Our Tri-part Make Up

[Dennis1209]

I have a question about our tri-part being, namely, our spirits.

We are tri-part beings, consisting of body, soul, and spirit. Many know our corruptible bodies will return to the earth from which they were made. If saved, our bodies will be raised incorruptibly and glorified.

As mentioned in a current thread, our soul is the seat of who we are, our free will, emotions, senses, choices, likes, dislikes, etc.

If I understand correctly, our spirits are the part of us that can communicate with God, that part that the Holy Spirit indwells as Christians; we pray in the Spirit. The below verse seems to show no distinction between the saved and the lost. At physical death, it appears all spirits return to God.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 (KJV) Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

In the example of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Hades, it appears the rich man’s soul was confined in torment, and he exhibited all the definitions of the soul. There used to be a common saying, “that poor soul,” not that poor body or spirit.

The preceding leads me to my question. As stated, all spirits (saved & lost) return to the Lord who gave them, and I assume that would be in Heaven. What happens to those human spirits that returned to the Lord? Are they reunited with the soul and body at the appointed time of the resurrection of both the saved and lost? Did the Rich Man possess his spirit in Hades?

[FreeGrace]

15 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

I have a question about our tri-part being, namely, our spirits.

We are tri-part beings, consisting of body, soul, and spirit. Many know our corruptible bodies will return to the earth from which they were made. If saved, our bodies will be raised incorruptibly and glorified.

As mentioned in a current thread, our soul is the seat of who we are, our free will, emotions, senses, choices, likes, dislikes, etc.

If I understand correctly, our spirits are the part of us that can communicate with God, that part that the Holy Spirit indwells as Christians; we pray in the Spirit. The below verse seems to show no distinction between the saved and the lost. At physical death, it appears all spirits return to God.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 (KJV) Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

This is a very important topic and what every believer should know.  The soul is basically the "human nature", which you described well.  It is also the source of where our sins come from.  It is also called the "sin nature".  Paul described it in Romans 7 and the on-going battle every believer faces.  When Paul mentions the "flesh" he is talking about our sin nature, not our bodies.  We sin WITH our bodies, but our sin begins in the soul, or our human nature.

I believe Eccl 12:7 means every soul upon death is accountable to God, who determines where the soul goes until "the judgment".  So the believer's soul goes to heaven, or as Paul wrote, "at home with the Lord" in 2 Cor 5:6,8.  The souls of unbelievers go to Hades, to the compartment of torments, where the rich man went at death.  The story occurred during OT times, before Jesus' resurrection, and the soul of Lazarus went to Paradise, which Jesus called "Abraham's bosom" and was comforted by him.  After Jesus' resurrection, all believers go to be "at home with the Lord" at death.

15 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

In the example of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Hades, it appears the rich man’s soul was confined in torment, and he exhibited all the definitions of the soul. There used to be a common saying, “that poor soul,” not that poor body or spirit.

Exactly!

15 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

The preceding leads me to my question. As stated, all spirits (saved & lost) return to the Lord who gave them, and I assume that would be in Heaven. What happens to those human spirits that returned to the Lord? Are they reunited with the soul and body at the appointed time of the resurrection of both the saved and lost? Did the Rich Man possess his spirit in Hades?

Now to discuss "souls and spirits", a very important topic.  Sometimes the Bible uses the words interchangably.  But sometimes there is a clear distinction between them, per Heb 4:12 and 1 Thess 5:23.  

In Genesis 1 we have the plural for God saying "Let US make man in OUR own image".  This is a reference to creating man with 3 parts, just as God is Trinity.  Obviously not referring to physical chacteristics, since both God the Father and God the Spirit have no bodies.  Only the Second Member of the Trinity, God the Son has a physical body.  So Adam was created with body, soul and spirit.  Jesus told the woman at the well that one must worship God in truth and spirit.  iow, to worship God, we must understand the truth about God, from Scripture, and we must possess a human spirit.  

