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Spirit, Soul and Body
by Rene Brown
Heb 4:12 (NKJV) "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart."
1Th 5:23 (RSV) "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and
may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I. Tri-Part Man
Man is a coherent whole and yet he exists in three parts or realms.
A. Spirit
1. God is Spirit
John 4:24 (RSV) "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and
truth."
2. Human spirit: The human spirit of man is most especially that part of him made in the
image of God. (Nowhere does the scriptures indicate God has a body.)
Gen 1:26-27 (RSV) "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
female he created them."
B. Soul
1. The soul is composed of our mind, our will and our emotions. This is based on looking at
the whole of scripture overall.
(Note that none of these three are physical, i.e., the mind ≠ brain, the brain is physical, the
mind is an intangible.)
2. The division between soul and spirit is not completely clear in scripture and to some degree
they seem to be used interchangeably.
3. Gen 49:6 (RSV) "O my soul, come not into their council; O my spirit, be not joined to their
company; for in their anger they slay men, and in their wantonness they hamstring oxen."
C. Body
The body is that physical part of us that can be sensed with the five senses of sight, touch,
smell, taste, & hearing.
II. Status of These Three Parts of Man
A. Spirit
1. The spirit of man was in communion with God in the Garden of Eden.
2. They were able to talk.
a. Gen 2:16-17 (RSV) "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You
may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.""
by Rene Brown
Heb 4:12 (NKJV) "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart."
1Th 5:23 (RSV) "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and
may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I. Tri-Part Man
Man is a coherent whole and yet he exists in three parts or realms.
A. Spirit
1. God is Spirit
John 4:24 (RSV) "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and
truth."
2. Human spirit: The human spirit of man is most especially that part of him made in the
image of God. (Nowhere does the scriptures indicate God has a body.)
Gen 1:26-27 (RSV) "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
female he created them."
B. Soul
1. The soul is composed of our mind, our will and our emotions. This is based on looking at
the whole of scripture overall.
(Note that none of these three are physical, i.e., the mind ≠ brain, the brain is physical, the
mind is an intangible.)
2. The division between soul and spirit is not completely clear in scripture and to some degree
they seem to be used interchangeably.
3. Gen 49:6 (RSV) "O my soul, come not into their council; O my spirit, be not joined to their
company; for in their anger they slay men, and in their wantonness they hamstring oxen."
C. Body
The body is that physical part of us that can be sensed with the five senses of sight, touch,
smell, taste, & hearing.
II. Status of These Three Parts of Man
A. Spirit
1. The spirit of man was in communion with God in the Garden of Eden.
2. They were able to talk.
a. Gen 2:16-17 (RSV) "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You
may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.""
