You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body.
That simple statement is the foundation of every single revelation I have ever gotten, and ultimately what led to my complete healing in 2014. It is also how I maintain that healing to this day. It wasn’t until after I knew who I truly was, that when someone would say, “You’re healed. You’ve already got it, so stop trying to get it,” that I understood what they meant. When someone said, “You are righteous and holy before God,” I didn’t cringe on the inside anymore. I’ve heard many new believers say, “If I’m righteous and holy, how come I’m still thinking and acting the same way I did before I was born again? I thought that was all supposed to change after I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior!” This series on spirit, soul, and body will answer all of those questions for you.
My journey to getting a revelation on spirit, soul, and body began one day in 2013. I was in my first semester of Bible college and I was home sick, which wasn’t unusual back then, but that was soon going to change. I was listening to a CD of a class I had missed by our college’s founder, Andrew Wommack. I didn’t know it at the time, but this phrase would be the beginning of the permanent end of sickness and disease in my body. This is what he said:
“The reason we don’t get healed” – let’s just stop right there a minute. You know he had my attention with that opening. You may not be in need of healing, but you could just as easily substitute “The reason we don’t get healed” with “The reason we’re living in fear” or “The reason we aren’t prospering.” But after 12 years of being sick, when I heard this I was thinking, Yeah. Tell me, after all the Word I know, all the Word that I’ve spoken, and all the believing that I’ve done, why I’m not healed. Go ahead. Tell me! I may have had a bit of an attitude at that point, but I was all ears.
Let’s start that statement again from the beginning: “The reason we don’t get healed is because our physical body is more real to us than our spirit man.” He also stated that if we can just get to where we believe what is true in the spiritual more than what is true in the natural – not denying the physical doesn’t exist – then what’s true in the spiritual, will become true in the natural. In truth, the spirit realm is the parent realm, the superior realm, and is far more real than the natural will ever be.
Andrew was saying that I had to believe what’s true in the spiritual more than the natural, that my spirit had to become stronger than my body. What does that even mean, for my spirit to be stronger than my body? I can’t tell the difference between them, so how do I do that? These were the thoughts going through my head. I wanted to throw my hands up in disgust and lay on the couch wallowing in my sickness like usual, but I knew this was important to get. I made the conscious decision to pursue wisdom about my spirit, soul, and body. That is the wisdom I am going to share with you now.
First and foremost, I am going to show you in the Word that just as God is a three part being – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – so are you, created in His image. We’re going to start with our core New Testament scripture of 1 Thessalonians 5:23:
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.
Notice the author says “completely” and then defines what that means: your whole (1) spirit, (2) soul, and (3) body. Three parts. Not two, not one, but three. Let’s break it down and look at each of those parts as they’re defined in the Greek in that verse.
The word “spirit” (Greek word pneuma) means breath, or breath of life. John 6:63 says, It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing. We see this in Genesis 2:7 when God breathed the spirit, or “breath of life,” into the lifeless body of Adam that was lying there upon the very dust God created him from. Your spirit man is what gives you life, and as James 2:26 says, if your spirit was to leave your body, you would fall down dead. Without your spirit, your body is nothing, and will return to dust. Your spirit is truly who you are. It is your identity.
John 4:24 says, God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. You interact with God through your spirit. You could say that your spirit is the source of your God-awareness.
The next word, “soul,” is the Greek word psyche, and it means the seat of your feelings, desires, and affections. In other words, your mind, will, and emotions. It is your personality. If your spirit is your God-awareness, then your soul would be your self-awareness. It is a vital part of what makes you, you.
The final part is your body, Greek word soma. This word is referring to your physical body, so your hair, skin, and organs. It is how you interact with the world through your senses and your actions. It is the source of your world-awareness.
(All definitions are from the Strong’s Concordance.)
There are several Old Testament scriptures that parallel the message that you are a three-part being given in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Genesis 1:26 and Daniel 7:15 are two of those verses.
Genesis 1:26 says, Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
Do you see the three parts described?
Part 1 – in our image: When I think of an image, I think of a reflection in a mirror. God is a spirit and He made you to be an image, or reflection, of Himself. He made you to be a spirit. You are a spirit. When you look in the mirror of the Word (James 1:23), you see the reflection of who you truly are in your spirit man.
Part 2 – according to Our likeness: When you want to know about someone, what do you ask? Hey, what are they like? You want to know if they’re nice, if they’re funny. You want to know how they view the world. You want to know their likeness, their personality. This is your soul.
Part 3 – let them have dominion: I grew up on a farm, so I’m familiar with the art of herding cattle. Believe me, it’s an art! Although the cattle can be unpredictable, one thing is for certain: You can’t herd cattle with your spirit or with your mind, so when it says let them have dominion … over the cattle, it’s talking about with your physical body. You have to wave your arms and raise your voice in order to get a response from the cattle! This phrase is talking about your physical interaction with the world around you.
Spirit, soul, and body.
Another Old Testament scripture that confirms that you are a three-part being is Daniel 7:15, which says, I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. Daniel, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, differentiates between his spirit and his mind, which he states are contained inside of his body.
The Word states, unequivocally, that you are a three-part being composed of a spirit, a soul, and a body. Understanding and believing that are the first steps toward you receiving everything that God has promised you in His Word. In the articles to follow, we’ll look at each part individually and how they interact. I’ll then show you how to get them all working together so that you can begin to walk in the fullness of the abundant life that God has provided for you – spirit, soul, and body.