What Is The Soul?

John 7:38, “He who believes in Me… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Matthew 12:34, “… For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”

I have this nagging question. Actually I have a lot of questions, but one in particular has my thoughts and prayers. The question is, what is the soul? And not only what is it, but how do I become conscious of it? How does it interact with the Spirit and the Flesh? What about me is Christ like character in the soul, and what is flesh run a muck?

In my time alone, driving, doing yard work, the 3 to 5 min I have before I fall asleep these are the questions I ask of God. I sometimes even ask God if other asks the thousands of questions I ask Him a day. And His reply is most often silence. But to the last question He said, “31.”

What? 31? What kind of an answer is that?

It was then that the Holy Spirit said, “You ask an average of 31 questions per day.”

I laugh at the humor of it all, and it makes me wonder… is laughter flesh or the soul?

Isn’t the heart that scripture speaks of really the soul? After all, conversation, words, thoughts originate in the brain, and so is the heart (soul) the motivator behind those words and conversations?

Surely the brain, and the body have nothing to do with our consciousness and awareness of God, least our salvation or ability to be saved. If this were not true then salvation and closeness to God would not be as possible for those who are mentally or physically impaired. May that never be.

The Soul does not control our sense of fairness, science has proven this in that monkeys, and elephants in particular demonstrate consciousness of fairness.

Agape Love must originate in the soul, but how? Human kind seems to be the only extractors of justice, so is this too a function of the soul?

How about a murderous heart? Are murder, covetousness, glutton, and the other deadly sins symptoms of a deformed soul? Or are they simply depraved mind?

I recently read a story online of a woman who had a stroke. He ongoing symptoms are a compulsion to give to others. Has her brain finally been removed as a barrier to her God fearing soul? Or is giving too a function of the flesh?

I heard a contrasting story of a pastor’s wife who too had a stroke. God fearing, God loving, pillar of the church community now cannot be taken out in public without starting an argument. It is said she no longer has a “filter.” Has the abundance of her heart spoken? Has her soul shine through, even though that shinning is dark?

And so I wait for the answers. They are not always as simple as 31, but they do come. And with this one I hope, I pray, that like Christ I can connect with the consciousness of the soul, so that I can disconnect with the consciousness of the flesh… so that I can be more like Him. 

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Spirit, Soul, & Body

1 Corinthians 15:45, “So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

I wanted to write today on Spirit, Soul, and Body because I find it a good introduction into what I think is going to be a be series of posts on Growing in Christ. In my post God is Light I said in passing that the spirit is energy, the soul is consciousness, and the body is mass. And this as it relates to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is true, but it is also true according to scripture.

If we first look at the spirit of man we see from the above scripture that Christ, the last Adam, is the one who brings life (energy) to that spirit. According to John 3: 6-7; salvation, or the process of being “born again”, is a rebirth of the spirit. Perhaps comparing this born again spirit is more like a home being connected to electricity for the first time. Paul in Colossians 1:13 says that we are transferred from a kingdom of darkness to a kingdom of His beloved Son. So the spirit, for those who have given their life to Christ is alive with the energy of God.

The body on the other hand has its own source of energy derived from being alive on the earth. The organs, blood, bones, muscles, skin, etc all work autonomously with or without God’s spirit. Instincts and genetic programming allow survival and function in the world. Hearts beat, brains think, emotions run all independent of both spirit and soul.

But the soul… now that is what God breathed into man when He created the first Adam. In the soul is consciousness. It is the soul that has the conscious connection between body and spirit. The soul is not intellectual capacity. That is the brain. But rather the soul houses are character and free will. It is the place where who we really are is found. It is what is and will be judged by Christ.

And so, in the context of this definition and relationship of spirit, soul, and body we find ourselves a living soul constantly making choices based on two competing forces. (Rom 8:5) The body is lazy, selfish, prideful, greedy, and under the curse and contamination of original sin. The spirit for those saved is connected to God. It is His life force, His energy, His communication, and even His kingdom that is growing inside us. And so here is life. In its simplest of godly purpose life is a conscious soul that daily, hourly, even moment by moment has a choice of choosing the desires of a body, or choosing the desires of the Spirit. Oh some times, perhaps even many times those desires are the same, but just as often the Spirit is in conflict with the body.

