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About the Believers – The Tripartite Man

1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has exulted in God my Savior.

Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, / Searching all the innermost parts of the inner being.

John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. 40 Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

The quotation below comes from the book, God’s Plan of Redemption, by Mary E. McDonough

The terms “inner man” and “outer man,” or their equivalents, are employed in modern psychology, but the psychology of the Bible is more analytical inasmuch as it indicates a subdivision of the invisible part of man, thus teaching us that man is not dichotomous but is a trichotomous being. We find this plainly taught in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and indicated in Hebrews 4:12 and Luke 1:46-47.

This tripartite being may be illustrated by a third piece of cardboard containing three circles. Within the inner circle print the word “spirit.” Within the second circle (surrounding the first) place the word “soul,” and within the outer circle the word “body.” (See Figure)

With the spirit we know God and our relation to Him and our relation morally to every created object. With our soul powers—the intellect, sensibilities (affections, emotions) and will—we are able to deal with the intuitions of the spirit, the claims of these various soul faculties and the record of the bodily senses.

“The spirit of man,” not the soul, is said to be “the candle of the Lord” (Prov. 20:27). Caution the class in reference to a careless use of these terms. Do not say “soul” when “spirit” is meant and vice versa. Avoid the phrase “body, soul and spirit,” as it inverts the Divine order of arrangement. In a normal condition the powers of the spirit control the powers of soul and body.

(God’s Plan of Redemption, by Mary E. McDonough, http://marymcdonough.ccws.org/redemption/index.html)

The Recovery Version of the Bible renders 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 with the word “soulish” and we find it most appropriate, especially in its context. “But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually. But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15)

Instead of soulish, many translations of the Bible use “natural”. In any case, The footnote on “soulish” in the Recovery version goes right along with sister McDonough’s admonition that we distinguish between the spirit of man and the soul of man: “A soulish man is a natural man, one who allows his soul (including the mind, the emotion and the will) to dominate his entire being and who lives by his soul, ignoring his spirit, not using his spirit, and even behaving as if he did not have a spirit (Jude 19).”

We need to pursue Christ with an exercised spirit. Calling on the name of the Lord, crying to Him from our deepest part, “Oh, Lord Jesus”, is one way to exercise our spirit. We can also exercise our spirit by praising the Lord. Praising Him with “Praise the Lord!” and “Hallelujah” is to worship the Lord with our spirit. 

If we read the Bible merely with our mind we will be like those who search the scriptures yet are not willing to come to Christ. To exercise the spirit means to contact the Lord Himself. When we come to verses in the Bible we should read and pray, pray and read, always contacting God as we read the scriptures. This is to exercise the spirit. This is why pray-reading is recommended. We don’t advocate pray-reading as a form, but we exhort the believers to continuously contact the Lord in their reading. 

If man does not exercise his spirit, no matter how noble his deeds, no matter how deep his thoughts, no matter how scriptural his words, the transmission of God to that man will be absent. Let us make a strong resolution to be the spiritual men, ones who receive the things of the Spirit of God and discern all things. In our personal time with the Lord and in our corporate pursuit with others, let us come in this way, with an exercised spirit.

 

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About the Believers – The Human Spirit

Zechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him,

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Ephesians 2:22 In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit,

Ephesians 6:18 By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints,

Romans 1:9a For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

God created us with a human spirit for good reason. The human spirit matches God’s Spirit so that God can dispense Himself into us. We know from John 4:24 that God is Spirit, and by all the verses above (and so many more) we also see that we have a human spirit. By it we contact God and receive Him! John 3:6 shows us that the part in our being where we were born again was our human spirit.

A hymn titled “There’s a Life That’s Deeper than our Mind” talks about touching our human spirit. In this hymn there is also a call to the Christ who is in our spirit to come make home in our heart– that is, to spread out from our human spirit to our whole being. (You can see the lyrics to the whole hymn here: https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/217 ).

When we touch our spirit—such a thrill!
This is far beyond emotion, mind, and will—
It’s within our hidden part—
Come, make home in all our heart;
Let Your presence flow as rivers deep within.

All the genuine spiritual experiences in our Christian life are experiences in our human spirit.

We may have previously thought that we were only made of an inner part and an outer part, but the Bible reveals a third part, the human spirit. How wonderful it is to discover our human spirit!

We invite you to read this excerpt on the human spirit. It is only a small portion from a series of lessons designed to impart the truth of the Bible to young people.
https://www.ministrysamples.org/excerpts/THE-HUMAN-SPIRIT-2.HTML

 

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About the Believers – Saints

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Paul, a called apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother, 2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

A saint is simply a believer, one who has the life of God. The apostle Paul had no problem calling the believers in Corinth saints. The church in that place was one with many problems, yet the apostle still called them saints. Saints refers to those who were redeemed by Christ’s blood. Since this is so, you also may boldly say, “I am a saint!”. This does not mean that God is finished with us. He still needs to spread through all our being, through our mind, emotion, and will.  This process is called sanctification and all the saints are in this process. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” The first step of our Christian life is also the first step of our sanctification. This happened already when we believed in the Lord Jesus and received His life. This is why the apostle refers to the saints as those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.

We were chosen by God, predestinated and called– to be holy. We know this from Ephesians 1:4. You might say that this is what the Christian life is all about.  To be holy is to be separated from everything common. It also means to be filled with the One who is holy. Holiness is God’s nature. Only He is holy. God begins the process of making us holy when He comes in to be our life. This happened when we believed in the Lord. He came into our deepest part, into our human spirit. John 3:6 says, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We cannot deny that our regenerated human spirit is filled with the life of God, with the One who is holy. 

