Living From the Inside Out: A Spiritual Blueprint

Living From the Inside Out: A Spiritual Blueprint

Through faith, we grow and mature into love for all the saints. Once we reach this point, we are ready to receive the spirit of wisdom, revelation, and the knowledge of Him. However, this wisdom does not come passively—it is not something we merely receive. Paul wrote these words, and his prayer, having fulfilled his part in revealing them, is that through this revelation, believers may receive the spirit and have the eyes of their understanding enlightened.

Now, let’s consider this understanding:

Man is a three-part being—body, soul, and spirit. But at his core, man is a living soul. As Scripture says: 

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)

The soul possesses both a body and a spirit. Through the body, the soul comprehends the physical world—it sees, tastes, hears, and experiences the material realm. But just as the body allows the soul to perceive the physical, the soul can only understand spiritual truths through the spirit part of his three-part being.

This is how a person receives understanding—through the spirit, not the body. Many people attempt to operate in the wrong order, seeking spiritual truths in a physical manner. But this is backward; we must operate as God designed us—spirit first.

Understanding the Process of Salvation in Romans (Part 14 - Psychology 101)

Start this lesson series here: 
Understanding the Process of Salvation in Romans (Part 1)

Understanding the Process of Salvation in Romans (Part 14 - Psychology 101)

THAT YE SHOULD BE MARRIED TO ANOTHER

Rom.7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?  (2)  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.  (3)  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

This passage from Romans 7:1-3 uses an analogy of marriage to illustrate the relationship between the law and believers. The key message is that the law has authority over a person only as long as they are alive. Just as a woman is bound by the law to her husband while he lives, but is free to remarry if he dies, similarly, believers are bound to the law until a death takes place. The important thing to learn from this analogy is who are the role players? 

Though Paul provides context to the marriage analogy from verse 4, and before we look into it, let us consider this analogy and work out for ourselves who the role players are.

The Inner and Outer Man

Paul teaches us in 1Thess.5:23 that every person has a spirit, a soul, and a body. The body is the lifeless outer shell that connects us to the earth and allows us to interact in this realm. The spirit is the breath of God within us that gives life and makes us a living soul, 1Cor.15:45. This means that the soul, according to Gen.2:7 and Mrk.8:36, is truly what you are. The body goes back to the dust, the spirit goes back to God who gave it, and the only part that remains of man is his soul.

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 3 - The Spiritual Mind)

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 3 - The Spiritual Mind)

Start the series here: Part 1
Go to the next part here: Part 4

This study began with a brief overview of the three-part structure of a human being, spirit, soul, and body. It is the soul component that is the primary focus of this study since it is the part that is formed when God’s Spirit, His breath of life, enters into the clay shell of the flesh. It is the soul, and more particularly, the contents of the soul that is of significance, as it is here where the Word of God works.

The content of the soul forms the heart of the person, the essence of the person, and what flows out of them into this world. Part 2 of this study placed brief focus on the heart, to define it, and identify its role in the context of a person. It is vital that you clearly understand what the heart of a person is, in order to better understand this next part that I am going to introduce in this post, which is the spirit of the mind,

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 2 - The Heart of Man)

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 2 - The Heart of Man)

Start the series here: Part 1
Go to the next part here: Part 3

There is more to the design of man than just the three components of spirit, soul, and body. We need to go deeper to find these underlying parts that are the primary elements that define the individual. In the previous post of this series, I mentioned that the soul can be understood as a container that needs to be filled with the essence of that person. What a person demonstrates to the outside world, in character, personality, desires, fortitude, etc, is that which is stored, processed, and released from the soul. (Please note that this attempt to express the soul, and make it easier to understand, is my personal, and creative explanation based on what I learn from the Word.)

Now, what comes out of the soul of a person is expressed in a few different ways in the Bible. We have investigated some biblical references to things like, the heart of a man, the spiritual mind, the carnal mind, the natural man, the spiritual man, the new man, also known as the inner man, and the old man. Jesus hinted on the contents of the soul when he reprimanded the pharisees, saying they were like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, in the soul, they were full of dead men’s bones, uncleanness, hypocrisy and iniquity, Matt.23:27-28.

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 1 - One Human, Three Parts)

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 1 - One Human, Three Parts)

The following post is a personal interpretation of my understanding of the tri-part structure of a human being, and how the living Word (or Spirit) of God works within these parts. The focus of the extended study is not so much on the different parts of the human, but rather to investigate how the Word of God works within the human, and which part of them it affects most. There is an interesting twist in the study, as Paul also introduces two lives, or two 'laws' within the human, that is of greater significance, and to which this study will invest more time to understand.

The Tri-part Structure of a Human Being

The Bible tells us that every human is a tri-part being. Spirit, soul, and body. Let's see what the Word has to say about this.

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The Journey: Part 4 - The Two Natures of a Believer in Christ

Start here at the Introduction: The Journey Begins

The Journey: Part 4 - The Two Natures of a Believer in Christ

As we progress in this journey, we need to keep two things in mind,

First, to provide us hope, strength, and passion to continue, we must know what our destination is.  We are making our way to that destination of being adopted sons of God and being glorified beyond measure in our Head, Jesus Christ. The vehicle to get us there is the Word of God, and our fuel is studying the Word so that it becomes part of us, quickening us in spirit and energizing us to growth.