The Spiritual Part of Man

Transcription

1 The Spiritual Part of Man.!7!. THE COMPOSITION OF MAN Man is basically dual in nature. The Apostle Paul speaks of the outward man which experiences decay, and the inward man which is renewed each day (II Corinthians 4:16). This means that man has a physical as well as a spiritual aspect. Put another way, man is both material and nonmaterial. The material element is called a body. The nonmaterial aspect is called soul or spirit. I recognize that technically a distinction can be made between the soul and the spirit in man (I Thessalonians 5:23). In that context, the soul is the self. The spirit is the medium by which the soul establishes contact with God or the supernatural realm (John 4:24; I Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:16), just as the body is the medium by which the soul establishes contact with other creatures or the physical world (Genesis 27:21; Mark 5:29). 37

2 The difference, however, between the soul and spirit is not one of essence (since they are both nonmaterial in nature), but one of function. In death, the material part of man is separated from the non-material. However, the soul and spirit of man can never be separated even in death. How then are we to interpret Hebrews 4:12, where we are told that the word of God pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit? God s word is our only valid source of information about the nonmaterial part of man. By it alone, we can divide or define the functions of soul and spirit in man. In other words, only by the word of God can we see the distinction between someone who is soulish and another who is spiritual. The soulish (yuciko,j = PSU-CHI-KOS KJV: natural [I Corinthians 2:14]; sensual [Jude 19]) man is one who is dominated by the body (his lower nature). The spiritual (pneumatiko,j = P-NEU-MA-TI-KOS I Corinthians 2:15) man is one who is dominated by the spirit (his higher nature). Such a man, nevertheless, still has a soul. So while the word of God can divide or distinguish between the functions and relationships of the soul and spirit, the actual soul and spirit of man are not literally separated from each other. They never are. It is not the purpose of this volume, however, to delve into the distinctions between the spirit and the soul. My concern, instead, is with their similarities. SYNONYMOUS USE OF SOUL & SPIRIT Since, together, they form the nonmaterial part of man, the terms spirit and soul are often used synonymously. Either one can signify the total nonmaterial aspect of man. For example: In Matthew 10:28, the word soul refers to the complete spiritual part of man: Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Here, the soul includes the spirit. Likewise, in I Corinthians 7:34, the word spirit refers to the complete spiritual part of man: 38

3 ...be holy both in body and in spirit. So here, the spirit includes the soul. When they are referred to synonymously, the soul and spirit of man manifest identical characteristics: emotion, volition, and intelligence. Let us compare them. 1 Emotion: In John 12:27, Jesus said, Now is my soul troubled. In the next chapter we read, When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit (John 13:21). 1 We need not suppose that two separate parts were troubled. Joseph s brothers recalled, We saw the anguish of his soul (Genesis 42:21). Later, we are told that For anguish of spirit... (Exodus 6:9), the children of Israel would not listen to Moses when he first returned to Egypt. In his defense, Job said, Was not my soul grieved for the poor? (Job 30:25). The prophet Daniel was disturbed by his visions. Before the angel interpreted what he saw, Daniel said, I...was grieved in my spirit (Daniel 7:15). In Psalm 35:9, David announced, My soul...shall rejoice in His salvation. A daughter of David was to say, My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Luke 1:47). Solomon declares that a faithful messenger...refresheth the soul of his masters (Proverbs 25:13). 1 Compare Genesis 41:8, where it is said of Pharaoh his spirit was troubled. 39

