God had a number of Old Testament believers who modeled the life he wanted in humans. Hebrews 11 highlighted many of them. But when he wanted his LIFE EMBODIED in human form, he sent Jesus. He alone, all by himself, perfected what God could do with a person devoted to him. In contrast, the combined efforts of all humans devoted to God have produced only partial, minute, infinitesimal results. All combined.
Jesus in himself, IN HIMSELF!, perfected all a human could be. Therefore, every believer has Jesus as his perfect Model. We want hm to: rebuke us when we disobey God; correct us when we’re wrong; teach us when we’re ignorant; discipline us when we’re belligerent; punish us when we’re refractory; and bless us when we obey. And always, to hold before us the vision Jesus Christ has for us:
Use whatever human discipline helps us get the gears of our life aligned. But be absolutely sure that the Holy Spirit alone empowers us to mesh those gears for God’s glory! In summary, Christians:
Then…when God calls us before him:
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Too much material for messages previously preached accumulates as an excess of material I’ll file for future use. BUT…before I do, consider a summary of the series on SOUL/SPIRIT.
Christians can either rise to God’s expectations by letting his Image in us—our spirit—lead; or fall to the desires of the flesh by letting our soul—the life principal God built into every living creature—lead. Our spirit will always encourage us to RISE. Our soul, created to remember God, will be notoriously easy prey of far less. Our soul, then, can be either:
On her tombstone Bette Davis had inscribed: “I did it the hard way.” Professionally, yes. She challenged studio bosses when that hadn’t been previously successful. Personally, in lifestyle, no. She took the easy way, the natural way, the human way. For to live the “hard way” means:
And that “hard way” turns easy when we experience God’s promise to provide our needs—and to be there for us whatever, whenever. End Part I Consider two more stories that surface a response to circumstances from our SOUL and SPIRIT. Remember that Soul in these illustrations refers to the unconverted soul, the Spirit to God’s Image in our mind.
First, a young solder in WWI sang praise to war, thinking “every minute here is worth weeks of ordinary experience.” He moaned a different tune a few days later, complaining of “not leading the life of men, but of animals” in the filthy, wet, vermin-infested trenches. Like the soldier, Christians sing happy songs when life sails along under benign breezes. But chant dirges of regret when gales blow and threaten harm. Soul then throws a pity party. “I thought being a Christians would be a lot easier than it is.” In response, the spirit in us replies, “I didn’t know life would be easier by accepting Christ, but I’ve found it better. I have better goals and perspectives, make better decisions and possess far superior values than before. It doesn’t matter how hard life becomes, because Jesus is with me and endures it in the yoke matching mine. I find that God’s will is good, even when life is bad.” Second. The Polo’s returned to Italy from China after a 20 year absence. No one recognized them since they wore peasant clothes far past new; had been gone so long; and were not expected. Within a few days the Polo’s held a banquet and invited “all who mattered” in Venice. During the festivities they wore, or handed others, new changes of clothing; had passed dish after dish of delicious food; filled cup after cup with sparkling wine. Then, as a coup de maître (masterstroke), ordered the foul Tartar clothes brought in, linings ripped out, pockets torn open, spilling on the floor rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds, gifts from the Kubla Khan. Washington Irving Works, Appendix, 696-697 Like the Rich Fool of Luke 12, Soul clamors, “Get all you can, anyway you can, before someone gets it ahead of you.” The Spirit replies, “I don’t have to GET anything better than my body and brain. For I am already better than they. I’m free inside my mind by the grace of Christ that liberates me from sin’s presence and penalty. And while now imprisoned in this body and limited by this brain, I shall, when Jesus returns, become the SOMEONE my spirit presently IS. And from that instant, on forever, I’ll be free to rule the body that has so long dominated me and the brain that has so long limited me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Based on these illustrations, ask yourself:
Each person determines the answer. Each person’s answer determines his relationship with Christ. Fini Consider three stories that surface a response to circumstances from our SOUL and SPIRIT. First, Sigmund Freud’s last words before death were, “This is absurd! This is absurd!” If he referred to dying, it wasn’t at all absurd. It proved instead the never-failing fulfillment of God’s threat to Adam and Eve, Genesis 2:16-17. “Absurd!” would be someone in history defying the decree and living on 10,000 years.
The unconverted soul, however, refuses to serve its God-appointed task (the way this blog uses the term) and is never satisfied. For example, it wants to live longer, but doesn’t want to get older in the process. That’s an oxymoron, but soul doesn’t care. It only want its way. The spirit in us (used in this blog as God’s image on our mind), accepts death in humanity as normal. And, beyond accepting it, prefers it, without hastening it by careless living and bad habits. Philippians 1:19-26 explains the spirit’s response. Second, the home of George Marston, built in 1905 on ground north of what would become Balboa Park, San Diego, California, had 4 stories of 8,500 square feet and 16-19 rooms. Costing $20,000 to build, a fortune at the time, its restoration in 2021 cost $462,000. The soul declares, “build possessions symbolic of your place in society.” And, once built, enjoy” Luke 12:18-19. The spirit would riposte, “build instead a life that proves a good example of Jesus that the Holy Spirit’s touch can make excellent. And which, after it’s over, can secure God’s benefits forever Matthew 25:21, 23. Third, everyone gets tested. Children test parents. Teachers test students. Students test teachers. Manufacturers test products. Sports teams test each other, etc. God tested Joseph in Egypt by exposing him to adversity. Daniel in Babylon by exposing him to prosperity. Jesus by sending him into the wilderness directly AFTER declaring being WELL-PLEASED with him Matthew 3:16-17. Nevertheless, the unconverted soul says, “Once I declare faith in Christ, God should trust me to be faithful.” The spirit replies, “Nonsense. Declaring commitment to Jesus, however sincere, must be tested to prove its worth. To develop a broad based-discipleship, good in all situations. We must expect to be re-tested by different circumstances and welcome the challenge to make tests opportunities in and stepping-stones to a redoubtable discipleship. End Part I Herd Immunity has been a useful concept in monitoring the spread and mortality rates of disease. It meant earlier, as it means now, if a certain percentage of individuals receive vaccination from a disease, the protected group offers the unprotected a margin of safety. It’s true today with Covid-19.
