Part 5 - The Believer's Anatomical Makeup

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The Knowledge of Life.

The Tri-part Anatomy of All Humans:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If I were to diagram the Believer's whole being ... In Christ; I would draw 3 concentric circles around a core circle.

  1. The Outermost ring in our diagram represents Christ.
  • The Believer's life is "hidden with Christ in God" (Col 3:3)... and as we will see, the believer also has Christ "in Him" (cf., Col 1:27)

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. John 14:20

  • This is Christ as we relate to Him "objectively" – every believer is "in Christ," to be our "righteousness" (1Cor 1:30).
  • He as Savior is available to as many as "receives Him" (John 1:12), as their substitutionary sin bearing sacrifice, saving us God's "wrath" (1Thes 5:9) and judgment. 1Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
  • Romans 5:8 ... Christ died for us. This establishes our "positional" status; we stand sinless "in Christ," before the Father. This is our grace standing, which is not of our doing at all; it comes to be ours simply by our believing and receiving the good news of Christ's cross-work for us. In this position all believers are clothed "in Christ," made guiltless, and are without blame as we stand in God's love. Ephes. 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.
  1. The next ring within is represents our "body" that Paul calls the "outward man"  (2Cor 4:16). Our body contains our entire being with our soul and our human spirit - all being "hid with Christ in God." However, it is dying due to the infection of "Sin in the flesh" (Rom 7:18-23; 8:3, 1Cor 15:56),

2 Cor. 4:16 ... though our outward (body) man perish, yet the inward (soul) man is renewed day by day.

  1. Next ring inward represents our "soul," hidden within our body as the bone is hidden within the body. This is that which Paul calls our "inward man" (2Cor 4:16). The soul is our soul/self, our ego, and our individual unique creation. The soul consists of mind, emotion, and will – that which makes us uniquely who we are as oppose to anybody else. This is our subjective personal being. Mankind's soul became twisted by "Sin in the flesh" to become a self-seeking getter, unlike God who is a giver. Thus after regeneration every believer's soul needs renewal to a new "mindset" (Philip 2:5, Rom 12:2), needing to abide subjectively in union with Christ Spirit indwelling our human spirit.

16 ... Walk in (accord with) the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the (sinful) flesh. Gal. 5:16

4. The "innermost" circle is our "spirit of man," as his core and the key to life.

Prov 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle (lamp) of the Lord...

Jn 7:38 (AMP) He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.

It's needful for humans to be "in Christ" for two reasons… and in two ways.

a. Objectively - As believers our position is "in Christ" when we were "saved by grace through faith," We're saved from judgment and know we are secure "in Him."

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body (of Christ), whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)

b. Subjectively - We then need also to abide (stay) in union with Christ, personally…for our practical daily salvation from our independent, self-reliant self. This changes our disposition.

Romans 5:10 (NASB) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

John 15:4 (AMP) Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.  

We need to Understand our Anatomy in order to be able to interpret the Scriptures.

In the Bible Man's Anatomy is Seen as the 3-Part Temple in which of God is to Dwell.

1 Cor. 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1 Cor. 6:19a …know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God...

Our Temple" - Our body = the Outer court, our soul = Holy Place, our spirit = Holiest of All, where the Lord's "Spirit of life" Dwells forever.

1 Thes. 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you (set you apart) wholly (completely); and I pray God your whole spirit (Zoë = is the spirit life in man) and soul (psuche = soul life) and body (bios – physical life) be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ex.; Now we might note the two (2) kinds of life is referred to here below?

John 12:25 He that loveth his life (Greek, psuche, soul-self life) shall lose it; and he that hateth (or has no concern for) his life (Gk., psuche, soul-self life) in this world shall keep it unto life eternal (Greek, Zoë, God's spirit-life, which is).

Scripture Records Three Parts of Man as Outward, Inward or Inner, & Innermost. Our "innermost" man is man's human spirit. It is to become completed by the Indwelling Christ's Spirit.

John 7:38-39 (Amp) He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. 39But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

1 Cor. 15:45 … the last Adam (Christ) was made (became) a quickening (life-giving) spirit.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Col. 2:10a And ye are complete in him … 2 Tim. 4:22 …Christ be with thy spirit... 

1 Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Col. 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

1) The Body, is the Outward- Man; 5 senses give man his physical "World Consciousness"

Rom 8:11b …he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

2Cor 3:6 ... the spirit giveth life... James 2:26b For as the body without the spirit is dead

Consider the current fallen condition of the physical body of every human, including the Christians. While our spirit is located in "the midst" of our being (Dan 7:15)... there is the false deity Sin-spirit in "the flesh" of the body "members" of every human ever born physically - it is the Sin-spirit of the Devil.