4 The Apostle Paul was delighted over the fine welcome the church at Corinth gave to Brother Titus,...because his spirit was refreshed by all (II Corinthians 7:13). 2 Volition: of the soul: Amidst all his suffering, Job wished he could die... My soul chooseth...death rather than life (Job 7:15). When Jonathan agreed to find out how his father felt about David, he said, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee (I Samuel 20:4). Also we read: The soul of the wicked desireth evil (Proverbs 21:10), but the righteous can say, the desire of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee (Isaiah 26:8). of the spirit: When Moses requested contributions for the construction of the tabernacle......everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing...brought the Lord s offering (Exodus 35:21). When Elihu could not wait to speak any longer, he said, For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me (Job 32:18). When Jesus wanted the disciples to stay awake and pray, He recognized that:...the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). In spite of the danger and even later warnings given by the Holy Ghost (Acts 20:23), Paul purposed in the spirit...to go to Jerusalem (Acts 19:21). 40

5 3 Intelligence: of the soul: One of the conditions for God to bless Israel was adherence to His word. Consequently, Moses commanded: Therefore, shall ye lay up these my words...in your soul (Deuteronomy 11:18). David declared, my soul knoweth that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Solomon said that the knowledge of wisdom is unto thy soul like honey...is sweet to thy taste (Proverbs 24:13-14). of the spirit: The Psalmist spoke of an investigation made by his spirit... My spirit made diligent search (Psalm 77:6). Solomon maintained that A fool uttereth all his mind (x;wr = RU-ACH... usually translated spirit ) (Proverbs 29:11). While in the Old Testament we read of the spirit of my understanding (Job 20:3), in the New Testament it is called the spirit of your mind (Ephesians 4:23). The Apostle Paul wrote, For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? (I Corinthians 2:11). We have thus demonstrated that emotional, volitional, and intellectual activities are attributed alike to both the soul and spirit. The synonymous usage of soul and spirit can also be seen in Hebrew parallelism... a basic characteristic of Hebrew poetry. In its simplest form, the second line of a couplet repeats the idea of the first line. This has been called synonymous parallelism. An illustration of this is Psalm 49:1 Hear this, all ye people! Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world! No one should try to make two separate points out of this couplet. Such would be an exercise in futility. Both lines are saying the same thing. 41

6 There are numerous other examples of this. Here are just a couple more: Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God; Defend me from them that rise up against me (Psalm 59:1). He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, The Lord shall have them in derision (Psalm 2:4). Each of these couplets offer one (and only one) complete thought. This type of Hebrew parallelism confirms the idea that spirit and soul can refer equally to the complete nonmaterial part of man. For example, Job said, I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul (Job 7:11). Both lines of this couplet say the same thing. Consequently, this example of synonymous parallelism clearly demonstrates that spirit and soul can be used synonymously. Another occurrence of this can be found in Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; Yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early. A similar thought is expressed in Mary s Magnificat: My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Luke 1:46-47). This is how the terms spirit and soul are used in this study. When either one appears in contrast to the physical part of man, it can represent the entire nonmaterial aspect of man. In this context, spirit and soul are interchangeable. Thus they can mean the same thing. IS OUR SPIRIT SIMPLY BREATH? The word translated spirit can sometimes be rendered breath (Psalm 135:17). Because of this, some would try to tell us that the spirit in man is nothing more than his breath. Such a conclusion is completely unfounded. The breath is a physical aspect of human existence which helps to sustain the body, and thus keep it functioning as the domain of the soul. It is not to be identified with the spiritual aspect of man which includes the soul. There is certainly much more to spirit than just one s physical breath. The distinction between spirit and breath is clearly evidenced when they are used together in the same phrase of Scripture:...his spirit and his breath (Job 34:14). Many things are written concerning the soul or spirit which could never be said of mere breath. Notice how ridiculous the following passages would be if we substituted the word spirit with the word breath : 42

