“The Need for Balance in Spirit, Soul and Body”

by T. Austin_Sparks

We have been occupied with the inward nature of that which issues with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and we have been looking again into the nature of man as he is by reason of the fall; what it is that the cross of the Lord Jesus does with him, and what it is that comes out in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to be the material of the church which He said: “I will build”. The constitution of man is very largely the subject of consideration and while we have said very little about his body (there may be something yet to say on that) we have been mainly occupied with the other two aspects of his being: soul and spirit.

Just to take that up now with a view to saying a few further things, let us remind ourselves that the Scripture teaches us quite plainly that the soul, or ‘psuche’ is the sum total of man’s natural powers – the life as born into the world, and all that it contains or can attain unto. That is man, of course, since the fall. But the spirit, the ‘pneuma’ is not only that which lies behind the soul, just as the soul, or ‘psuche’ lies underneath the bodily organism, the spirit is that part of man which is unable to expand of itself, or to attain to its proper end in consequence of the fall. The Scripture tells us that there is a spirit in man, there is a ‘pneuma’, but that in consequence of the fall it is, for all divine purposes, as though it did not exist; what the Scripture calls ‘death’ has taken place, and that is that part of man by which he was joined to the Lord. The Lord being a Spirit, has fallen out of that relationship so that man is no longer a spiritual man, but a soulical man [1 Cor. 2:14].

Further, the Word of God makes it perfectly clear that man does not know that he is in that state. If man could know his own spiritual powers, or even know how lamentably he has lost their use by the fall, he would not be as fallen as he is. The root of his trouble is that he knows not that he has got it, and the work of the spiritual Physician is primarily not that of removing something, but making the patient know that he has a function of which he is altogether unconscious, and that that function is not functioning. He has to disclose the function, the healthy enjoyment of which has never been known, and therefore it is hardly suspected. It is that organ and function of the ‘pneuma’ which is basic to everything in relation to God…

(bold, italics and bracketed words added for clarity)
from The Nature of that which Issues in the Resurrection of Christ 
by T. Austin-Sparks, Chapter 4. Courtesy of https://www.austin-sparks.net
Full Chapter 4 document – “The Need for Balance in Spirit, Soul and Body”:
Balance in Body, Soul and Spirit_TAS

The highly respected pastor, radio preacher (Love Worth Finding) and author taught the biblical perspective of man as spirit, soul and body. Here is an excerpt from one of his books that reveals the clarity this model of man brings to the nature of the fall and of redemption.

God said Adam and Eve would die the very day they sinned [Gen. 2:17]. And yet strangely the Scripture records that they lived for many centuries and had sons and daughters. It this a contradiction? Not at all. Remember that man is body, soul, and spirit. Let me tell you how Adam died as a result of his sin.

*He died immediately in his spirit. The Lord of life moved out of Adam, and now he was dead in his trespasses and sin. Death is not primarily the separation of the soul from the body, but the spirit from God.

*He died progressively in his soul. His mind now had become a garden of weeds. Among his first uttered words after the transgression were these, “I was afraid.” Shame, fear, negativism, and neuroses filled his mind. God, to him now, was no longer someone to walk with but someone to hide from. Now God has to chase us to save us.

*He died ultimately in his body. Adam’s body, with the seed of death in it, existed for 930 years, but there is a sense in which it was already dead. Adam was very much like a Christmas tree cut off from its roots, brought into the house and decorated. In some ways, it may look better in the house than it did out in the wild. But what happened when it was cut from the source of life will show some time after New Year’s. The truth of the matter is, that it is often called a living tree, but it was dead when it was cut off from the source of life. So it is with man.

Keep this in mind when you consider what God has done for us and will do in salvation. When you were born from above, Almighty God began a reverse process in your life.

1. Whereas Adam died immediately in his spirit, you were instantaneously justified in the Spirit. In Jesus, “ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). Our Lord paid the price for your righteousness in full…

2. Next, remember that whereas Adam died progressively in his soul, you are progressively sanctified in the soul. John 17:17 says. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Philippians 12—13 Says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God is working in you throughout your life to present you faultless and perfect before his throne (Jude 24). Day by day we should grow in Christlikeness.

3. Joyfully, this process culminates when we are ultimately glorified in the body—called the redemption of the body. This third stage is what we’re waiting for, it is the “not yet” part: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:22—23)…

Our full inheritance is the redemption of the body and all that comes with this redemption. Until that time we live in a world saturated with sickness, war, hate, riots, and confusion. Without proper perspective, we could easily become confused and discouraged and wonder if We have any authority at all. But we are not helpless. Although the trinity of evil—the world, the flesh, and the devil—wages war against us personally, it has no real power over us in this present age…

Adrian Rogers, The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority. Broadman & Holman, 2002. pp. 71-73. (bold font added for emphasis – JBW