Body, Soul, and Spirit: A Biblical Perspective

By John-Luke Muresan, MTS Tyndale University, Toronto

Introduction

The Bible indicates in various passages that a human being is composed of three main components: body, soul, and spirit. In this article, we will explore our beliefs about humans as three-dimensional entities, consisting of a physical dimension, a soul dimension, and a spirit dimension. We will begin by demonstrating that the Bible teaches that the heart is the dwelling place of the soul within a human being.

“And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23, ASV

“And they were terrified with great fear, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Mark 4:41, ASVh

Comment on Mark 4:41, BCF. Both the Holy Spirit and the soul dwell in the heart of a believer, in the same place, overlapped but in different dimensions. We could think that the heavenly dimension and earthly dimension walk in parallel through the heart of a believer. The soul is part of the earthly dimension. When the Lord gives the soul to a person, that soul becomes part of the earthly dimension. The body, the soul, and the spirit of a person coexist together as a unit; that is how the Lord built us. The breath of the Lord is complete, and He has both soul and spirit when He gave life to Adam (See Genesis 2:7).

“If not shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10:30, ASVh

Comment on Mark 10:30, BCF. Your house and the Holy Spirit house in your soul makes for houses.

The Body, Soul, and Spirit

Humans have many questions about the body, spirit, and soul. Here we will put our understanding based on the Scripture and guidance from the Holy Spirit. From the above comments, we can see the inner heart of a person, and their soul is deeply connected, and we will see them as one unit.

αυτος δε ο θεος της ειρηνης αγιασαι υμας ολοτελεις και ολοκληρον υμων το πνευμα (spirit) και η ψυχη (soul) και το σωμα (body) αμεμπτως εν τη παρουσια του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου τηρηθειη (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Westcott-Hort)

We can see that there are distinct words used for body, soul, and spirit in the original languages of the Bible. From this, we can say that the human being is a three-dimensional entity. The body is in a physical dimension, the soul is in a soul dimension, and the spirit is in a spirit dimension. Each dimension of the human is tangled together, and this makes the human being a living being on earth. To illustrate our point, we comment on some passages from the Bible, including one from Genesis and others from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 1:26, ASV

Comment on Genesis 1:26. First, remember that God is One when it comes to the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. When God of Three created all things, He is One but Three in One, and that is why here it refers to us, meaning “Three of Us.” The Lord of the Trinity created all things. Also, do not forget that the Bible says all things were created through the Word (the Lord Jesus; see John 1:1). Furthermore, remember that the Bible is one, comprising both the Old Testament and the New Testament; we must link them all together.
“Man in our image” means that our human likeness (features) is like that of God; this refers not only to the look, but God of Three also has Spirit (see John 14:9). To create humans in His image, a human will have a soul and spirit. And that is why humans are different than animals. Humans created in the image of God have souls, but animals do not have souls. Therefore, we should think about how much the Lord loves humans: He created them in His likeness. Humans have body, soul, and spirit as a unit.
Only a human has a soul, this is a critical difference between animals and humans. Otherwise, animals would be guilty of sin as humans. Animals do have a spirit, and can have emotions, as humans we need to care for animals as the Lord Jesus demonstrated for us.
Check out our blog post titled Meditation in Genesis Part 1, which explores Genesis chapters 1 and 2 for further insights into our beliefs about creation.

“And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46-47, ASVh (Greek for Luke 1:46 and Luke 1:47)

When reading Luke 1:46-47, one might wonder about the difference between the soul and spirit mentioned in verses 46 and 47.

Comment on Luke 1:46, BCF. The “soul” is deeper than our heart itself can feel. But the Lord can bring it up for a person to acknowledge what the soul is thinking. This verse plainly tells that Mary glorifies the Lord from the deepest of her knowledge.
Comment on Luke 1:46-47, BCF. Verses 46 and 47 identify a person as having two different spiritual identities. Our heart can feel the spirit, but it cannot feel the soul unless the Lord lets us feel it. The soul in verse 46 reveals a deeper inner thought, a thought of a different dimension, a soul dimension within the unseen world, than in this verse. In this verse, the spirit of the person of Mary worships the Lord in two dimensions, with the spirit and the heart, but the heart receives joy without understanding. She knows in her heart that she rejoices “in God my Savior,” but she does not understand the complete meaning. The word “magnifies” in verse 46 gives a different degree of depth than the word “rejoices” in verse 47. “Magnify” tells us that Mary worships above, but “rejoice” relates to the present time of the earth and tells us that Mary feels happy in receiving the trust from the Lord.
In these two verses, we encounter two worlds: the unseen world and the seen world. The soul and the spirit exist in two different dimensions in the unseen world. In the unseen world, it is not the same as in this world we know about. The soul of a person can choose to walk in the path of light or the path of darkness because it still has free will. When the soul walks in the path of light, the communication between the soul’s identity and the spirit’s identity of a person happens only through the Holy Spirit. But if a soul chooses to walk in the path of darkness, then the soul and the spirit of a person will communicate with different spirits.

“Then He says to them, My soul is greatly grieved, even to death; remain here and watch with Me.” Matthew 26:38, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 26:38, BCF. This verse has proven that the Lord is truly human. The words to think about are “My soul”; only humans have a soul. Humans have souls because they are created in the image of God, which is why they are not animals. The Lord is telling us here that His soul is sorrowful; only humans have that. People have reason to believe that because the Lord Jesus is not human, this torture is not as hard as humans receive. That is why the Word is written here: for us to know that the Lord Jesus has a soul because He is a human and knows how to be sorrowful and happy. The Bible talks about how much He feels sorrow; He is sorrowful even unto death.

“[Jesus] Saying to them, Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; having untied bring to Me.” Matthew 21:2, ASVh

Comments on Matthew 21:2, BCF. The donkey and its colt were tied together. At that time, this was the way the mother and the baby were tied together to keep them calm. If you take the colt, the mother will follow. The disciples brought both of them to the Lord Jesus. The Lord would not separate the mother from her baby.

The Body, Soul, and Spirit Connection

In this section, we explore our understanding of the existence of the soul and how, when, and in what way the soul, body, and spirit come together. We will also examine the spiritual connection between these entities. To support this exploration, we present various passages of Scripture, along with our comments, to emphasize the relationship between the body, soul, and spirit within a human being.

The Connection Between the Human Soul and the Human Body

The soul exists before the body and comes from God. The soul is united with the body at the moment of conception. When the human body dies, the soul goes to a waiting place in the spiritual realm and awaits judgment day.

“Now the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5, ASVh

“For Thou did form my inward parts: Thou did cover me in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13, ASV

“And His disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, he or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither he sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made visible in him.” John 9:2-3, ASVh

Comment on John 9:3, BCF. “But that the works of God should be made visible in him.” This tells us that the work of the beloved Son of God will be shown here in this situation on the person. The important work the beloved Son of God will do for humans has also been shown here; the mercy of God has been poured down on this soul, and there is no need for anyone to be guilty in their situation. After this event, we do not know the purpose of life for this person to receive mercy. Therefore, we should wait and see the outcome before judging any situation.
When a person is born, and that person does not have good health from birth, and when we look at the person and don’t know where, what, and how it happened to the person, let all remember one thing: they all have been born in the image of God as well; even they have a problem from birth, the Lord’s love and will, will still be in them. So when you look at them, thank God that they are still alive and have a chance to make an impact on all people; some may think in a negative way of that person, but some get encouragement from that person and glorify God, that the God of love still gives that person a chance to see His wondrous works on earth. And if you can have the opportunity to talk about God to that person, do so with love and mercy. Since you have received love and mercy for yourself already, show that to those who are having problems in their life from birth, and do not think that because of the sin of parents or themselves, they have been born that way, but think of them that they will make others give thanks to God, for they are alive.

The Connection Between the Human Spirit and the Body

The human spirit connects to the body through the air: a human breathes and gives life to the body through the lungs. The human soul connects to the body through the heart and blood, giving inner strength to the body.

“And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7, ASV

“But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” Job 32:8, ASV

“Indeed My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.” John 6:55, ASVh

Comment on John 6:55, BCF. “My flesh is true food.” The flesh, in this place, the beloved Son of God talks about, is the bread of the communion itself when believers have taken it and think of His body that has been tortured for them on the cross.
“My blood is true drink.” The blood of the beloved Son of God that has poured down on earth was the life of Him when He was in human form on earth, and in the communion time, we are allowed to use the juice of the grapevine in representing thinking of His blood poured down for us and be washed clean; all believers should remember this.

The spirit fully joins the body when the umbilical cord of a born baby is cut, and the human begins to breathe on their own. When the human body dies, the spirit enters a waiting place in the spiritual realm, a different dimension from the grave, where the spirits of believers await resurrection at the return of the Lord Jesus.

