Over the centuries, there has been confusion concerning man’s inward parts. Some Bible teachers argue that the spirit is no different from the soul. For our experience of Christ, to say this may be comparable to the dangerous endeavor of having cardiac surgery performed by a doctor that believes there is no difference between the heart and the liver. First Thessalonians 5:23 clearly tells us man is made of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. Hebrews 4:12 says that “the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” This shows us that the spirit and the soul are not the same thing and can be divided. We need the living word of God to help us know the distinction between our soul and our spirit.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, it is our human spirit that is born of the divine Spirit, regenerating us with the eternal life of God (John 3:6). So the apostle Paul says that the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16). In Ephesians, Paul speaks of the human spirit in a crucial way in every chapter (1:17; 2:22; 3:5; 4:23; 5:18; and 6:18). Paul also told Timothy that the Lord’s dwelling place is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). In the book of Revelation the apostle John saw four major visions and to see each one, he was “in spirit” (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; and 21:10).
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