Saving Your Soul

You In Three Parts

As a believer, you already know that God is a triune God. That is to say, He is one God in three Divine Persons. He is the Father. He is the Son. He is the Holy Spirit. The Father is NOT the Son...but is one with Him. The Spirit was sent by the Father to the Son...but they are all ONE God. He is three; They are one...It's a divine mystery. We believe this by faith; not because we read it in an ancient creed somewhere, but because it's clearly what the Bible itself says. 

In Genesis 1:26, God said, "Let Us make man in Our image..." We can see two important truths in this one sentence:
1 - That God refers to Himself as "Us" and "Our" (a strong confirmation of the three-part Godhead).
2 - That this three-part God created Man to be just like Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 - "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Like God, you also have three distinct parts:
Your spirit.
Your soul.
And your body.
Each of these parts of you are unique and distinct. They each have different roles to play in your life. At the same time, they're all completely you. You are ONE person with THREE parts.

Why We're Different From The Animals

In the first chapter of Genesis, we see God creating all life on earth. On day three, we see the first plants being "brought forth" from the earth, sprouting and growing to maturity in a single day. Then, in verse 24, we see something amazing happening on day six: the land animals are literally "brought forth" from the earth in the same way! This means, if you had been there, you would've seen these creatures sprouting up from the earth like plants!

Remember this: All living, breathing creatures have bodies made of earth, just like humans.
Sure, ours are unique in many important ways - but we still share the same basic structure and framework. These shared design points only makes sense, since we share the same common Designer!

Now when we come to verse 30, we see God refer to the animals on earth as creatures "in which there is life." The Hebrew word for "life" there is "nephesh" - it literally means the soul. A soul consists of three things: thoughts, emotions, and desires.

In other words, your soul is:
What you think
What you feel
And what you want.
All three of these are housed in the same place - your physical brain. 

But according to Genesis 1:30, natural animals have souls too! Actually, the idea of an "animal soul" is pretty obvious if you think it through. Do animals have thoughts? Do they have emotions? Do they have wills? Of course they do. Granted, there are some animals (dolphins, primates, parrots) that have souls at a higher level than others (mice, snakes, cows). And of course, humans have souls that are higher than any other. Our thoughts, desires and emotions are on a completely different level than those of animals. But the mere existence of a soul is not what separates humans and animals.

Remember this: All living, breathing creatures have souls - some level of thoughts, emotions, and wills.

So if we were made of only these two parts, then we'd be nothing more than highly-developed animal. What is it that makes us "in God's image"? For that, we go to Genesis 2:7, where we see that humans are "living beings". This is the phrase "nephesh hayah" - a living soul. This is the third part of you - what we call your spirit. And this is the real you.

Remember this: No other living, breathing creature has a spirit. That is unique to humanity.

Saving Your Soul

I know we Christians like to talk about "saving souls"...but let me tell you, that's not what happened when you received Jesus as your Lord. It was not your soul, but your spirit that was saved when you confessed, believed and were converted.

Romans 10:9-10 - "...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

When you were saved, your spirit was reborn. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, you became a "new creation." And according to Ephesians 2:10, you are now "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus". Although your spirit was formerly "dead in trespasses and sins" (according to Ephesians 2:1), it was recreated and resurrected with Christ when you were saved.

Praise God, the real you is not the same as it was before Jesus!

Your sprit was saved.

One day, when you see Jesus face to face, your body will undergo that same type of recreation.

Romans 8:23 - "...eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." You and I will get a new body. There will be no pain, no scars, and no leftovers from the curse of sin. It will be a glorious thing!

Your body will be saved.

Now, there's one part of you left - your soul. 
God saved your spirit when you were born again.
God will save your body when you see Him in Heaven.
But what about your soul?

After all, your soul is where you have to deal with emotions, thoughts, and desires; wouldn't that be the area you want to experience salvation? If God saves the spirit and body, then who is in charge of saving the soul? This, my friend, is currently your responsibility.

James 1:21 - "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, with is able to save your souls."

Do you see it? After you're saved, YOU have the responsibility to extend that salvation to your mind, your will, and your emotions. You are now responsible for the salvation of your soul. And the only way that salvation will take place by continuing to receive God's Word. The more Word you receive, the more your soul is "saved".  This is what Romans 12:2 calls "the renewing of your mind." You need to consume the Scriptures and let them begin changing how you think.

Your soul is being saved...as you spend time in God's Word.

This may seem like a simple concept, but that doesn't make it any easier. Trust me, this is going to be a fight. You have two enemies joining forces against you - neither of which want your mind to be renewed.

The first enemy is Satan himself. He hates you, but he knows that he has no power to destroy you now that you're saved. But he also knows that your soul will destroy you if it remains "unsaved". This means his goal is now to keep you away from God's word, to keep your mind un-renewed, and to eventually cause you to destroy yourself.

The other enemy you're facing is actually your soul itself. Your old mind likes thinking the way you used to think. Your old emotions like feeling the way you used to feel. Your old desires like craving the things you used to crave. And that "old man" is not going to just give those things up without a fight.

Those are the battle lines, my friend. On the one side you have your brand new spirit, empowered by grace. On the other side, you have Satan pulling at the strings of your un-saved soul.

In spite of all tricks and teachings you can find out there about "self control" and "mind renewal"...there is only ONE way to win this fight: You must constantly, daily, and intentionally dive into God's word. That, and that alone, will save your soul.