Question: "Do we have two or three parts? Body, soul, and spirit? Dichotomy or trichotomy?"How God Designed UsAnswer: Genesis 1:26-27 indicates that there is something that makes humanity distinct from all the other creations. Human beings were intended to have a relationship with God, and as such, God created us with both material and immaterial parts. The material is obviously that which is tangible: the physical body, bones, organs, etc., and exists as long as the person is alive. The immaterial aspects are those which are intangible: soul, spirit, intellect, will, conscience, etc. These exist beyond the physical lifespan of the individual.All human beings possess both material and immaterial characteristics. It is clear that all mankind has a body containing flesh, blood, bones, organs, and cells. However, it is the intangible qualities of mankind that are often debated. What does Scripture say about these? Genesis 2:7 states that man was created as a living soul. Numbers 16:22 names God as the “God of the spirits” that are possessed by all mankind. Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life,” indicating that the heart is central to man’s will and emotions. Acts 23:1 says, “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’” Here Paul refers to the conscience, that part of the mind that convicts us of right and wrong. Romans 12:2 states, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” These verses, and numerous others, refer to the various aspects of the immaterial part of humanity. We all share both material and immaterial qualities.So, Scripture outlines far more than just soul and spirit. Somehow, the soul, spirit, heart, conscience, and mind are connected and interrelated. The soul and spirit, though, definitely are the primary immaterial aspects of humanity. They likely comprise the other aspects. With this is mind, is humanity dichotomous (cut in two, body/soul-spirit), or trichotomous (cut in three, body/soul/spirit). It is impossible to be dogmatic. There are good arguments for both views. A key verse is Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” This verse tells us at least two things about this debate. The soul and spirit can be divided, and the division of soul and spirit is something that only God can discern. Rather than focusing on something we cannot know for sure, it is better to focus on the Creator, who has made us “fearfully and wonderfully” (Psalm 139:14)."...Ye MUST be born again" John 3:7 KJV"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."(John 3:5-6 KJV) Each man and woman born into this world is a being made of three (3) distinct components: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.(1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV)1: The BODY. This is your PHYSICAL component of being. It is flesh made from a collection of unremarkable mineral elements (but is mostly water) and is in harmony with the nature and spirit of this world. It grows, matures, begins to deteriorate, eventually dies, and then decomposes back into its constituent elements and remains a part of the dust of the world. The body is a part of you but is NOT ALL of what defines who YOU are."And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,"(Proverbs 5:11 KJV)2: The SOUL. This is who YOU are; it is a part of your SPIRITUAL component. This is your individuality, your "I AM" so to speak (made in God’s image), your "heart." Although your individual soul did not exist before your mother and father procreated you, it will exist forever. It cannot be killed by man:"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."(Matt. 10:28 KJV)When your body dies your soul (YOU) will leave the body of flesh:"And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin."(Genesis 35:18 KJV)3: The SPIRIT. This is the source of power and control for both your body and soul; it is either evil or good, darkness or light, unholy or Holy, unclean or clean, of Satan or of God: "But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of."(Luke 9:55 KJV)Where your soul spends eternity after it departs is determined by your personal relationship to God (saved or unsaved). You are an eternal being. You determine your own destiny. In fact, the Bible says that you are a "god" (small "g"): "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"(John 10:34 KJV)"So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."(Gen 1:27 KJV)(see also Isaiah 41:23 and Psalms 82:6) The unsaved man or woman, those who have only the first birth, are in eternal danger. Since the body and soul of the unsaved man or woman are bonded to the dead spirit of this present world, when this world's physical elements and spiritual components (including "Death") are cast into the lake of fire (see Rev 20:13-15), those eternal souls, living or already dead, will perish with them. So, what exactly is the difference between the relationship of the unsaved soul and the saved soul? What does being "Born Again" actually mean? The answer is something that God does for you at the moment you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior: An OPERATION. Have you ever been operated on by a doctor? The doctor uses a knife to cut away something that is diseased. Well, God's "operation" is similar. Using the Sword of the Lord instead of a scalpel, the Great Physician (Luke 5:31) severs the direct (but unseen) connection between your soul and your flesh: "For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."(Heb. 4:12 KJV)"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead."(Col. 2:12 KJV)This "operation" is a spiritual circumcision. Your flesh is cut away from your soul and you are given God's Spirit: "But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God."(Romans 2:29 KJV)After you have accepted the free gift of salvation through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as you grow and mature in the Lord (your continuing sanctification), you will begin to notice some changes in how you think. You will find that your heart (soul) grows more and more in agreement with God and His law (which is spiritual), but your flesh will still want to go the way of the world. All true born-again Christians have a split personality so to speak. And even when you work not to sin (you don't work to stay saved), sin still happens along your path of Christian growth. Paul sums it up quite well in the book of Romans: "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 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. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."