Bob Hess has done some in depth research on Man’s Soul and Spirit. With consideration of the girl on life support because of a common operation, maybe this will give some people a little insight into a dilemma.
I had an individual who wanted me to do a lesson on “The Difference Between The Soul And The Spirit”. I taught a Sunday School lesson on this over the weekend and will pass it on to you. I hope this will answer questions that MANY Christians have had down through the years.
The secret to understanding this topic is the Biblical Terms that were used in talking about the Soul and Spirit. I attempted to show this in my class. My Sunday School class seemed to understand it, so I’ll give you a try. Here it is.
1. The Greek word Psuche is translated into the word SOUL and LIFE.
a. In the New Testament this term is used to speak of the immaterial part of man. It is invisible and is contained inside of the flesh covering.
b. Man’s soul speaks of the INTERNAL LIFE ELEMENT of the man.
c. I know that this may set many back on their heals, but animals have a soul. In Revelation 8:9 we read “And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died and the third part of the ships were destroyed”. The word “life” is the Greek word Psuche or in the English, soul.
d. The difference between the animal and man is that the man was created with a soul that was made up with three elements. Man’s soul consists of two additional elements that animals do not. Man has a SPIRIT and a MIND that are part of the makeup of the human SOUL or PSUCHE. Animal souls do NOT contain these two elements. We will get into these two elements later.
e. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul speaks of this. He says that when the Lord comes back, we will go to be with him as a whole person, body, spirit and soul.
f. In Genesis 2:7 we are told that God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. the word soul in this verse the Hebrew word, nephesh. This word means breaths. Here it states that man became a living soul or a living, physical, breathing being. The term corresponds with the Greek word Psuche which is translated as “life” in Revelation 8:9 and soul in other references that are too numerous to mention. See also 1 Corinthians 15:45 where the term is translated as soul and in Acts 20:10 where it is translated as life.
2. The word Greek word Pneuma is translated as SPIRIT.
a. As was stated in our look at Psuche, the human has an element within the soul that is called the spirit. That is one element that is NOT found in animals or other created beings.
b. It is very important to realize that this is NOT the word that is used for a GHOST. The KJV translates Pneuma as Ghost in speaking of the Holy Spirit. “Ghost” is a completely different term in the Greek, which we will see later. The third person of the Godhead is the HOLY SPIRIT and NOT the HOLY GHOST.
c. The SPIRIT of man is not a material element, but is, as the soul, immaterial.
d. This part of man makes the man aware of his body and his natural, physical environment.
e. It is the part of man that makes him like God in the respect that it (the spirit) is eternal (will NEVER go out of existence) and it can share that characteristic of God.
f. It is the part of man that can be given a new birth from God (John 3:3-7). NOTE: It is the SPIRIT (Pneuma) that is born again (from above by the Spirit of God) and not the soul (Psuche). This new birth is made possible through placing one’s trust in Jesus as his
TERMS MUST DISCRIMINATE
HEBREW HONEYCOMB
William Andrew Dillard
TERMS MUST DISCRIMINATE
Surely the title of this article is elementary. If terms did not precisely identify mental ideas and/or discriminately identify people, places, things, then language would be meaningless, and civilization could not advance from what would surely be a pool of constant confusion. Even in an advanced society, the inadequacy of language, and/or the pollution of terminology continually hinders many efforts, giving rise to lawsuits in attempts to pinpoint precise ideas that weakened language sets forth.
It is of little surprise then that religious heresy, and many misunderstandings arise from failures to use terms of language more discriminately. Illustrating this point one need only to ask any number of people to define major doctrinal terms of the Bible such as salvation, baptism, church, etc. The degree of misunderstanding is staggering. Another such common usage error is the term “soul.” It is used indiscriminately in pulpit and pew, most often to convey the idea of the spirit of man. However, the trinity of man is soul (psyche, mind life), body, and spirit. I Thess. 5:23. Precise terms for each of these are used in the scriptures. Nowhere does the Bible indicate that the soul is the spirit of man. The soul is conscious life. Conscious life exists as a combination of the trinity of man, but it also exists without the body.
But wherein lies any danger in failure to use these terms discriminately? Well, to use “soul” to mean “spirit” fosters powerful, erroneous ideas. For instance, both the Bible and God’s people promote evangelism with the goal being the initial bringing of men to Christ, or the new birth. But the clear teaching of the scripture is that being born from above is an event affecting the spirit of man for both time and eternity. Upon that foundation one may embark on a lifetime of winning his own soul by which life is disciplined into conformity to Bible doctrine. But when soul is substituted for spirit, the idea is inferred that the soul is complete in its salvation at the point of the new birth. Is it any wonder then that non-bible reading Christians easily sleep in fundamental error fostered by indiscriminate terminology? Moreover, that will cost them dearly, and forever at the judgment seat of Christ.
It must be understood that salvation for mankind is threefold. The spirit of man is saved and sealed in repentance of sin, and placement of trust in Christ Jesus as one’s personal Savior. The mind-life (consciousness) is being saved progressively as one disciplines him/herself in conformity to God’s Word. Physical salvation will not come until the resurrection or rapture. Until then, it behooves all men to be discriminatory in the use of terminology lest destructive ideas find root and blossom into a successful undermining of one’s faith, or worse, into full blown heresy, affecting great numbers of people.
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