In Spirit, Soul, & Body – part 1, we looked at the idea of balance and order. Balanced lives are what many of us strive for. And although that is the goal many of us have, we don’t even know (or realize) that we are triune beings. That is, we are comprised of spirit, soul, and body (see part 1 in this series). Without that knowledge, we lead imbalanced and far too often, frustrated lives.
Let’s again look at the key verse in the Bible that lays out the triune makeup of mankind:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 5:23
Now, remember how I stated at the start of the series how important order is? It is just as important in this verse. God states everything with a purpose and HOW He states it is with a purpose. Spirit…soul…body – this order shows me an order of importance.
Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, “Does that mean my body is not important?” No, that is not what I am saying at all; what I am saying though is that as we strive to be blameless in these areas, we ought to be balanced in the order God has placed emphasis on.
All three of these parts – spirit, soul, and body – are important, but the order shows me a level of importance. And the most important of these is “the spirit.”
Now, the spirit is what the Bible calls “the inner man’ or the “spiritual part of man.” God tells you and me that our spirit needs to be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that the Bible does not say “preserved sinless.” It says preserved “blameless.”
No one this side of heaven is sinless. There are those who teach one can become sinless. I would love to meet the person who believes they are sinless. They have been deceived.
Your spirit must be “blameless” the day you die. In other words, you better make sure that nothing will “stick” on your record the day you meet your Maker!
Here is what you need to do to have your spirit “preserved blameless:” you need to be saved…you need to allow your spirit to be made alive by the Holy Spirit.
If you read Ephesians 2:1-19 see you will see TEN references to “before Christ.” The passage paints a bleak picture of a group of people before they were saved.
Phrases like “…who were dead in trespasses and sins,” “…were by nature the children of wrath,” “…were dead in sins,” “…ye were without Christ,” and “ye who sometimes were far off…” abound in this passage.
I have often referred to our state before salvation as “dead men walking.” Why? Because before salvation, your spirit is “dead” within you. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they “died.” No, they didn’t die physically – they died spiritually. And they passed down their sin nature to us.
Romans 5:12 states, “Wherefore as by one man (Adam) sin entered in to the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
Let’s review – I am born with a spirit, soul, and body. However, my spirit is dead within me because of the sin nature I inherited from Adam. In order to be a “complete person,” my spirit has to be made “alive” unto God. How does that happen? Through salvation!
Let me ask you a question – how did you and I come to being? Well, we were conceived by our parents and then we were BORN into this world. Although we lived in the womb of our mother for some time, we celebrate our birthday as the day we started life. And the day we started life (or the day we were born) was a miraculous event.
The same phenomenon applies to the spiritual life. The Bible actually likens it to a birth. See the following Scripture:
John 1:12-13
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:5-8
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.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
So, in order for your spirit to be preserved blameless, you MUST trust Jesus Christ as you personal Saviour (or be born again) and have your spirit made ALIVE by the Spirit of God!
If not, your spirit will remain dead within you and you will NOT be the Whole Person God intended for you to become.
Let me ask you – are you a WHOLE person? If your spirit has not been made alive by the new birth, you are only functioning with your soul and body. I would love to hear your responses…
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