The choices of the soul form our character
The soul consists of the mind, will, and emotions, therefore, it is the “I” or the “Me”, because it is where we make choices, whether we decide to follow the leading of the spirit, our carnal desires based on the five senses, or a mix of both. The soul is, therefore, the main contributor to our overall behavior and character, whether carnal (soulish) or spiritual because it is where we have free will. Before we are born again we have a soulish or carnal nature (old man) because we are driven or controlled by the five physical senses, and therefore our spirit needs to be regenerated as it is subdued (Ephesians 4:22), but when we are born again we acquire a renewed/regenerated human spirit (new creature) and the Holy Spirit to assist us in our spiritual walk and purpose in life (2 Corinthians 5:17), but we still have free will and therefore the choices we make between the two natures (soul and spirit) determine our true individualistic nature, which could be spiritual, carnal, or a mix of both. Generally, people have a mix of carnal and spiritual natures depending on their interests and desires. If a person is wavering or swapping between the two natures every time they make a decision for a particular issue, then they are doubled-minded (James 1:8) as they are unstable in all their ways, either due to immaturity in righteousness or they simply choose the benefits that come with the decision regardless of being right or wrong which is also immaturity in righteousness.
Our sensuality and carnality are a product of the five senses because what we see, hear, touch, smell, and feel are tangible, visible, pleasing, displeasing, or glaring in our faces, and therefore a lot easier to understand and then disregard or accept. The spiritual sense, however, is abstract and more difficult to get in touch with because it requires time and effort and a relationship with God, Whom we do not see, smell, touch, hear, or feel. However, faith is given to us by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), and we will feel His presence and hear His voice after time spent in the Word, prayer, worship, and communion with God. People fade away or disregard Christianity too soon because of pride, self-centeredness, persecution, not getting what they expect, or even being unable to handle difficulties, and thus, they blame God for their problems because of a shallow heart that lacks a good conscience but have a strong self-willed mind that lacks staying power for change. God knows and acts only on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), and not based on the stature of the person or even on grandiose words spoken in pride that obscure their true nature/character. We must realize that the closer the mind follows the conscience (spirit), the more pure the heart, however, the less the mind follows the conscience (spirit), the more deceitful the heart, and God knows all things. With practice, a spiritual person will hear the prompting of the human spirit which consists of three aspects:
- Conscience, to discern right from wrong and to justify or convict what we do
- Fellowship, where we contact and commune with God
- Intuition, where we attain knowledge from God without having to reason
Blessings are for this life too
Christians that give up too soon unwittingly postpone God’s blessings in this life to the next life, however, it is in this life that we desperately need blessings as mental and physical illnesses are abundant, and people need assistance for many other reasons. Many people say that God’s healing ministry was only pertinent in biblical times, and will only be available once Jesus reappears the second time. The problem is that we need healing today, not when we have immortal bodies as we will be mentally and physically healthy in the Kingdom of Heaven. Furthermore, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and therefore their belief system goes against the grain of God’s promises.
Okay, so Paul did not heal Timothy of his infirmities and merely told him not to drink only water but a little wine as well. I guess Paul meant that Timothy should drink wine every day because we drink water every day (1 Timothy 5:23), hic, hic. That was not healing but it was meant to resolve the problem and Paul was far away. Some say that Paul could have sent an anointed handkerchief for his healing, but do we not know that the anointing in an inanimate object (no heart) lingers only a few days or maybe a week or two and they did not have speed mail in those days? Paul also left Trophemus ill in Miletus but there are no details as to why, however, God often tests our faith, and chastening is sometimes required because of our carnal and disobedient mind, especially if we expect to be in ministry.
What I have understood of my own life is that God healed me quite quickly when I first became a Christian which gave me confidence that God’s Word truly works, however, my second and third healings took much longer because I believe God wanted me to grow in faith and I did eventually get healed as I learnt the Word more aggressively, and then God gave the growth in my faith (1 Corinthians 1:2-3).
God does not make or allow anyone to get sick to teach them something, however, I do believe that the weaknesses of our fallen state, including sickness, do prod us to need God more and thus assist us in growing our faith, especially as we progressively mature as Christians, therefore, it is the circumstances of our fallen state that discipline us for the Lord’s use, as mentioned in Hebrews 12:4-11. In other words, God wants us to draw closer to Him and weaknesses are a sure way of getting us there because we need Him more and more (James 4:8). The closer we get to Him the closer He gets to us, but this requires the renewing of our minds and character through the Word and a relationship with Him, which eventually grows our faith to receive healing, which in itself is major progress for our souls. In other words, we have to defeat the enemy in our soul (mind, will, emotions) by holding onto faith and what Jesus did for us on the cross when He gave us the atonement for healing, amongst other issues, when He said “It is finished” (John 19:30), i.e.: we have to appropriate the healing Jesus gave us on the cross by receiving it in faith and thus it is up to us to get healed or remain ill. I used healing as an example here, but this faith also applies to any of the atonements He provided for us through the cross. It is this faith in what Jesus did whereby God gives us growth in our faith and thereby contributes to the salvation of our souls. Salvation works exactly the same way, and many Christians who believe they are saved, merely because they said a prayer, need to examine their hearts.
