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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