".
A literary form often used in the Bible is repetition. Here, a concept is stated once ("sanctify you wholly"), and then is repeated in different words ("your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless").
From this verse, we understand that the whole of "me" is made up of three distinct parts, "spirit and soul and body".
Here is another way to express this:
SPIRIT
+
SOUL
+
BODY
--------
ME
So now the question is, what are these three distinct parts? We will look at each of them in turn.
BODY
The part of us called "body" is probably the easiest to understand.
This is the physical aspect to "me". It is made of flesh and blood and bone. It has a particular shape which defines me as a physical person. It has a head (which includes the physical brain), a torso, and the limbs. The body is physical, and is mortal, it dies.
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens … earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: … that mortality might be swallowed up of life." - 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 .
During our physical lifetime, the physical body is the temporary physical house or home or container where our spirit and soul dwell.
SPIRIT
+
SOUL
+
BODY = temporary physical house for spirit and soul
--------
ME
So now, let's take a look at that part of us known as spirit.
SPIRIT
Before we knew God, we already had a spirit component. We were born with it. “Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?” - Ecclesiastes 3:21. Also, “... the Lord, which ... forms the spirit of man within him.” - Zechariah 12:1. These verses relate to all human beings, not solely Christians.
This spirit of man is what makes us alive physically. When Adam was created, God “... breathed into his nostrils the breath (Heb. neshamah, breath or spirit) of life; and man became a living soul (Heb. nephesh, soul, self, life, living being).” - Genesis 2:7. This spirit of man imparts physical life to us.
SPIRIT = our human spirit that makes us physically alive
+
SOUL
+
BODY = temporary physical house for spirit and soul
--------
ME
So what about the Holy Spirit?
THE HOLY SPIRIT
This human spirit is not the same as the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of man gives us life. So it is in us from the start of life, in other words from conception.
The Holy Spirit on the other hand, is generally only given to us upon our receiving Jesus into our life. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. - Acts 2:38.
The Holy Spirit comes after our conversion. With rare biblical exceptions, we are not born with the Holy Spirit. So the spirit of man we have from conception, is not the same as the Holy Spirit, who comes later.
In a spiritual sense, our human spirit is dead. "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." - Ephesians 2:1. Our nature was to be disobedient.
Our human spirit needs to be quickened or given spiritual life, by the Holy Spirit. “Who also has made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” - 2 Corinthians 3:6. “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” - John 6:63.
Before Jesus came into our life we were spiritually dead. But when we surrender and invite Jesus into our life, he comes to make his home in us, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." - John 14:23.
"I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth … for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." - John 14:17. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" - 1 Corinthians 6:19.
When we surrender and invite Jesus in, God's presence brings life. God is spirit and he now dwells in that part of us called spirit. God is sinless and holy. His presence in our spirit makes our spirit sinless and holy (sanctified). We are forgiven by Jesus sacrifice, and sanctified by Gods presence "... ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:11.
CONCLUSION
Summarising what we have covered so far:
We are composed of three parts, spirit, soul and body.
Our body is our temporary physical house which houses our spirit and our soul.
Our human spirit is a spiritual component that gives our inanimate body, physical life.
Our human spirit is spiritually dead, inanimate.
When we surrender to Jesus and welcome him, he, the Father and the Holy Spirit come to dwell in us.
The presence of God (Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit) now makes our human spirit alive and holy.
In other words, after surrendering to Jesus, this is who we are:
SPIRIT = our human spirit that makes us physically alive + God (Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit) who makes us spiritually alive
+
SOUL
+
BODY = temporary physical house for spirit and soul
--------
ME
Next time we will explore the matter of the soul. This will give us a lot of clarity regarding our motivation to sin, even as Christians!