The Soul

The Christian has three parts; the body/flesh, the soul, and the spirit.  The soul and the spirit make up the immaterial part of man and the body/flesh makes up the material part of man.

The body/flesh contains the soul and the spirit.

Gal 5:16-26
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
The flesh lusteth against the spirit.  The soul is the treasure contained in the body and it is the prize that is sought by the enemy of God.  The power that the body has over the soul is time; it is the old man referred to in the Pauline epistles.  The body has the experiences factor, both pleasant and unpleasant ones.  The soul is where the memory is so there is a natural relationship between the body and the soul.  On the other hand, the spirit is the new man without a natural relationship to the soul but has a supernatural relationship that is God dependent and requires spiritual maturity to overcome the desires of the flesh.

The body is made up of chemicals and is conscious to its environment i.e. heat, cold, hunger and pain and will seek to bring relief and comfort to itself.  The body begins life in a process of decay.

The soul is our self consciousness.  It is where our memory, ego, emotions, reasoning and the like are stored.  You can view it like this:

Our consciousness can be defined in one of two ways:

The soul has to make choices:

•     Whether to serve the spirit, or
•     Whether to serve the flesh
                                                           

Eccl 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
The body is composed of flesh and bones, it moves and it dies and it returns to the dust from which it came.  The soul is that part of man that thinks, remembers, feels and chooses. The spirit allows us to be conscious of God.

Our will is a function of our soul and reflects on our motivations.  It is the fulcrom between the body and spirit.  Also contained in the soul are:

            Intellect - Temptation

            Sensibility - Lust

            Will - Sin

            Conscience - Judging

Ps 62:5
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
 Our intellect should be thinking of God only. Our sensibility should be feeling and sensing God only. Our will should only choose for God. Our conscience should always be clear before God.

We need to control body, soul and spirit.

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