THE SPIRIT AND THE SOUL
THE SPIRIT
It is very important for believers to know that they have a spirit. Further on, we will see that all communications between God and man lie within this spirit. If a believer does not know what his spirit is, he will not know how to fellowship with God in the spirit and will substitute the work of the spirit with soulish activities such as that of the mind and the emotion. The result of this is that he will always remain soulish and will not reach the spiritual realm.
First Corinthians 2:11 speaks of the spirit of man which is in him.
First Corinthians 5:4 speaks of "my spirit."
Romans 8:16 speaks of "our spirit."
First Corinthians 14:14 again speaks of "my spirit."
First Corinthians 14:32 speaks of "the spirits of prophets."
Proverbs 25:28 mentions of one's own spirit.
Hebrews 12:23 mentions the spirits of righteous men.
Zechariah 12:1 mentions Jehovah forming the spirit of man within him.
These few verses adequately prove to us that man has a spirit. This spirit is not our soul and is not the Holy Spirit. We worship God by this spirit.
According to the teaching of the Bible and the experience of the believers, man's spirit is composed of three parts, or it has three functions. These three parts are man's conscience, intuition, and fellowship (that is, fellowship with God, which is the same as worship).
The conscience is the discerning organ. The discernment of right and wrong by the conscience is not influenced by the knowledge in the mind; rather, it is a spontaneous, direct judgment. Many times the conscience will condemn even the things that one's reasoning condones. The work of the conscience is mostly independent and direct; it is not affected by outward persuasions. If a man makes a mistake in his conduct, his conscience will condemn him. The intuition is the consciousness within man's spirit. This consciousness is absolutely different from the body-consciousness and the soul-consciousness. The reason it is called intuition is that this consciousness is direct and is not dependent on anything else. We do not need the help of the mind, the emotion, or the will before we can have this knowledge. This knowledge comes directly from intuition. Through his intuition, man can truly "know" something, while his mind can only make him understand it. All God's revelations and all the moving of the Holy Spirit are known by the believers through the intuition. A believer should follow the voice of the conscience and the instruction of the intuition. Fellowship is our worship to God. The mind, the emotion, and the will are the organs of the soul and cannot worship God. God does not come through our mind, emotion, or desires. God is known directly through the spirit. Man worships God and communicates with God directly through the spirit, that is, through the "inner man," and not through the soul or the outward man.
Having seen the above, we now realize how the three parts—the conscience, the intuition, and the fellowship—are deeply integrated together and how they are related to one another in their work. The conscience is linked to the intuition, for the conscience judges according to the intuition. The conscience condemns conduct that is contrary to the intuition. The intuition is also linked to fellowship, or worship. God is known to man in the intuition, and He reveals Himself and His will through the intuition. Hopes and conjectures will not bring us the knowledge of God. Further on, we will discuss these matters in detail. Therefore, we will not say too much about them now.
This material was brought to you by Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity. Last Call Digest, is a ministry of Michael James Stone, volunteers, and people dedicated to the Love of God and Salvation of Souls. It is an aggragate of Christian Material selected to Bless you and Prepare you for each and every day you read them. May God Bless You as You Do!! Reading these Devotions will help you to prepare daily for life, living, and your Lord. You will hear God Speak To You thru them. Jesus is Coming Very Soon.
Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity, operates by you, with you, and for you. “Freely you have received, freely give” Pass this on, everywhere you can, anytime you can, anyway you can. You will be blessed if you do.ClassicChristian Digest@michaeljamesstone.com
