Holy Spirit, Part 11

We have spent the past several weeks getting to know the Holy Spirit, learning about who He is and what He does. But there is another spirit who often gets overlooked and ignored—your spirit, the human spirit.

The Bible teaches we have a triune nature — spirit, soul and body. I Thessalonians 5:23 lays this out for us, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To use a very simple example, think of an egg. An egg has three distinct parts, the shell , the white and the yolk. The shell is easy to discern, it corresponds to our bodies. But the invisible parts, the soul and the spirit often get confused. Just like when the white and yolk get mixed together. Many Bible teachers do not see a difference and think the soul and spirit are interchangeable words. But I think a distinction can be made, a very subtle and important distinction. Hebrews 4:12 says, For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two eded sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit…. It may be difficult to do, it may take no less than the word of God, but it is possible to separate the soul and spirit.

Another simple way to understand our triune nature is that we primarily relate to our external world with our bodies. We primarily relate to one another with our souls and we primarily relate to God with our spirits.

The body is fairly easy to discern but the invisible parts are more difficult to discern. The Greek word for soul is psyche, obviously the word from which we get psychology. The soul is the seat of our human personality. Our souls are capable of making decisions (our will), of thinking (our mind) and feeling (our emotions).

The third part of man, the deepest, innermost part is the spirit. The Greek word for spirit is pneuma which is sometimes translated breath or wind. When we become believers in the Lord Jesus it is in our spirits, the place deep with us that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell, thus we are called the temple of God. Our spirit is the vessel that carries the Holy Spirit and as He is released in us, He flows out to our souls and bodies so that we are filled and over flowing with His Spirit. Proverbs 20:27 teaches, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts of his being.”

The Tabernacle in Exodus is a three part structure, the outer court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies, the innermost room of the Tabernacle, was where the presence of the Lord dwelt in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. When the pillar moved, the Israelites who camped around the Tabernacle, picked it up and moved with it. They were ruled by the cloud of glory over the Holy of Holies. In the same way we need to be ruled by our spirits which is the place where we are in-dwelt by the Lord, not by our bodies or souls.

An example of someone who was ruled by his spirit is Hosea in the Old Testament. The Lord instructed Hosea to marry a woman who was unfaithful to him, yet his love for his wife remained steadfast and persistent. I think his love for her came from his spirit and not his soul. He was faithful to his unfaithful wife because his spirit ruled over his soul.

Because we want to be ruled by our spirits, the place where the Holy Spirit resides within us, we want to have vibrant strong spirits that are submitted to the Lord. This is exactly what Paul prayed for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:16 that they would be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man (the spirit). This is exactly what David cried our for in Psalm 51:10 after he had sinned, “Renew a right spirit within me.” Jesus and John the Baptists are great role models for us, as they grew up they both continued to become strong in spirit.

One of the primary ways we can strengthen our spirits is to exercise them. Just as in the natural our muscles can atrophy when we don’t exercise them, in the same way our spirits can atrophy when we don’t exercise them. Paul gives us great instruction in the book of Galatians, “Sow to the Spirit.” One of the ways we do this is when we say no to our flesh. The Bible makes a huge distinction between our flesh and our spirit. Sometimes in the Bible flesh is simply our bodies, but often it is our egos, our self. When we sow seeds to our flesh, we indulge and gratify our bodies and our egos. When you sow to the Spirit, our spirits will eventually become stronger and mature and take their rightful place of ruling over our souls and bodies. The Holy Spirit will flow from your innermost being out into your soul and body so that you are filled and over flowing. In the words of Jesus, “From his innermost being (his spirit) shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38.

There are proactive exercises we can do to strengthen our spirits. These are sometimes called spiritual disciplines. Some of the things we can do to strengthen our spirits include,

Intentionally turning in our heart and welcoming the Holy Spirit, listening and yielding to His leadership in our lives.
Beholding the glory of God in creation with a grateful heart.
Having a thankful heart (not a grumbling heart!) for the blessings in our lives.
Worshiping God from our spirits, not just once a week but throughout our week.
Studying the Scriptures.
Soaking in worship music.
Proclaiming/declaring, standing upon specific Scriptures.
Blessing another person. Bless and curse not.
Honoring the Sabbath.
Fasting from something the Lord has shown you.
Solitude and silence.
Meditating on the Word of God.
Journaling

All of these spiritual disciplines can become our daily lifestyle as we walk on the ancient paths with the Lord. They are not an end in themselves but a wonderful way to sow to the Spirit. We will be talking more about each of these in the next several weeks. These tiny, daily seeds we sow as we walk on the ancient paths will, in time, yield a beautiful, bountiful crop.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8

Dear Heavenly Father,
Give us strong spirits that are submitted to You. We ask You to strengthen us in our inner man and enable our spirits to rule over our bodies and souls. Show us anything that is hindering this work in our lives. And show us how to foster this work so that we are increasingly people whose lives are characterized by the Spirit of God. May we not be passive but active participants with You.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen