Part 1 of the Spirit, Soul and the Body series examined the spiritual ‘organs’ God has provided to us within our “Inner Man“. This article examines how OUR SPIRIT relates to the other spiritual ‘organs‘ and how they function in the controlling of the body.
Our physical BODY also contains our SPIRIT and SOUL, and the Bible indicates our SPIRIT (with our CONSCIENCE) is located in the purely spiritual realms.
The highlighted section of the image below represents the various spiritually-located ‘organs’ within our bodies that we will be looking at in this series—in particular the SPIRIT and how it impacts the MIND, the SOUL and the HEART .
1. How personal revelation unravels hidden Bible truths
Firstly, it is my firm belief that Adam and Eve communicated with each other and to God spirit-to-spirit prior to their fall. This means no individual (including God) used their tongue in which to speak. Communication was from each individual’s Spirit to the other individual’s Spirit.
The following process describes the means by which I have come to this conclusion.
- “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof THOU SHALT SURELY DIE.” (Gen 2:16-17)
- “And all the days that Adam lived were NINE HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS: and he died.” (Genesis 5:5)
- “And the tongue is A FIRE, a WORLD OF INIQUITY: so is the tongue among our members, that it DEFILETH THE WHOLE BODY, and SETTETH ON FIRE the course of nature; and it is set on FIRE OF HELL.” (James 3:6)
Analysis of Adam’s spiritual death
- The Lord first warned Adam that if he ate of the fruit from the tree, that in the day he did so, he would “SURELY die”.
- Adam lived for probably more than 900 years after his sin of eating the forbidden fruit (Gen 5:5) —so he must have died spiritually that day —not physically.
This is the conclusion between scripture verses 1 and 2.
Analysis of Adam’s “tongue” after ‘The Fall’
Prior to ‘The Fall’, Adam and Eve could not have spoken to God using their tongues because God nor they would have spoken in their ‘sinless’ state with a tongue “set on the fire of Hell”. Acquiring such a tongue could only have occurred AFTER ‘The Fall’.
The Bible says that Adam was created a “son of God” (Luke 3:38) — therefore God spoke to him prior to the Fall in the same manner as the Holy Spirit spoke to Jesus when He was on the Earth. An example of this was when either God the Father or God the Holy Spirit imparted a “Word of Knowledge” to Jesus. God did this Spirit-to-Spirit throughout His ministry.
Examples:
God the Father or the Holy Spirit used a “Word of Knowledge” to advise Jesus when the death of Lazarus occurred:
#1: Lazarus is dead!
“Howbeit Jesus spake of his [Lazarus’] death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking [Lazarus’] of rest in sleep. 14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. [using a Word of Knowledge from God the Father or the Holy Spirit – 1 Cor 12:8]. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him [a four day journey – John 11:39]” (John 11:13-15)#2: Jesus and eating His flesh
“When Jesus KNEW IN HIMSELF that his disciples murmured at it [about eating His flesh and drinking His blood], he said unto them, Doth this offend you?” (John 6:61)#3: The voice from heaven
“Father, glorify thy name. Then came there A VOICE FROM HEAVEN, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it THUNDERED: others said, AN ANGEL spake to him.” (John 12:28-29)
Summary
The conclusion here is that God the Father and/or the Holy Spirit spoke to Jesus Spirit-to-Spirit. They did this to advise Jesus at key times throughout His ministry the things He needed to know. On the above occasion when God spoke to Jesus, it was heard by others as “thunder” or as “an angel” as a sign for their benefit (verse 30).
- James 3:36 says that the “the tongue is A FIRE, a WORLD OF INIQUITY…it is set on FIRE OF HELL”.
The question is — would God have created Adam and Eve that way at their creation? I don’t think so.
“Their throat is an open sepulchre; WITH THEIR TONGUES they have used DECEIT; the poison of asps is under their lips:” (Romans 3:13)Also, the Apostle James says this about the tongue:
“Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor [or rudder] listeth [or turns]. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth [that can turn into a raging inferno]!” (James 3:4-5)
From the above verses, these indicate that prior to ‘the Fall’, both Adam and Eve communicated with each other and with God Spirit-to-Spirit.
