Clear divisions between the programs of prophecy and grace.

Clear divisions between the programs of prophecy and grace.

In order to understand the proper context of scripture, it is of critical importance to recognize the division between two programs which God predestined and is executing in His wisdom. These two programs will eventually be brought together in the fulness of the times, Eph 1:10. (Notice the word, ‘times’. It is plural, meaning there is more than one time, age, dispensation, program.)

The Bible is FULL of scriptures that indicate a division between Israel and the Body of Christ. This post will examine only one passage of scripture as an example. Please read the following passage below, which is part of Peters discourse to the Jews in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 3. The bolded parts will be compared to what Paul writes to us today in this grace dispensation.

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 5 - Redeemed Israel gets a NEW Heart, Grace Believers get a NEW Mind)

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 5 - Redeemed Israel gets a NEW Heart, Grace Believers get a NEW Mind)

If you have been following this series of posts, you will be familiar with the two opposing lives (and laws) within the grace believer. In Romans chapter 7, Paul tells us about the war between the heart (the outer man) and the spiritual mind (the inner man), and how they are contrary to each other. Just read this short passage again to get the context,

Rom 7:14-24  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.  15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.  16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.  17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.  22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 4 - Who is the husband and who is the wife?)

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 4 - Who is the husband and who is the wife?)

Start at part 1 here: Part 1

In Romans 7:1-4, Paul uses an analogy of a wife that is bound to her husband because of the law of marriage. In the context of the passage, the analogy helps us to understand that we are not bound by ‘the law’, since we have died to it by the death of Christ, as explained in chapter 6. In the context of our current study, concerning the structure of a human being, and concerning the heart of man (the outer man), and the spiritual mind (the inner man), this analogy perfectly describes the two ‘soul’ parts within a person. Before we dive into this lesson, let’s first read the analogy again,

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. 

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.