“And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7, ASV

“… nor is He served by men’s hands, as needing anything, He Himself giving to all life, and breath, and all things.” Acts 17:25, ASVh

Comment on Acts 17:25. The Lord God Almighty is God who gives and always gives. The Lord God Almighty does not expect anyone to give Him things; instead, He desires hearts that give thanks and glorify Him, for it is He who gives them all things.

“and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints having fallen asleep were raised.” Matthew 27:52, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 27:52. “The tombs were opened.” … Don’t forget that all the saints that have perished have a soul, spirit, and material body; the material body is gone, but the soul and spirit are still there. The soul has returned to the Father, but the spirit remains where the body has disintegrated; the tomb must be open for the heavenly body to come in and out from above (this action takes place in a twinkling of an eye).

What is the Role of the Soul and Spirit in our Human Being?

The Bible teaches us that both our human soul and spirit are involved in the emotions we experience. The soul contains deeper emotions that are often difficult to express; we can perceive a person’s soul through their eyes. Below, we highlight some Bible passages to support this perspective.

“And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord” Luke 1:46, ASVh

Comment on Luke 1:46, BCF The ‘soul’ is deeper than our heart itself can feel. But the Lord can bring it up for a person to acknowledge what the soul is thinking. In this verse it tells plainly that Mary glorifies the Lord from the deepest of her knowledge.

“However, if your eye may be bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore, the light that is in you may be darkness, how great that darkness!” Matthew 6:23, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 6:23, BCF If your spiritual eye gets darkened, your spirit is lost.

“Keep my commandments and live; And my law as the apple of thine eye.” Proverbs 7:2, ASV

“My soul has observed Thy testimonies; And I love them exceedingly.” Psalm 119:167, ASV

“However, I say to you, that everyone looking at a woman to desire her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 5:25, BCF. Do not look at their body; look into their eyes. The eye is the window of their soul. Looking at the body creates lust; only look into their eyes.

The Soul in the Unseen World

We can understand from the Word of God that the soul is large, with many rooms in its dimension. If we do not protect our souls by meditating on the Word of God, the evil has a chance to attack us. However, unlike in ancient times, demonic possession of the soul no longer occurs today. After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and His ascension to the Father, the Holy Spirit has been given to us on earth. Below, we share our understanding of this topic.

“And when the unclean spirit is gone out from the human, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find.” Matthew 12:43, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 12:43, BCF. “Waterless places.” Our soul is a living water place for evil to feed on. “The unclean spirit” refers to the spirit of the antichrist (See 1 John 2:18-19 and 22-25). When this spirit leaves the house, which is the soul, because the person tries to join with the Lord and cleans up their own act, it goes into waterless places. But if it needs to extend its life, it will try to come back to take over the old place. When it comes back, it will not be alone; it will be more violent, and it will fight to take over again. Don’t leave the house empty. Stay in prayer and read the Word, for only the Word of God can help and fill the house. The Word is the eternal food for our souls.

“Then it says, I will return to my house from where I came out; and having come, it finds it being unoccupied, and swept, and put in order.” Matthew 12:44, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 12:44, BCF. “It finds it being unoccupied, and swept, and put in order.” House here refers to the soul of a person. People believe that the house is the heart, but the heart is just an organ of the body (think of the heart in two dimensions as well: one dimension of the heart is an organ for the body, and another dimension of the heart is for the soul). An evil spirit does not need the heart, but it needs the soul to feed on. As humans, we try to use a human way to keep ourselves clean. You sweep the soul clean when you try to cut off something useless in life. But if you do not come to the Lord Jesus and read the Word, you leave the soul empty, and it becomes a temptation for an evil spirit to dwell in. Before we become Christians, we try to be clean, to change, and to become a new person. But if we do not fill up the soul with the Word, the change will not last long. The empty house will collapse down. Also, as Christians, if we slack off from the Word, we make empty rooms in our souls to be tempted. Human nature, and especially the laziness of human nature, makes us vulnerable. If we call ourselves Christians, we need to read the Word. Only the Word of God can be used to fill and shield the soul.

“And when He had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, met Him two possessed by demons, coming out of the tombs, extremely violent, so that no one could pass by that way.” Matthew 8:28, ASVh

Comment Matthew 8:28, BCF. Not all the cases encountered by the Lord Jesus are present in our times because the Lord Jesus was on earth, and then He asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to occupy the earth (See the Book of Acts). The presence of the Holy Spirit controls the dark side’s activity.

When reading these Scripture passages, one might wonder if we still encounter similar situations today. We offer our insights by commenting on a story found in Mark 5:1-13.

