The
Parts of Man According to Scripture – A Study
By
Arthur J Licursi
1
Thes. 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God
your whole spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Three
Parts of Man are “Outward, Inward & Inner” (Amplified translates”belly” in
Jn 7:38 “innermost”)
Our Body
or Outward man is “perishing” / Our Inward Soul man being “renewed
daily”
2
Cor. 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward
(body) man perish, yet the inward
(soul)
man
is renewed day by day.
But,
our “innermost” man, our human
spirit, is completed by Christ in you.
Our spirit is now alive & complete by Christ in us (Neither
perishing, nor being renewed).
1
Cor. 15:45
… the last Adam (Christ) was made (became) a
quickening (life-giving) spirit.
Col.
2:10a And ye are complete in him,
… 2 Tim. 4:22 …Christ be with
thy spirit ...
1
Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Soul
– (Greek, psuche) is The Inward Man …
it is the seat of …
Satisfaction
(emotion)… with Knowing (mind)… what is Truth
Romans
7:22
For I delight (rejoice)
in the law of God after the inward
man:
Psalm
51:6
Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts: and
in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
NOTE and Compare these two references to see that the “Inward parts” are …
the “mind and heart” of the soul.
Jeremiah
31:33
…saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will
be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer
31:33 “inward parts”
is REQUOTED
In The NT below as the “mind & heart”
Hebrews
8:10 For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I
will put my laws into their mind, and write them (deposit
them)
in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me
a people:
“Inward
affection” is an emotion function of the soul
2
Cor. 7:15a
And his inward affection
is more abundant toward you,
Spirit
(Greek, pneuma) Relates to the Inner (innermost) man
Zech.
12:1
The burden of the word of the Lord
for Israel, saith the Lord,
which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth,
and formeth the spirit of man
within him.
Daniel
7:15a
I Daniel was grieved in my spirit
in the midst of my body,
Ephes.
3:16b
be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner
(“innermost”)
man;
Proverbs
20:27
The spirit of man is
the candle (lamp reservoir) of the Lord, searching
all the inward parts
(see below, soul’s thoughts,
intents) of the belly.
Hebrews
4:12 For
the word (Christ
as the word in us is spirit & life)
of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Three
Parts of the Soul – 3 faculties
The
Mind
- Knowledge is part of the
soul
Psalm
13:2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having
sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
Psalm
139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my
soul knoweth right well.
Proverbs
2:10 … wisdom entereth into
thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto
thy soul;
Proverbs
19:2 Also, that the soul be
without knowledge, it is not
good; and he that hasteth with his
feet sinneth.
Proverbs
24:14 So shall the knowledge of wisdom
be unto thy soul: when thou
hast found it, then there shall be
a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
Remembrance
is in the soul
Lament.
3:20 My
soul hath them still in remembrance,
and is humbled in me.
The
Will
is part of the soul, for setting, choosing and refusing
Job
7:15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
Job
6:7 The things that my soul
refused to touch are as my
sorrowful meat.
1
Chron. 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord
your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord
God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name
of the Lord.
Desire
as a soul function – is the burning in man driving his choices
Deut.
14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth
after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for
whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord
thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
1
Samuel 20:4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth,
I will even do it for thee.
The
Emotion
as part of the soul
for Enjoyng, Loving & Hating
Love
as a soul function
1
Samuel 18:1 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto
Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and
Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
Psalm
42:1 To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Song
1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where
thou makest thy flock to rest at
noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy
companions?
Hatred
is of the soul
2
Samuel 5:8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter,
and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that
are hated of David's soul, he
shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame
shall not come into the house.
Psalm
107:18 Their soul abhorreth …
Joy
of the soul
Psalm
86:4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I
lift up my soul.
Isaiah
61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels.
Grief
of the soul
Judges
10:16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord:
and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
1
Samuel 30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of
stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every
man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the
Lord his God.
Three
Parts of the human
spirit
“…
the Lord, which stretcheth
forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the
spirit of man within him.” Zech
12:1
The
Conscience
Romans
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are
the children of God:
Romans
9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost (located in our spirit),
Deut.
2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord
thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he
might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth
this day.
Psalm
34:18 The Lord is
nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit.
Capacity
for Fellowship or CommUnion
John
4:24 God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship him
in spirit (their human spirit) and in truth.
1
Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Romans
1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve (I
minister) with
my spirit
in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you
always in my prayers;
Romans
7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in
the oldness of the letter.
Romans
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness (fellowships)
with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Ephes.
6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit
(spirit), and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for
all saints;
Luke
1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
The
Intuition –
spontaneous “knowing” (Gk. “eido”) is inborn at rebirthing
1
Cor. 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of man …
Mark
2:8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so
reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in
your hearts?
