Many of you know that I have moved into a new home in my same mobile home park in San Jose. I have a special room in my new house that I meet with the Lord, reflecting on the truths studied deeply in years past. A little perplexed but with some understanding, I have asked the Lord what it is, more clearly, that’s happening in my spirit (knowing we are tri-part in our person: spirit, soul and body [1 Thess. 5:23; Hebrews 4:12]) as I am presently stronger in spirit than ever, yet neurologically declining rather quickly in my natural brain.

My answer from Him came in a deeper way in my early morning hours this morning. Let me begin with a quote from Jessie Penn Lewis from her book Life Out of Death:

“If God gives you a message [a word within the WORD] which He means for you to take hold of, He holds you, even when you appear to lose it. His word given to you lays hold of you. That word has divine life and energy in it and can grip you and hold you to it. God requires your co-operation of course and you must actively take the word by faith, but the power is in the word itself when God has spoken it to you.”

Has he spoken a word to you which at one time gripped your heart and gave you faith? Did you lose patience while waiting for that particular promise to be fulfilled? Here is another word within the Word that He wants you to receive from Galatians 6:8-9 (Amplified):

Keep sowing to the spirit “…and let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”

Be assured dear friends, that even though my outer man is decaying, my inner man is receiving an eternal weight of glory. The seeds from God’s word, having been planted in past years, are coming to full bloom in my spirit.

Presently I have come to realize that to the natural eye one might conclude that I am in a life decline, but in reality it has become harvest time in my spirit, my inner life. In reality I am experiencing the latter rains promised in Joel 2:23. Thank You Lord, for this season. (Ecc. 3:11)

To You our God and enthroned Jesus Christ I ascribe glory due Your name.

All for His glory,
Altha

re-posted from suhministry.org

F.B. Meyer observed:

He [Christ] desires to be in us as His Father was in Him, so that the outgoings of our life may be channels through which He, hidden within, may pour Himself forth upon men.

It is not generally recognized. It is not; though that does not disprove it. We fail to recognize many things in ourselves and in nature around, which are nevertheless true. But there is a reason why many whose [spiritual] natures are certainly the temple of Christ, remain ignorant of the presence of the wonderful Tenant that sojourns within. He dwells so deep. Below the life of the body, which is as the curtain of the tent; below the life of the soul, where thought and feeling, judgment and imagination, hope and love, go to and fro, ministering as white-stoled priests in the holy place; below the play of light and shade, resolution and will, memory and hope, the perpetual ebb and flow of the tides of self consciousness, there, through the Holy Spirit, Christ dwells, as of old the Shechinah dwelt in the Most Holy Place, closely shrouded from the view of man [1 Cor. 6:19].

It is comparatively seldom that we go into these deeper departments of our being. We are content to live the superficial life of sense. We eat, we drink, we sleep. We give ourselves to enjoy the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Or we abandon ourselves to the pursuit of knowledge and culture, of science and art. We make short incursions into the realm of morals, that sense of right and wrong which is part of the make up of men. But we have too slight an acquaintance with the deeper and more mysterious chamber of the spirit. Now this is why the majority of believers are so insensible of their Divine and wonderful Resident, who makes the regenerated spirit His abode [1 Cor. 6:17].

(excerpt: The Secret of Guidance ch. 3 (Fleming H, Revell: 1896)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/meyer/guidance.txt emphasis added)

An example of a college text book that focuses on physical health from a biblical worldview is this one. The authors set health in the context of redemption history and address the body in light of psychological (soul), and spiritual (spirit) dimensions.

“Christian Paths to Health and Wellness, Second Edition, offers a unique, faith-based perspective on the pursuit of wellness for body, mind, and spirit. Written for undergraduate students attending Christian universities, this updated edition also serves as a reference for anyone seeking God-pleasing guidance to make positive life changes.”

In her classic book on the epistle to the Ephesians, The Wealth, Walk, and Warfare of the Christian, Ruth Paxson wrote

Eph. 1:3. “With all spiritual blessings.”

The word “spiritual” designates the character of the blessings bestowed. A saint is one who has left the sphere of the natural and has come into the sphere of the spiritual. Henceforth his paramount needs are spiritual. He has become the possessor of a heaven-born nature, so he must have heaven-sent supplies to nourish and develop it. The saint has had implanted within him the eternal life of the Holy One, but he is traveling through an ungodly world, so moment by moment he needs life from above that he may live holily. Living in a non-spiritual world, he needs a spiritual atmosphere in which to breathe; spiritual food to eat; spiritual garments to wear; spiritual companions with whom to fellowship, spiritual exercise to keep fit and strong; spiritual strength to endure suffering and affliction; spiritual weapons with which to war.

The human personality consists of spirit, soul and body, as God has shown in I Thessalonians 5:23. In quoting man usually says “body, soul and spirit.” God’s order cannot be reversed. He always begins with the inner man, and works out to the outer man. To Him the spirit is paramount and is always put first. So God’s concern is for a daily spiritual renewal which will cause the saint to grow up into Christ in all things, working ever toward the goal of a greater perfection. Life in Christ commences with a spiritual birth; continues through spiritual growth; and consummates at His coming in spiritual perfection. (emphasis added)

from chapter 3: “The Wealth Designated”

John Garrison has published a book on biblical psychology that includes a body/soul/spirit perspective on the nature of man. It is available at the Amazon.com .

