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Man's Three Dimensions

by Don Costello  
5/01/2008 / Bible Studies

1. Man is a three fold being.

a. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "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."

2. The soul and spirit are not the same because they can be divided:

a. Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two egded sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit,"

3. The heart is the spirit of man: this is a general rule in Scripture, it is not absolute.

a. Romans 2:29 "circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit"

4. Paul used the terms "I" and "my spirit" interchangeably:

a. 1 Corinthians 14:14 "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful."

b. The spirit is the real me.

5. Man's Three Dimensions.

a. Spirit: The part of man which deals with the spiritual, the part of man that knows God.

b. Soul: The dimension of man which deals in the mental, man's intellect, the will and personality, the part that reasons and thinks.

c. Body: The part of man that deals with the physical realm, the house we live in.

The Spirit

1. God is a Spirit.

a. John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.

2. Man is a spirit, because we were created in God's image.

a. Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:"

b. Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him;"

3. The Bible says when we are born again we become new creations, our spirits are recreated.

a. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Amplified Bible. "Therefore if any person in [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17, Amplified Bible.

4. When we become born again our spirit is recreated by the Holy Ghost.

a. Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

1). regeneration (3824 * palinggenesia; palin-again; genesis-generation) Again birth; born again: John 3:3, 7.

5. The inner man, the real me is my spirit.

a. Ephesians 3:16 "That he would grant you, according to the righes of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;"

b. 2 Corinthians 4:16 "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."


The Soul

1. The mind is the door to our spirits.

a. 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4 "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

2. James wrote in his epistle that the word of God can save our soul.

a. James 1:21 "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."

1). James was not referring to our salvation at the born again experience, because our salvation is by grace through faith, it is not of works, Ephesians 2:8, 9.

b. James was referring to what Paul meant when he wrote of "the renewing of your mind".

1). Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,"

2). The "renewing of your mind" or "to save your soul" is only accomplished by doing the word, by being obedient to what it says to do.

4. We are required to discipline our thought life, to bring our thoughts into harmony or agreement with what God's word says.

a. 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

3. The most important aspect of a man's soul is his free will.

a. Matthew 16:24-26 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

1). To deny myself in order to follow Christ, or to not deny myself in order to save my life is a product of my free will. It is the only part of my soul that I can lose.

2). In Luke 16:23-31 the rich man that was cast into hell, still had all his mental abilities, including his memory. What he lost forever was his ability to choose. He no longer had a free will.




The Body

1. Our body is the house we live in, our earth suit.

a. 2 Corinthians 5:1 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

2. We have the responsibility with the help of God, to bring our bodies into subjection to the word of God.

a. 1 Corinthians 9:27 "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

b. Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."


Steps To Development

1. Meditate God's word.

a. Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

2. Be doers of the word.

a. James 1:22-25 "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man, beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdest himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

My name is Don Costello. Ever since I received Christ in November of 1976 I have had a passion to study and know God's word.My wife Melissa and I have 5 children.

My e-mail address is [email protected]

I have a blog located at:
www.theophilus-loverofgodsword.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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