The word of God tells us this in
1st Thessalonians 5:23-24
"Now 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. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."
So we learn from this scripture that man is indeed comprised of three things, body or flesh, soul, and spirit. All three are able to be sanctified or made holy by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
1) Our bodies are dead because of sin and defilement, but the body can be quickened or made alive and cleansed by the Spirit.
Quickening or Life
Romans 8:10-11
"And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
Ephesians 2:1
"you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,"
2) Our souls are who we are, heart, mind, will, emotions and is the part of us that needs to be washed in the blood of Jesus. The heart needs to be circumcised, the mind or conscious needs to be purged of dead works, the will needs to submit and surrender to the Will of God, and our emotions need to come under the control, and leading of the Holy Spirit.
Washing
1st Corinthians 6:11
"And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
Revelation 1:4-5
"John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,"
Circumcision
Romans 2:28-29
"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God."
Purging or Pruning
John 15:1-2
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."
Hebrews 9:14
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Submission Of Our Will
Luke 22:41-42
"And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
James 4:7-10
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."
Emotions Under Control
Galatians 5:22-26
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."
Ephesians 4:31-32
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
3) Our spirits are what animates our body it's like the electricity that gives power to the appliance. Without the spirit the body is dead, if the spirit leaves our body it will be absolutely useless. When the body dies the spirit of man returns to God and if the soul was not in a saving or covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ then that soul will indeed be separated from God in Hell.
James 2:26
"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
"Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it."
The silver cord is like a spiritual umbilical cord and the spirit is attached to the body with this cord. When we die the body will return to the dust or earth from where it came from and for those who remain alive until Jesus Christ returns, they will receive an immortal body that can never die. We are truly spiritual beings in the inner man and the body or flesh is just a shell or covering for our true selves.
Jesus also gives us a great example of what happens to the soul and spirit when a man dies, here are a few scriptures that help us to understand these deeper things.
Luke 23:44-46
"Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last."
Here we see that the spirit of Jesus went back to God, so where did His soul go?
Matthew 12:40
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Acts 2:29-33
“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."
The spirit of Jesus went back to God but His soul went down into Hades or Hell.
86. haides hah'-dace from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492; properly, unseen, i.e. "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls:--grave, hell.
This is why the scripture tells us that Jesus tasted death for us all, He was separated from God because the sins of all mankind was placed upon Him on the cross and He experienced the pains of death.
Acts 2:24
"whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it."
Hebrews 2:9
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."
Stephen as well commended his spirit to God.
Acts 7:59
"And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep."
Then we have the souls who die in Christ in Heaven.
Revelation 6:9
"When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed."
Revelation 20:4
"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."
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