The volume includes a Foreword by Dan Blazer, a Christian Psychiatrist and Professor at Duke University.

The book is published by Xlibris Corporation and is now being updating and revised.  The new edition will be published by West Bow Press, a division of the Bible publisher Thomas Nelson.

Andrew Wommack’s book titled Spirit, Soul and Body presents the case for trichotomy at a popular level. He describes this message as “foundational.”

http://www.awmi.net/store/usa/books/318

British pastor and author wrote with keen insight about this theme. See his ebook…

“Many who read this will be familiar with the position of psychology, and it is just here that we find that point which makes all the difference between the natural, which keeps God out, and the spiritual, which gives Him His full place. For here we find that the scriptural description of man runs entirely counter to the conclusions of ‘scientific’ psychology. We have observed that the psychologist will not allow the threefold description of man as spirit, soul and body, but only soul—or mind—and body. But still, the psychologist has to confess to the existence of a third element. He recognizes it, finds his chief interest and occupation with it, builds up a whole system of experimentation around it, and often borders on calling it by its right name. But to do so would be to give too much away; and Satan, who has the mind of the natural man well on leash, sees to it that in this, as in other matters, just the word is not used. The psychologist, therefore, recoils and calls the extra factor ‘the subconscious mind’, or ‘the subjective mind’, or ‘the subliminal self’, or ‘the secondary personality’, etc.”

Continue reading: http://austin-sparks.net/english/books/001339.html

Since Watchman Nee’s writings convey the trichotomy of man, this is likely the majority view of the fast-growing unregistered church in China. Nee’s associate, Witness Lee, described the faculties of the human spirit (what ontologically distinguishes humans from animals) in this way:

THE THREE PARTS OF THE SPIRIT—CONSCIENCE, FELLOWSHIP, AND INTUITION

Just as our body has many parts, so does our spirit and our soul. Our spirit is composed of three: conscience, fellowship, and intuition. The conscience is for us to discern right from wrong, to justify or to condemn. Romans 9:1 compared with Romans 8:16 proves that the conscience is a part of our spirit. Fellowship is for us to contact God and to commune with God. This is shown in John 4:24 and Romans 1:9. Intuition means to have a direct sense or feeling in our spirit, regardless of reason or circumstance. First Corinthians 2:11 indicates that our spirit can know what our soul cannot. Our soul knows by reason or by circumstance, but our spirit can perceive without these. This is intuition, the direct sense in our spirit.

The Parts of Man, chapter 1, http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?xid=B3ZPZHX6THXHY

Rather than using the term “parts,” I recommend the term “faculties.” This clarifies that man has only three distinguish- able “parts,” yet each part has faculties. The spirit is the base of intuition, conscience and fellowship (communion), whereas the soul is the seat of mind, will, and emotions.

Lee’s approach refers to individual verses to substantiate the spirit/soul distinction. These cited references do illustrate and confirm these aspects of the human spirit. However, a primary principle to classify these higher faculties as related to the human spirit is that they are higher in functioning and capacity than any animal.

Under the heading, Consideration of a Tripartite Model of The Human:

There is more to the human mind than the spiritual dimension [which the author had been addressing]. Another dimension can be called the psyche (Doran, 1977, 1981, 1990  Lonergan, 1957, p. 456), which includes emotions, imagery, and memories whic cohere to form personality structures (Helminiak, 1992, 1996)… Differentiation of the psyche and the spirit within the human mind refines the standard model of the human, replacing the bipartite model–body and mind–with a tripartite model–organism (body), psyche, and spirit (Frankl, 1969/1988; Institute of Logotherapy, 1979; Lonergan, 1957, Vande Kempe, 1982). Although the term psych has a wide range of meanings, in this article psyche is a stabilizing dimension of the human mind. Its inclination is to sustain a comfortable homeostasis (Helminiak, 1996). In contrast, the human spirit is dynamic, open-ended, ever unfolding, ever transcending. It fosters transformation, and its ideal goal is to attain, through continued adjustment, in an ultimate coincidence of subjectivity and objectivity, unity with all that is.

– The Art of Biblical Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide on How to Counsel Using Biblical Principles (2008: Xlibris Corporation), p. 491 (Kindle edition), by Forshaye Winbush, PhD.

Although Dr. Winbush documents this model of man through secular sources, his description of the trichotomous model of man in a Christian counseling context is welcome.

Here is a quote from Jessie Penn-Lewis (The Centrality of the Cross, ch. 5). The Lord used her writing in the era of the Welch revival and beyond.

In Dr. Andrew Murray’s Spirit of Christ, he gives in the Appendix a very clear explanation of the dividing of soul and spirit which has to be done in the believer. He explains how man fell from the ‘spirit’ dominating his whole being, into the soul, and then again how the soul sank down into the flesh, so that at last God said of man “He is become flesh.” He descended from spirit to soul, and from soul to ‘flesh’. The spirit of man, says Dr. Murray, is that in us which is capable of knowing God-spirit-consciousness. The soul is the seat of the self-consciousness, and the body the seat of sense consciousness. An understanding of simple Bible psychology is necessary for any apprehension of the full life of victory through the atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is more to be dealt with in us than what we call ‘sin’, and more than ‘sin’ which prevents our full knowledge of God.