After ‘the fall’ by being cast out of Eden, Adam and Eve could no longer communicate to each other Spirit-to-Spirit. This was because they were now “spiritually dead” to each other and to God. This left them no choice other than to develop a language using “their tongue that had been set on FIRE OF HELL.
This also means that every descendant born of Adam and Eve has been born spiritually dead—together with their tongue that has been “set on FIRE OF HELL”. That includes you and me.
2. Our Spirit is a means of communication – Spirit-to-Spirit
Referring to the diagram below, we can see that mankind’s Spirit in (my model presented below) indicates it performs the following functions:
- It contains our CONSCIENCE
- It can communicate with other spirit-based entities dwelling within the spirit world around us. This includes evil spirits and with our Creator — God.
3. The Human Conscience
Our Creator has given everyone born upon the Earth a CONSCIENCE. It is located with our Spirit in the purely spiritual realm.
Our CONSCIENCE functions like a traffic light when we are presented with moral and ethical situations and the RIGHT decision is required as shown below.
Every individual can make their bodies (or their tongue) respond according to the indications of their CONSCIENCE, or they can “beat their Conscience into submission” so that they no longer have a moral compass operating in their lives. It could be said that most criminals no longer have a CONSCIENCE because of the suppression caused to their CONSCIENCE.
4. The Human Spirit
It seems from scripture that the human Spirit is the means by which we can communicate with God and vice versa.
Communication uses the means of Spirit-to-Spirit communication. God does not generally use an audible voice. It could be assumed that this may have happened in Old Testament times, but today my experience is that it is via Spirit-to-Spirit means.
The scriptures indicate that the human Spirit is like a candle “searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Prov 20:27).
As we have seen previously, the human Spirit allows communication to occur between the individual and various types of entities in the spirit world.
Types of entities in the Spirit World
The various types on entities (or ‘creatures’) that occupy the spirit word are:
a). FOR CHRISTIANS: The Godhead such as God the Father , Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are the ONLY spiritual entities Christians should associate with.
b). FOR FALSE RELIGIONS: There are MANY false religions about today — whether they be pagan idolatrous religions that have no relationship to Christianity (say Buddhist, Hindu, etc.) or Catholicism, and its close relative the Anglican Church.
Both of these associate with their common idol—Mary, Queen of Heaven (Jer. 7:18).
The Pope praying to Mary
Christians who fail to study their Bibles are highly likely to embrace a false religious system instead of the true God of the Bible.
By preferring to pursue this alternative spiritual realm other than Biblical Christianity, such behaviour prevents people from ever forming a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It especially prevents the “new-birth” occurring. This happens because God hates idols and everything they represent, as is plainly stated in the first of the Ten Commandments in the Bible:
First Commandment:
“Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS before me.” (Exodus 20:3)Second Commandment:
“Thou shalt not make unto thee ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, or ANY LIKENESS OF ANY THING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE [such as Mary or angels], or that is in the earth beneath [elephants, lions, etc.], or that is in the water under the earth [fish, serpents, etc.].” (Exodus 20:4)
God’s curse that follows if people worship false gods is stated below:
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, NOR SERVE THEM: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” (Exodus 20:5)c). FOR WITCHES, SATANISTS, MEDIUMS etc.
There are people such as these who reject Christianity and prefer to be enticed to become involved in occult practices. This happened to me many years ago prior to my ‘new birth’. In this, I became involved with a spiritualist church and was performing spiritual healing.
The occult offers people personal power over their lives. I know that such power is REAL through experience. However, there is a very dark side to this power that inevitably leads its followers further away from the God of Creation.
The points to note here about the human Spirit and its relationship to spiritual entities are these:
Every young person is under the Grace of God if being subjected to false Christianity (religion) or to occult teachings by their parents.
Once individuals mature, God arranges for his Gospel to be heard by such people to convict them— that they need a Savior for their soul from spending eternity in Hell.
“I have PLANTED [the seed sown], Apollos WATERED [the seed]; but God GAVE THE INCREASE.” (1 Cor 3:6)
- For those who prefer to “harden their heart” by refusing to respond, such people eventually harden their hearts so much towards God that they can never be ‘Saved’.
