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Body, Soul and Spirit
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Chapter 2: Our Faculties
Windows of the Soul
Many people like to live along the seashore. Imagine for a moment that your home overlooks the sea on one side, and on the other side it commands a view of a well-landscaped garden with shrubs and flowers. If the house was designed with two picture windows, one looking out to sea and the other overlooking the land, there would be a choice of two views.
It is very much the same in our souls. We live in an earthen house, which is our body. We experience two realms of influence, for we are related to two worlds. Like the house, we have two windows. Through these windows come all the information that we receive.
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These windows are illustrated in Figure 3. They are the two areas created where the soul circle overlaps the body and the spirit circles respectively. All sensor and intuitive inputs to the soul must come through these two windows. The two overlapping areas are shown in this way since they represent faculties, that in one case, have attributes of both soul and body, and in the other instance, attributes of soul and spirit. All information received into one’s mind is perceived either through spiritual or physical senses, which are what these two areas represent. I have chosen to call them windows since they pass information into the mind, much like real windows allow one to view a landscape. Just as one window in our imaginary house portrays the garden, while the other presents a view of the sea, so physical senses receive stimuli from the<page 22><page 23> physical world, and spiritual senses provide intuitive input from the spirit world. Thus, these two interfaces to sensory inputs are windows of the soul.
Let us consider our five natural senses. It is apparent these sense organs are flesh and blood, and therefore they clearly are part of the body. However, the invisible impulses of the senses which flow from them through nerves and impress their messages into our minds, do not have physical dimensions, and consequently they are part of the soul. Thus, the lower of the two overlapped areas represents a window of natural senses. Through it, we experience the senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell. It is a window facing out to the physical world around us. Through it come temptations that could draw us away from God if we yielded to them. However, it is also the window through which we receive the gospel by sight and sound. Clearly we must know how to discipline the use of this window. Our senses are to serve us; they must not become our master.
The spirit world around us cannot be experienced through natural senses. Some who are unfamiliar with the spirit world may speak of a “sixth sense” of intuition when referring to knowledge that is mysteriously outside the realm of their five senses. Ignorance and curiosity have led many into deception and destruction as they explored this spirit world through occult practices. There is a wonderful world of light and life to be experienced through the Spirit of God. However, there is also a terrible world of spiritual darkness seeking to capture and enslave the spirits of lost men; this must be avoided at all costs.
The realm of intuition involves spiritual senses. These are shown in the model of Figure 3 as the upper,<page 24> overlapped area of spirit and soul. When a human spirit is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that person “becomes alive” in Christ, and his “inner man” can receive anointings of insight from the Lord through this window.
Education is acquired through physical senses, but spiritual knowledge is received by revelation. There are biblical records of Christians who have been caught up in the Spirit to hear and see things that could not be received through their natural senses. The Bible states that no man can look upon God and live. His glory would blind us or even consume us (Acts 9:3-8; 1 Timothy 6:16). However, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit He can be seen, as evidenced by John’s experience in the Book of Revelation. The following are some biblical examples of spiritual senses:
I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me, and when I had fixed my gaze upon it and was observing it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air. And I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I said, “By no means, Lord ....
In this particular experience, Peter reports himself as “seeing,” “hearing” and speaking”; however, he was not using natural faculties or senses. The Lord anointed Peter’s spiritual senses and communicated with him while he was in a trance.
The following is a similar example in the life of Paul:<page 25>
A vision appeared to Paul in the night: A certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “come over to Macedonia and help us.”
The reality of communication in the Spirit is just as valid as what one would experience by physical senses. It may not be as common, but it is no less real. Paul describes one such experience which was so vivid he did not know whether he had been physically caught up to Paradise or was in the Spirit.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago– whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows–such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man–whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows–was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
The Book of Revelation was given to John by the Spirit. As we see from the record of his words, it involved his spiritual senses:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, “Write in a book what you see…
The dialogue, messages and symbolic visions that followed were all given to him through the Spirit. His natural senses were not at play as he was instructed on what to write. The revelation that John recorded came to him directly from heaven.<page 26>
One of many examples of the use of spiritual senses in the ministry of the Lord Jesus was His vision of Nathaniel under the fig tree (John 1:47-50).
Conscience
In the soul-spirit window of spiritual senses there is another important faculty called “conscience.” Our conscience is a bridle of the Lord for it is where the Spirit of God guides us by imparting an inner knowing that something is, or is not, correct. It does not depend on one’s foreknowledge; it is simply intuitive knowledge from the Holy Spirit. Because it involves impressions of the Spirit on one’s mind, conscience is part of both soul and spirit. It is important to heed what we perceive in our consciences from the Lord. If we consistently act contrary to it, we can over time, become hard or seared in our conscience and lose sensitivity to His voice.
