The spirit, soul, and body connection
posted Thursday, November 3, 2005 :: 7:56 AM
We do not have to be at the mercy of capricious feelings. We can
consistently exercise self-control over feelings, even feelings induced
by poor health. Our feelings can reflect truth. But we have to first
understand the mind and heart connection, and to understand that, we
have to understand the spirit, soul, and body connection.
Humans are three-part beings: spirit, soul, and body. The spirit belongs to the spiritual world, the body belongs to the natural world. The natural world is in fact the shadow cast
by the spiritual world, which is the concrete reality. What our senses
tell us about the natural and spiritual world, i.e., that the natural
is concrete and the spiritual is shadow, is exactly contradictory to
Gods word.
Remember Biblical principal number one: Gods word is absolute truth, the perfect description of reality.
When what we are perceiving as reality through the filter of our
senses, thoughts, and feelings in this natural world contradicts Gods
word, it is this fallen natural world, or our perception of it, which
is wrong, NOT Gods word.
So where does the soul (mind,
thoughts, will, emotions, personality) fit in? I believe the soul is
the interface between the spirit and the body, which allows an eternal
spiritual being like ourselves to dwell in a fleshly, natural body.
The soul can be influenced by the spirit, or the body. In an unregenerate man, it does not make much difference, since his spirit is dead. The unregenerate man is a slave to his flesh. The spirit of the new man, however, has been made alive together with Christ, and has been freed from slavery to sin and the flesh. The new man can choose to walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Choice happens in the soul, since choosing is an act of will.
to be continued ...
Previously: Feelings, the unreliable barometer
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Update: continued in The mind and heart connection
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