In First Thessalonians 5:23, the inspired writer, Paul, revealed that man has a triune nature. "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." Each of these are distinct from the other (Hebrews 4:12; Luke 1:46-47; Isaiah 10:18; Matthew 10:28). This, of course, leads to many questions. Since man was made in God's image, how does our triune nature relate to God? Can we distinctly determine and distinguish each part of our make-up? What function does each part fulfill? As we consider each of these three parts of our make-up we will answer these and other questions.
The Body
The body is the material or physical part of man. It is that part of the nature of man "in which his soul and spirit reside." (1) "In the Old Testament there is no fixed term for the human body as an entire organism in exact opposition to 'soul' or 'spirit.' Various terms were employed, each of which denotes only one part or element of the physical nature, such as 'trunk,' 'bones,''belly,''bowels,''reins,''flesh,' these parts being used, by synecdoche, for the whole." (2) In the New Testament the Greek word soma is translated body. In the New Testament the body is referred to as an "earthen vessel" (2 Corinthian 4:7), "our earthly house" (2 Corinthians 5:1), the "outward man" (2 Corinthians 4:16), and "the flesh" (Philippians 4:16). It is the body that returns to the dust from which it was formed (Ecclesiastes 12:7) and from which our spirit separates at death (James 2:26).
The Soul
The soul (psuche, Greek; nephesh, Hebrew) refers to life in the physical body. It is the vital force which animates the body. (3) Paul said that Eutychus' "life" was still in him (Acts 20:10) and in Genesis we read that Rachel's "soul was departing" when she died (Genesis 35:18). It is that which makes the human or animal body alive (Nelson's). "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life (nephesh, rlb), I have given every green herb for food; and it was so" (Genesis 1:30). Jesus said, "For whoever desires to save his life (psuche, rlb) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (psuche, rlb) for My sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:35). Elijah prayed for the widow of Zarephath's child's soul (nephesh) to come back to him (1 Kings 8:35-37).
The soul is described as the seat of many emotions and desires (Nelson's). It is said to desire food (Deuteronomy 12:20-21), to love (Song of Solomon 1:7), to long for God (Psalm 63:1), to rejoice (Psalm 86:4), to know (Psalm 139:14) and to remember (Lamentations 3:20). (4) It is also that essence that differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (Acts 2:27-31; Matthew 10:28; James 5:20; 1 Peter 5:20; Revelation 6:9;20:4). (5)
The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (hereafter referred to as ISBE) has an excellent paragraph that will help one to understand the complexities of the soul.
By an easy transition the word comes to stand for the individual, personal life, the person, with two distinct shades of meaning which might best be indicated by the Latin anima and animus. As anima, "soul," the life inherent in the body, the animating principle in the blood is denoted (compare Deut. 12:23-24, "Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the soul; and thou shalt not eat the soul with the flesh"). As animus, "mind," the center of our mental activities and passivities is indicated. Thus we read of "a hungry soul" (Ps 107:9), "a weary soul" (Jer 31:25), "a loathing soul" (Lev 26:11), "a thirsty soul" (Ps 42:2), "a grieved soul" (Job 30:25), "a loving soul" (Cant 1:7), and many kindred expressions. Cremer has characterized this use of the word in a sentence: "Nephesh (soul) in man is the subject of personal life, whereof pneuma or ruach (spirit) is the principle" (Lexicon, s.v., 795). (6)
Albert Barnes writes, "The 'soul,' the vital principle, the animal life, or the seat of the senses, desires, affections, appetites, we have in common with other animals. It pertains to the nature of the animal creation, though more perfect in some animals than in others..." (7)
The Spirit
The third part Paul mentions in the nature of man is that of man's spirit. The spirit is identified by the Hebrew word, ruach, and the Greek word, pneuma. It "refers to the intellectual or higher nature of man; that which is the seat of reason, of conscience, and of responsibility." (8) It is the rational part of man, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, and decides. (9) It is that which makes us the image of God (Genesis 1:26; John 4:24; Luke 24:39). It is what returns to God when we die (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59). The Bible attests to man having a spirit (Job 32:8; 32:18; Zechariah 12:1; Psalm 77:6; Isaiah 26:9). It is the seat of our moral qualities (Proverbs 15:4; 20:27; Matthew 26:41) and denotes certain qualities which characterize an individual. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3); "you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1); and "you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear" (Romans 8:15) use "spirit" to denote qualities in an individual.
How Can We Distinguish Between These Three Natures?
To separate and distinguish between the parts of our triune nature can be somewhat difficult. James wrote that at death the spirit and body separate (2:26). But to distinguish between the soul and spirit is not so easy. The Hebrew writer penned, "For the word of God [is] living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). In the New Testament, soul is used where spirit would be out of place, yet at times it seems to be used where spirit might have been substituted (cf. Matthew 20:28; John 10:15; 19:30). The ISBE quotes Oehler on the soul and spirit, "Man is not spirit, but he has it: he is soul...The spirit is the outbreathing of God into the creature, the life principal derived from God. The soul is man's individual possession, that which distinguishes one man from another and from inanimate nature." (10) W. E. Vine quoting Cremer wrote, "Soma, body, and pneuma, spirit, may be separated, pneuma and psuche, soul, can only be distinguished." Vine continues, "Generally speaking the spirit is the higher, the soul the lower element. The spirit may be recognized as the life principle bestowed on man by God, the soul as the resulting life constituted in the individual, the body being the material organism animated by soul and spirit...." (11)
Conclusion
Thus when one considers the complete man, he is faced with the physical and the spiritual part of man. The body, the physical part, weakens, ages, houses the spiritual, and eventually returns to the dust from which it came. The soul is the life force inherent in all living creatures, the personality that makes all living creatures distinct as individuals, and seat of our desires and impulses. The spirit is that which is in the image of God, that which is immortal, that which is home to our moral qualities and reasoning, and that which cannot be separated from our soul but only distinguished. Truly we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).
Footnotes
1. New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Moody Press: Chicago, IL. 1988. CD-Rom, Biblesoft.
2. International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia. Original James Orr 1915 edition. CD-Rom, Electronic Database Copyright 1995-1996 by Biblesoft.
3. The Online Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown, Driver, & Briggs' Hebrew Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship. Ontario, Canada. 1993. CD-Rom, Biblesoft.
4. Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986. CD-Rom, Biblesoft.
5. New Unger's Bible Dictionary.
6. International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia.
7. Albert Barnes, Barnes Notes, CD-Rom, Electronic Database Copyright 1997 by Biblesoft.
8. Albert Barnes, Barnes Notes.
9. The Online Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown, Driver, & Briggs' Hebrew Lexicon.
10. International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia.
11. W. E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary Of Biblical Words. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985, CD-Rom, Biblesoft.This item originally appeared in The Harvester (May 2001)