The function of conscience is made clear by the following scripture:
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them…
Paul’s rejection of the Holy Spirit’s impressions upon his conscience prior to conversion are described by God as “kicking against a sharp object.”
And … I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting<page 27> Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
A believer’s conscience is to bear witness to the mind of the Spirit (Romans 9:1). For this reason, our conscience should always be pure and tender. However, one’s conscience can also be affected by the teaching of men. Depending upon what is taught, this can be good or bad. For example, when children are properly taught to avoid sin, their consciences are conditioned to turn away from evil. This is good. However, teaching that certain traditions or doctrines are from God when, in fact they are not, brings people into bondage. Legalism is an example of this.
Attempting to please God by a righteousness based on keeping laws has always been a great hindrance to His people.
Believers who accept such bondage become “weak in faith” for their conscience has been defiled.
All things (pertaining to food and drink) are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience’ sake; for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. If one of the unbelievers invites you, and you wish to go, eat anything that is set before you, without asking questions for conscience’ sake. But if anyone should say to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s con<page 28>science? … Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God.
How are we to relate to believers who are weak in faith? While we are to remain free in our own conscience, we must never act in our freedom so as to offend the conscience of others.
Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this–not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in another’s way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died … for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit… do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
(Romans 14:13-15, 17, 20-21)
But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you who have knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ<page 29> died, And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
It is wrong to encourage those weak in the faith to act against (or violate) their consciences. However, it is proper to give them remedial instruction if they will hear you, for there is no virtue in ignorance!
The way of righteousness is to walk under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). This transcends all other law. It is the perfect law, for it is the law of liberty. Wherever the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty to choose His way of life (2 Corinthians 3:17). It is the way of choice, and not the way of compulsion. The righteousness that God seeks to bring forth in our lives can only come out of our freedom to choose to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Recognizing this truth helps us to guard against legalism, false teaching and the doctrine of demons, all of which corrupt the consciences of men.
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods ….
A pure spirit will be marked by a pure conscience.
To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
<page 30>Great care must be exercised to ensure that the consciences of those being trained and discipled are kept pure and tender for the Lord’s guidance. It is the rein of our harness in the Spirit.
Will the Real Person Please Stand Up!
What we see when we look at one another is not the real person. Our bodies grow old, change with time and eventually die. In the resurrection we will appear quite different from what we are in this life. The real person lives on the inside and is known by various manifestations of life that are distinct and separate from the physical body. Some life expressions are: character, reasoning, will, intelligence, memory, emotions and mental attitude. These properties define what we really are.
All of these, except for character, relate to the soul realm of a person. The will defines the capability to make decisions, and as such, is the place of government in our lives. It is the throne of our beings. Without a personal will we would only be robots. As we submit our wills to leadings of the Holy Spirit, coming to us through our soul-spirit window, then Jesus becomes our Lord in fact.
When Jesus walked on earth, His will was submitted to His Father at all times. The suffering of His soul during His passion is clear in the following scripture:
Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied ....
<page 31>Jesus did not hang on the cross until He expired. When all scripture was fulfilled concerning His ministry on earth as our Savior, He dismissed His spirit. This act illustrates the primacy of His will.
When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.
In summary, we receive information into our souls from two windows, one from the physical world and one from the spirit world. Through the exercise of our wills, we control which realm we are guided by; we choose which window we will spend most of our time at. According to our choice and self-discipline (or lack of it), over time, we will take on the characteristics of one of these worlds. The Lord calls to us through the spirit-soul window, for this is the window by which we can become like Him. The choice is ours.
Emotions
Emotions are affective responses of feeling from one’s consciousness in response to input from the senses. They are affective since they condition how one may act in response to such input. Some obvious emotions are: happiness, fear, anger, shame, frustration, etc. Together with behavioral traits they express an individual’s personality. As such they are located in the soul circle of our model.
We are familiar with the role of our emotions in response to our physical senses in everyday life. However, the Holy Spirit can also touch the consciousness of believers through their spiritual senses. This may take place when the Holy Spirit anoints one for visions (including dreams), revelation or for one of the spiri<page 32>tual gifts. The response in emotions could include: joy, peace, boldness, thankfulness, etc. Should the Lord desire to do so, He can touch believers in such a way that their response would be much more demonstrative, such as joyful laughter, deep weeping, being “slain” or “drunk” in the Spirit, etc.
