Three Parts, One Human

Three Parts One Human

We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body.

Jesus said that what is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. (see John 3:6) So, when we are born again, we are born of God, born of the Spirit. Therefore, what is born is a new spirit. That’s what 2 Corinthians 5:17 is talking about when it tells us that we who are in Christ are new creatures, new creations.

That said, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul talks about the fact that Father sanctifies us completely and preserves us blameless body, soul, and spirit.

So, while what is born is spirit, our inner self, or soul (our mind, will, and emotions) and our outer self, or body, is also compatible and acceptable to God because they are part of us in that they are how our spirit is expressed, or manifested.

Some think that we have only two parts. They lump soul and spirit into one. While scripture very often speaks of the inner self or the heart, our unseen components, it also speaks of all three, as we saw above. We find this even in the Greek. There are separate words for our body, our soul, and our spirit. Our soma is our physical body, our psuche is our soul (we get the word psyche from this), and pneuma is our spirit (this means breath—think pneumatic tire).

All of you is acceptable to God.
All of you is compatible with God.
It cannot be otherwise.
He lives in the holy place.
He lives in You!