Comment on Mark 5:1-13, BCF. There is still evil in the world, but it is not the evil that has the power to enter humans. The evil that possesses, that enters the body, they are not allowed to do that anymore; it is over. Nowadays, there is no evil possession anymore, but make-believe and imagination. The possessed, in this way, as described here in Mark, stopped with the Holy Spirit coming down on earth, but people still experience make-belief actions. When the body weakens, people try to go back to the old way of their belief in the dark and call the dark to come down to them; when the faith is weak, it drags the body to be weak as well. Remember, the Bible clearly tells us that the Holy Spirit covers the whole earth. The dark doesn’t come out, but humans disobey and keep calling the dark to come out for them. When they come out, they harm humans (these days, there is a dark influence because of humans seeking, but not evil possession anymore, as described in these verses). When people do not come out to the Lord, they seek human wisdom, but how can that human wisdom help them? They fabricate make-belief stories, this one and that one, and try to solve the problem without the help of the Lord, which will not work. When they can’t help, they declare that the person has a disability and needs human help; however, that sickness happens from the dark of their heart. The areas where dark actions happen nowadays, you can see, it is where they reject the Holy God and keep worshiping the dark; that is why we keep hearing things, but it is some kind of make-belief that destroys their own body and not the power of the dark. The power of the dark ended with the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross when the Holy Spirit came and covered the earth; now, only the dark side of the human mind still harms.

In Mark chapter 3, the Lord Jesus responding to people’s accusations about His power over the darkness gives parables about unity. The Bible teaches the unity of the Lord as One, Three but One; the unity of people who believe in the Bible should be as one as well. Additionally, the Lord Jesus gives the parable that points out to attacking the faith; all believers should watch out; in order to collapse the unity of the kingdom of God on earth, the faith will be attacked. Specifically, in Mark 3:27, the Lord Jesus says: “But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder his goods, if not he first binds the strong man; and then he will plunder his house.”

Comment on Mark 3:27, BCF. The parable told in these verses of Scripture points out to attacking the faith: watch out! Specifically, how to collapse the kingdom? The faith of the believers must be attacked to collapse the unity of the kingdom of God on earth. And, how to attack the believer? There is only one way to do it: the faith of the believer must be attacked first; the faith is the base for all humans to stand firm against the dark side, and the dark knows that. The Bible tells us clearly that if you have no faith, you will not invite the Lord into your heart and soul. If you don’t invite the Lord Jesus into your heart, it is easy to be attacked, and the way to attack is straight to the faith. The dark does not need your body; all it needs is your soul. Attacking the faith is the fight for the soul; this flesh is nothing. The faith must be attacked first to take the human soul; no faith and the soul is lost. Look out in the world; even the Christians who lose faith go deeper than the rest of the world in doing evil deeds against God. When the souls that belong to God turn back against their Creator, those are the ones that attack the kingdom to collapse it. The way to destroy unity is if they can attack the faith, then the unity among believers can collapse.
Explaining the parable of Mark 3:27. In this verse, “no one” represents the dark side; “the house” represents the soul of a person, and “the strong man” represents the believer in the Lord; “binds the strong man” means an attack on his faith. They have to attack the ones who are leaders in the church, which human eyes look to. If one of them falls, so many little ones will fall because humans love to worship humans. However, humans have the One that never fails, and they don’t come to Him but go to put their trust in men. No man on earth is strong enough. But the One Man who fights against the dark has been crucified; keep your mind on that Man; as the Bible has told us, He has won the battle; look to that Man, the Lord Jesus.
Q: How does the dark attack the soul of humans? A: There is only one way to do it. They attack the person’s faith, and then they can enter the soul; the soul of humans is the bridge between the earth and the kingdom of heaven. There is only one way to go to the Kingdom of God, and that is through the human soul, and the dark knows that. That is why there is always a fight for the souls of humans. The dark knows well that the Lord loves the human souls because when He created them, He gave the soul the freedom to choose: you choose to be for the world, or you choose to be with the Lord; that is what the soul does, it is a big fight in the soul. The dark knows they can’t fight God, but their only way to fight is to take the souls of humans. They know very well that the Lord loves humans, and that is why He sent His beloved Son Jesus to be human on earth to show them that they have meaning for the Lord, not the flesh, but the soul; this is the war of the unseen world, for the human souls.

In John 6:63, ASVh, the Lord Jesus, referring to Himself as the Son of God, states, “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak to you are Spirit and are life.”

Comment on John 6:63, BCF. So, we all should make the difference as well between the spiritual world and the earthly world; the degree of difference has been told here as well; the beloved Son’s word itself is Spirit, and it has life and gives life to those who believe: anyone who has faith and believes in the word of the Spirit of Christ will gain life eternal.

