Difference between Soul and Spirit

[friend of]

To start off, I'm more inclined to think of the "Soul" being more interchangeable with the concepts of "Mind" and "Heart" than Spirit is. I will attempt to explain why using scripture below, but first I'd like to get a few premises up. I believe the Spirit aspect of our being is not entirely "Ours" but is agenic of either the Spirit of God, or the spirit of the evil unclean ones. When we are born again and the the spiritual seed of God is planted and grows in us, we begin to possess that which can be called our "Spirit." We become "born of God." We are given "new life" — "born imperishable" just as the Holy Spirit is imperishable. Saved Christians have Body, Soul and Spirit. Unregenerate men and woman only have Body and Soul, and an unformed spirit. Children of perdition, Anti-christs, have Body, Soul and are infested and controlled by unclean, evil spirits. That's why 1 John 4:3 talks about the "spirit of the antichrist."

John 3:5
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.

However, it is now my opinion that before coming to God, a man does not really have a true Spirit aspect to his being. He is influenced by both divine and profane spirits from beyond this realm, both sides vying for his attention and energy and the right to dwell within his Soul and influence the fruit he bears in life. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is then when one's Soul becomes so polluted, so vile and reprehensible, so evil and worthless that the angels of God, by order of the Holy Spirit, can only abandon that soul to the evil ones who then claim it as theirs and drag it to Hell with them. That person is then a BEAST who's Soul no longer bares any resemblance to the image of God at all. He or she is 2/3 of what God intended us to be (aka, 0.666 ad infinitum) A body, a soul but no SPIRIT. The SPIRIT of God is what raised Christ from the dead (happy easter) and that same Spirit is what raises us to eternal life.

Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

PREMISES
1) We know God is the Holy Spirit (John 4:24)
2) We interact with a spiritual realm that we do not fully comprehend on this earth.
3) In this spiritual realm, angels are warring for our souls in ways we cannot comprehend. If we look at—

Mark 5:9
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Many unclean spirits (demons) were in the man (a living soul).

Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Luke 11:26
Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

This is why I believe that no Christian who is born again indwelt with the Holy Spirit can be, at the same time, POSSESSED (indwelt) with unclean spirits simultaneously. They cannot stand in the presence of the Holy Spirit directly residing in our vessel (Soul). We can still be OPPRESSED by evil spirits (obviously). What this indicates is that we can be INFLUENCED by spirits in the spiritual realm. We are still tempted even though we are born again, after all.

Hard liquor is referred to as "spirits" because they leave your Soul susceptible to the spiritual realm in a special way. Why? Because the altering of his consciousness opens him/her up to the spirit realms influence. God wants us to be temperate and sober of mind and not drunk on wine, which is dissipation. Probably the main reason Drunkenness is so detestable to God that he says no drunkard will enter the Kingdom of heaven. An alcoholic is going to be more prone to emotion, anger, revelry, violence, folly, and fruit that is opposed to the fruit of the divine Spirit.

If an ungodly drunkard continues in his way, is it any wonder that he will wax worse and worse until he is totally under the control and authority of unclean spirits that abuse his body for sin and destroy his Soul (mind, heart) in the process, leaving no chance at authentic Spiritual life?

Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

1 John 4:1-4
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

I hope these verses are helpful for establishing what I wrote at the start of this thread. They speak about spirits interacting with us, "confessing" things to us, influencing our thoughts (mind/soul) and trying to move us to that final decision: Are we spiritually born children of God...? or are we of the devil?

If we die without the Spirit of God, then we perish eternally, for we do not possess an eternal Spirit of our own that would quicken us from the dead. Only the eternal Spirit of God can make Life from Death. Thus Jesus says "thou must be born again!"

—
I know I should be prepared for a backlash here, as there are many differing opinions on this rather intangible subject. But I think it could prove to be a worthwhile discussion to flesh out (no pun intended). If you think I'm dead wrong please don't be afraid to say it and correct me, but use scripture as I have (of course) otherwise I'll have to disregard with prejudice and not feel bad about doing it either

 

[Episkopos]

We know we can be IN the flesh or IN the Spirit. That gives us (soul) a few options. We can go one way or the other.

If you take away all our senses...sight, hearing, touch, taste, feeling...what would we perceive?

Would we be in total darkness?

Or would we live in an inner light?

If we walk according to the flesh...there would only be darkness since we are relying only on natural faculties.