7 God hardened his breath (Deuteronomy 2:30). I am a woman of a sorrowful breath (I Samuel 1:15). God is a Breath, and they that worship Him must worship Him in breath and in truth (John 4:24). The breath indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the breath may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (I Corinthians 5:5). Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your breath. Amen (Galatians 6:18). Of course, these substitutions demonstrate how impossible it is for the physical breath to be identified with the spiritual, nonmaterial aspect of man. DOES SOUL ALWAYS MEAN THE SAME THING? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word vp,n< (NE-PHESH) is usually translated soul. Originally, vp,n< (NE-PHESH) referred to the total person (material and nonmaterial), and not to just the spiritual part alone. At creation...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 (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) (Genesis 2:7). This meant that man became a living being or a living person. The total or complete man thus referred to as a soul included even the body. It is erroneous to assume that vp,n< (NE-PHESH) always indicates merely the spiritual aspect of man. For instance, in Genesis 46:27, we read: All the souls (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten. Are we to imagine by this, that seventy disembodied souls went down into Egypt? Of course not, because here vp,n< (NE-PHESH) includes the physical part of man. Our translation of Deuteronomy 10:22 clarifies this. There, the same event is recalled: Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons (vp,n< = NE-PHESH). So there are many times when the word soul just simply means person. Occasionally, the characteristics attributed to vp,n< (NE-PHESH) are purely physical to the exclusion of the spiritual. For example: hunger and thirst: 43

8 As cold waters to a thirsty soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH), So is good news from a far country (Proverbs 25:25). The full soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) loatheth an honeycomb, But to the hungry soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) every bitter thing is sweet (Proverbs 27:7). Of course, we understand that it is not strictly the nonmaterial part of a man that gets thirsty, hungry or full. His physical body does. Jeremiah records how that many starved to death in Jerusalem...while they sought their meat to relieve their souls (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) (Lamentations 1:19). We would say, they were searching for food to feed their bodies. (Compare Hosea 9:4 bread for their soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH). Moses tells us:...the life (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). Modern science has verified this fact. The blood carries the physical life. David, too, refers to the soul from a purely physical standpoint in Psalm 7:2. He is seeking God for deliverance from his enemy Lest he tear my soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. Was David worried about somebody ripping apart his nonmaterial being? Of course not. He knew that someone (probably King Saul) hated him enough to have his body hacked into pieces. So his body was the soul which David did not want torn. If, as we have seen, the word translated soul can refer to a living body, it should come as no surprise, then, to discover it can also signify a dead body: Whosoever toucheth the dead body (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) of any man... (Numbers 19:13). So vp,n< (NE-PHESH) can obviously mean a corpse. (No one would suggest that Moses was speaking of touching the nonmaterial aspect of a man.) We also told: If the priest buy any soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) with his money, he shall eat of it (Leviticus 22:11). Now this is real soul food. Of course, the soul of the animal to be eaten is merely its body. The vp,n< (NE-PHESH) here is purely physical. It is impossible to literally eat something nonmaterial. 44

9 On the other hand, vp,n< (NE-PHESH) can refer to the total nonmaterial part of a person. In Habakkuk 2:4a, we read: Behold, his soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) which is lifted up is not upright in him. So here the soul is something in a man... thus it is distinct from his body. This is seen in other scriptures: Rachel died in childbirth. As her soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) was departing, she named the newborn child (Genesis 35:18). Obviously the soul here is not to be identified with the body, for it is described as leaving the body. Again, in I Kings 17:21-22, vp,n< (NE-PHESH) is clearly distinguished from the physical body. The widow s son has died. Elijah prays: Let this child s soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) come into him again. The Lord answers his prayer, and the child is restored to his mother. The word soul in this passage plainly indicates something other than the child s body to which it returns. We turn now to the New Testament. The Greek word (yuch, = PSU-CHE) is Like vp,n< (NE-PHESH), yuch, (PSU-CHE) can simply mean usually translated soul. person Fear came upon every soul (yuch, = PSU-CHE) (Acts 2:43). Eight souls (yuch, = PSU-CHE) were saved by water (I Peter 3:20). Also, like vp,n< (NE-PHESH), yuch, (PSU-CHE) sometimes has purely physical characteristics: Jesus said, These are physical needs. Take no thought for you life (yuch, = PSU-CHE), what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink (Matthew 6:25). Paul and Barnabas were described as Men that have hazarded their lives (yuch, = PSU-CHE) for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 15:26). While they had not placed their spiritual lives in jeopardy, they certainly had risked their physical lives for the Lord. Then, too, yuch, (PSU-CHE) can refer to the total nonmaterial part of man: Receive with meekness the engrafted word, 45