Acts
18:5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed
(compelled) in
the spirit,
and testified to the Jews that
Jesus was Christ.
1
John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know
(eido) all things.
1
John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in
you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1
John 5:20 we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are
in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.
Four
Parts of the Heart
(Consists of ALL 3 Soul parts … plus the Conscience of the
spirit)
Soul’s
“mind”
is in the heart, which thinks
Matthew
9:4
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think
ye evil in your hearts?
Genesis
6:5
And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually.
Hebrews
4:12
For the word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. John
16:6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled
your heart.
Soul’s
“will”
is in the heart
Acts
11:23…them
all, that with purpose of heart
they would cleave unto the Lord.
Soul’s
“emotion”
is in the heart
John
16:22
And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from
you.
Spirit’s
“conscience”
is in heart
Hebrews
10:22
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil (dirty) conscience,
and our bodies washed with pure water.
1
John 3:20
For if our heart condemn
us, God is greater than our heart, …
Our
Relationship is Initiated & Maintained with the Lord by the heart
Proverbs
4:23 Keep thy heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
·
The
Heart is the Gateway
to our being.
·
As
a door to a building - to keep
people out from the rooms inside.
·
Whatever
enters comes via the heart of a
man.
·
The
heart therefore controls (limits) a
man - to open or close
So,
God Deals with our Heart
“:…
for the Lord seeth not as man
seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Lord
Attracts & Speaks from Outside (to unsaved)… into man’s heart via
conscience;
Romans
2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature
the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto
themselves: 15Which shew the work
of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing
or else excusing one another;)
1.
… via a mans spirit (as the antenna receiver)
2.
through
the bridge of “conscience“
3.
into the heart to convict him of his need for a savior
(realizing
his need of Another life
comes later)
4.
then speaking words of “love”, forgiveness & acceptance
in Chrisrt
Man
Doesn’t Know His Own Heart
Jeremiah
17:9-10 The heart is deceitful (to man himself) above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?
So
the Lord Permits C&S to Reveal it to Man (God knows already)
The Lord
knows our heart ”I the Lord
search the heart, I try (test) the reins (interior
motive), even to give every man according to his ways (course
of living - motive), and according to the fruit of his doings.”
<<< Actions & Consequences to teach us
Many
Christians say,“I just don’t hear God” or “He never reveals things
to me”
It
is most often because they are not“pure” - They have a mixed
motive!
·
We all start out as a “self-for self”
·
Mostly we proceed in that way until God deals with our
heart
·
Yes, They seek God, BUT, they also have other ambitions for
themselves.
KEY>>
“Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8
“Pure”
Defined: Unmixed (NOT just Outwardly “Clean”)
·
Pure
means:
elementally pure
through & through
·
Without
mixture - mixture means it contains “two or more”
elements
Mixture
- like two eyes looking in two directions …makes “things blurred”
·
Christians
may have … more than one aim or goal in their
heart?
·
Aiming
to walk by Christ … but also
…
also to be somebody in their, job, career, ministry, reputation?
E.g.,
Mixture is to seek to Have “Christ Himself” &
“YOUR OWN” Christian ahenda
·
To
satisfy the self-interest
- to be successful
·
To
be somebody -
to be regarded
– to be in control
…
BUT, Christ must be our ALL &
the He must be the worker in us for work to be done
The
Work LOOKS THE SAME - But, the MOTIVE of HEART is the issue !
Col.
3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not
with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness
(pure,
without mixture)
of heart, fearing God:
So,
The Lord Changes Our Heart
2
Cor. 3:15-17 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail
is upon their heart. 16Nevertheless
when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17Now
the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. 18 But we (in soul self) all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed (metamorphoo) into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
1.
He turns us to Himself by C&S & our failure (“no way out”
Reduces Us to Him)
2.
In His presence He …demonstrates
His Unconditional Love
3.
…opening our heart, He then …Touches our Conscience
…
showing us “OUR Self-for Self doing” Vs. HIS self-less love
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?
3.
“He shines into our heart … changing us into His Image”
2
Cor. 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Now
Cleansed - His love now can flow Out of Our Pure Heart &
Conscience
5Now
the end of the commandment is charity (love) out of a pure
heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned
(without pretending): 1 Tim. 1:5
Paul’s Way:
16And herein
do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence
toward God, and toward men. Acts 24:16
With
Conscience Cleansed, we have Fellowship … ReEstablished
1
John 1:3-7 3That which we have
seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his
Son Jesus Christ. 4And these
things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
So
We Walk in the Light (keep
conscience clear)
- To Maintain Fellowship
5This
then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God
is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If
we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we
lie, and do not the truth: 7But if
we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:1-7
If
we’ve sinned
- We’ve (in soul) departed from Fellowship of His Light & Life
wit in us.