But if we are walking in the light by the Spirit...then even without our natural senses we would not be in darkness within us. That's how we know we are in the light.

The Spirit provides us with other faculties that are tied to the spiritual realm where Christ is. Spiritual life is access to the presence of God.

So then without the Holy Spirit our soul is in darkness both spiritually AND naturally.

Think about this...why do so many people close their eyes to pray? Is this not to focus more attention on the things that the natural senses can't perceive?

 

[APAK]

@friend of this OP is for mature believers and it is a great start....I have some similar concepts. So you are saying that the spirit you are naturally born with is 'open' to either good or evil filling it, not both and also influenced by either or both....good stuff

@Episkopos I also like your deep thinking response..Sampson's strength and power increased when he was blind in 'darkness'...although could see more clearly than ever.

Blessings,

APAK

 

[brakelite]

We are souls. The soul is the combination of spirit and body. The whole person.
And God breathed into man (body) the breath of life (spirit) and man became a living soul.
The above I can be certain of, because it is straight out of Genesis/scripture. Below...well that is assumption based on the above.
The soul therefore is that which people see, react to, relate with...the whole person. It is that part of us which without the physical, would cease to exist. The thoughts...dependant upon the mind, therefore if the brain is dead, the thoughts cease to exist. Dreams...likewise. Feelings...all dependant on physical senses whether they be emotional (mind) or touch,sight, taste, smell.
The spirit is that which people do not see, but are as tangible and as real as the flesh body in front of them, but are not dependant upon the physical. I would suggest that the spirit is the conscience...that part of us which relates to God in the supernatural...and how we communicate with Him. It is that part of us that returns to God upon death, but does not constitute the real "us", as it lacks the physical, emotional, sensual soul, that we all are. Hence the need, and hope, for the resurrection.

 

[APAK]

We are souls. The soul is the combination of spirit and body. The whole person.
And God breathed into man (body) the breath of life (spirit) and man became a living soul.
The above I can be certain of, because it is straight out of Genesis/scripture. Below...well that is assumption based on the above.
The soul therefore is that which people see, react to, relate with...the whole person. It is that part of us which without the physical, would cease to exist. The thoughts...dependant upon the mind, therefore if the brain is dead, the thoughts cease to exist. Dreams...likewise. Feelings...all dependant on physical senses whether they be emotional (mind) or touch,sight, taste, smell.
The spirit is that which people do not see, but are as tangible and as real as the flesh body in front of them, but are not dependant upon the physical. I would suggest that the spirit is the conscience...that part of us which relates to God in the supernatural...and how we communicate with Him. It is that part of us that returns to God upon death, but does not constitute the real "us", as it lacks the physical, emotional, sensual soul, that we all are. Hence the need, and hope, for the resurrection.

Learning more together by asking more questions for both of us....

So our mind is part of the brain? Isn't the mind a component of the human spirit? The mind is the interface to the brain? The other component, as the seat of the will or the 'I am,' is the heart? And I agree when the spirit (the mind component) disengages from the dead brain, it also stops functioning without another body interface, unless we are also interfaced with the mind component of Christ's spirit before we expire....something to think about then...?

And so the soul is the body + spirit in union, then are we still called a soul when we possess an immortal body, or it is just for the earthly body? Then if it is the former, then Jesus must be also a soul today, right?

Then my follow-up ??? are about the Lake of Fire...see where I'm going then?

No test here as I'm also learning as you...from you and others

Bless you, APAK

 

[Wafer]

Did you get confused somehow? Your post has no relation to your title.

If you want to know what a word means according to biblical usage you look up the first usage. Then you consider other uses because sometimes the meaning changes.

Genesis 1:21 King James Version (KJV)
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

The word 'creature' is Hebrew nephesh, soul. Soul is a Hebrew concept, a synonym for a living breathing creature. When the creature stops breathing, the soul is dead. Anybody who uses the word in any other context either doesn't know what they are talking about, or is trying to sell something you don't need. Except musicians. Musicians are cool, and they know exactly what they mean by "soul".

Spirit is anything that cannot be measured. It is contrasted by science, which is anything that can be measured. There is no doubt about existence. We talk about love and hate and believing. All those exist but can not be measured. Spirit beings are a different story. The only way we can know anything about the spirit domain is if some spirit chooses to reveal something. All the revelations have been collected into a book.