Now, back to Adam.  He was created with a human spirit.  However, the warning about eating from the forbidden tree was "on the DAY that you eat of it, you SHALL DIE".  We know that neither Adam or the woman dropped dead from eating the fruit.  So what died on that day was their human spirit.  They became spiritually dead.  This is reversed when a human believes in Christ for salvation.  The Bible says they are "born again", "made alive", or "regenerated".  This refers to the DEAD human spirit every human is born with.  So from Adam's sin and spiritual death, every human born is born physically alive but very spiritually dead, and needs to be "reborn" through faith in Christ.  Those who are are saved and will live with God forever, but those who don't believe in Christ are condemned and will exist apart from God forever.

So, to summarize, all humans are born physically alive but spiritually dead.  

So, all believers will are born TWICE (physical and spiritual) and will physically die only once.

However, all unbelievers will be born ONCE (physically) and will physically die TWICE.  The "second death" found in Revelation which describes the lake of fire, is where the physical bodies of unbelievers will be resurrected to appear before the GWT judgment, and then be cast into the LOF and will die again.  However, Rev 20:10 shows that for those cast into the LOF, there "will be torment day and night for ever and ever".

[enoob57]

A very easy concept ... 
Explained in creation
Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
[7] And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

reiterated in Paul's letter
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (KJV)
[23] And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Adam and Eve sinned 
Genesis 2:17 (KJV)
[17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Quote

 

This is an INFINITE ABSOLUTE and a COGNATE ACCUSATIVE, "dying to die" 
(BDB 559 , KB 562) which is a Hebrew grammatical way of showing emphasis. 
This is the same as Gen 2:16. This structure carries several possible 
translations (cf. Twenty-Six Translations of the Old Testament). Obviously 
death refers to spiritual death here (cf. Eph 2:1), which results in physical 
death (cf. Gen 5). In the Bible three stages of death are described:

1.    spiritual death (cf. Gen 2:17; 3:1-7; Isa 59:2; Rom 5:12-21; 7:10-11; Eph 
2:1,5; Col 2:13 a; James 1:15);

2.    physical death (cf. Gen 5); and

3.    eternal death, called "the second death" (cf. Rev 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8). 
In a real sense this refers to all three.

(from Old Testament Commentary, by Bob Utley, Copyright © 2013 by Bible Lessons International. All rights reserved.)

 

this concept is solidified in the NT:
Ephesians 3:16 (KJV)
[16] That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Revelation 3:20 (KJV)
[20] Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

As in the garden man died in that day spiritually... the breath that connected him to God left and all man was left with was the sensual nature of flesh to draw all reality from. As these senses are not enough to redeem us in anyway for it is written:
John 6:63 (KJV)
[63] It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV)
[14] But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Galatians 6:8 (KJV)
[8] For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Philippians 3:3 (KJV)
[3] For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

1 Peter 3:18 (KJV)
[18] For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Hence the reality of what Jesus said to Nicodemus:
John 3:1 (KJV)
[1] There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: [2] The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. [3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? [5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. [8] The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

As God is removing all existence of this world and even the knowledge of it... so we as s/Spiritually alive beings look for that which we cannot even know 
1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)
[9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Yet with confidence fix our entire being on the promise... relaxed and at peace because of the One Who has promised it...
This is the faith of all who are born again s/Spiritually resulting in a pure and undefiled faith
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
[11:1] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 

[Raised2newlife]

3 hours ago, FreeGrace said:

This is a very important topic and what every believer should know.  The soul is basically the "human nature", which you described well.  It is also the source of where our sins come from.  It is also called the "sin nature".  Paul described it in Romans 7 and the on-going battle every believer faces.  When Paul mentions the "flesh" he is talking about our sin nature, not our bodies.  We sin WITH our bodies, but our sin begins in the soul, or our human nature.

