The Holy Spirit, a separate person, essence of God, or force?

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  • #5423
    Anonymous
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    Here are the others:

    11. Isaiah 63:8-10: “For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence [lit: face] saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit” (The angel of His face is YHWH himself not a created angel: Ex 23:14-15, 20-23; 14:19; Num 20:16; Ex 33:12. Trinitarians expect to find this kind of passage in the Old Testament, that would not be fully understood until the mystery was revealed about the Trinity in the New Testament.)
    12. Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22: After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
    13. Matthew 28:19: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
    14. Luke 1:35: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ”
    15. Luke 4:1-12: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, ¡K Jesus answered him, “It is written , ¡¥You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”
    16. John 14:16: “I will ask the Father , and He will give you another Helper , that He may be with you forever”
    17. John 20:21-22: “So Jesus said to them again, ” Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit .”
    18. Acts 1:7-8: “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority ; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
    19. Acts 2:33: “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ”
    20. Acts 2:38-39: “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
    21. Acts 5:30-32: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross… “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
    22. Acts 7:55: “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God”
    23. Acts 10:38: “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power”
    24. Acts 10:44-48: “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message ¡K and exalting God ¡K And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
    25. Acts 11:15-17: “the Holy Spirit fell upon them ¡K Therefore God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ?”
    26. Acts 15:8-11: “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit ¡K we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus”
    27. Acts 20:27-28: “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. “Be on guard ¡K for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. ”
    28. Acts 28:25-31: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers ¡K this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles ¡K preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ”
    29. Romans 1:1-4: “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, ¡K who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, ”
    30. Romans 5:5-6: “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ”
    31. Romans 8:2-4: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ¡K God ¡K sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh ¡K walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ”
    32. Romans 8:9 “indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. ”
    33. Romans 8:14-17: “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¡K you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ”
    34. Romans 8:26-30: “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness ¡K the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words ¡K God causes all things to work together for good ¡K predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son”
    35. Romans 15:16: “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ”
    36. Romans 15:30: “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,”
    37. 1 Corinthians 2:2-5: “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified¡K in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would ¡K rest on the power of God.”
    38. 1 Corinthians 6:11: “inherit the kingdom of God. ¡K you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
    39. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. ”
    40. 1 Corinthians 12:11-12,18: “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¡K But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”
    41. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22: “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. ”
    42. 2 Corinthians 3:3-4: “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God ¡K Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.”
    43. 2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”
    44. Galatians 3:1-5: “Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified ¡K does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you”
    45. Galatians 3:14: “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith ¡K in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
    46. Galatians 4:4-6: “God sent forth His Son ¡K God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
    47. Ephesians 1:3-13: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ
    , ” ¡K “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ” ¡K “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation¡Xhaving also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ”
    48. Ephesians 2:18: “for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. ”
    49. Ephesians 2:19-22: “God¡¦s household ¡K Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone ¡K a holy temple in the Lord ¡K dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
    50. Ephesians 3:16-17: “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”
    51. Ephesians 4:4-6: “one Spirit ¡K one Lord ¡K one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
    52. Ephesians 4:30-32: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption ¡K forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
    53. Ephesians 5:18-20: “be filled with the Spirit ¡K singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father”
    54. 1 Thessalonians 1:3-6: “hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father ¡Kin power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction ¡K with the joy of the Holy Spirit”
    55. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14: “always give thanks to God ¡K beloved by the Lord ¡K sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth ¡K the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ”
    56. Titus 3:4-6: “the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, ¡K according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior”
    57. Hebrews 2:3-4: “salvation first spoken through the Lord ¡K God also testifying ¡K gifts of the Holy Spirit”
    58. Hebrews 9:14: “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God”
    59. Hebrews 10:29-31: “trampled under foot the Son of God ¡K has insulted the Spirit of grace ¡K It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. ”
    60. 1 Peter 1:2: “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood”
    61. 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; ”
    62. 1 Peter 4:14: “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ”
    63. 1 John 3:23-24: “we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ ¡K He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
    64. 1 John 4:2: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God”
    65. 1 John 4:13-14: “He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. ”
    66. Jude 20-21: “praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. “

    #5425
    Proclaimer
    Participant

    There is a discussion called 'What is Man' that deals with the subject being discussed here at the moment.