15 I Daniel was grieved in My Spirit In The Midst (center) Of My Body...Daniel 7:15a

BUT... 12 ... sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned. Romans 5:12 (AMP)

2 Wherein in time past ye (Gentiles) walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, The Spirit That Now Worketh In The Children Of Disobedience: Ephesians 2:2

18 For I (Paul) know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth NO good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law (principal at work) in my (body) members, warring against the law of my mind (the knowledge of good and evil), and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin  (principal at work) which is in my members. Romans 7:18-23

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned Sin In The Flesh: Romans 8:3 (KJV)

Paul tells us, factually, believers have a way of victory over "Sin in the flesh."

3 For what the law (of God) could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned SIN (DWELLING) IN THE FLESH: Romans 8:3 (KJV)

6 ... OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, (so) that The Body of Sin might be destroyed (<< Gk., kartargeo, Made Of No Effect), that henceforth we should not serve sin.

7 For (because) he that is dead is freed from (the power of) sin. Romans 6:6-7 (KJV)

Experientially, our "outward" Body is "perishing" & our "inward" Soul is being "renewed" daily.

 1 Corinthians 15:56a The sting of death is sin...  2 Cor. 4:16b though our outward (body) man perish...

2) The Soul is called the "inward" Man. It is the seat of Man's Self Being Consisting of three (3) Parts

In Jer. 31:33 (below) "inward parts" is REQUOTED In Heb 8:10 (below) as the "mind & heart"

Jeremiah 31:33 …saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their Mind, and write them in their Hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

The Mind - Intellect is part of the soul

Psalm 13:2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul...

Psalm 139:14 ... I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Proverbs 2:10 … wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

Proverbs 19:2 Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.

Proverbs 24:14 So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul...

Remembrance is in the soul:

Lament. 3:20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

The Emotion is part of the soul for Enjoying, Loving & Hating. Desire is the burning in man that drives his willful choices.

Romans 7:22 For I delight (rejoice) in the law of God after the inward man:

2 Cor. 7:15 And his inward affection (an emotion) is more abundant toward you…

Deut. 14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth (desirest) after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desirest: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God...

1 Samuel 20:4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desirest, I will even do it for thee.

Loving Desire as a soul function

1 Samuel 18:1 ... the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Psalm 42:1 ... As the hart (deer) panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

Song 1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,...

Hatred is of the soul: 2 Samuel 5:8 ... Whosoever ... and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul...

Psalm 107:18 Their soul abhorreth

Joy of the soul: Psalm 86:4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God...

Grief of the soul

Judges 10:16 ... and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. 1 Sam 30:6 David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved,

The Will is part of the soul, for choosing and refusing.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God Which Worketh In You Both To Will and to do of his good pleasure.

Job 7:15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

Job 6:7 The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.

1 Chron. 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God...

The Three Parts of the Soul Provide (3) Three faculties that may express the Will of the Spirit.

3) The Human Spirit is Man's "innermost" being, as Man Spirit & God-Consciousness

Zech. 12:1 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Daniel 7:15a I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body,

Ephes. 3:16b be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner ("innermost") man;

Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle (lamp reservoir) of the Lord, searching all the inward parts (the soul)

Hebrews 4:12 For the word (Christ as the word in us is spirit & life) of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the Dividing Asunder Of Soul And Spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

There are (3) Three Faculties of the "spirit of man."

Christ's Spirit flow within and one with The Believer's spirit

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is One Spirit.

 John 7:38 (AMP) He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me, Jesus)] as the Scripture has said, From his Innermost Being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. 39 But He was speaking here of the Spirit...

1) The CONSCIENCE

Romans 9:1 ..., I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost (in our spirit),

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

2) Capacity for FELLOWSHIP or COMMUNION WITH GOD

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit (human spirit) and in truth.

1 Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve (I minister) with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness (fellowships) with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Ephes. 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit (human spirit), and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Luke 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

3) THE INTUITION is the spontaneous "innate knowing" by "the spirit of man" after rebirth.

The definitions of the word "know" from the various Greek words in the New Testament of the Bible are several. Here now I am addressing one in particular. In the following verse we see the word "know," as the Greek word "eido", or "oida," meaning "to see, or perceive, by any of the senses" (Louw & Nida Greek Lexicon). This is a spontaneous sense knowing, not learned.

1 John 5:20 we know (Gk., eido, innately know) that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know (Gk., ginosko, come to know by experience) him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.

These words; "know, perceive, knoweth" are "eido, the "innate "sense-knowing in spirit."

Rom 8:16 (AMP) The Spirit Himself testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God. 1 Cor. 2:12 we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of (Gk., ek, out from and with) God; that we might KNOW ("eido", to know intuitively by an inner sense) the things that are freely given to us of God.

1 Cor. 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man

Mark 2:8 ... when Jesus PERCEIVED in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

1Jn 2:20 ...ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye KNOW (eido, innately) all things. 1Jn 2:27 the anointing which ye have received of him (Christ) abideth in you, ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.