The Three Part Nature Of Man Pt 1 Series

THE THREE PART NATURE OF MAN

If you would please turn to - Heb. 4:12 (and) 1 Thess. 5:23

Today I would like to talk about

The makeup of a man – the three part nature of a man

–the spirit, soul and the body

is an important subject for the believer to understand.

When I was first born again and knew there was something different.

Something different on the inside.

What happened was - My spirit came alive to God

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Before I was born again – I really only saw myself as a 1 part man.

I didn’t know that I had a spirit soul and body

But when I became born again

I clearly saw there was something more

than the single dimension that I had lived in

So I began to seek to learn the new dimensions I was experiencing.

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LISTEN: It was easy to distinguish between the body and spirit.

But it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the spirit and the soul.

Nothing but the Bible can do that.

1. At first I thought my spirit and soul was the same thing.

2. I had always thought they were the same.

Then I came across this scripture in Hebrews that says…

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV)

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The problem was ---- if they were the same, ----- they couldn’t be divided.

Now I was intrigued! – The Spirit of God caught my attention.

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Then I found another scripture in 1st Thessalonians…

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (KJV)

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.

After much prayer and study

- I arrived at the conclusion that there were 3 dimensions of man.

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Number 1

I knew without argument that - with the physical body we contact the world.

We know that the body deals in the physical realm.

No one will dispute that.

Then… as I studied

I saw that….. it is the spirit of man that contacts God, for God is a Spirit.

Only a spirit could contact a spirit.

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The new birth ---- is a rebirth of the human spirit!

Jesus told Nicodemus, .... Ye must be born again" (John 3 :7).

Nicodemus, being natural, could only think naturally, so he said,

1. "How can a man be born when he is old?

2. Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?"

3. Jesus answered,

4. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh;

5. and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

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Then I found where Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14:14 (NIV)

14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

The Amplified Trans¬lation reads,

1 Corinthians 14:14 (AMP)

14 For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays, but my mind is unproductive [it bears no fruit and helps nobody].

Then in Verse 18 Paul said,

1 Corinthians 14:18 (KJV)

18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

NOTICE: Paul used the (terms) "my spirit" and "I" interchangeably.

Seeing that we have knowledge

1. with the body we contact the physical realm

2. With the spirit we contact the spiritual realm

That left only the soul to locate.

1. Since the body deals with the physical realm

2. and the spirit deals with the spiritual realm,

3. That left only one other realm

4. that man is involved in

5. - the mental realm.

 So with the soul we contact the intellectual realm.

This is, simplifying it in the extreme.

As we go further we will dive into it more deeply.

What I am trying to accomplish is laying the foundation.

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Briefly, The 3 parts of a man’s nature is this:

(1) Spirit - The part of man which deals with the spiritual realm.

The part of man that God has redeemed.

(2) Soul – The part of man which deals with the mental realm.

Man’s intellect.

His sen¬sibilities and will.

The part that reasons and thinks.

(3) Body - The part of man which deals with the physical realm.

The house in which we live.

I want you to begin thinking of yourself in a new light.

Don’t think of yourself as just a physical being.

Think of yourself as a spirit being who possesses a soul and lives in a body.