A note to my readers: Although this is not a complete study on this subject , I believe it will help in finding an answer for why we act like we do, even if we are followers of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Also, when you see a scripture reference, place your cursor over the ref. and it should bring up the full scripture. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and please feel free to comment at the end.
Have you ever wondered why you keep doing those things that you don't want to do? What drives someone to continue going back to those old habits, old issues, old way of life? Are we just doomed to have a battle within ourselves that doesn't seem to end? Is there really a way to live without being so unhappy and always on the verge of destroying our lives?
Questions like these need to be ask of ourselves daily. We seem to live in a world that is bent on destroying itself from within and we don't know what to do to change it's direction. I would like to lay out an idea that may seem foreign to you, but may just be what is needed to change not only the direction of your life, but could change the direction of everyone else. It is not a new concept, just a forgotten one, or at least one that is ignored. Mostly this concept or idea is directed towards the believer's in Christ, for without Him, this idea won't work. Let me share with you briefly, well hopefully, this concept. In other words, I am going to plant the seed, you will need to make it grow.
There are a few key words we need to become familiar with if we are to understand what is going on in our inner beings. I have to give credit where credit is do. Dutch Sheets published a book called 'Roll Away Your Stone' and in it he lists several Greek and Hebrew words that I am going to use. Dutch Sheets lays out in this book just what happens to us when we give control of our lives over to Christ. We all need to be aware of this process so we can make the changes that are necessary for us to become totally given over to the very Spirit of Christ and live a victorious life.
Let's look at these words and there meaning. The first word we need to become familiar with is "ZOE." Zoe from the Greek means "God's Life." From the Hebrew context we have the word "Chay Nephesh" and from the Greek "Zoe Psuche." Therefore God breathed His life into Adam. Both of these references mean the same thing. Looking at Genesis 2:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:45 for instance gives us the meaning as "living soul." In other words, when you gave your life over to Christ, God's Life, eternal life, Zoe entered into you.
"PNEUMA" is the word used to describe "spirit." "This can be a difficult term to define, and is usually hazy to most Christians. The biblical Greek word for the human "spirit," pneuma, is the same word used for the Holy "Spirit." Spirit is the part of our being that is God-like, or as the Scriptures state, was made in His "likeness," Genesis 1:26. The Hebrew word for "likeness" means "comparable to." At the creation, Adam's spirit was comparable to God's. Our spirit is the part of us that God intended to relate to Him and the spiritual realm in which He exists. The spirit was what God intended to be dominant--in charge. We were to be led and controlled by our spirit, which most scholars believe also houses our conscience and intuition. The spirit is what distinguishes us from the animal world." (D. Sheets)
Now lets take another word, "PSUCHE". From this word we recognize our english word Psyche. "The psyche, or psuche, is the mind (intellect), emotions (feelings), and will (volition). It's the crux of where humanity veered from God's intended way and it's the part of us that has become the problem. Breaking this down we would be looking at this: The mind (or intellect) reasons, thinks, forms logic, processes, and stores information. Next, the emotions give us (feelings), such as joy or sadness. The will (or volition), based on what we've put into our mind and emotions, makes the decisions--the will determines our course of action. We can look at it like a processing mechanism, the computer main frame, the translator. The soul is not what God intended to dwell and communicate with, our spirit is intended for that. According to Dutch Sheets in his book mentioned above, "Adam's soul could receive and process information directly from the natural, visible, world around him; and from the spiritual, invisible realm, but only via the spirit." The soul's function was not to control or lead the spirit, but to serve the spirit:" (D. Sheets) Proverbs 20:27 relates to this.
"LOGOS" is the next word we must become familiar with. This word you have heard many times when you hear someone refer to Christ as the Word, John 1:1-2. "Logos carriers with it the meaning of "word, logic, and understanding." In the earlier passages of Genesis we see that God regularly came and talked with Adam. They were friends and family. During this very close relationship God gave His favorite creation His own understanding---of life, creation, the laws of nature, Himself, etc. In the New Testament the "word" of God is linked to logic. "Word" is translated from logos, the same Greek word for logic. Logos includes written or spoken words, but it also includes the message those words are communicating. This is why Jesus is called the Logos, the Word of God, He is God's message to us. Adam did not have to have the written Word, Adam had the Author, the Maker, personally sharing with him His logos (words of wisdom, understanding, logic)." Greek scholar Spiros Zodhiates defines logos, in the context of God's Word, as "God's reason or intelligence expressed in human speech." (D. Sheets)
This now brings us to "PNEUMATIKOS" or "spirit-controlled." To put it simply, the spirit is in control. Now we are not talking about the Holy Spirit, at least not yet. Mankind's spirit was created to be in control. When God gave man dominion over the earth it was through his spirit that God would communicate. The Holy Spirit dwelt within man's spirit and communicated God the Father's desires. The soul of man (psuche) would take in information from it's visible surroundings and feed them to the spirit. The spirit of man would make the decision based on God's input from the spiritual or invisible realm via the Holy Spirit so the decision would be based on God's words of wisdom, understanding and logic. This way the very glory of God would be expanded through man to the earthly kingdom.
