Soul Theology

November 2, 2014

When you were born again you were really born again on the inside. Your soul and spirit were made new, John 3:3! You soul is your mind, will, and emotions and your spirit is your source of life. When the Bible teaches you are in the present a “new creation,” it means you are new creation in both soul and spirit, 2 Corinthians 5:17-22. Hebrews teaches that only the Word of God can separate your soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12), otherwise they always operate together forming what we call, “the inner man.”

As a result from the time of creation the Bible teaches that man’s soul is what makes Him unique and special apart from the animals and other humans, i.e., “soul=human personality,” (Genesis 2:7, “psych?” in the LXX). That is why the Scriptures teach that believers in Christ are the “righteousness of God,” “holy,” “blameless,” “pure,” and “free from sin” it doesn’t mean when they die but rather it means that this is their current identity in Christ.

Some Christians have wrongly believed that Jesus only made them new in their spirit and that their soul (mind, will, & emotions) is still old and unsaved. First, this kind of belief leads to the idea that someone must be born again twice- once now in their spirit and another time at death in their soul. Second, instead of believing that the spirit’s role is basically to give life (Luke 23:46), the false belief actually promotes the idea that the spirit has its own separate mind, will, and emotions apart from the soul (basically another soul within the spirit). However, Paul taught that when you were born again the new birth effected both your soul and spirit (even your body) because together they are what makes a person who they are, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

SERMON TEXT

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT), “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

YOU ARE NOT YOUR FLESH

Though we have been born again in our “inner man” (soul/spirit), we still live in our old body with its evil desires. This body is called by Paul a “body of death,” Romans 7:24.
Hence, we still can be tempted and faced with evil desires from our flesh, but you are not your flesh, you are the new soul and spirit on the inside.
For example, your fleshy stomach can have hungry pangs and desires but are you your stomach? Also, your brain, separate from your mind which is in your soul, will die along with every other organ, but will you stop thinking in heaven?
The easiest example to see the difference between your body and soul/spirit is to think about a car being like your body and the driver being like your soul/spirit, i.e., “you.” A driver uses the car for transportation, but the driver is not the car. The car may be hot or cold and thus effect the driver, but once again the car is not the driver and the driver can control and direct the car in any way he likes. The same is true with your body, you as the driver, use the body to live in this world, but you are not the body.
Your body may have desires for sex, physical addictions, bad memories stored in the brain, and emotional fears- but you are not your body, you are a born again soul/spirit living in the body, 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.
That is why when your body dies, you (soul/spirit) go to heaven to be with Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5:8.
At the same time, the body is important and plays a special role both now and for eternity. God did not create you to be a disembodied soul/spirit, hence the reason for receiving a resurrected body. Therefore, after your time in heaven and time of judgement you will be given a new body so you can live forever with Christ on the new earth, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.

KEEP THE FLESH DEAD

Since being born again and made new on the inside you have the power to crucify your body’s desires and make it a slave to the will of God, Galatians 5:24-25. Now this is where it gets confusing for some Christians. They have been taught to believe that their flesh (or “sinful nature” as termed by the NIV) is not just their earthly body, but both their soul (mind, will, and emotions) and their body. However, this cannot be true for the following reasons:

If the soul and body were sinful, then being born again does not really make a person totally new- only partially new, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
If the born again believer is not new in their soul, then it is impossible for them to be filled with God’s Spirit and dwell with God because God will not partner with sin, Ephesians 2:4-7.
If the soul is still old and sinful, then all the above verses in the Bible plus 100’s more are incorrect and cause major contradictions within the Bible because they speak of being changed now on the inside 100%- not in heaven, Colossians 3:1-4.
Therefore, there is only one sound biblical conclusion left- “your soul/spirit are made 100% new when you were born again.” As a result, the earthly flesh and body remains the same until death and must be crucified by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Remember, there are not two you’s- “a fleshly you” and “a soul/spiritual you.” You are one you- the soul/spiritual you (the inner person). Thus, you must fight against your body in spiritual things just like you do when on a diet in fleshly things. The hungry stomach is not you and its not in control- you are a soul/spirit and you are in control of the stomach, Romans 12:1-2!

YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN SAVED

Peter declares that the soul is new and can win every battle against the earthly flesh through Christ! Please take note of the following verses and how Peter viewed your soul (mind, will, & emotions) after being born again: Peter uses the term “born again” more than any other New Testament author. I believe this is because his concern is with the believer living the “new life” in their soul as well as their spirit. Remember, the word “spirit” simply mean’s “God’s breath or life.” Thus, without man having a spirit he has no life and without having a soul he has no being or person-hood. “Being/person-hood” simply means, “possessing a mind, will, and emotions”- this is what separates mankind from the animals who also have life, Genesis 1:30;2:7.