    Here is the link:

    https://heavennet.net/cgi-bin….35;st=0

    #5427
    bic
    Participant

    The sons of thunder were James and John. Peter was not so named. The triadic 'supporter' is mistaken and his reasoning is most flawed. Might as well start looking for hidden code. This type of superstitious babble usually comes from a RC.

    MM: What exactly is your posting of all those verses supposed to prove? Was that the 56 others? Other what? Verses that include Father, Son, and Spirit? And that is supposed to mean what? If this is an attempt to validate the Trinity, it's not a very good one. It is this very kind of thinking that has propelled the ideas of hidden codes within the Bible. There is much that is hidden…but it is hidden from those who perish.

    Methinks you're just playing the devil's advocate on this one. Am I right?

    #5428
    Ben Elohim
    Participant

    Quote (Guest @ Feb. 22 2005,07:55)
    Thank you BE,
    Im very interested in your insights. So can you clarify for me exactly how the Holy Spirit can be the spirit of both The Father and The Son. Do you mean that they share the same spirit?


    Yes. They are both Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus says to the disciples that when the Spirit comes to them that both the Father and Jesus would come to make their home in their hearts. This is why the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ seem to be the same thing. This is why we are said to be comforted by the Holy Spirit yet we are comforted by the Father. this is why the Spirit is called “the Paraclete” but Jesus is also called “the Paraclete.” This is why the Spirit which proceeds from the Father was breathed out by Jesus into his disciples. This is why and how both the Father and the Son are said to be in us – they share the same Spirit…. and so on. That they both have this same nature of the Spirit is the same idea as saying both Adam and Eve were the nature of sinful flesh. The nature of God is Spirit. The Holy God is Holy Spirit. The nature of man is flesh. Sinful man is sinful flesh. Just as many men share this nature, so also both the risen Jesus and his Father share the nature of divinity. But please remember, this is only true of the risen Christ's nature and not his incarnate nature. “Today, I have begotten you” (Acts 13:30-33). Before his resurrection the Spirit was simply in him, in his heart as it is in us believers now. But in his resurrection his body is Spiritualized by Holy Spirit and that is precisely what makes it an eternal immortal body of glory. The Holy Spirit is immortal life and to be raised into the new bodily nature of Holy Spirit is what made Jesus immortal and what will make us immortal.

    In Romans 8 (and other passages as well), Paul is explaining that those who WALK by the Spirit that God has poured into their hearts (Function) will become Holy Spirit in their resurrection (Substance). Now it is a matter of DOING in the Spirit; then it will be a matter of EXISTING/BEING in the Spirit. We will become bodies clothed in the Holy Spirit of God unto immortal life. This is also what he means when he says the Spirit is a “deposit”in our hearts. He means that the Spirit we have in our hearts is like a small pledge of what we will become in our resurrection body – Holy Spirit. See 2 Cor 4:17-5:5 for example. So we live Holy lives by following the Holy Spirit so that we will become the Spirit in our bodily resurrections. For now we have the “firstfruits” of the Spirit.

    #5429
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Quote
    if the Holy Spirit is “mere electricity”, the triadic passages establish a pattern for a most unusual group: “two persons and a thing”. Arian theology really has no way of accounting for the triadic passages. Why would God go out of his way to establish a pattern of the “Father, Son and the Father¡¦s power”? There simply is not reasonable explanation.


    do you have one?

    #5430
    NickHassan
    Participant

    Yes bic,
    Hades is the place that the rich man in Lk 16 was identified by Jesus as being in.This is the only description of this place in the bible yet no one wants to learn from Jesus what is is like. It is a place of suffering and dread but, as judgement has not yet occurred and the brothers are still on earth, it has nothing to do with Gehenna. But it is life after daeth.

    It is only the waiting place for sinners and has nothing to do with us. We have a room in a mansion waiting. It is cast into the lake of fire at judgement.

    Likewise Paradise ,where Jesus promised to meet with the good thief, also known as the bosom of Abraham is seen. Again nothing to do with us. Get real folks. There is much more to learn here than most are prepared to see.