God’s redemptive names
The healing atonement, like other atonements, came because of Jesus’s faithfulness even unto death on the cross. This happened on the first coming of Christ which was to redeem mankind of sin. We see in Exodus 6:3 that God had not mentioned His redemptive name of Jehovah to anyone before. This is because Moses was the first person to embark on redeeming God’s people under the law, however, the law could not make people perfect as the blood of bulls does not take away sins as the conscience remembers sin (Hebrews 10:1-4) until a man stood in the gap for mankind (Ezekiel 22:30) who came later as the Christ, i.e.: Jesus Christ. There are 7 redemptive names:
- Jehovah Jirah – The Lord our Provider (Genesis 22:13-14)
- Jehovah Nissi – The Lord our Banner (Victory) (Exodus 17:8-15)
- Jehovah Raah – The Lord our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1)
- Jehovah Rapha – The Lord our Healer (Exodus 15:26)
- Jehovah Shalom – The Lord our Peace (Judges 6:23-24)
- Jehovah Shammah – The Lord is there (Presence/Council) (Ezekiel 48:35)
- Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6)
These names indicate God’s atonement aspects for the soul and the body, and because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), they will always be available as long as redemption is required.
The heart of man
The heart of man is a composition of both the spirit that God breathes in mankind and the subconscious soul represented by the Ark of the Covenant. In other words, the lid with the cherubim (mercy seat) represents the spirit God breathed in mankind, and the ark (box) represents man’s subconscious soul (spirit of the mind in scripture). Many people will say that it is the heart that makes the decisions or choices because the conscience drives the justification or conviction of what we do. That is only true if we have a pure heart that succumbs to the conscience (spirit), however, our free will may override the conscience and sear it, and thus, I maintain that the soul is the driver of our behavior or character even though the conscience may have integral input into the decision. If we understand this, then we know that God has given us free will and nothing that we do wrong can be pointed at being God’s fault or lack of interest.
The Word of God says that the heart is deceitful above all things, see Jeremiah 17:9. Many people follow their heart without realizing that it is deceitful and, therefore, they need the renewal of the conscious mind and the spirit of the mind (subconscious mind) before they can truly depend on their heart’s desire but must also realise that their conscious mind can override the heart. This proves that though the conscience communicates right or wrong with justification or conviction, the conscious mind has the free will to make the final decision, therefore the soul is instrumental in molding our character, whether good or evil. The fact that the heart is deceitful indicates that it consists of a combination of God’s spirit and the subconscious soul (spirit of the mind) proving that the heart is not only based on God’s breathed spirit because there is nothing deceitful in God. Obviously, before we get converted to Christianity the spirit got subdued, only because we subdued it through sin, but we all know that the heart continues to be deceitful even after our conscience (spirit) is regenerated. Therefore, the subconscious soul, which is part of the heart, is what makes the heart deceitful due to our carnal choices.
The temple and its representations of spirit, soul, and body
The Ark of the Covenant (heart) was placed in the Most Holy place of the temple which is symbolic of the spirit or subconscious or mankind. The law was placed in the Ark and was symbolic of the knowledge of good and evil, or right and wrong, and thus represents the conscience (not conscious) part of the heart. The carrying poles of the ark touched the curtain (veil) that divided the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place, where the altar of incense was situated which represented the prayers of the people. We see from this that the Most Holy place represents the spirit or subconscious, and the ark of the covenant represents the heart from which comes our conscience when we have committed, or are about to consciously commit, something unholy. Therefore, the Holy Place symbolises the conscious soul (mind, will, emotions) which greatly influences the heart (symbolised by the poles of the Ark touching the veil) which is why we need to know the Word of God (represented by candlestick/menorah), have communion (represented by table of showbread), and pray (represented by table of incense) to ensure that we put on our new man so that we do not corrupt our subconscious mind, see Ephesians 4:22-24. The ark’s carrying poles that touched the dividing curtain represented contact between spirit (subconscious) and the soul (conscious), however, only priests could offer incense to God which represented the prayers of the people. Since Jesus was crucified, His torn and bleeding flesh represented the taking away of the dividing curtain between soul and spirit so that all believers can have access to God through His Word (light of the candlesticks), communion (table of showbread), and prayer (altar of incense).
The courtyards of the temple with the basin for washing and the altar for sacrifices and its instruments represented the flesh (human body) and its cleansing and purification from sin.
Without the Spirit, the soul is carnal
Unfortunately, most people ignore the human spirit’s prompting because we live in a world where carnality is king because of fame and fortune that leads to all sorts of corruption including, transgenderism, abortion, lust, greed, drugs, LGBTQ, same-sex marriages, and all forms of depravity which goes against God’s Word. This results in the human spirit becoming subdued, and thus the soul becomes king as carnality piles up. The human spirit no longer communicates with the soul and even dreams from God diminish as the carnal heart takes over.
