SOURCES of INFLUENCE Part IV
Is = [Nt + E3(M)] (HS) +/- (Sw + Dt+/-p)
Is (Sources of Influence) LONG FORMULA
| Is = [Nt(B) {G(Ch – Cd)} + (Ex + Ed + Env){Ms3}] (HSga^ps%) +/- (Swga* + Dt# +/-p) |
SECTION 5: Ms3: Mind, Soul and Spirit
The apostle Paul concludes his first letter to the Thessalonians saying, “may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse shows of the entire nature of mankind having a body and soul and spirit. Thus, the heart or center theme of the Torah, tells us the Lord commands that, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and will all your soul and with all your might (Deut. 6:5);” and in one of the Shema’s to Israel and all those that follow the Lord, He says, “Hear now… what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires that you fear the Lord… walk in all His ways, love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep His commandments… (Deut. 10:12-13).”
And thus, the Lord Jesus Christ commands likewise in the New Testament saying, “you shall love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37).” Mark says, “you shall love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30-32);” where here heart gives extra force to the reader, but no extra part to man – it is used interchangeable with mind and even soul. And Luke the physician likewise includes the entire human being with the same extra emphasis: heart, soul, strength and mind (Luke 10:27).
DEFINITIONS:
HEART – innermost part, inner man, mind, will, heart, attention, conscience. Greek: ‘kardia,’ compare ‘cardia’ or cardiac; ‘center of our being,’ character, and intention (choice); thus, also soul. Yet, also denotes the center or seat of ‘all physical and spiritual life,’ including ‘the soul or mind.’ Heart denotes the center of man’s being and all; although a man’s physical heart can be transplanted, and part of the brain can be loss, but the Medulla Oblongata (brain stem) is said to be the most important part of the brain – and required for life. Nevertheless, the Lord says, ‘life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11),’ and although blood can be transfused, it is required for life – it is pumped through the heart, into and through the body and of course brain.
MIND – place of intellect, knowledge and understanding, reason and thought, will, conscious and subconscious; mental faculties. The mind can to taught and renewed. Source of feeling, desires, perception and judgment; calculations and battles take place in the mind.
SPIRIT – Strong’s Concordance defines spirit (‘pneuma’ – Greek) as the same word used for wind, but more so for mankind it includes ‘breath.’ As in Genesis (2:7), “the Lord God formed Adam (a man) from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Thus, God put spirit into Adam and his soul became alive. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states, ‘the spirit is that which animates and gives life.’ This of course is from John (6:63) who quotes Jesus saying, “The Spirit it is giving life, the flesh profits nothing.” Then, Christ says ‘the words that I speak are spirit and life;’ life because they teach of the resurrection, gospel of Jesus and eternal life. But spirit, because they have power to guide and influence; and as written in Hebrews (4:12), “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit… and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Strong’s notes ‘ruach,’ or spirit in the Hebrew, also used for “breath, courage, anger, MIND, motives, Spirit, spirits, strength, temper, THOUGHTS, wind and wrath.” Thus, the context must be viewed and weighed to understand which is used; however, the point is our BODY is not simply being moved by chemical reactions from the physical working with neurotransmitters, but the condition or temperament of our ‘spirit’ affects our body and soul. Spirit can be our own, or of the world, demons, angels, or the Holy Spirit of God.
SOUL – ‘Psuche,’compare psyche; the vital breath, soul, life, self, breath of life, seat of affections and will, the self, individual, or heart; the essence of our living being. Note psychology is technically the study of the psyche – human mind, conscious and unconscious – but the base of ‘psyche’ is psuche – life and breath – soul being – given only by God (Gen. 2:7). Thus, philosophy and psychology both deal with the soul. Socrates and Greek philosophers knew this fact; and even in our earliest English works, such as Beowulf, we find the use of ‘spirit’ and ‘soul’ distinguishable.
NATURE of MAN
As explained by the wise preacher, the body or ‘dust will return to the earth as it was (Gen. 2:7),’ but ‘the spirit will return to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).’ Yet, not just the spirit, for the spirit of a human being is tied to their essence or soul, thus, the Bible speaks of the ‘soul departing (Gen. 35:18)’ at death. Paul, as other apostles and prophets, instructs us to ‘walk by the Spirit, and …not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).’ He says, “I urge you… to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your true spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:1-2).”
These verses show the complexity and full nature of mankind – body, spirit and soul. They speak of free will or choices, instructions from our Creator, apostles instructions as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They speak of the world and the sway of the world and the ability to renew our minds and spiritual discernment following the renewing of the mind. Thus, the nature and current status of our ‘spirit’ is a VERY SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF INFLUENCE upon us.
