Body, Soul, and Spirit
Tripartite Beings
Body, Soul, and Spirit
We are a spirit. That's what sort of being we are.
We have a soul--mind, will, and emotions. That’s what makes up our personality.
We live in a body. That's what Paul calls, "this earthly tent we live in" (see 1 Corinthians 5:1ff).
Our spirit is who we are at the core.
The Greek word for it is "pneuma" from which we get the English word “pneumatic.” Pneumatic tires are filled with air, or “breath.” Our spirit IS us. It is also part of our inner self--the parts of us that others cannot physically see. When I speak of our identity, I am speaking of our spirit-being. Our identity is who we ARE not what we DO. Sometimes the word "heart" is used as a synonym for spirit. When it is, the Bible is usually speaking of "the seat of desire", our most basic or true desires.
Our soul is also part of our inner self.
The Greek word for our soul is "psuche," This is the word from which we derive words such as “psyche”, as in psychology or psychosomatic. This is our personality. It is a kind of interface between our spirit, our being, and our body, including our brain. Our soul essentially expresses our spirit to the world through our body. It also processes what our body encounters and translates it back to our spirit.
Our soul has three components. Mind, will, and emotions.
Our mind is how we think.
The bodily organ that is primary in processing and expressing our thoughts is our brain.
Our will is the way we choose or decide.
People often say we have “free will” because we can choose to trust God or not. It is not wrong to think of it that way, but theologians don't like it. They want us to say that we have “free choice” because while we can choose our beliefs, attitudes, and actions, we cannot cause things to happen using our will. Theologians want to be very careful using the term free will because for them it implies that we can derive from ourselves rather than deriving from God. That's probably way too much information, but I wanted to be clear about what I am not saying. We do not have freedom to cause things by an act of our will. We do have freedom to choose, and our choices have real consequences.
Our emotions are sort of reflectors.
Taking input from our senses and our spirit, our emotions express feelings. These feelings can reflect reality. If you are chased by a bear, you will feel fear, and fear is very appropriate and reflects the truth about what is going on. On the other hand, feelings can also reflect things that are untrue. If I fail to respond to your email for a few weeks, you might feel disappointed, hurt, or even shunned. None of those things are likely to be true. Similarly, if you are watching a movie, it may invoke feelings of happiness, joy, fear, anger, even sadness. Nothing in the movie is actually affecting you, yet your feelings respond as if it were.
OK, all that to say this. When scripture refers to "the flesh" (Greek sarx) it is not speaking of anything that is part of us. Rather, it is speaking of the way natural humans act and think in the world apart from God. It is speaking of the worldly systems of making oneself acceptable. It is speaking of living life based on what seems right to our feelings, to our base, or "earthy" desires. 1 John 2:16 puts it this way, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." (NASB 2020) All that is “the flesh”, but it isn’t “our flesh”. It isn’t our body. It isn’t part of us at all.
A caveat is important here. Both the Greek words (sarx) and (soma) mean flesh and both can refer to physical flesh. Soma almost always does. Sarx only occasionally does. Translators figure that out from context and grammatical usage. As a practical matter, if we are careful,we can usually tell the difference when we are reading. If scripture is speaking of things like "the desires of the flesh" you can see that it can't be talking about hands, feet, and spleens.
When I am teaching, I try to be very careful to avoid using the terms “my flesh” or “our flesh.” I take pains to avoid those because I do not want people to be confused and wind up thinking that they are somehow at war with themselves. Saint, nothing in you is unredeemed. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 helps us see this, saying, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) and body (soma) be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NASB 2020)
Paul is speaking of all our tripartite components including our physical bodies, our (soma). He prays that each of our three parts, two inner and invisible and one outer and visible, will be kept complete and without blame. Just like nothing can be kept fresh if it was rotten to begin with, nothing can be kept "blameless and complete” that wasn't already blameless and complete.
Saint, you have three parts and none of them is sinful. The power of sin remains in the world. It came through Adam. Like the weather, it can affect you. In Romans Chapter Seven, the Apostle Paul speaks of “sin living in” him. Some teach that the power is sin is like a parasite living in us. It is in us, but it is not part of us.
Let’s face it, the world is full of evil of every sort. Sin is everywhere and we are not immune to the effects of evil and sin around us. It pervades our day-to-day lives and pressures us constantly. The temptation it engenders can be strong and we sometimes, maybe even often, fail to escape it. Nevertheless, the truth remains that our identity, who we are, is saints, not sinners.
You are free, my friend. God says that you are just like Abraham. You may recall that Abraham had an illicit relationship with a slave girl in a misguided attempt to ensure God’s promise to him would come true. That’s an activity “according to the flesh.” It’s sinful. Yet in Romans 4:18–22 we find this: “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (NASB 2020)
Your Life is safely encrypted in God right along with the Lord Jesus.
You are now spotless, blameless, and above reproach.
The Lord Jesus Christ has saved you; body, soul, and spirit.