So to grow in Christ or for a more palatable term, spiritual growth is nothing more than choosing Spirit over body. And this path we will find in the coming post has a pattern. We will also find out that that pattern has very little to do with not sinning, and a whole lot to do with discovering Christ in a new and living way.

Here’s to growing in Him together.

As a side note. I have seen it argued that emotions are in the soul. If that is the case does it mean a woman with PMS really has a crazy soul? Does it mean someone with hypothyroid, a cause of depression, has a depressed soul?

For those who think intellect is in the soul. Does it mean the mentally handicapped have less of a soul? Does it mean diminished mental capacity means less capacity to be conscious of God?

Surrender yet?

Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

I have come to realize that no matter how much I try to articulate the experience most people are just not going to get it, unless that have already shared the experience before. I am finding this exceptionally true with all my post on surrender. Surrender being dying to self, bearing the cross, and a host of other euphemisms.

But the point in sharing it is not that you would understand per se. But at this point I share simply because it is what I feel compelled to do by God. I hope with all sincerity that even in the lack of empathy or understanding that somewhere in these words is inspiration to pursue God yourself.

The coming week, if the Lord wills, will be a different week in posts. I presently have the intention for a review of sorts of The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. It, for me, is a complete confirmation of the past 4 or 5 months, and certainly a complete confirmation of the past 67 days.

Please hear me on this... I am certain that I have discovered something in God that few find. All are called to it. All experience its beginnings, but few take it this far. I know, because at present there are only a handful of people I know who get it. I am also certain that there is much, much, much more. I am certain that I am nothing special, with no special gifts. And I am certain that God loves you every bit as much as He loves me. This thing is surrender. Complete and total surrender. (Stay with me)

At this moment I perceive myself to be in complete surrender to God. (Not true... but my perception. I am not conscious of anything else to surrender.)  I know that this complete surrender is purely a momentary place. God is going to have be walk out in this place before bringing me even deeper into it. But that is not the important part.

The important part is that the backside of surrender transcends faith. Post surrender there is no need for faith, as there is only obedience. (Jesus was not a man of faith, He was led by obedience.) Post surrender things become visible like never before. At that place were you honestly know that NOTHING in you is good. That EVERYTHING must be laid down. EVERYTHING!!!!! And that there is only Christ and His expression of Himself through you. This is surrender. I am nothing and I will do nothing save for Christ. This is a heart condition... this is soul condition.

Remember we are spirit, soul, and body. Surrender occurs at the soul level. At salvation we are confronted with the evils of our flesh and its animal tendencies. The blood of Jesus covers our sins past, present, and future. But from here the cross must be picked up. Why? It is picked up to bear onto our soul, the home of our character, the place of our ego. The cross weighs onto the soul illuminating its evil and proving it has no value apart from the Spirit.

We will cover this later, but Nee shows that original sin inflated the soul. The soul must be deflated so that the spirit of God can increase. I must decrease so that God can increase. This is not a statement of flesh. This is a statement of the soul.

I will close with this story. I have a friend who God told, "If you will live like a pauper I will make you rich." The man is already a multi-multi millionaire. His response to this compulsion was to sell his $3MM house and a bunch of toys and move to a $1MM house without the toys. Compulsion not satisfied he has now sold the $1MM house and moving to a much smaller home, but still not one of a pauper. The spiritual truth is this... He could have stayed in the $3MM home for all God cared. The command to live like a pauper is a command of his soul. Surrender God says. Be poor in your soul. Take no value in what you have or can do. Take no stock in your education, your savings, surrender it to me and I will make you rich. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God... We know our spirit is poor when we recognize are soul is too large and has driven it into poverty. Surrender to God and discover the riches of His Kingdom.