    #5432
    Ben Elohim
    Participant

    Quote (t8 @ Feb. 22 2005,09:09)

    Quote (Ben Elohim @ Feb. 22 2005,19:00)
    Here is what a soul looks like Nick:

    Then YHVH God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7).

    Note very carefully Nick that the dust of the earth BECAME a living soul.


    Revelation 6:9
    When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.

    Is this talking about living bodies?
    Is man dust itself, or was man made from the dust?
    If the body is the vessel and the Spirit gives life, then who are we? For surely we are not the body and we are not the Spirit.
    Do we not have the choice to serve the flesh or the Spirit? If so then what or who are we that we can be influenced by the flesh or the Spirit? Surely we are neither if they can influence us.

    I think we need to understand the difference between what we are and who we are.


    What are we? We are dust. God says so. “For dust you are…” We are dust by nature and only dust. The Bible indeed emphasizes this in many places. It also emphasizes that the spirit in us is not an element of our humanity or who or what we are as humans but is life-breath spirit from God to make this dust alive.

    WHO are we? We are persons; we are souls. We are souls of dust, persons of dust, WHO's of dust.

    A soul is physical something that is a WHO, a person. A rock is not a who because a rock has no spirit that would make it it a who. A soul is living dust. Adam – the formed dust became a living soul. God did not “put” a soul into the dust; God put a spirit into the dust. And when God did that to the dust the dust became a WHO, a person, a soul.

    Since God is also a soul it is actually more precise to say a soul is a substance that is a WHO…. in this case it is the substance of Holy Spirit that is a WHO because Holy Spirit is what the Holy God is.

    A soul is not a substantial “thing” in addition to body and spirit. It is a phenomena of life that occurs when you put those two other things together and they have a relationship with each other.

    Put two WHAT's together (body and spirit) and you get yourself a WHO, a person, a soul. The first “what” is humanity – dust. The second “what” is divine – spirit.

    WHAT (1) + WHAT (2) = WHO

    #5433
    NickHassan
    Participant

    Hi BE,
    I see you are among those who would blur the distinction between body and soul and treat them as one. Paul certainly made such a distinction in 2 cor 5 where he speaks of the body as a tent that HE is anxious to leave. The same with Peter in 2 Peter. They knew that they would live though they died.

    If you fell overboard from a boat and were drowned and eaten by the fish of the sea what would become of your body? It would be scattered eventually over the seas of the world. What of the soul? Would it be equally diluted and dispersed?

    No. As Rev 6.9 and Lk 16 shows the soul is intact after death.

    #5435
    Ben Elohim
    Participant

    Quote (Nick Hassan @ Feb. 22 2005,19:26)
    Hi BE,
    I see you are among those who would blur the distinction between body and soul and treat them as one. Paul certainly made such a distinction in 2 cor 5 where he speaks of the body as a tent that HE is anxious to leave. The same with Peter in 2 Peter. They knew that they would live though they died.

    If you fell overboard from a boat and were drowned and eaten by the fish of the sea what would become of your body? It would be scattered eventually over the seas of the world. What of the soul? Would it be equally diluted and dispersed?

    No. As Rev 6.9 and Lk 16 shows the soul is intact after death.


    Nick: I see you are among those who would blur the distinction between body and soul and treat them as one.

    BE: That is incorrect Nick. They are not the same thing.

    Nick: Paul certainly made such a distinction in 2 cor 5 where he speaks of the body as a tent that HE is anxious to leave.

    BE: That is incorrect Nick. Paul is here referring to the resurrection body that will stand before God and Christ in judgment (v. 10). Read it more carefully. Go back to chapter 4 and start from there.

    Nick: If you fell overboard from a boat and were drowned and eaten by the fish of the sea what would become of your body? It would be scattered eventually over the seas of the world. What of the soul? Would it be equally diluted and dispersed?

    BE: No, WHO you are would remain unchanged and you would be a soul of flesh scattered over the seas of the world.

    Nick: As Rev 6.9 and Lk 16 shows the soul is intact after death.

    BE: They show nothing of the sort Nick. I have demonstrated quite clearly that Luke 16 is not about disembodied souls. You imagine this entire preconceived notion into the text.

    As for Revelation 6:9, let me ask you a question Nick before we get into that one so that I may demonstrate the feebleness of your interpretation. Do you really think that John wanted you to believe that there are literally thousands of disembodied souls huddled under an altar in heaven?

