Lol. Subject like this takes a few messages or a conference themselves depending on the scope.
If you are interested, I can share the a little bit short version and you can ask for detail later:
The more one tries to distinguish the sense of the spirit and the feelings of the soul, the more confused he becomes.
It is God's business to divide our spirit from our soul. 1) At least, one could start with the parts of the soul and spirit. The soul is consists of three parts: mind(Proverbs 2:10;Psalm 139:14), emotion (1 Samuel 18:1; 2 Samuel 5:8) and will (Job 7:15; Job 6:7).
The spirit is consists too of three parts: conscience (Romans 9:1; Romans 8:16), intuition (First Corinthians 2:11; Mark 2:8) and fellowship (John 4:24).
Man's spirit is the noblest part of man; it dwells in man's innermost part. The body is the lowest and remains outside. The soul dwells between the spirit and the body and is the medium of the two. The body is the outer shell of the soul, while the soul is the outer shell of the spirit. When the spirit tries to control the body, it has to do so with the help of the intermediary soul. Before man fell, it was the spirit (through the soul) that controlled the whole being. When the spirit wanted to do something, it communicated to the soul, and the soul activated the body to follow the order of the spirit. This is what it means for the soul to be the medium.
In conclusion, the soul is the seat of personality; man's will, intellect, and emotion all lie in the soul. The spirit is the part with which man communicates with the spiritual realm. The body is the part with which man communicates with the physical realm. From here on, when we talk of the soul, we refers to the FALLEN soul who is already corrupted.
2) How can we divide the soul and spirit and discern the difference between the soulish and the spiritual? The Bible shows us that God's word alone is living and operative and able to divide our soul and spirit. Hebrews 4 speaks of the operation of God's word. His word operates not only in man's bone, but in the marrow as well. God's word is operative. If a man has God's word, this word will bring him light. The light in His word will enlighten everything within us. It will make us inwardly clear and divide our soul and our spirit, the soulish and the spiritual. We do not need Bible doctrines or teachings in the letter. We do not need spiritual methods. What we need is the Lord's enlightening. Once God's word comes, His light shines in the innermost part of our being, and the spirit is spontaneously divided from the soul. When a man is clear within, he no longer needs to ask what is soulish and what is spiritual. The dividing of the soul and spirit does not come by asking or research. When the word of God operates in man, the spirit and the soul are divided.
At the time of regeneration a believer receives God's life into him, and the law of life begins to operate. Yet many believers have not allowed this law of life to manifest itself. The manifestation of the law of life is hindered when a man lives in the soul. Those who live in their soul do not know the things of the spirit, because the Holy Spirit cannot break through from their spirit. First Corinthians 2:14 says, "But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually." Many people are governed by their thoughts, conscience, emotions, sentiments, and ideas in their daily life. No soulish person can know the things of the Spirit. Those who are soulish and those who are spiritual are in two different worlds, two different realms, and two different kingdoms. When a man lives in the soulish realm, he knows nothing of the things of the Spirit, and he considers them to be foolishness.
3) The dividing of soul and spirit simply shows that that, first, God by His Word and through His indwelling Spirit can differentiate experientially the function and expression of the soul from that of the spirit, teaching the believer to know what is the move of the spirit and what is the move of the soul. Second, the willingness of a believer to cooperate causes him experientially to have a pure spiritual life without being affected by the soul.
The dividing of soul and spirit is not only the separating of soul and spirit, but the dividing of the soul itself. The dividing of the soul is very meaningful. If the word of life is to reach to our spirit, it has to divide the soul first, for the spirit is surrounded by the soul. The word of the cross pierces and divides the soul and opens the way for the life of God to get into the life of the spirit and free the spirit from the bondage of the soul. The soul-life, having the imprint of the cross, will then keep its submissive position to the spirit. If the soul is not the "channel" for the spirit, it becomes "chains" to the spirit. The soul and the spirit never agree on anything. If the spirit has not attained the supreme position, they will often war against each other. The spirit strives to gain freedom and authority, but the strong soul-life tries its best to suppress it. However, when the soul-life has been worked upon by the cross, the spirit is set free. If the believer does not see the harm done by the soul in not being one with the spirit or in not being willing to be rid of the pleasure of living by feeling, he cannot progress easily.
Thanks for the sharing. This will open up many questions. Example, when you say "May you soul rest in peace." Where does your spirit goes?
In any case, Watchmen Nee has a book called The Breaking of The Outer Man and The Release of Spirit. Probably, for one to fully understand the works of spirit, your outer man needs to be broken.
Feb 29 2016, 08:19 PM
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