I believe Eccl 12:7 means every soul upon death is accountable to God, who determines where the soul goes until "the judgment".  So the believer's soul goes to heaven, or as Paul wrote, "at home with the Lord" in 2 Cor 5:6,8.  The souls of unbelievers go to Hades, to the compartment of torments, where the rich man went at death.  The story occurred during OT times, before Jesus' resurrection, and the soul of Lazarus went to Paradise, which Jesus called "Abraham's bosom" and was comforted by him.  After Jesus' resurrection, all believers go to be "at home with the Lord" at death.

Exactly!

Now to discuss "souls and spirits", a very important topic.  Sometimes the Bible uses the words interchangably.  But sometimes there is a clear distinction between them, per Heb 4:12 and 1 Thess 5:23.  

In Genesis 1 we have the plural for God saying "Let US make man in OUR own image".  This is a reference to creating man with 3 parts, just as God is Trinity.  Obviously not referring to physical chacteristics, since both God the Father and God the Spirit have no bodies.  Only the Second Member of the Trinity, God the Son has a physical body.  So Adam was created with body, soul and spirit.  Jesus told the woman at the well that one must worship God in truth and spirit.  iow, to worship God, we must understand the truth about God, from Scripture, and we must possess a human spirit.  

Now, back to Adam.  He was created with a human spirit.  However, the warning about eating from the forbidden tree was "on the DAY that you eat of it, you SHALL DIE".  We know that neither Adam or the woman dropped dead from eating the fruit.  So what died on that day was their human spirit.  They became spiritually dead.  This is reversed when a human believes in Christ for salvation.  The Bible says they are "born again", "made alive", or "regenerated".  This refers to the DEAD human spirit every human is born with.  So from Adam's sin and spiritual death, every human born is born physically alive but very spiritually dead, and needs to be "reborn" through faith in Christ.  Those who are are saved and will live with God forever, but those who don't believe in Christ are condemned and will exist apart from God forever.

So, to summarize, all humans are born physically alive but spiritually dead.  

So, all believers will are born TWICE (physical and spiritual) and will physically die only once.

However, all unbelievers will be born ONCE (physically) and will physically die TWICE.  The "second death" found in Revelation which describes the lake of fire, is where the physical bodies of unbelievers will be resurrected to appear before the GWT judgment, and then be cast into the LOF and will die again.  However, Rev 20:10 shows that for those cast into the LOF, there "will be torment day and night for ever and ever".

Well explained and scripturally sound. Your reply should be a help to many people. God bless!

[NConly]

Matt 10:28

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

The Spirit returns to God and the soul can be punished if that was that persons choice. Freewill lets us choose which of 2 place we go.

[Dennis1209]

Excellent explanations and diagrams @enoob57 and @FreeGrace.

I had Hebrews 4:12 and Ecclesiastes 12:7 in mind asking the question. From Ecc. 12:7, my thought was our soul and spirit are connected somehow, and at physical death, the Lord separates them.

I delved a little deeper and found these explanations that make sense also:

Meaning of the spirit, soul, and body

But what exactly is meant by body, soul, and spirit? It seems not too difficult to distinguish the body from the soul and spirit. The body is physical and with the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch) it connects and interacts with the outer world. The soul and spirit are much more difficult to separate from each other. Many Christians hold to the opinion that the soul is the part of us that covers our will, affections, and thoughts. The soul is the part of us that connects with our fellow human beings. The spirit is the part that connects to God and covers matters like faith, trust, worship, and so on. The spirit is seen as the innermost part of our being. It is enveloped by our soul, which in turn is enveloped by our body. The spirit then is the part that needs regeneration in the person who does not know God.

Not easy to pinpoint

However, a closer look at how the words soul and spirit are used in the Scriptures, reveals that it is not easy to pinpoint their exact meaning. Sometimes the word ‘soul’ refers to the part of the human being that will live on in eternity as in Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell“. And in the Great Commandment, we are taught to “love God with all of our soul” (Matthew 22:37). The word spirit is not mentioned in these verses; yet they address our relationship to God, not to fellow men.

Not important?