The soul is always searching for the benefits of a decision and then deciding based on what’s right or wrong. The person who chooses the Word of God above all else is a special individual, just as Jesus was. The person who always chooses the benefit over what’s right is on the opposite end of the scale because they are carnal. Obviously, there are those that are in between with varying degrees.
When we become Christians, the most important thing is to renew our mind (Romans 12:2) and the spirit of our mind (Ephesians 4:22-24) so that we can walk in obedience to the Word of God. We were in the world before our conversion and thus our minds have been indoctrinated with carnal desires leading to strife, jealousy, hate, lust, greed, etc, and therefore we need a renewal of the mind to bring harmony and peace to our mind and therefore soul.
Renewal of the mind and spirit of the mind
To renew our minds we need to read and study the Word of God to replace the corruption that we received in our minds while in the secular world, see Ephesians 5:25-26 which refers to the church as a whole and the cleansing of their minds by the Word of God. Merely reading is not enough to induce the change in the spirit of our mind or heart because knowledge does not sink into the heart without action.
To renew our minds we have to read, but it is more important to meditate on the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to bring clarity and understanding. The Holy Spirit can also give us wisdom that will assist in revealing His Word if we ask Him, see James 1:5. The more we understand, the more we will renew our minds by the washing of the water by the Word. Most importantly, we need to practice what we read or meditate on because that will be the key to renewing the spirit of the mind. When we read, the newfound knowledge in the mind does not become part of us unless we practice it so that it becomes integral to our thinking and natural behavioral response or automatic response. It is this inherent thinking and automatic response based on the Word of God that we prove the renewal of the spirit of our mind. I like to use the example of golf, where learning to play the game and its rules are important, but until we actively train and play the game, we merely have head (conscious mind) knowledge. It is the repeated action based on different circumstances that increases our ability, and playing time makes the game easier, where decisions become automated natural responses as the game is increasingly embedded in the spirit of our mind (subconscious mind), i.e.: it becomes second nature.
None of us are perfect and thus we falter every now and again, but thank God for mercy and grace Who forgives our sin when we confess, and where godly sorrow works repentance unto the salvation of the soul, but sorrow of the world leads to death, see 2 Corinthians 7:10. God forgives all sin regardless of what problems we have, whether we are murderers, thieves, homosexuals, liars, etc. We must understand that God gives grace and mercy to all people, but with maturity in our faith through knowledge and time, He expects us to repent from our corruption, or we can expect problems in our lives because we open doors to evil spirits. God is just and protects us whilst we lack knowledge and faith, however, when we mature, we need to be more diligent based on the Word of God because when we have learned something but doubt and still go against the Word, it becomes a sin because we do not do it in faith. See Romans 14:23 which refers to eating certain foods but can be for any other sin such as homosexuality, lasciviousness, or even idolatry. Also, James 4:17 is very clear that we sin when we know what to do but do not do it.
When the mind and spirit of the mind become renewed to the point where the Word of God is our modus operandi, and negative or corrupt thoughts are no longer influencing us in any way, then we have received the end of our faith which is the salvation of the soul, see 1 Peter 1:6-9 which takes place at the appearing of Jesus Christ. I would like to believe that it is possible for God to take us into heaven at the salvation of our soul, if possible, even if the rapture has not arrived, as He did with Enoch. I have, however, recently realized that the taking of Enoch might not have been what we think, but rather that God got Him to pass away peacefully or placed somewhere safe. The reason I say this is because Hebrews 11 gives an account of the people of faith, including Enoch, but after that it says in verse 13 that “these all died not having received the promises”. In other words, Enoch died as well but he did not EXPERIENCE death because God took his spirit and put it in paradise. Paradise is a reference to an ideal or idyllic place or a state of being, such as in Eden, or Abrahams’s bosom, or heaven itself. Enoch could not have been given a spiritual body because Jesus was the first, therefore God must have taken him naked (in spirit without a body). As Jesus had not yet opened the heaven (third heaven) for anyone Enoch must have been placed in a place like Abraham’s bosom. Even Jesus was clear in that no one has ever gone to heaven, except Himself Who descended and was in heaven while on earth, John 3:13. Also, scripture proves that a physical flesh and blood body cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, where inherit refers to possessing the Kingdom in our glorious bodies, and thus they also cannot go to Heaven (third heaven) which is the spiritual dimension where the cloud of witnesses is found, see 1 Corinthians 15-50. This then means that Enoch could not have gone to heaven in a physical body and therefore his spirit was the only thing to go to paradise, ie: he died physically but did not experience death because God took his spirit from his body while still alive. After the cross and Jesus’s resurrection, Jesus took them to heaven. Some pastors have preached that Enoch must come back to earth to die before He can get His spiritually glorious body, insinuating that He still has his flesh body, which is impossible in heaven. This needs further study and clarification.