Finally we want to examine the word "PSUCHIKOS." This word refers to "soul-controlled." In other words the soul is in control and is making the decisions. This is not what God intended from the beginning. When the soul is in control all the decisions man makes is based on his own intellect and logic. The spirit takes a back seat. We have a verse that relates to this kind of control and makes very clear the distinction. Christ was talking to his disciples about watching and praying, saying that the spirit is willing. In other words, the spirit wants and knows what is right to do, but the flesh or soul of man is weak and will yield to temptation very easily. The soul (psuche) wants to exalt itself and feed its desires without the spirit (pneuma) influence. Matthew 26:40-42.
To bring this all together we need to look at the intention of God from the beginning when He created mankind and placed him in the garden with dominion rights. God gave man the authority to rule the earth and everything in it. God would visit man through his spirit. Man would take in the information he received from his soul and filter it through his spirit. Man's spirit would receive God's input via God's Holy Spirit and then make his decisions. This would be a truly "spirit-controlled man.
Then came the part of man that would decide on his own what to do, his "soul" or "psuche." When Adam made a decision on his own he became soul-controlled. This act of treason and rebellion allowed sin to enter the soul of mankind and set man on a course of destruction for a very long time. No longer were the decisions filtered through his spirit for input from the Father, but only the input of the soul would be considered and decisions based solely on the souls reasoning.
As you can see a big mess followed. Man was no longer making decisions based on God's "words of wisdom, understanding and logic, he was basing his decisions on his soul's wisdom, understanding and logic." As the world became more and more corrupt, the image of the Father was more and more distorted. The soul could only see his surroundings through it's own eyes and had nothing to compare right and wrong to. God with His wisdom and understanding knew that there would have to be a method to redeem His creation and bring mankind back into right standing and position that he was created for. God the Father with all His love for His creation would set in motion the one act that would offer mankind a way back to God's Kingdom and have direct communication with Him. His Son Jesus Christ would be sent to pay the price of redemption for mankind. This is why Christ said; I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except by me." John 14:5-7.
When you receive Christ as your savior your spirit is given back its rightful place of authority and the Holy Spirit is now back in communion with you through your spirit. Your spirit has been saved from the results of the fall. You are now back in right standing with the Father. Your eternal destiny has been set. In other words God's very life force that was breathed into Adam is now breathed back into your spirit giving you God's motivating force; His existence, purpose, impetus, all the influences of life are now coming from God.
Now comes the journey of getting the soul back in its right place, that of serving your spirit, your soul has to be saved from the world. You see when you got saved your spirit is what got saved, not your soul. We think that our soul is what gets saved, this is not true. The soul and spirit are two separate things as noted earlier. Here lies the problem, years of avoiding, rebelling, and going the way of the psuche (soul) without the influence of our spirit (pneuma) and the Holy Spirit, we built up habits, wrongful ways of thinking, strongholds that still want to be first. Our soul wants to remain in charge so it can fill its desires for those things that it is used to, "The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). This is what our soul seeks and it will do anything to remain in charge. These things are not from the Father but from the world and remain in our soul's even after we have given our lives over to Christ. The removing of these barriers as we walk with the Christ are a life long journey and will only be removed as we take them to the cross and crucify them there. This is why we find ourselves doing those things that we don't want to do and the things that you want to do, you don't. (Romans 7:15)
Here are some other scripture ref. on this subject: Galatians 5:17, Genesis 3:6, Proverbs 27:20, Romans 13:14, Ephesians 2:3, 1 Peter 2:11. Without going into great detail, let me leave you with the first step in overcoming our souls desire to be in charge and attempt to fulfill the world's lust that have taken hold of our lives. Christ said "follow me" to all of His disciples. He did not mean just to follow Him as they walked with Him, He meant "follow me" all the way to the cross. He also said "take up your cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23. What it means to take up your cross is to deny yourself all those lustful desires of the soul and crucify them at the cross, daily. How do we crucify them at the cross? We take up His Word (Logos) and apply it to our fleshly desires, daily. As we meditate on His word and apply it to our souls desires, we begin the process of crucifying each and every one of them as they crop back up trying to take control. Sometimes this happens quickly, other areas may take several applications of His Word. Isaiah 55:11.
We have a battle that goes on within us. It is a battle between spirit and soul, the one who wins is the one you feed. The more you feed the spirit with God's word, the less the soul will flourish. The more you feed the soul what it desires, the more the soul will flourish. "Our soul loves to bring up old conditions, habits, and mindsets." (D.S.) "It's not easy to change. Our psuche is a raging beast that's been pampered in the wild for thousands of years. Every time we've sinned against God and exalted our desires above His, we've fed the soulish animal. Yet Christ offers us all the same rest from this fallen psuche." (D. Sheets). "Take my yoke upon you,"..." and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:29.
"The psuche, confined in the prison of our old nature, will never be able to experience the growth, maturity, and ultimately the rest Christ offers. However, when we take His yoke and allow Him to establish true rest and freedom within us, our soul can develop to God's intended, bountiful growth. For when we place the uncomfortable, ultra-restrictive yoke on our fallen soul, when we place psuche at the cross and recognize our Savior's lordship, transformation begins. Not just minor renovation, but lasting, permanent change that molds us more into the image of Jesus, whom we were meant to look like in the first place." (D. Sheets).
I highly suggest you get a copy of Dutch Sheets book, "Roll Away Your Stone" and fill in the details that I could not give you in this blog. It is worth the time and expense if you really want to win the battle between spirit and soul. Remember, God loves you and wants you to have a full and meaningful life. May God bless you as you begin the journey of putting your spirit back in charge.