He
never leaves us since He is in us as us. In fact we remain cleansed in His
sight since He died once for all, but for our conscience sake only, we can
and should Maintain a Clean Conscience.
9If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from
all
unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
A)
The “Christ Me” Cannot
ever sin !
Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him:
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 1 John 3:9
B)
The “Independent Me” (unrenewed
soul) Does always Sin
If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. 1 John 1:8
By
Fellowship Established … we have …
our Intuition
Enlivened by the indwelling Christ.
He
Abides in You
… Just Abide in Him that
is Truth (1 John 2:25-29)
25And
this is the promise that he hath promised us, even (His) eternal life.
26These things have I written unto
you concerning them that seduce you. 27But
the anointing which ye have received of him abideth
(dwells) in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the
same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no
lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 28And
now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we
may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29If
ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth
righteousness is born of him. 1 John 2:25-29
By
rebirth you Already Have the Inner Knowledge (in spirit) called Intuition of
your spirit
·
It’s
a sixth sense as an inner sense
·
It
is true and no lie but needs a pure heart through which it may flow into
your consciousness.
Inner
Sense Knowledge (“eido” in spirit) we already have intuitively by the
Spirit,
It
Precedes the Mental Understanding (“ginosko” in mind) that we grow to or
come to.
·
Revelation
is needed to truly understand in the mind
·
This
Begins when He uses whatever is needed “to turn us, our heart”, to Him.
It’s
The Lord’s Work to Convict us in Heart (Usually by C&S) to Turn us
·
His
light exposes our neediness, then we see our impure heart
·
Touches
our heart with His love, by revealing His Son in us
·
His
light Purifies our heart of other ambitions,
·
&
Cleanses our conscience,
·
So
Fellowship of Life may be established & maintained
·
that
we may live by His Intuitive, spontaneous leading.
Four
Circles May Be Used To Explain Our Anatomical Makeup
and
Relationship With God, In Christ
By: Arthur J Licursi
In
my teaching I often use four (4) concentric circles to describe the parts of
our being, and our relationship with God.
1.
The Outermost circle represents Christ.
a.
This circle represents Christ as we relate to Him objectively –
being “in Christ,” as our righteous covering (1Cor 1:30), available to
as many as receive Him (John 1:12), as their substitutionary sin bearing
substitutionary sacrifice, as our savior from perdition. This is for
establishing our “positional” status, standing sinless in Christ, before
the Father. This is our grace standing, which is not of our doing, but comes
to be ours simply by our believing and receiving the good news of Christ’s
work for us.
b.
In this postion we ae guiltless, without blame, as we stand in His
love. Ephes. 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual
blessing in Christ. 4For
he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and
blameless in his sight. In love
2.
The next circle inward is represents our “body” that Paul calls
out “outward” man. It includes our entire being (body, soul and spirit)
hid “in Christ.”
2
Cor. 4:16
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the
inward man is renewed day by day.
a.
This is our entire being, in totality, hid “in Christ” in God
(Col 3:3-4).
b.
This means we are entirely secure in our standing in Christ.
3.
Next circle inward represents our “soul” hidden within our body
as the bone is within the body. This is that which Paul calls our
“inward” man in 2Cor 4:16.
a.
This is our soul/self, our ego, and our individual eternal creation.
The soul consists of mind, emotion, and will – that which makes us
uniquely who we are as oppose to anybody else. This is our subjective being.
After regeneration our soul needs renewal to a new mindset (Phili 2:5, Rom
12:2), needing to abide subjectively in Christ, in our spirit.
4.
Next circle inward or the “innermost” circle is the our core of
our being, our “human spirit,” which is the innermost part, out of which
flow rivers of living water. Christ’s very life as our life (Gal 2:20, Col
3:4). This is as the marrow within the bone as the source of the blood’s
life.
Daniel
7:15
I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body…
John
7:38
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly
(“innermost being,” Amplified) shall flow rivers of living water.
a.
This is the person of Christ, as the Spirit in our human spirit, we
being now “one spirit” (1Cor 6:17, Rom 8:8-10).
From
this we see that it is needful for us to be “in Christ” in two ways that
we might enjoy His full provision both objectively and subjectively.
1)
We must be hid in objectively Him for our salvation (Eph 2:8-9),
along with all who receive His salvation from judgment.
We
need also to abide (stay) in Him subjectively for our practical salvation
(Rom 5:10, Greek, sozo, completion) from our independent, self-reliant self,
individually. END
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