BY FAITH: 1 Peter 1:9, “… obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Peter mentions in the present tense that the “outcome of your faith” is the “salvation of your souls.” Some commentaries have tried to place the salvation of the soul occurring partially now and completely after the believer’s body dies or at the coming of Christ. However, this is incorrect for the following reasons,(i) Peter in 1:3 states that the believer is presently “born again,” thus, in 1:9 he is simply clarifying how far this salvation reaches- even to their souls. Hence, the reason of rejoicing in 1:8. If one were to say either Peter is believing the “born again” nature is only of the spirit or that the born again experience is only partial to the soul, then the burden would be to show a differentiation in this chapter or letter. However, to Peter they are one in the same experience because of the joy the believer has in their current salvation- both in spirit and soul. (ii) Peter places the promises of the prophets being fulfilled in the present day of the believer in v. 12. Hence, if the promise of a “new heart” from Ezekiel and the like was not in their present day, then the prophets would still have to wait. (iii) Lastly, as the letter continues this is the theme of Peter- the salvation of the soul. Thus, the declarations of the present believers being “God’s holy nation and people” in chapter two verse nine. This could not be true unless the believer was both holy in soul and spirit.
BY THE WORD OF GOD: 1 Peter 1:22-23, “22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God…” Now what might have been somewhat unclear to the skeptic in the prior verses is made unmistakably clear in these present verses- the soul was purified when the believer was born again! Please note the following in support of the salvation of the soul from these verses: (i) The word “purified” being in the past tense reminds the believer it already happened. The believer is currently purified in their soul because when they were born again they were made pure. Thus, Peter states the soul is “free from all sin and pollution,” i.e., “purified” when the soul was born again. (ii) The purification happened in the soul the moment the believer believed in the truth and obeyed it. The Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit purifies the soul at the moment of salvation- it is not another act of grace as some have taught. Salvation and sanctification happen at the same time a person is born again. (iii) Peter also states, “love… from a pure heart.” Notice the heart and soul are both pure. This shows that there is not real distinction between one’s heart and soul, however, they are just different terms for the same thing. Heart and soul are simply referring to man’s inner being- his mind, will, and emotions.
BY JESUS’ DEATH: 1 Peter 4:1-2, “1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” Please note the following concerning Jesus’ death on the cross and the victory over the flesh: (i) Peter commands the believer to “cease from sin.” This is only possible because the soul/spirit is new and holy and is control of the flesh. Thus, the believer is to “suffer” in the flesh to cease from sin. This “suffering in the flesh” is most likely the same as the “crucifying of the flesh” that Paul speaks of Romans 8:10-11 and Galatians 5:24-25. (ii) Peter declares that the flesh is dealt with at salvation by having it crucified with Christ. The reader must note that the word “suffered” is in past, thus, Peter is stating that the believer is to live holy from the day of salvation. When a Christian does not this, they may continue to “fight” the flesh not knowing that by Christ’s death, they can have victory over it. As a result, the believer should not “struggle in sin,” but “overcome sin.”

WE ARE TO LIVE FREE FROM SIN: 1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” Please note the following: (i) Peter makes a clear distinction from the “passions of the flesh” and the purified soul. Thus, the flesh cannot contain the soul (mind, will, and emotions), it is separate from it. Some have taught that since only the spirit of man was born again the “sinful nature/flesh” is a combination of both the soul and the earthly body. However, this is false and proven wrong by Peter in this powerful verse. The soul and spirit are new, but the flesh remains. Therefore, the holy believer in their soul is to abstain from the passions of the flesh. (ii) Peter’s command is a literal and serious one- the believer is to fight against sin because they are pure and are to remain pure. Peter does not allow for any compromise, thus this verse cannot mean that a believer has “two split personalities,” one righteous and spiritual, the other wicked and fleshly- God forbid! Peter is stating that the believer as one person is pure in both soul and spirit and must war against passions of the flesh. He does not say these passions are from the purified individual’s soul but rather from the flesh. Hence, the believer as a holy soul/spirit is to win the battle against the flesh! Therefore, according to Peter the normal life of a believer should be lived “holy as the Lord is holy” because they have been born again in both soul and spirit, 1 Peter 1:16.

THE OLD YOU

Before salvation you were dead in spirit to God, sinful in the soul, and corrupted in the body by sin. You willing lived by the “spirit of this age,” Ephesians 2:1-3.

THE NEW YOU

When you were born again in the spirit you were fully restored to God and made His dwelling place (His temple), washed and made new in your soul (mind, will, and emotions), and you were given the power of the Holy Spirit to put to death the desires of the body, 1 Peter 1:22-23. Now both your soul and spirit are made new in Christ, not just the spirit. The soul (mind, will, and emotions) does not remain the same or stay evil with the body; the soul is saved, 1 Peter 1:3-9.

SOUL/SPIRIT vs. SINFUL BODY

The Bible makes it very clear that the mind (part of the soul) has the daily choice between the flesh and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the new born spirit/soul must choose to either live by the Holy Spirit or revert back to the flesh, Romans 8:5-10.

THE WORD OF GOD SECURES YOUR VICTORY

Despite there being a “battle” between the old flesh and the Holy Spirit. The new soul/spirit is in control and is given the choice to either sin (go back to the flesh) or remain holy and keep in step with the Holy Spirit, i.e. “obey God’s Word.” Therefore, the victory is already given to the believer because at salvation the “flesh was crucified.” As a result, the believer is to remain in a state of purity and not allow the flesh to dictate to the soul/spirit its evil desires, Galatians 5:24-25.

If the believer should sin, they are to confess (admit the sin) and repent (change behavior and thinking) and continue in holiness. However, if the believer continues in sin, the heart (soul) will harden and be given over to unbelief which will lead to “losing one’s salvation/shipwrecking the faith,” 1 John 2:1-3 & Hebrews 3:12-14; 10:26-27. In conclusion, the normal life of a believer (child of God) should be holy (without sin/pure) by living according to the Word of God and Jesus’ commands, 1 John 3:1-10.