For a person to truly live on this earth, the body, soul, and spirit must be united and in harmony. The soul and the spirit need to be at peace within the body of a person for the person to be alive and well. We can grasp this concept more deeply by reflecting on the healing story found in Matthew 9:23-25.

“He said, Depart: for the damsel is not dead, but sleeps. And they ridiculed Him. Now when the crowd had been put out, He entered in, took hold of her hand, and the damsel arose.” Matthew 9:24-25, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 9:24-25, BCF. The ruler’s daughter was not dead yet; she was just in a coma. Her spirit was still holding onto her body. The girl’s spirit was stuck in the dark and could not find the way back to her body. The body cannot wake up without the spirit. The Lord Jesus opened the path for her spirit to join back with her body. He commanded the spirit to join back with the soul and body and be at peace.

We are instructed in the Word of God not to seek communication with other spirits. This commandment is crucial for both believers and non-believers. We should only pray to God through the Holy Spirit.

“Turn you not to them that have familiar spirits nor to the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God.” Leviticus 19:31, ASV

When we seek to worship God through the Holy Spirit, we can express, like Mary, that “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” When the soul walks in the path of light, the communication between the soul’s identity and the spirit’s identity of a person happens only through the Holy Spirit. But if a soul chooses to walk in the path of darkness, then the soul and the spirit of a person will communicate with different spirits (see Comments Luke 1:47, BCF).

The Separation of the Body, Soul, and Spirit

After death, the human body returns to dust due to sin. The soul of a person returns to the Lord but enters a waiting place. The human spirit remains close to the grave of its human body, though in a different dimension. When believers in the Lord Jesus are resurrected, they will receive a heavenly body. By the mercy of God, the human soul and spirit will unite with the heavenly body, already prepared by the Lord Jesus, at the Resurrection. While we can support this belief with many passages from the Bible, we will highlight only a few.

“and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints having fallen asleep were raised;” Matthew 27:52, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 27:52, BCF. First, because the Lord Jesus’s death happened, the saints who had died before according to faith in the Lord Jesus have received a chance to resurrect with their heavenly body, not with the body of dust that had disappeared. Another way to understand this resurrection is that these saints have been resurrected into their heavenly bodies.
“The tombs were opened.” The tombs must be open for the heavenly bodies to come out. When it was close to the resurrection time of the Lord Jesus, the Lord prepared the heavenly body for these saints for their return. Don’t forget that all the saints that have perished have a soul, spirit, and material body; the material body is gone, but the soul and spirit are still there. The soul has returned to the Father, but the spirit remains where the body has disintegrated; the tomb must be open for the heavenly body to come in and out from above (this action takes place in a twinkling of an eye). The Lord puts the heavenly body in the spot He wants, and that body joins with the saint’s spirit. How can the body get out of the tomb? The Lord has split the tomb open for the heavenly body to get out; the Lord has deposited the body down to be joined with the spirit, and after joining with the spirit, the heavenly body has substance and material like that of earth and that body comes out. When the judgment day comes, those who will resurrect at that time will join with the soul after being judged; the soul must be judged first. These saints came to appear to people, and they will be gone; a (heavenly) body without a soul cannot walk on earth. This is just to show to people that as the Lord departs, the dead rose, and humans could see the dead rising.

Considering the above comments, one may ask several questions. Below, we provide some possible questions along with our answers based on our beliefs regarding these matters.

1. The Lord Jesus’ body was the same body that was risen; how do we understand the rising of the saints into the heavenly bodies? Is the resurrection of the saints here a bodily resurrection in the same way as the Lord Jesus’ resurrection? Do not try to mix up the heavenly body and the body of a human being; the Lord has prepared the heavenly bodies as the Bible tells. Every believer has a heavenly body, but the Lord Jesus, His human body, was transformed from the inside out to be a heavenly body. His body did not decay; all of those saints became dust of the ground, but the Lord’s body has never seen decay. The Lord Jesus went into heaven as His body rose up and transformed instantly (See also Comments John 19:30).
2. Why do we say that the material is like that of the earth in the comment above? The resurrected appearance has to be similar to the dead one; they just look alike, but they are not the same. All imperfections of the earthly body will not be reproduced in the heavenly body; everything that is imperfect is fixed, and those bodies will come out to meet people.
3. What happens to us when we die? When we die, our soul goes back to the Lord, the body goes back to dust, and the spirit stays inside the tomb in a different dimension of the tomb, waiting; tomb over the tomb. However, the spirits cannot come out to roam free; they stay in a different dimension waiting in order; note that there are different waiting places for the spirit and the soul of a person. Cemeteries are not places for the living to go and play around; the cemetery is used for different purposes in human life. You are still alive; why do you go there and fool around? So many go and bother the things that the living cannot understand; just leave where the dead die, leave it alone; no living need to do anything with the dead there. In terms of humans, we can say: do not disturb the peace of the resting. As the Bible tells, the dead can see the living but cannot cross back to be with or influence the living. Between dimensions, they cannot cross over; don’t try to mix the truth with human talk; there have been make-beliefs about all sorts of false things.