(Romans 7:21-25 KJV)Your soul is saved, but your flesh, your present physical body, is still dead and cannot be salvaged. It will perish and return to the Earth. (You get a new body later.) Your present flesh will still lust to do those things that are unlawful, while at the same time your heart and the Spirit will condemn those thoughts and feelings and empower you to avoid the temptation. But no Christian is perfect in the flesh, and as you go through this life you will sometimes give in to those feelings and will sin in the flesh (but not in your heart).FACT: Christian people DO SIN at times (but in the flesh only) after they are saved: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."(1 John 1:8 KJV)"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:"(1 John 2:1 KJV)When this happens, and the guilt begins to set in, the Christian starts worrying about losing his/her salvation or committing the unpardonable sin. Well, it can't happen. FACT: It is NOT POSSIBLE for a Christian's SOUL to sin, because that soul has been born again by His (God's) seed into God's family: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."(1 John 3:9 KJV)Physical circumcision is permanent and cannot be reversed; once that flesh is cut away it is gone forever. The same metaphor applies to circumcision of the heart; once that body of flesh is cut away your soul can't be reattached to it. And Praise God for that!Salvation is the FREE GIFT of God and eternal; it is not earned (or retained) by good works: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"(Romans 3:23 KJV)"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."(Gal 2:16 KJV)If you are not good enough to earn it, why do so many Christian people think that they can un-earn it? Once you have given your soul to God it is His forever! If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are loved of God and don't have to worry about holding onto God because HE WILL HOLD ONTO YOU.Here is an off-site link that further deals with the "Tripartite Man" (body, soul, & spirit). Here is another off-site link that "rightly divides" the differences between Church Age Salvation and Tribulation Salvation."For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(Romans 8:38-39 KJV)Tripartite or BipartiteOne way to view our nature is that we have a material part, our body, and an immaterial part, our soul and/or spirit. A frequently held view is that we have a bipartite nature where the “soul” and “spirit” are taken as different terms for the same entity. In a 1931 issue of The Evangelical Quarterly, A. McCaig wrote a comprehensive 17-page review of scripture in an article titled “Thoughts on the Tripartite Theory of Human Nature” in which the author makes the case that we are bipartite.Many other theologians suggest that our immaterial nature has two distinctly different parts – a soul and a spirit. This is known as a tripartite view. Information to include scripture references are at this website and the site of Andrew Wommack Ministries.I tend to lean towards those who hold a tripartite view and the following is my understanding of our design and how the body, soul and spirit are interconnected. Indeed, we are very, very complex beings and only a living God could have created us as we are. I urge you to study the scriptures to arrive at your own understanding of man’s design.Our BodyIt is by our body that we function. It’s comprised of organs and cells which consists of protein carbohydrates and fats. Our body contains our nervous system with nerves and the brain. It’s through our bodies that we connect to the physical world with our five senses.Psalm 139:14 says that “you are fearfully and wonderfully made.” Open this document for examples of how marvelously God made our bodies to function as they do.Our SoulI believe that our soul is what gives us our personality and it’s through our soul that we live out our relationship with God, with other people and with our self. Our soul likely has three major components — our mind, will and emotions. Our mind has a conscious part and a subconscious part. The conscious mind is where we do our thinking and reasoning. The sub-conscious mind is where we hold our deep beliefs and our attitudes. It’s also where we have our feeling, our emotions and retain our memories. Our will is what gives us the ability to make choices. Through a very complex way, our mind, our will and our emotions are connected to the body through our endocrine, nervous and immune systems.“The mind and body communicate constantly. What the mind thinks, perceives, and experiences is sent from our brain to the rest of the body.” Herbert Benson, M.D., The Benson – Henson Institute for Mind Body MedicineOur SpiritI believe that it’s in our spirit that we have meaning and purpose in life. At the deepest level our spirit gives us meaning and purpose and our spirit enables us to love one another, our self and God. It’s through our spirit that we have communion and fellowship with God. Our spirit gives us intuition between right and wrong. For in-depth reading about the distinction between spirit, soul and body consider material written by Watchman Nee, especially The Spiritual Man which is a book online and free.Our spiritual health will have a significant impact on our emotional health which will have a major influence on our physical health. The inter-connection between the spirit, the soul and the body is certainly a complex connection, nevertheless, the connection is very real. The apostle John was inspired by God to write in 3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” This is an indication of the importance of attending to matters of the soul as it relates to being healthy.The Interaction Between Spirit, Soul and BodyMany of us are affected by how we handle the stress that life brings us. If chronic stress is left unchecked, over a period of time our bodies will take a toll. A strong faith can help us to cope with the stress that we experience in our life and enable the impact of that stress to be less significant. Without a strong personal faith we must resort to our own resources to cope with the stress present in our life. Often we attempt to cope with this stress through addictions and other methods of escape. This behavior can further exacerbate the effect of stress on our physical health. A strong personal faith can be a resource that helps to manage stress. See this page for more about stress and your health.Our beliefs and attitudes, determined in large degree by our faith, will play a major role in our thinking patterns. Our day to day thinking will have an impact on our emotions and feelings, and our emotions and feelings will have a major impact on our behaviors. In this regard, our thought patterns play a significant role in our emotional and physical health. In the page on Spiritual Exercises I address the importance of our thinking patterns and how we can change our thinking which can transform our life.Caring for our heart – our ‘spiritual’ heart as well as our physical heart – is a huge part of being healthy.Spirituality and HealthRead about spirituality and health and why the faith and health connection exists at The Connection page....“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23