Paul knew these things and thus wrote in Romans, ‘Don’t you know that …you are slaves to whom you obey – whether …sin, which leads to death (eternal), or to obedience, which leads to righteousness (and everlasting life; Rom. 6:16)?” Thus, he goes on in Chapter 8 to say, “There is no condemnation (see Daniel 12:2 ‘everlasting contempt’) to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (see 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21), but according to the Spirit (of God). For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death… For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit…”
The nature of man, is that do to the sins of Adam and Eve, we inherited a fallen and sinful flesh, and our spirit will drift to the do and desire the things and ways of the world, unless we by choose to allow the Lord’s Spirit to dwell in us.
We see the spirit affecting the body and soul, and the soul with its spirit rising at the resurrection to be judge. Thus, the Lord Jesus says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works (Matt. 16:24-27).”
Thus, Jesus also said, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell… whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 10:28, 32-33).” Ezekiel in chapter 18 speaks of the soul and the choices of walking in righteousness or sin and the consequences of the choice. However, when will seek the Lord, and pray or cry out to Him, we are not left alone, “the Holy Spirit… will teach (John 14:26)’ us and help us. In this manner the Lord Jesus says, “I am with you always, even until the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).”
And for this to occur, Christ says, ‘unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, they cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).’ That is the water of birth (though some say baptism – which is an important sign and act – here Nicodemus understands Christ is speaking of the water as amniotic fluid that surrounds all babies before birth) and the Spirit of the Lord.
MAN vs ANIMAL
Certain religions and evolutionists desire to connect humans and other animals (living organisms that feed on organic matter and having organs and a nervous system). However, it is critical to understand the difference in man and monkey and beast. First, human beings do not share kinship with other animals – we ARE NOT of the same KIND or species. The Lord brought forth “the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind (Gen. 1:24).” Then the Lord afterwards said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over (the animals)… all the earth (Gen. 1:26).”
“God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).” Only man is of this type of Spirit and able to ‘worship’ God in spirit and truth. Thus, Dr. T. Stuart Walker wrote in the Journal of Biblical Ethics in Medicine (Vol. 5; 2), Animal Rights and The Image of God: Part II… (1991), “there is a phylogenetic discontinuity between man and animals – we are not physically interrelated… Keil and Delitzsch (Commentary) insist tat when God breathed life into man, He made man a uniquely ‘living soul.’ …Irenaeus (c. 130 – c. 200) argued that the image of God is ‘man’s nature as a rational and free being, a nature which was not lost at the Fall.’ …Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274), who was heavily influenced by Plato and Aristotle, proposed that man imaged God in possessing intellect or reason… John Calvin (1509 -1564) saw God’s image not in man’s mind, but in his soul… Emil Brunner (1889 – 1966) took the next step away from the early views… Brunner believed image to be man’s relation to God, his responsibility to God and the possibility of fellowship with God… Using these guidelines, I believe that when God made us in His image, He made us like Himself in characteristics and character so that we could be His vice-regents over the earth… Hughes listed six principle God-like characteristics given us by God: Personality… Spirituality: Man is a religious being… Rationality: Man is a thinking being… Morality: Man is a moral being. God is holy, and He created us and demands from un holiness… Authority… over the created order… Creativity: Man is an aesthetic being… the Scripture denies any sort of essential interrelatedness between man and animals, so no comparisons based on ontology can be drawn to establish rights for animals…” “
Additionally, note we are specifically told by God, ‘life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11),’ so ‘you shall not murder (kill mankind without justification; Deut. 20:13).’ But, for food we are to ‘kill and eat animals (Acts 10:9-14).’
Conclusion
Thus again – as for Sources of Influence on our spirit and SOUL or essence… the spiritual are the most important. The nature of our spirit not only affects our body and disposition or temperament and character, but what will be our eternal nature and home; so the Lord says, ‘you MUST BE born again…’ and the apostles admonish us to live according to the ways of the Spirit and not according to pride, and lust for the things of the world; nor burdened down by the cares of the world (see the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8).
SECTION 6 part 1: ps%
Ps% relates to the personal percentage of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As Paul stated, “we wrestle or battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12).” The Lord desires to help us, He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be the substitute sacrifice for our sins. And He is willing to fill us with His Holy Spirit. But there is free will in humans and choice. Thus, it is written, “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has despised the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:26-29)”
The point here is that our spirit, and the level in which the Lord or the spiritual rulers of the world have influence or sway over our spirit, is a VERY MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR OF SOURCES OF INFLUENCE over us. These things will be addressed in the last Part and sections 7 through 10.
The TRUTH SOURCE 