10 which is able to save your souls (yuch, = PSU-CHE) (James 1:21). Beloved, I wish above all things that you mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul (yuch, = PSU-CHE) prospereth (III John 2). Having completed this Biblical survey of the term soul (vp,n< = NE-PHESH and yuch, = PSU-CHE), we can arrive at the following conclusion: Basically there are two ways in which this word is used... 1 It is employed in a general sense to mean a person or physical life (including the body). 2 It is also used in a specific sense to mean the inner self or spiritual life the nonmaterial essence which survives physical death. Some have assumed that the physical and spiritual aspects of man are united in such a way that they cannot be separated. When the physical dies, so does the spiritual. Thus the spiritual is dependent upon the physical for its existence. Such a concept is very materialistic. The only way to find support for such materialism in scripture is to ignore the distinction between the general and specific use of the word soul. If this is done, someone could take a verse where vp,n< (NE-PHESH) or yuch, (PSU-CHE) is used in a general sense, and make it appear to contradict other verses where it is used in a specific sense. An example of the apparent contradiction caused by ignoring this distinction of definition, is seen in the following: Moses said: Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person (vp,n< = NE-PHESH) (Deuteronomy 27:25). Compare this with Matthew 10:28, where Jesus said: Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul (yuch, = PSU-CHE). The former verse says a soul can be killed by man; the latter says a soul cannot be killed by man. It should be quite obvious that in the former verse, vp,n< (NE-PHESH) is used in the general sense; whereas, in the latter verse, the Greek equivalent, yuch, (PSU-CHE), is used in a specific sense. Again, when properly interpreted, these passages do not really contradict each other. The earlier verse simply tells us that a person or soul can die physically. The latter one tells us that the inner self or soul does not go out of existence or cease to function at physical death. Jesus is plainly teaching that the physical part of man can be killed without killing the spiritual part. The body can be killed, and the soul can still be alive! 46

11 This is further substantiated by the fact that John actually sees the disembodied...souls (yuch, = PSU-CHE) of those who were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held (Revelation 6:9). No one can claim that the word soul here includes anything physical. It is also quite obvious that the inner self does not depend upon the physical for its existence. These martyrs are conscious and alert. They think and speak (Revelation 6:10). As we saw in Luke 16:24, Jesus reveals that the wicked do not become unconscious in death either. Consequently, the physical and spiritual elements in man can be separated... and the spiritual part consciously survives that separation. Recognition of the Biblical distinction between the general and specific use of soul will help us to understand a passage like Ezekiel 18:4 The soul (yuch, = PSU-CHE) that sinneth, it shall die. Israel had accused God of injustice. They claimed He was punishing them for the sins of their fathers. Thus, they were denying any personal responsibility for their own sins. So God made it clear that no innocent person would die because of His wrath. However, He declared, the soul (person) that sins shall die. In this context, soul simply means person. It is used in the general sense of the word, and not the specific. When someone says, Such and such a person died, there is no direct reference to the destiny of the inner self of that person. This is physical death. In effect, Moses stated the same idea in Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin. With the prediction of judgment, comes an offer of mercy: If the wicked will turn from all his sins... he shall surely live, he shall not die (Ezekiel 18:21). God will protect the righteous during the destruction of Jerusalem. Only the sinner will die under God s wrath. In conclusion, I offer a chart which summarizes how the Bible refers to the various parts of man. It shows that the term soul can refer to the total man (material and nonmaterial) (General A), and even to the body by itself (General B), or simply to the nonmaterial part... excluding the body (Specific)!... and, in that sense, is synonymous with the term spirit. 47

12 THE BIBLICAL PARTS OF MAN 48