Major W. Ian Thomas (1914 – 2007) was an evangelist, author, theological teacher and founder of the Torchbearers Bible schools. Many have been helped in their journey of Christian discipleship through his sermons and books. These include:
- The Saving Life of Christ, (Zondervan 1961).
- The Mystery of Godliness, (Zondervan, 1964).
- If I Perish, I Perish: the Christian Life as seen in Esther, (Zondervan, 1968).
- The Indwelling Life of Christ: All of Him in All of Me, (Multnomah, 2006).
Ian Thomas’ deeper life testimony is very significant, being recounted, for example, in They Found the Secret, by V. Raymond Edman (Zondervan) and briefly at https://deeperchristian.com/major-ian-thomas/
It is significant that Thomas’ biblical anthropology was clearly trichotomist. An earlier edition of The Mystery of Godliness featured a diagram illustrating man as body, soul (as mind, will and emotions) and spirit.
Here is an excerpt of his writing, “At His Disposal”:
“The moment you are redeemed through the atoning death of Christ upon the cross, you receive the Holy Spirit within your human spirit. You have “passed from death to life” – raised from the dead – and the Life which has been imparted to you by the Holy Spirit is the very Life of Christ Himself; ” He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ. He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him” (Ephesians 2:5, Amplified New Testament).
“The life that the Lord Jesus Christ lived for you nineteen hundred years ago condemns you; but the life that He now lives in you saves you! The Christian life is the Life which He lived then, lived now, by Him in you. As He behaved in the sinless Humanity which the Father had prepared for Him then, so He wants to behave in your humanity presented to Him now.
“[The soul is now addressed as mind, emotion and will] Your mind placed at His disposal through the indwelling Holy Spirit; your emotions, your will, all that you are and have, made available to the Lord Jesus Christ as a living member of His new corporate body on earth, which is called the church.
This is the new law in action, the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus… Your ‘behavior mechanism’ once more wholly ‘Deo-centric’ instead of ‘Ego-centric’ ‘so that the commandment of the law may find fulfillment’ in you, whose conduct, no longer under the control of your lower nature, ‘is directed by the Spirit’ [Rom. 8:4]. A radical change of government!” [1]
His book, If I Perish, I Perish, makes much of distinguishing aspects of the believer’s makeup (body, soul, and spirit) with additional contrasts of the flesh and the Holy Spirit.
Ian Thomas’ emphasis and legacy continue through Torchbearers International (also known as Capernwray), an interdenominational Christian ministry operating centers in 20 countries that offer short-term Bible school programs, conferences, camps and retreats.[2]
JBW
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[1] The Mystery of Godliness, emphasis and bracketed content added
Biblical Psychology 