"While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS..." (Hebrews 3:15)We must also remember that God does NOT give up on people quickly, as “His mercies endure forever” – Psalm 107:1. Should such an individual decide they need a change of heart, God is there waiting for them.
5. Our Spirit’s relationship to our ‘Inner Man’
In Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series showed the spiritual organs of our “MIND” and our “HEART” are contained within the “SOUL”. These ‘organs’ are a part of our “Inner Man” that dwells within our “Outer Man” (or BODY).
Our SPIRIT is also a ‘spiritual organ’ that dwells within our “Inner Man” and it appears to perform the following functions according to scripture.
The Bible says that mankind’s Spirit is “the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Prov 20:27). This means that God uses our personal Spirit to determine our desires and motives in everything we think, say and do. Our Spirit is used by God to “…try our HEARTS” (1 Thes 2:4)
God also gives every human a CONSCIENCE. It reacts like a traffic light to moral and ethical issues based upon ‘God’s righteousness’ when confronted with “…should I do that??”
If an individual is open to God, then the ‘God candle’ burns within them brightly. Through this, one then learns to listen to what their CONSCIENCE is saying, simply by obeying what the traffic light indicates, and learning the lessons they teach.
Example of an “Evil Man’s” Spirit
If we accept the statements above, then an evil man with the “evil treasure in his heart” will bring forth “evil things” (Matt 12:35).
Therefore, he will rely on the corrupt motivations of his HEART and he will be prompted to do things from the lusts and passions in his SOUL.
This indicates he has snuffed out the “candle of the Lord” and destroyed the traffic lights from within his body so that he essentially has no moral compass in life. This means he has prevented his Creator from being involved in his life, and Salvation is worthless to him.
Therefore his HEART and the lusts of his SOUL dictate to his MIND the directions he wants to proceed in life. All of this will lead to “destruction” because without exercising any ethics or morality, such an individual is no longer created in the “image of God”. This is the will of Satan (through rebellion (and sin) for everyone on the Earth.
Examples
Below are examples of Spirit-to-Spirit communication that I have experienced.
- There are occasions where my wife and I sometimes read each other’s minds. I say something and she says “– that’s what I was thinking!” It doesn’t happen regularly, but it does happen.
- Also, we arrive at certain locations together in an unbelievably uncanny timing – perfect timing. I believe this could God’s way of demonstrating that we are in unity together and with Him.
“…and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Eccl 4:12) - Another example is that my wife and I have had very few disagreements over our 20 year marriage. About 6 months ago, we had a ‘difference’ between us that resulted in us resolving the matter quickly and of me apologizing to her. We made up and moved on.
The next day, I was simply walking through our home when immediately I had an impression placed upon my SPIRIT that I should buy her flowers. No such thought had been in my HEART, so I believe God placed it there. In this, my MIND reasoned that this was a very good thing to do, so that’s what I did.
Purchasing some flowers then became my highest priority. She was surprised and very pleased I had performed this act of love to her. I knew from this that God was involved in all of this. Amazing.
Conclusion
So my point here is that Christians have to be open to trying to communicate with each other Spirit-to-Spirit—AND together with God. However for this to work, it requires one vital ingredient, and that is LOVE between participating parties.
“And the glory which thou gavest me I HAVE GIVEN THEM; that THEY MAY BE ONE, even as WE ARE ONE: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made PERFECT IN ONE; and that the world may know [through their unity] that thou hast sent me, and hast LOVED them, as thou hast LOVED me.” (John 17:22-23)
Above all, individual Christians should be trying to communicate with God Spirit-to-Spirit. This is to discover the “mysteries of the kingdom” that ALL Christians are required to know and share (Matt 13:11).
God does NOT share such “mysteries” with just one individual. This is because doing this could make that Christian appear as a “guru” to others. Elevating such individuals could then lead to pride developing, and bring about his or her eventual destruction (Prov 16:18).
“And he said, Unto you [who are born-again and spiritual] it is given to know THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM of God: but to others [who prefer ‘religion’] in parables; that seeing they [the religious Christians] might NOT SEE, and hearing they MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND.” (Luke 8:10)
A video presentation about this topic produced during a Bible study can be found here.