Satan seeks to draw men, women and children after him through their emotional response to the sensory appeal of drugs, alcohol, pornography, witchcraft, violence, etc.
Believers must control what they allow to come through the window of their physical senses. Nothing is as important as our union with Christ in the Holy Spirit. It is out of the simplicity of our souls and the purity of our hearts that we will grow in knowledge of Him.
To grow in God, we must know our hearts and learn to judge our motives. Unless we understand such things about ourselves, we will not know how to counsel and train others. The secret is spending time in His presence, studying His word so that it becomes a mirror in which we see ourselves. It will differentiate between soul and spirit and remove any confusion that may exist concerning these areas of our being.
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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Dreams and Visions
Visions can occur while one is conscious or in a trance. Dreams are mental activities that take place just below the threshold of consciousness. God uses dreams to speak to His people, often as warnings (Job 33:14-18; Matthew 2:12, 19, 22). The Holy Spirit impresses dreams in the form of thoughts or visions on their spiritual senses while people are asleep. Emotions may be involved. Dreams are often symbolic so that they need interpretation. However, dreams can also be clear messages.
While a young Christian, I was part of a local church where division had broken out that was marked by much ungodly gossip and criticism. During this time, I had a dream in which I found myself in a bathroom that was very dirty with used tissues and paper towels covering the floor. I felt a compulsion to pick up tissues and put them in my mouth. I awoke with a feeling of revulsion, and immediately knew that the Lord was warning me not to take part in the gossip and criticism.
Dreams and visions should not be uncommon. The great outpouring of the Holy spirit that gave birth to the church was marked by dreams and visions as well as miracles and prophecies (Acts 2:14-17).
Heart-Spirit
The Lord frequently points out the importance of the human spirit by referring to it as “heart” in some scriptures. The reason He did so is because man has always understood the supreme importance of his heart in physical life. If it is diseased, life expectancy is shortened; when it stops, death is the result. Our physical<page 34> health, therefore, is very much a question of how healthy our heart is.
When speaking of spiritual life the same dependent relationship exists with one’s spirit. Here, character is developed; it is the place where the Holy Spirit abides within us. A proud, haughty, hard spirit implies a sick spiritual life. The same is true for an unruly or deceitful spirit. Such heart attitudes will limit the Holy Spirit’s anointing to one’s spiritual senses. On the other hand, a humble, contrite spirit denotes spiritual health. The Lord reveals Himself and teaches His ways to those who are humble of heart. The importance of our heart attitude cannot be overemphasized. We are commanded to be diligent and watch over the state of our spirit, for from it flow springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). The following verses are examples where “heart” is used as a synonym of “spirit.”
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
… But let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
<page 35>… So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart… if you … believe in your heart… for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness ....
Certainly Christ does not live in physical hearts, neither is there any faculty to believe there. The word “heart” in the above scriptures refers to one’s spirit. This is where Christ dwells; it is here He touches our conscience and brings us spiritual understanding of His word. Here character is developed; this is where we become like Him.
Natural life is sustained from the air we breathe because our bodies require oxygen to live. Similarly we live spiritually only if the Holy Spirit abides within our spirits. He is “spiritual oxygen,” if you will. The basic disciplines for physical health are to breathe, eat and exercise properly. The corresponding disciplines for a sound spiritual life are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, eat the word of God and walk in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
We must also care for our bodies as well as our spirits, for they are temples of the Holy Spirit. We have a stewardship entrusted to us for our total being. An unhealthy body, or bad physical habits can hinder spiritual growth; but even more important, an unhealthy spirit or mind can destroy one’s body. Perhaps the best example of the latter is the destructive results of harboring hatred and unforgiveness. Food, diet and exercise must play a part in the discipline of our lives if we are to glorify the Lord in our total being. One who is greatly overweight will find it difficult to disciple others on the<page 36> virtue of moderation. Poor nutrition, inadequate exercise or rest, excessive stress, pollution in the air we breathe, the food we eat, or in the water we drink can all trigger or aggravate psychological problems in individuals. Thus, although our hearts are most important, we are to take care of ourselves as a whole and complete being: body, soul and spirit.
Mind
In scripture the word “mind” refers to more than the faculty of thought. It is used to express a person’s disposition toward righteousness. One’s perception, feelings, thoughts, intentions and desires as willfully expressed in word and deed come from either a fleshly (carnal) or a spiritual mind.
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.
Because of our fallen nature, it is very important to seek for renewal of our mind; a subject that will be addressed in the following chapter.
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