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Spirit / Soul / Body - (Part 4)

Category:
Author: UEC Team
Date: September 22, 2016

Scripture

[ecko_quote source="I Thessalonians 5:23"]Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit (man’s spirit), and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [/ecko_quote]

Devotion

Today, let's look at what the scriptures say about the body. As stated in our previous devotions, a man’s spirit is the inward man, the part of him that knows God. The physical body is the outward man, the house/ shell in which we live.

As a Christian, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The  body not only contains your own spirit within it but also the Holy Spirit which lives within your spirit from the day of your salvation.   Your body, while on the earth, is not eternal and it will eventually die and decay. It is like your earth-suit. Just like an astronaut who can only live in space with a space suit your spirit can only stay on earth with an earth suit. An astronaut cannot survive in space if his space suit is destroyed. Likewise, you cannot remain on earth if your body is destroyed. When your body dies, your spirit must depart (James 2:26).

Apostle Paul said in Roman 12:1 “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. He asked us to do something with our bodies; to present our bodies a living sacrifice and it is up to us. If we do not do anything with our bodies, nothing will be done with them. Further, Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new”. Many Christians are trying to get people to join the church as they want them to do better and try to live right.

However, I  have never tried to live right because I have been right ever since the time I was born again. The Holy Spirit God would give you the power to live a righteous life. We often hear people say " I live for Jesus" that shows their self-effort like Pharisees who emphasise to put forth self-effort. All we need to say is that " Jesus living in me" that shows a surrendered life. As Christians, we must surrender our ambitions, plans and our will to our Lord. He will make everything beautiful in its time (Eccle 3:11)

Living right is good, but it would not make you a Christian. Siting in Church on Sunday morning will not make you a Christian any more than sitting in your garage will make you an automobile. And this will not take you to heaven but being born again will. Striving to be good on your own is not Christianity, it's a mere religion. Christianity is being born again. Christianity is receiving the gift of eternal life.

Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I keep under my body and bring into subjection”. Here again, Paul is saying that we should do something with our bodies. Then we might ask, “bring the body into subjection to what?” To the inward man. We do not let our body dominate us. We do not let our body rule us. We rule our body. The inward man (spirit) is to rule the body. With most folks, however, their bodies rule them. Moreover, this is what keeps them as baby Christians.

With my spirit, I have a spiritual life, and I know the world above me. With my soul, I have a psychological life, and I know the world around me. With my body, I have physical life, and I am related to the world beneath me. When my spirit is right, I am holy. When my soul is right, I am happy. When my body is right, I am healthy. Our bodies do not belong to us; they are to be dedicated to God.

What's next?

Do you know what some of us want? We want God to allow us to violate His natural law, and then let us live a healthy life. And if we get sick and ask God to heal us, we think we do not have to be responsible for our personal choices and actions that made us sick in the first place. When you willingly violate the natural laws God has made clear in the Bible, then if you are not careful, you will become a burden to yourself and a burden to your family, and your family will become a burden to others around them. Many people spend the first half of their lives accumulating their wealth by wasting their health. Then they spend the last half of life spending their wealth trying to get their health back! And they remain unhappy in both halves of their lives.

When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it is your spirit that is born again, not your body. Your body will be glorified in the future, but that does not happen until the rapture of the church.

References: Kenneth Hagin and Cutting Edge

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