    #5436
    NickHassan
    Participant

    yes although the word huddled seems to be added. I believe scripture.

    #5437
    NickHassan
    Participant

    Hi BE,
    2Cor 4 16
    “Therefore do not lose heart ,but though OUR OUTER MAN IS DECAYING, yet OUR INNER MAN IS BEING RENEWED day by day”
    How do you explain this scripture?

    #5438
    Ben Elohim
    Participant

    Quote (Nick Hassan @ Feb. 22 2005,20:06)
    yes although the word huddled seems to be added. I believe scripture.


    Okay Nick, since you are so definitely sure that John wants you to believe that there are some disembodied spiritual beings hanging out under an altar in heaven, perhaps you would like to explain this to us.

    1. The Immediately Preceding Verse.

    I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:8).

    So do you also wish to tell us that two entities called “Death” and “Hades” are two individuals who are literally going to be riding some literal horses? Or do you reasonably conclude this is a metaphorical way of speaking and John is using some very powerful imagery to make his point? And then can you not see that the very next verse is doing the same thing?

    2. Why does the Bible refer to dead bodies as “souls” if indeed souls are disembodied things which leave the body at death?

    3. Why can you not understand that John here is talking about avenging the blood of the martyrs and not attempting to tell you that souls are disembodied things that head off yonder at death to reside under an altar in heaven and understand this verse in the same sense that Abel's blood “cried out from the ground” when Cain had killed him? There was no blood literally crying out and I am sure you can reasonably see this. And please do not forget that the soul of the flesh is bound up in the blood (Leviticus 17:11,14, Dt 12:23; Gen 9:4-5). Do you not see that in Genesis 4 that sin was also personified as “crouching at the door?” Do you really think that this imagery means that an individual called sin was ready to pounce on Cain? Or is this a metaphorical way of speaking? And is Death and Hades a metaphorical way of speaking? And is souls under the altar a metaphorical way of speaking of the blood of the martyrs? And do you not notice that Revelation is a metaphorical book full of this type of metaphorical imagery?

    Or do you just chose to see what you want to see for the sake of your favorite theology?

    #5439
    Ben Elohim
    Participant

    Quote (Nick Hassan @ Feb. 22 2005,20:10)
    Hi BE,
    2Cor 4 16
    “Therefore do not lose heart ,but though OUR OUTER MAN IS DECAYING, yet OUR INNER MAN IS BEING RENEWED day by day”
    How do you explain this scripture?


    It means WHO we are in our hearts is being renewed by the Spirit of God and WHAT we are is decaying human bodies..

    Please note how this discourse ends Nick – resurrection of the body.

    See 2 Corinthians 5:5 to understand why the “inner man” is being renewed just as your mortal body “outer man” will be renewed on that Day.

    #5444
    bic
    Participant

    Ben E: The sun/moon allegory was not scriptural…it was just an observation…one that obviously has been noticed many times. Perhaps your assessment is more fitting.

    Nick The “outer man decaying” represents our physical existence. If you read the whole chapter, the context should make it abundantly clear what Paul is saying. There is nothing mystifying or magical in what he is saying. Read the entire chapter again and see if your question isn't answered.

    #5446
    NickHassan
    Participant

    Thank you bic,
    I knew that but I wanted to see how someone who believes that the soul and body are one entity would explain a verse that says they have different even opposite, destinies while still being united in life.
    The body is being destroyed but the soul is being built stronger

    #5448
    Ben Elohim
    Participant

    Quote (Nick Hassan @ Feb. 23 2005,01:11)
    Thank you bic,
    I knew that but I wanted to see how someone who believes that the soul and body are one entity would explain a verse that says they have different even opposite, destinies while still being united in life.
    The body is being destroyed but the soul is being built stronger


    Nick, where is your evidence that Paul's “inner man” is a soul inside an “outer man?” Do you have any evidence or is this just what you would most like to believe and so you read this idea into the text?

    #5452
    NickHassan
    Participant

    So bic,
    If you say the “OUTER MAN DECAYING REPRESENTS OUR PHYSICAL EXISTENCE” [the degeneration and death of the body]what do you say is the inner man?