“But God said to him, Foolish one, this night is your soul demanded back of you; and what you have prepared, to whom will be?” Luke 12:20, ASVh

Comment on Luke 12:20, BCF. The verse tells all that you rejoice in the daytime, but when the night comes, you might perish. So, who will benefit from all the riches you have collected? It will not be you; you will perish tonight.
“… is your soul demanded back of you.” When the Lord has taken you away from this earth, your soul itself will take your life with it, and that is why the verse tells all to think twice; what you have collected on this earth means nothing for the soul.

Finally, in 1 Corinthians 15:35,40, we read, “But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come? … There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. …”

The Humanity of the Lord Jesus

The Lord Jesus, in His human form on earth, possessed all the components of humanity: body, soul, and spirit. Like all humans, His human body, soul, and spirit had to grow together in His human life on earth, entangled together. At death, the three are separated, but the Lord Jesus took His human form with Him to heaven, and by the Father’s mercy, His Spirit is separated and hovers over the earth to connect with the true believers. In this section, we will examine various Bible passages that support the humanity of the Lord Jesus. We also invite readers to explore our blog article titled Teachings about the Lord Jesus Being the Son of God and the Son of Man for a more comprehensive analysis of the humanity and divinity of the Lord Jesus.

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS.” Luke 1:31, ASVh

“And the Child grew, and became strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.” Luke 2:40, ASVh

Comment on Luke 2:40, BCF. This verse clearly says that the grace of God was upon the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit will do all the work, not only the work in this verse alone but also the work that will come on the way; all the decisions and interactions related to the Lord Jesus will be guided through the Holy Spirit.
“And the Child grew, and became strong.” Being strong in this place means being strong in two ways: physically and spiritually.
“Being filled with wisdom.” The beloved Son of God, let the Holy Spirit from the Father lead Him and do the work for the Father. Humans will use intelligence, but for the Lord in His humanity, when He lets the Holy Spirit lead Him, His mind will have received the ideas of thinking and will convince His heart to do what is right and pleasing to the Father.

“Then He says to them, My soul is greatly grieved, even to death; remain here and watch with Me.” Matthew 26:38, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 26:38, BCF. This verse has proven that the Lord is truly human. The words to think about are “My soul”: only humans have a soul. Humans have souls because humans are created in the image of God, and that is why humans are not animals. The Lord is telling here that His soul is sorrowful; only humans have that. People have reason to believe that because the Lord Jesus is not human, this torture is not as hard as humans receive. That is why the Word is written here: for us to know that the Lord Jesus has a soul because He is a human and knows how to be sorrowful and happy. The Bible talks about how much He feels sorrow; He is sorrowful even unto death.

“And Jesus having cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the Spirit.” Matthew 27:50, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 27:50, BCF. The God of Three is God the Father, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit.
Meditating on this verse, one might wonder how to understand the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, as mentioned here. God of Three in One, but the Lord Jesus has taken the form of a human, and He has received the spirit as a human; all humans must have a spirit. Because the Lord Jesus takes the form of dust, He has a body, spirit, and soul to confirm the human being in Him. The Trinity is always Three in One, but each one has a duty, and the Father is above all. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father. The Lord Jesus in human form, as the body, the soul, and the spirit, is three in one as well. The body, soul, and spirit of the Lord Jesus can’t be separated; they are only as one because He is human. The Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are Three in One, yet they can be separated, but each is unique in their own being.

The Role of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus

By the mercy of the Father, the Spirit of the resurrected Lord Jesus has been sent on the earth. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwell together in true believers, and the Lord Jesus communicates with His servants through both the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the resurrected Lord Jesus. There are different duties between both Spirits: the Spirit of Christ intercedes to the Father on behalf of each believer, and the Holy Spirit receives specific duties from the Father. The Spirit of Christ receives the order straight from the beloved Son of God; the origin of the coming and reporting will be different even if the Father and the beloved Son of God are One. However, the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the resurrected Lord Jesus (Christ) work in unity in the life of the believer, but each one has special duties.

