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AUSTIN BIBLE CHAPEL

Robin Fuller v2.0 Sunday, March 17, 2013

I am a Soul

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Judging by the outward appearance We often see the image (body) of people around us and

make initial judgments by what we see. If we get the opportunity to get to know someone, this

requires us to dig deeper then the outward appearance and try to understand what’s inside – their soul.

As we get older, and we have to contend with changes in our life, this becomes more obvious because we sometimes find it hard to recognize the image in the mirror.

We begin to realize that there is a phase shift between the outward appearance and how we feel inside – the inner man.

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What’s inside? the body decays but our soul starts to recognize the reality that

it will live on eternally So much of the value we attribute to someone is based on their

outward appearance. As Christians, we have the unique opportunity to bring light to

the darkness. Our value to God is understanding this potential. 1Cor.4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of

darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We can let the physical part of us get us down – the wrinkles, gray hair, the aches and pains, or we can renew our focus on investing in the part of us that’s eternal.

2Cor.4:16-17 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

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I am a soul…where does the heart fit in?

We are 3 part beings. It’s like we are a container of containers that only God can really understand, but maybe like this:

1 Thess.5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

BODY

SOUL

SPIRIT

taste

touch

hear

smel

l

sight

Heart = Brain (intellect and emotion)

Heb.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, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Matt.15:18-19 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander

The heart appears to be the connection of the physical to the spiritual part of us: the soul.

I am a soul… I have a body and spirit Before we get carried away with dissecting the human soul,

it’s important to note the bottom line from Jesus himself – every part of us needs to be on the same page in our love for God as His followers.

Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

The Greeks believed there were 4 parts to the total state of being: heart, soul, mind and body.

It is interesting though that the Hebrew teaching held that the 3 parts were the person's heart (mind/emotions), their breath (soul/life) and the body (strength). They had power over what their heart thought and God had power over their soul.

The Hebrews also coupled the heart with thought/intent and the soul as the whole being – both body and thought. This also included statements that when the body died, so did the soul.

It helps explain why the Thessalonians were concerned about the dead missing out on the rapture.

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I am a soul… I have a body and spirit

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BODY

SOUL

SPIRIT

taste

touch

hear

smel

l

sight

Heart = Brain (intellect and emotion)

So part of the reason I did this study was that I didn’t have a clear understanding of the delineation of the various parts of the human entity and I hoped to clear it up.

I do want to give a visual on the relationship between the body, soul and spirit as I understand it from a New Testament perspective. Why does our heart act the way it does? Well if we peel it back…

We note that our bodies are influenced by it’s 5 senses.

These act like gates into our soul.

Our soul is a container for our spirit, and as mentioned before, only God can really divide the two.

However, natural man has an empty spirit container so their hearts are dominated by their 5 senses.

1Cor.2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

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I am a soul…and have a regenerated spirit

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BODY

SOUL

SPIRIT

taste

touch

hear

smel

l

sight

Eph.2:1-5 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, … among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ The minute we are given spiritual life, like when God breathed into Adam’s nostrils, the Holy Spirit takes up residency in our spirit container and now we can commune with God.

  2Cor.4:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

HolySpirit

I am a soul… Am I influenced by the Holy Spirit?

So we have this burning fire in our souls but are we opening the gates between that division between spirit and soul so that our body, soul and spirit is radiating the love of Christ?

2Cor.4:7,10But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. …10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

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BODY

SOULtaste

touch

hear

smel

l

sight

SPIRITHolySpirit

The old methods of judging has passed away, we can now see our fellow man through Christ’s eyes:

2Cor.5:16-18 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…

I am a soul… Am I in agreement with theHoly Spirit?

1Cor.3:1-4 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

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BODY

SOULtaste

touch

hear

smel

l

sight

SPIRITHolySpirit

It’s possible that believers can act “merely human” when they ignore or disagree with the spirit.

The body follows the soul, so whatever priority the soul gives to the spirit of God, the body displays the result to the physical world around us.

I am a soul… Am I in agreement with theHoly Spirit?

John 7:37-39 …Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive…

In your spirit, you’ve got the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Eph. 1:18-20). However, it’s possible to have this power and never manifest it. If your soul, like a valve, stays closed to this truth, you won’t experience it.