There are three sources of spiritual information: God, Satan, and man's own heart. The only way you can discern one from another is to compare it to revelations recorded in the bible. That is sometimes difficult because of the natural tendency to prefer making up clever versions of human philosophy instead. You just have to work on that yourself.

Read a chapter of Proverbs every day. Proverbs has 31 chapters so you can keep your place by just looking at a calendar. There is no religion or nothing in Proverbs and you don't have to believe anything. Just read to find wisdom. When you are comfortable with that, then read the bible from Romans to 2 Thessalonians over and over until you start to remember what it says. That is the part that applies to Christians.

 

[Hope in God]

Man was created with a threefold makeup: spirit, soul and body. These parts are separate and the work that takes place within each are known as justification (spirit), sanctification (soul) and glorification (body). Paul, in writing to the Corinthians related well these workings.

2 Corinthians 1:10
Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

When we were justified, our spirits were quickened, made alive, and, according to Heb. 12:23, made perfect. The spirit of a just man is made perfect. The work in our spirits is then complete and we are, at that time, delivered from the penalty of sin.

As we go on to know the Lord, our souls are transformed through sanctification as we put on Christ, run the race, lay aside every weight, and other metaphors expressed in Scripture. Daily we are being delivered in our souls from the power of sin.

In the end of our journey, when we go on to be with the Lord, our bodies will be changed from corruptible to incorruptible. This work is known as glorification, and is the ultimate deliverance from the very presence of sin.

 

[lforrest]

Does the spirit grow after being born again?

 

[Wafer]

Does the spirit grow after being born again?

The bible says that is one result of speaking in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14

It is not a gift: it is a manifestation of the holy spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:32 King James Version (KJV)
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

 

[Hope in God]

I see through Scripture that the spirit in man, which is made alive through justification, is made perfect. But the Holy Spirit can be increased by a double portion. (2 Kings 2:9)

Also, there is a building up and a stirring up of the gift.
Jude 1:20
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

Ephesians 2:22
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

2 Timothy 1:6
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

Also, Solomon compared the way of the spirit, or likened it, to the building of a child's body in a woman.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

 

[lforrest]

Reasoning by the imagery of the tabernacle, the spirit is like the Holy of Holies and the Holy place is like the soul. These inner and outer sanctuaries are separated by the veil. This implies separation of soul and spirit.

Perhaps the spirit needs to be separated from the soul. Then we are resurrected with Christ, and the spirit is sheltered in his presence for the day of the Lord.

 

[marks]

Does the spirit grow after being born again?

I would think it depends on what you mean by grow. Grow how?

 

[Hope in God]

The spirit is either dead or alive, nothing in between. It is separated from the other two parts (soul and body) because, as we can easily see in Scripture, the contents of the soul includes the mind, intents, thoughts, imaginations, attitudes, heart and emotions, none of which the dead unquickened spirit (prior to salvation) is said to contain.

When David prayed asking the Lord, he was not implying that his spirit can become unclean. The word spirit here in David's writing is nothing more than David's attitude, such as when one might say "in the spirit of joy".
Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Take not thy holy spirit from me? You think the Lord would ever remove His Holy Spirit from anyone of his children? No! This spirit is attitude.

 

[marks]

Reasoning by the imagery of the tabernacle, the spirit is like the Holy of Holies and the Holy place is like the soul. These inner and outer sanctuaries are separated by the veil. This implies separation of soul and spirit.

Perhaps the spirit needs to be separated from the soul. Then we are resurrected with Christ, and the spirit is sheltered in his presence for the day of the Lord.

Hi lforrest,

I see the soul and spirit separated by the veil of the flesh. All are body with soul, but only those alive in Christ are spirit. I see spirit living in the heavenly realm, and so we don't yet see who we truly are.

It gets more interesting the more I think about it.

Much love!

 

[Jon Mathews]

To start off, I'm more inclined to think of the "Soul" being more interchangeable with the concepts of "Mind" and "Heart" than Spirit is. I will attempt to explain why using scripture below, but first I'd like to get a few premises up. I believe the Spirit aspect of our being is not entirely "Ours" but is agenic of either the Spirit of God, or the spirit of the evil unclean ones. When we are born again and the the spiritual seed of God is planted and grows in us, we begin to possess that which can be called our "Spirit." We become "born of God." We are given "new life" — "born imperishable" just as the Holy Spirit is imperishable. Saved Christians have Body, Soul and Spirit. Unregenerate men and woman only have Body and Soul, and an unformed spirit. Children of perdition, Anti-christs, have Body, Soul and are infested and controlled by unclean, evil spirits. That's why 1 John 4:3 talks about the "spirit of the antichrist."