It seems that God did not find it important to give us a clear definition of the two words. Even though a distinction is made between spirit and soul in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12, it does not become exactly clear what the distinction implies. The most important thing we need to remember is that the part of us which is referred to as soul or spirit needs regeneration by God’s Spirit. Without the Spirit’s work in us, we are dead and unable to know God and unable to understand his word. ¹

¹ _{ESTHER VISSER}

 

[Alive]

I do not think any of these explanations are entirely correct. Its funny lately one way or another the subject keeps surfacing and it is the very thing I think the Lord has been showing for months now, but I don’t think it is yet time. I will hold it before yet a while.

[FreeGrace]

1 hour ago, Dennis1209 said:

Excellent explanations and diagrams @enoob57 and @FreeGrace.

I had Hebrews 4:12 and Ecclesiastes 12:7 in mind asking the question. From Ecc. 12:7, my thought was our soul and spirit are connected somehow, and at physical death, the Lord separates them.

I delved a little deeper and found these explanations that make sense also:

Meaning of the spirit, soul, and body

But what exactly is meant by body, soul, and spirit? It seems not too difficult to distinguish the body from the soul and spirit. The body is physical and with the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch) it connects and interacts with the outer world. The soul and spirit are much more difficult to separate from each other. Many Christians hold to the opinion that the soul is the part of us that covers our will, affections, and thoughts. The soul is the part of us that connects with our fellow human beings. The spirit is the part that connects to God and covers matters like faith, trust, worship, and so on. The spirit is seen as the innermost part of our being. It is enveloped by our soul, which in turn is enveloped by our body. The spirit then is the part that needs regeneration in the person who does not know God.

Not easy to pinpoint

However, a closer look at how the words soul and spirit are used in the Scriptures, reveals that it is not easy to pinpoint their exact meaning. Sometimes the word ‘soul’ refers to the part of the human being that will live on in eternity as in Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell“. And in the Great Commandment, we are taught to “love God with all of our soul” (Matthew 22:37). The word spirit is not mentioned in these verses; yet they address our relationship to God, not to fellow men.

Not important?

It seems that God did not find it important to give us a clear definition of the two words. Even though a distinction is made between spirit and soul in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12, it does not become exactly clear what the distinction implies. The most important thing we need to remember is that the part of us which is referred to as soul or spirit needs regeneration by God’s Spirit. Without the Spirit’s work in us, we are dead and unable to know God and unable to understand his word. ¹

¹ _{ESTHER VISSER}

Thanks for the info!  I forgot to mention something about the human spirit.  While the Bible doesn't say where the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer, it makes sense that He lives in the human spirit.  I base this on 1 John 13:9 - No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

Being "born of God" refers to the dead human spirit being born again.  Then, John says "no one who is born of God will continue to sin", meaning believers cannot sin from their human spirit.  So our sin comes from our souls.  

This means that when a believer is in fellowship (sins confessed per 1 John 1:9) and filled with the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:14,15), the believer cannot sin (1 John 3:9). However, Paul commands believers to NOT grieve (Eph 4:30) or quench (1 Thess 5:19) the Spirit.  These actions indicate that the believer is out of fellowship with the Lord and is in a state of sin.

[FreeGrace]

1 hour ago, Alive said:

I do not think any of these explanations are entirely correct. Its funny lately one way or another the subject keeps surfacing and it is the very thing I think the Lord has been showing for months now, but I don’t think it is yet time. I will hold it before yet a while.

All truth available for the human race has been put in God's Word.  Are you suggesting that you're getting extrabiblical inspiration?

There is clear Scripture for what I've shared.  I'm open to correction, if indicated.

[Alive]

Just now, FreeGrace said:

All truth available for the human race has been put in God's Word.  Are you suggesting that you're getting extrabiblical inspiration?

There is clear Scripture for what I've shared.  I'm open to correction, if indicated.

Nope…I don’t function that way. I will never knowingly contradict scripture and whatever I propose is grounded there, to the best of the ability God gave me and the Help of the Holy Spirit.