P033 Total Man

The Total Man

[1Thes 5:23]

The following verse is one of my favorites. First Thessalonians 5:23 shows that man is a three-part being. Only the Bible explains the design of mankind. We are created in God’s image. How could we not be a trinity-type being?

Sin separates man from God. Jesus redeemed man, and now we must be born again of the spirit, and sanctified to a new relationship with the Father. Without the Spirit of God dwelling on the inside, mankind remains incomplete, lost, and undone.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 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.

Sanctify: The Greek word hagiazo is a verb. It means to make holy, to set apart unto God and apart (alienate) from the world. To (ceremonially) cleanse or to (mentally) reverence. KJV: hallow, be holy, sanctify.

Wholly: The Greek word holoteles, an adjective, meaning complete to the end, i.e. absolutely perfect.

Preserved: Greek, tereo, a verb is to guard (from loss or injury). Or to (properly) keep an eye upon, or (figuratively) to fulfill a command, (by implication) to detain in custody. It also can mean to maintain or to keep unmarried. KJV: hold fast, keep(- er), (pre-, re-)serve, watch.

Here in Paul’s prayer for sanctification we learn that man is a spirit, and he has a soul (the mind, will, and emotions), and he lives in a body.

The spirit part of us cannot be perceived through any of our physical senses (Jn 3:6). Therefore, the “natural man” cannot understand the existence and function of the spirit. The terms “spirit” and “soul” are commonly used interchangeably, but Paul makes a clear distinction between them here.

The spirit part of Adam was the part of him that died when he ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen 2:16-17); Adam’s physical body didn’t die until age 930 (Gen 5:5). So, when Ephesians 2:1 says we were dead in trespasses and sins, it is speaking of a spiritual death. Our spirits were dead, or separated from God.

At the new birth, our dead spirits are made alive unto God. We Christians are completely new in our spirits. The rest of the Christian life is bringing the body and the soul under the control of this born-again spirit through the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:2).

My Confession:

I am a born-again eternal spirit (a tabernacle for God). I have a mind, will, and emotions (my soul is being renewed and saved). And I live in a physical body in order to carry out God’s will and execute my authority while on the earth.

My body and soul are not yet redeemed (Rom 8:23), but my spirit is. Jesus lives in my spirit, and all His wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are available to me as I depend on Him instead of on my own abilities.


God bless you my friend,

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