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”. We are sanctified in Christ Jesus in our spirit, and we are in the middle of being wholly sanctified as He spreads to every part of our being.

May we come to Him again and again, and let Him spread. A song that encapsulates 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is God is spreading in my being. God sanctifies us, even as we sing spiritual songs like these.

This is another great song that conveys the burden found in the introduction to 1 Corinthians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2LSMXNq7gw

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About the Believers – Regenerated

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

1 Peter 1:23 Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.

1 John 5:1a Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

From these verses, we can see that regeneration is to receive Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit, into us as our life. To receive this life, we need to repent to God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

To say that Christ is our life now is not a figurative statement. Christ being our life does not merely mean that we are now completely focused on Him. Rather, this means that we have literally another life, a new life, which we didn’t have before. Humans have the human life, dogs have the dog life, cats have the cat life, and believers have God’s life! The following short quotation emphasizes that by regeneration, we obtain God’s life.

Regeneration is having God enter into us as life—having the life of God in addition to our human life. This is the second life, the second birth; hence, it is called regeneration. In man’s first birth he is born of his parents, thereby receiving Adam’s life. In his second birth he is born of the Spirit and of God, thereby obtaining God’s life. Regeneration is to be born of God. (Lessons for New Believers, Lesson 1, published by Living Stream Ministry)

With this in mind, enjoy reading afresh the following passage from the gospel of John.

John 3:1-8 But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. 3 Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?

5 Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born anew. 8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

With the human life, if you take away the life from the person, you take away that person. In other words, you cannot separate the life from the person. We also then realize, that just as one cannot be unborn of their human life, a believer cannot be unborn of their new life from God. We cannot be un-regenerated. This is good news! You believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; you have a new life, the life of God, and this life can never be taken away from you. This is what John 3:16 means when it says, “have eternal life”.  

Again, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we receive Him who is the very life of God into us, to be our new life. We are regenerated! The realization of such a fact led the author of hymn 1174 to praise unceasingly.

How mysterious! Yet how real!
Such a man now lives in me.
Into all my heart He’s spreading—
He, my human life, to be.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
I will praise unceasingly.

(see the whole hymn here: https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/nt/1174)

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About the Believers – Called

Eph-4-1-I-beseech-you-therefore

Romans 8:30 And those whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 4:1 I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

Every believer is a called one. I grew up knowing that certain ones served God because at a certain point in their lives, God would call them. They received “a calling”, I had been taught. Little did I realize that one day, I myself would also be called. What we find in God’s word is that every believer is a called one – “those whom He predestinated, these He also called.” (Romans 8:30) If it weren’t for God Himself calling us, we wouldn’t be saved.

When God called us, we were in the middle of our own pursuits. Why did He call us? It was not just to leave us there. He has a purpose and His calling has a purpose. When God called Saul of Tarsus, he answered, “Who are You, Lord?” (Acts 9:5) He also asked, “What do you want me to do?” (Acts 22:10). As the called ones, we must be like Saul who became the apostle Paul. The Lord has called us. We should likewise ask Him, “Who are You, Lord?” and “What do you want me to do?”.  We can fully trust in the Lord our God, who has called us. We can put our life in His hands. This One who has created all things and predestinated us and called us has a purpose and a plan. Why not open ourselves to Him in faith?

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About the Believers – Predestinated

Eph-1-5-Predestinating-us-unto-sonship-through-Jesus-Christ

Ephesians 1:5 Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Romans 8:29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

God knows all things, the past, the present, and the future. He is the source and initiator. Therefore, before you and I were born, He knew us. Not only so, but He looked at all those whom He would create and marked them for a certain destiny. This was His predestinating us as is mentioned in Ephesians 1:5. In his translation of the Bible, John Nelson Darby used the words “having marked out”. In fact, God marked us out for something really special, to be His many sons (Ephesians 1:5) and to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). You might ask yourself, “why did He do such a thing, and why did He choose Me?” The same verse tells us that He did it according to the good pleasure of His will. This just says that God likes you.
The verse prior, Ephesians 1:4 says, “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love”. Therefore, we’ve been chosen and predestinated. No one knows why He chooses one over another, but we can say that there is something in His heart for you.

The following story about D.L. Moody really helps to make this point clear.

D. L. Moody encouraged his seminary students to preach the gospel. A student, who heard Moody’s teaching on predestination in class, was impressed and did not dare to preach the gospel, because he had a problem. He said to Moody, “I dare not preach the gospel now.” Moody asked him why, and he said, “When I am preaching, I look at a person and consider whether he is predestinated; I look at another and consider whether he is chosen. If God has not chosen and predestinated these ones, and they are eventually persuaded by me to believe in the Lord, will I not be making a big mistake?” Moody then replied, “Brother, just do your best to persuade him. As long as you can persuade someone to believe in the Lord, he has been chosen and predestinated by God.” Then Moody went on to say, “At the entrance of heaven, the words whoever will may come are written on the outside; this means that whoever believes can be saved. But once a person passes through the entrance and looks back, he will see written on the inside, ‘You have been predestinated.’ Outside of the entrance is whoever, but inside of the gate is predestinated.” Thus, when leading those who have passed through the entrance and have been baptized, we should say, “You have been predestinated by God. You believed in the Lord and were saved because God picked you out and marked you out a long time ago.” (Lessons for New Believers, Lesson 1, published by Living Stream Ministry)

Isn’t that a helpful story? Now we can only worship God and thank Him, and tell Him that -we like Him, too.

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