Body, Soul, Spirit
by Page Prewitt

An important key to our being able to distinguish between soul and spirit is for us to come to know that there is a spirit dimension. It is in this dimension that He who is Spirit and we who are "joined to Him, one Spirit" operate right in the midst of this matter world. For us to be competent to do this, we must also discover that we are spirit people, not matter people, and that spirit both personally and dimensionally is the only reality there is. To put it in bible terms: "The things which are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).

In our spirits we are desire, will, and mind. Desire is agape love. Will is choice and mind is knowing–spirit knowing–"What man knows th things of a man except the spirit of a man which is in him." And that in me which says, "I know," is obviously I, and that "I" is spirit. .The "knowing" that I am discussing here does not mean knowing facts. The knowledge of facts is a function of reason (soul). For example, there are times, as born again believers that we feel like God is far away and we think we are spiritually dry. Both are soulular observations, and neither is true in the spirit dimension. The truth is that God has joined Himself to us, one spirit, so for us to be separated from Him is impossible. Our being spiritually dry is also impossible because God is an eternal well of living water springing up within our spisrits. (Sin is the only possible block to the Spirit being what and who He is in us). The secret to life is for us as believers to know that we can know and live from spirit truth, in spite of any outcry of thoughts and feelings that are pouring in on us from our soul.

God is Spirit, and He exists totally outside of the soul/feeling dimension in which we as human beings live. Therefore, He does not change from moment to moment; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Our putting our faith in the reality of the changelessness of Him who is Spirit gives us a poise and stability to life that is unrealizable when we invest ourselves in something or someone other than Him. The alternative is for us to be tossed to and fro on the waves of our ever-changing soul. Also, we are confident in God’s love for us because it is not based on some negative or positive feeling He has for us but because of who and what He is–fixed outpoured love and nothing but love for not only us but for the entire universe.