John 3:5
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.

However, it is now my opinion that before coming to God, a man does not really have a true Spirit aspect to his being. He is influenced by both divine and profane spirits from beyond this realm, both sides vying for his attention and energy and the right to dwell within his Soul and influence the fruit he bears in life. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is then when one's Soul becomes so polluted, so vile and reprehensible, so evil and worthless that the angels of God, by order of the Holy Spirit, can only abandon that soul to the evil ones who then claim it as theirs and drag it to Hell with them. That person is then a BEAST who's Soul no longer bares any resemblance to the image of God at all. He or she is 2/3 of what God intended us to be (aka, 0.666 ad infinitum) A body, a soul but no SPIRIT. The SPIRIT of God is what raised Christ from the dead (happy easter) and that same Spirit is what raises us to eternal life.

Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

PREMISES
1) We know God is the Holy Spirit (John 4:24)
2) We interact with a spiritual realm that we do not fully comprehend on this earth.
3) In this spiritual realm, angels are warring for our souls in ways we cannot comprehend. If we look at—

Mark 5:9
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Many unclean spirits (demons) were in the man (a living soul).

Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Luke 11:26
Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

This is why I believe that no Christian who is born again indwelt with the Holy Spirit can be, at the same time, POSSESSED (indwelt) with unclean spirits simultaneously. They cannot stand in the presence of the Holy Spirit directly residing in our vessel (Soul). We can still be OPPRESSED by evil spirits (obviously). What this indicates is that we can be INFLUENCED by spirits in the spiritual realm. We are still tempted even though we are born again, after all.

Hard liquor is referred to as "spirits" because they leave your Soul susceptible to the spiritual realm in a special way. Why? Because the altering of his consciousness opens him/her up to the spirit realms influence. God wants us to be temperate and sober of mind and not drunk on wine, which is dissipation. Probably the main reason Drunkenness is so detestable to God that he says no drunkard will enter the Kingdom of heaven. An alcoholic is going to be more prone to emotion, anger, revelry, violence, folly, and fruit that is opposed to the fruit of the divine Spirit.

If an ungodly drunkard continues in his way, is it any wonder that he will wax worse and worse until he is totally under the control and authority of unclean spirits that abuse his body for sin and destroy his Soul (mind, heart) in the process, leaving no chance at authentic Spiritual life?

Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

1 John 4:1-4
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

I hope these verses are helpful for establishing what I wrote at the start of this thread. They speak about spirits interacting with us, "confessing" things to us, influencing our thoughts (mind/soul) and trying to move us to that final decision: Are we spiritually born children of God...? or are we of the devil?

If we die without the Spirit of God, then we perish eternally, for we do not possess an eternal Spirit of our own that would quicken us from the dead. Only the eternal Spirit of God can make Life from Death. Thus Jesus says "thou must be born again!"

—
I know I should be prepared for a backlash here, as there are many differing opinions on this rather intangible subject. But I think it could prove to be a worthwhile discussion to flesh out (no pun intended). If you think I'm dead wrong please don't be afraid to say it and correct me, but use scripture as I have (of course) otherwise I'll have to disregard with prejudice and not feel bad about doing it either

The first time I clearly saw the difference between my soul and my spirit was when my brother, full of the Spirit, quoted this Word to me:
(Hebrews 4:12)
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,..."

I could perceive my body, having inside it a soul. And inside my soul was my spirit. It's like a lamp.... the lampshade is the body of flesh and blood. The soul is like the light bulb inside the lampshade, and the spirit is like the light itself, within and without the bulb, illuminating the whole lamp.

 

[lforrest]

The first time I clearly saw the difference between my soul and my spirit was when my brother, full of the Spirit, quoted this Word to me:
(Hebrews 4:12)
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,..."

I could perceive my body, having inside it a soul. And inside my soul was my spirit. It's like a lamp.... the lampshade is the body of flesh and blood. The soul is like the light bulb inside the lampshade, and the spirit is like the light itself, within and without the bulb, illuminating the whole lamp.

An excellent analogy.