In this section, we explore several Bible passages and share our beliefs about the role of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in our lives, as well as how the Spirit of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts.

“For, like a man going on a journey, called his own servants, and delivered to them his goods.” Matthew 25:14, ASVh

Comment on Matthew 25:14, BCF. “Like a man.” The man in this verse refers to the Lord Jesus Himself. Before He goes back to heaven, and even when He is not on earth, He gives duties to some servants. He calls some to be servants, and He talks to them in their hearts. As the Bible has told, when the apostles were traveling, the Lord Jesus told them not to go to some places because it was not the right time. The Lord Jesus told them this because the Lord Jesus Himself has His own chosen servants for the purpose of showing His mercy to all humans. That is why the Bible has passages of when the Lord Jesus did not allow them to speak the Word (See Acts 16:6-7).
“Going on a journey” or “going into another country” shows that the Lord Jesus is not on earth, but He still directs the way, as some of His servants get the privilege of having a special connection to the Lord Jesus Himself.
“Called his own servants” refers to His special servants because there is a difference between the Lord Himself’s calling and the Holy Spirit’s calling. The Lord Jesus has His own servants for His work, His specific work that He wants to be done. Yes, the Holy Spirit calls, but the Lord Jesus Himself also communicates with specific servants whom He chooses to do His personal work. However, the Lord Jesus connects with His special servants through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, which is why the Bible says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven (See Mark 3:28-30). But also remember that the Bible says the Father Himself is in the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus and the Father are One. The Lord Jesus said that what belongs to the Father also belongs to Him. However, the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the Lord Jesus are not the same. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father, and the Lord Jesus (His Spirit) is between them both.
“Delivered to them his goods” or “entrusted his goods.” When it says entrusted His goods, it refers to specific orders that the Father tells the Son. These are specific orders, and that is why the Son has His own specific servants to go out and do the job. The Holy Spirit hovers over the earth and does His work (the Holy Spirit’s work) that He also receives from the Father; that is why the Bible tells us that the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are Three in One. The Three have duties, but all have received duty from the Father as One. “Delivered to them his goods” or “entrusted his goods.” When it says entrusted His goods, it refers to specific orders that the Father tells to the Son. These are specific orders, and that is why the Son has His own specific servants to go out and do the job. The Holy Spirit hovers over the earth and does His work (the Holy Spirit’s work) that He also receives from the Father; that is why the Bible tells us that the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are Three in One. The Three have duties, but all have received duty from the Father as One.

“And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit; and having said this, He breathed His last.” Luke 23:46, ASVh

Comment on Luke 23:46, BCF. This cry is the Lord’s second cry as indicated in Comments Matthew 27:50. For this verse, see “Comments Matthew 27:50”/matthew/chapter-27#verse_50, “Comments Mark 15:37”/mark/chapter-15#verse_37, and Comments John 19:30.
“Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit.” The beloved Son of God, in human form, is completely human, like everyone else. He has the spirit as humans have, and that Spirit returns here to the Father. All human spirits will return to the Father’s hand as well because nothing can be alone without the Father: He, the Father Himself, is the One who created all things, and all things belong to Him. People who blaspheme God should think twice about how they, as created things, do not recognize the Most High God and give thanks and appreciation to Him who created all things.
Remember that the Bible also mentions the Spirit of Christ, the beloved Son of God who has a Spirit, and that is what this verse has told us. The Lord Jesus’ Spirit is not the spirit of a commoner. This here is the Spirit of Christ, which will return to the Father. The commoner spirits cannot go into the same place as the Spirit of Christ goes.
Clarification notes regarding the comments in Matthew 27:50 and Luke 23:46. During the Lord Jesus’ life on earth, He was one hundred percent human; the body, soul, and spirit of the Lord Jesus couldn’t be separated; they were together as unity because He is human. Now the Lord Jesus is in heaven in bodily form, and by the will of the Father, the beloved Son’s Spirit can separate and come to earth for work. The Spirit of Christ is on earth according to the Father’s will Himself. The same way as the Holy Spirit works on earth, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, the beloved Son of God’s Spirit also works on earth, and this has shown true God and true human: the beloved Son of God has them both.

“Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make a home with him.’” John 14:23, ASVh

Comment on John 14:23, BCF. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” So, as the verse clearly tells, if you love the beloved Son of God, you will keep His teachings in your heart; but, when you keep His word, you must also read and meditate on the Holy Bible; the Holy Bible has all the teachings, and those teachings will make your heart ready to receive Him as well.
“… and My Father will love him.” Give attention to what the verse has said to all true believers. The beloved Son of God has told all that the Father Himself will love you because you love the beloved Son of God. And this is the way the Father shows love to anyone: when that person meditates on the Holy Word, that person will realize the peace in their heart, and during that time, within the heart, they will have great joy because the Father Himself also is happy with that soul. The root of all happiness for the soul is the Holy Word of God.
“And We will come to him.” Give attention to the word “We”: this refers to the Trinity of God, and at the same time, the Spirit of the beloved Son of God will also be there.
“… and will make a home with him.” When the heart of a true believer becomes home for the Lord, that heart of the blessed one will receive the greatest joy of life, which will also make the faith grow. The home is the place where God will dwell and also will make that home the proper place for receiving all praising of the soul; the request the soul will ask for the Lord to dwell in will receive the answer, and deep in the heart of true believers, it will acknowledge the answer they have received, which they can feel by the soul, not by the feeling of the head itself; that feeling will be deep down until the person cannot tell where that happiness comes from. Therefore, to decorate the heart to be the home of the Lord, all believers should put the praises in the heart that glorify the Trinity of God; the words used for glorifying the Trinity of God will decorate the heart of the soul itself for the Lord.

When reflecting on John 14:23 and considering the comments above, one might wonder how the Lord resides in our hearts. To address this challenging question, we should not think in physical terms but in spiritual ones. The heart of the true believer is like a palace, which will have many rooms in it, and each room will be used for a different purpose as well, because that heart has become the home of God to dwell.

One must believe it is the Father’s will to dwell in our souls when we open ourselves to receive Him. The Father uses the Holy Bible to be the path for humans to get in touch with the Holy Spirit; through the Holy Bible, the Holy Spirit will work in the heart of the reader, and when that heart has invited the Holy Spirit to be their guide, the Holy Spirit will use that invitation and put Himself to join with the soul itself.
The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the beloved Son are in the Holy Word itself. Also, let all believers remember one thing as well: the Holy Bible is the living word. God has spoken every word in the Holy Bible; the word never dies, always is alive and has life; the word itself has life and gives life to all true believers; if you truly believe you can feel the word is alive; general people will not have that feeling, only the true believers will gain that feeling, which is a gift from the Father Himself when you have meditated on the Holy Word.
We can also say this in another way: the Holy Bible is the path of connection between the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ with the true believers when they meditate on the Word of God. When you meditate on the Word of God, you have connected your soul to the path where you find the Lord guiding you. The Word that the Living God has spoken, that word has life in itself; the Holy Bible is the true living word of God, and every word in the Bible is alive. Therefore, you must first connect with the path before you can connect with the Lord.

Additionally, we share further insights into how the Holy Spirit resides within the heart of a believer in many of our comments on the Gospels. You can find these insights by searching our Bible Commentary Forever website. For example, our commentary on Mark 4:35-41 includes insightful comments on how the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of a believer.

Comment on Mark 4:35-41, BCF. The Holy Spirit dwells in each believer and the Lord Jesus as well, but there is still only One Holy Spirit. Also, we should think about how big the Holy Spirit is to cover the whole earth! We are all in Him, and He is in us as well. We could think that the seed and some gift from the Holy Spirit are planted inside a believer’s heart at the moment the believer accepts and invites the Lord Jesus into their heart. Both the Holy Spirit and the soul dwell in the heart of a believer, the same place overlapped but different dimensions. We could think that the heavenly dimension and earthly dimension walk in parallel through the heart of a believer. The soul is part of the earthly dimension. When the Lord gives the soul to a person, that soul becomes part of the earthly dimension. The body, the soul, and the spirit of a person coexist together as a unit; that is how the Lord built us. The breath of the Lord is complete, and He has both soul and spirit when He gave life to Adam (See Genesis 2:7). In the case of “Holy Spirit dictation,” the Holy Spirit is the giver and the receiver at the same moment. In the case of “Holy Spirit inspired,” the Holy Spirit is the giver, and the soul of the believer is the receiver.

Meditation on Body, Soul, and Spirit

Knowledge of the Body, Soul, and Spirit is of no value if you do not have peace with God. If you have not yet found peace with God, we encourage you to read our article titled Making Peace With God the Father Through His Son Jesus Christ. Only the Trinity of God can save the human body, soul, and spirit from the troubles of this life, and save the human being from death, giving us eternal life.