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From: homeier@aero.ARPA (Peter Homeier)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian
Subject: Soul, Mind, Body
Message-ID: <469@aero.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 24-Sep-85 19:48:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: aero.469
Posted: Tue Sep 24 19:48:37 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Sep-85 05:56:17 EDT
References: <1115@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Reply-To: homeier@aero.UUCP (Peter Homeier)
Distribution: na
Organization: The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA
Lines: 108
Summary: We are spirit, soul, and body.  All need Christ.

[This line is thrown in the teeth of any line-eater around!]

> Could someone explain to me how soul and mind are different
> and how the difference is related to the idea of being born
> again?
>                  Peter Kim
>                  ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!k111  or
>                  ihnp4!gargoyle!paideia!peter

Peter, perhaps I can help draw some distictions here.  I believe that
we as humans have three main parts, just as God has three persons in the
Trinity.  We have a spirit, a soul, and a body.  Now, many people seem to
mix the two words "spirit" and "soul";  I am not an expert in the original
Greek, but I will try to explain what these mean as best I understand them.

Our spirits are non-corporeal, but are the most intensely individual part of
us.  By this I mean that they are the part of us which is most permanent, and
what is who we are.  Our  spirits are immortal, and will never end-- this 
makes questions of how and where our spirits spend eternity very important!
Our spirits do not directly touch this visible world, only through our soul
and body.  The spirit "lives" in another world/realm/dimension than that we
percieve through our five senses.  Our spirits should be the head of our
tri-partate beings, ruling the soul and the body.

Our souls arise from the touching or mixing of our spirits and bodies.
In Genesis it is written, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being.". (Genesis 2:7)  That breath of life was the spirit, and the
result of the mixing of the spirit and the body was the soul.  The soul
contains what we normally consider to be our personality and intellect.  It
contains the mind, by which we reason and remember; the emotions; the will;
and perhaps other aspects of our personality.  It also contains something
the Bible calls the "heart", a vitally important part of our being which is
the seat of faith, obedience, love, and also the corruptions and sins of a
man.  "For it is with the heart that man believes to righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 10:10)  Now, this "heart"
that is spoken of here is not the same as our intellect or mind.  Indeed, we
may intellectually assent to a great many propositions about God that have
never really touched our heart, and thus never been able to change our lives.
We may use our minds to glorify God, to study His Word, to plan and work on
His behalf, but unless our hearts are also involved, our work will be sterile
and unfruitful.  This is actually a crucial point, which some people never
discover!  Belief in God is an attribute of the *heart*, not just the mind.
There is something about allowing God's word to penetrate here to the deepest
inner parts of us that works the miracle.  Have you ever felt like something
that was said to you "cut you to the quick"?  What it touched was your heart,
right or wrong.  The heart is essential to salvation, as the above scripture
shows- one cannot be born again without a change in your heart.

Our bodies we are the most familiar with since we can see and touch them.
They are wondrous, complex, delightful houses for our spirits to live in
when they are submitted to God; unfortunately, much of today's culture
exalts the body and its passions above God or righteousness, saying "if it
feels good, do it.".  This way of immorality will bring nothing but sorrow
and pain.  When in proper order under the spirit and soul, the body can
also give glory to God, whether by kneeling, singing, clapping, raising
arms, even dancing at times.  And even the most ordinary of daily chores
can be raised up to a means of giving worship to God, if we approach it
in the right spirit.

Now, as for being born again, when a person accepts Jesus into his heart and
is born again, his spirit is instantly and completely transformed from the
old sinful state into a state of perfect cleanness and purity, desiring only
what pleases the Lord.  Many people when they first come to the Lord also
expect that now they are completely free from all of their soul-impurities
as well, such as old habits of bondage to various addictions or old styles
of cruelty or manipulation.  And in many cases, the Lord does indeed completely
free and deliver us from certain points at that blessed moment of new life.
However, we all eventually come to realize that despite our salvation and
complete forgiveness for all our sins, we are still committing sins often,
even despite our own wishes.  See Romans chapter 7 for the agony that the
Apostle Paul felt over his own remaining sinfulness in the flesh.  Sometimes
this leads believers to doubt the validity of their salvation; Satan comes 
with the lie, "You didn't really mean it.  If you did, you wouldn't be doing
those filthy things." heaping condemnation on the poor fallen Christian.  It
is essential that all Christians take hold of the unequivocal statement in
Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus."  No matter what you have done, Jesus still loves you and will not leave
you.  And you are not alone.  We have all, myself included, suffered the same
feelings of having betrayed His trust in us.  But His love never ceases.  And
after salvation begins the wonderful work of Jesus bringing out His own loving
nature in us, just as He demonstrated to us when He walked here on earth.
This process, sometimes called "sanctification", continues steadily as long
as we live here in this life.  He changes us "from glory to glory" to be like
Him.

Now, our minds are one of those parts of us in our souls which must be changed.
The best way for our minds to learn to think correctly is to study the Word,
not just as an intellectual exercise but as a way to practice submission to
the Spirit of God, who is the one who reveals the truth in the Word to us.

Peter, I hope that this gives you some help on understand the difference
between "soul" and "mind".  I don't feel that I have a perfect understanding
on this, so I would hope that other people would share their understandings
with you too, and mostly that you would find in the Bible what it says on this.
That's far more reliable than all of us.  Good hunting!

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in
him!"  (Psalm 34:8)

                             In Christ's love,
-- 
                                  Peter Homeier
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