It’s also true spiritually. Should enough individuals in any locale produce the Holy Spirit’s fruit, a community, a state, a nation can be a spiritual powerhouse for God despite the existence of unsaved people in each. Which offers a troubling statistic to America. The recent Gallup Values and Beliefs Poll revealed that, in 2022, 81% of American adults believe in God. In 1944, 98% of Americans believed in God. The largest drop in belief came from young adults 18-29. That loss of faith, squarely the fault of Christians, has led to increasing corruption and depravity in society—leading to the worse curse humanity can ever suffer: that society has no ability to appreciate spiritual values. America’s hostility to God in Christ is a perfect example. Now, more than ever before, we focus on US, not on HIM. On our origins in myth, not on the Bible’s truth of God as Creator. On our demand for Diversity, not on Christ’s Singularity. By eliminating God as our Source of Being, we naturally develop secular interests without God—medicine, business, economics, psychiatry, animal rights, etc. And we consider those, and associated interests, as our life-purpose when they’re only career-choices. For, since God made us, our life-purpose is to find eternal life in Christ Jesus II Corinthians 5:5-6. The absence of Christian influence only increases our alienation from God. For example, if we believe that we originated from a hole in the ground, we revere creation as our deity-source and turn into radical environmentalists. “Love nature, its creatures all equal and part of the family.” If we believe we resulted from the struggle of primeval forms seeking to improve themselves, we admire the survival of the fittest, resulting in an evolved humanity from an unpromising beginning, as Darwinians do today. If we believe we resulted from a collision of wills between competing deities, as pagans have always believed, each nation, city, state and culture has its own religion. The corollary of that view is, “don’t bother converting people because it isn’t necessary.” Thus…it’s essential that we have a RIGHT answer to the question—where did humanity begin? The SOUL purposefully teaches and leads us to GOD ALMIGHTY. Where the Holy Spirit’s real work in us begins. What this means for Christians is: we must now, more than ever before, focus our lives on God in Christ. We must now, more than ever, embody Jesus in our lives. We must now, more than ever, associate with saved people to encourage one another to be strong for Jesus. We must now, more than ever, associate with unsaved people to encourage their surrender to Jesus. In II Timothy 4:6-8, facing death, Paul anticipated a “crown of righteousness” from Jesus. On his death bed actor Burt Reynolds regretted not having made more money so he could have had more fun. Christians, which model have we been following as a habit-pattern? Fini This blog seeks to explain the basic difference between soul and spirit in scripture. It’s a complex subject that I hope to simplify. It’s capable of being cluttered with philosophical terms that I hope to de-clutter in order to make it useful in daily life.
The Greek words for each are respectively: pseuka for SOUL and pneuma for SPIRIT. Mary’s Song in Luke 1:46-47 provides an appropriate study text: “My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” It’s very similar to Hannah’s prayer in I Samuel 2, “My heart rejoices in the Lord.” Following Mary’s song, we can conclude that Soul in the Biblical sense introduces humans to Almighty God as our Creator, positing him as our most essential Person. SPIRIT meanwhile introduces our need of a SAVIOR, positing Jesus as humanity’s essential Personality! In a sentence, SOUL emphasizes God’s Perfect Design of us in Eden. PNEUMA emphasizes Christ’s perfect, once-for-all-sacrifice re-claiming our estate lost by disobeying God’s command. God gave us both soul and spirit because each fulfills a significant role in humanity. SOUL teaches God as Creator and Source of our life—always God-in-Christ at work. SPIRIT teaches that humanity possesses something of God absent in the creatures. Which is God’s image implanted by himself in our brains; his image, his distinctive imprimatur of himself. The Holy Spirit reaches our spirit and teaches, educates, convinces, convicts and converts it into Christ’s likeness. The SOUL, then, leads us to recognize God as the source of life. That’s where every human must start. The SPIRIT teaches the necessity of forgiveness to enter God’s Presence. That’s where everyone of accountable age must arrive. For here we are, filled with high ideals, corrupted by low morals. With intellectual brilliance dimmed by our desire for eternal life that ends in longer life shattered by graves and graves and graves. In that sense, Solomon was right in saying: “and he who wins souls is wise” Proverbs 11:30. Because winning people to Christ begins with our awareness of God as our Creator. According to Mary’s Song, SOUL is to have that impact on us since God designs the SOUL to have that impact. The Soul’s work is finished when it makes us aware of God. That gives the Spirit his opportunity. Now…given that fact, why doesn’t the animal soul have that impact on them? Because they lack the spirit made in God’s image. The soul in them perishes with their death, with nothing to carry on. While our soul perishes at death, it has achieved its purpose. It has awakened us to God in Christ. Therefore, we go on and on. The soul services God’s purpose by convincing us that our life comes from God. That we’re responsible to him for it; that Jesus has made forgiveness of sin possible so we can serve God’s purpose now and enter God’s presence at death. If we repent of Self-Will, the enemy of God’s sovereignty; and of Self-Importance, the enemy of Christ’s demand of Self-Denial; and of Self-Boasting of what we have and do, the enemy of God’s Grace for and Mercy to us…IF…IF…IF…we let soul serve God’s Purpose in us. End Part I |
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