    #5470
    NickHassan
    Participant

    Hi MM,
    In reply to the question about the Spirit of Jesus I have given it some thought and hold to my original understanding which others have expressed. The Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God. Otherwise Romans 8, where they are juxtaposed becomes a confused tangle.Also God makes salvation simple and we are baptised into ONE SPIRIT.
    Now we know that the Holy Spirit was only fully expressed in Jesus. And we receive of the same Spirit but not in exactly the same way. The Spirit expresses itself in different ways in different parts of the Body of Christ. Jesus was fully controlled by the Spirit so it is the Spirit of Jesus, but not his natural spirit. So when Jesus says “My Father and I will come to you” that expresses his unity with the Father in the Holy Spirit.

    #5534
    bic
    Participant

    The inner man is that very same thing that Adam and Eve partook of in the Garden of Eden: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is our conscience.

    We are concerned with the terminology of the spirit, the body, and the soul. Let's examine 'us' from creation.

    First, I don't think that there is much disagreement with the body: our physical, fleshy makeup. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust: mortal and corruptible. It has no life in itself…it is just a corpse. It has to be animated, filled with the breath of life. Enter the soul:

    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.

    Ben Elohim is correct when he says that a soul is just a living creature: the very same word is used to describe cattle. It does not give us God-like qualities, it is only our breath of life.

    Gen:2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
    ashamed.

    This indicates that mankind (at this point in time) were basically just animals. They had no concept of right and wrong, or sin. Enter the Serpent and the Tree:

    Gen:3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
    shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
    3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
    unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
    3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons…
    …3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

    Notice that the serpent says they will be as “gods” because they will know good from evil. Eve realizes this 'tree' will make them wise and when they eat of the tree, their eyes are opened. God says that they have become as one of “us” (in that they know good from evil).

    It was at this time that mankind became God-like. What is God like?

    God is spirit. Therefore, when man ate of the tree, he was given a spirit. It is the spirit of man that makes him God-like. It gives him a conscience. Our connection with God is through our spirit. Thus, we read:

    Rom:8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
    children of God:

    1 Cor:2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
    …5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
    5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
    …6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
    …7:34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
    …15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
    15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

    I'll stop here to show an interpretation that is little heard. Everyone agrees that the second Adam is Jesus Christ. However, as is so often the case with scripture, there is a dual meaning. This verse also refers to the two different states of the man Adam: the first, when he was created “a living soul”; the second, when he ate of the Tree and took on the spirit of man. The spirit of man is akin to his mind.

    2 Cor:2:13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother:
    but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.
    …7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

    Ephesians  4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

    1 Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

    This all fits together so nicely except when I get to this verse:

    Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
    heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

    Now, I want to tear down all that I have built (the logic and reasoning). How do I reconcile these verses?

    I fear, Nick, that all my worldly wisdom cannot understand all of the mysteries of God. I see…but only darkly so. Unless it is revealed to me by the Holy Spirit, I will have to be content with wondering.

    Okay, someone else with a better understanding of the nature of man take over. I only muddied the water. Perhaps, I will hear an explanation that satisfies me. So far, Ben E has offered the best explanation in my mind.

    #5535
    NickHassan
    Participant

    Good post bic,
    I agree that eating of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil gave man conscience. The first sign was physical “self consciousness” where they decided nakedness, perhaps because it was provocative, was sin.

    But is that the spirit? I don't think so. When God breathed into man, man became ” a living soul”. Not just a soul but a “living” soul and I believe spirit gives that life [Jas 2.26]. When we die that spark of life returns to God as Ecclesiastes 12 says [and compares us to animals in that regard] and the soul sleeps.

    So what of spirit? All the scriptures you quote show that it gives us self awareness and insight.

    To worship God with
    ”  all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” to me emphasises by repetition. The soul is our “being” and heart and mind are part of it's nature.

    It also shows that the mind has to be disciplined to work with us as it is often the aspect of us that rebels and wanders away from truth. It is influenced by the world we see and often prefers fantasy to fact. It, with the heart, has to be transformed by renewal according to the truth of the Word of God.

    But it is not an exclusive scripture either as we are told our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and to
    “Glorify God in your body” as well in 1 Cor 6.20.
    Of course it is the soul that is in the body that does the worshipping but we use our body too.

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