How to Understand the Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit, Soul, and Body

The Bible informs us that there are three dimensions of man: spirit, soul, and body. We also know that the Holy Spirit of God indwells all believers. So what is the communication like between God who is a spirit and man? It’s somewhat like the communication that occurs with radios, TV, or WiFi. There must be a link between the receiver and the transmitter. When we listen to a broadcast, there are many sound waves all around us, but the only way for us to become aware of them is to have an appropriate receiver able to catch them and make them audible. We would never know that anyone was talking to us from a distance if we expected our heads to pick up the sound waves. There is only one way in which man can know God, and that is through man’s own spirit. God is a Spirit and can be known only by a spirit. We must not expect to feel Him with our fingers or see Him with our physical eyes. It cannot be done. Yet that which can be perceived only by the spirit of man is just as real as that which can be perceived by his physical senses.¹ That’s why we are talking about How to Understand the Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit, Soul, and Body – all on this week’s Light on Life.

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Conscience and the Inward Witness: A Look at the Spirit Led Life

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Dive into the subject of spirit, soul, and body. Learn the difference between soul and spirit. It will change your life.

Join the Conversation

Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: Share a testimony on how the Lord has been communicating with you through your spirit. Share your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of First Thessalonians, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

Prayer

Father God, I thank you today for the life-altering truth that man is a spirit being. I thank for the revelation work of the Holy Spirit of God. Grant unto us all, eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

Three Dimensions of Man: My Testimony

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 (ESV) — 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

If you have walked with God for any length of time, you’ve had turning point moments.
Times when a revelation came and altered the course of your life and, changed your thinking — totally transformative moments.
I know that we are in a podcast format — but if we were face to face with one another — you could share your story and we could hear about that scripture that the Spirit of God opened to your heart.
We could also hear about the marvelously dramatic way that He delivered that insight to you.
Maybe He gave you a revelation via a night vision or a dream.
Life-altering truth could have come via prophesy, or tongues and interpretation of tongues.
Maybe it just rose up in your spirit or you heard an anointed teacher and via the Holy Spirit, hit the nail right smack on the head.
The lights came on.
This is one way the Lord works.
And, He will always be working on you.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV) — 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

He’s going to complete it — He is going to finish what He started.
God is not going to wait until the last minute to do it either.
He’s going to prepare you and pepper you all along the path of your life.
For me, there were two transformational truths.
The first truth leads to the second so it’s a higher truth than the second.
I was in my studio apartment in Livingston, New Jersey.
Unknown to me, my future wife and best friend were living on the same street a couple of miles away.
It was in the late 70’s – twentieth century that is.
I had given my heart to Jesus around two years before and I was listening to Christian radio one day and at 11:30 AM, a radio program called Faith Seminar of the Air came on.
It was led and taught by Kenneth E. Hagin.
I marveled at what I heard.
Those truths he taught that day dropped right inside me.
He taught those verses in a way that I never heard.
What I understood that day is that the Bible can be used — can be stood on — in your everyday life.
It wasn’t just a book for Church on Sundays.
Wow! I was so excited, man.
He made reference, to a book he wrote, “I Believe in Visions.’
I went and got that book and read it – he described how Jesus appeared to Him on multiple occasions but it was all founded in scripture.
I didn’t know that God would do stuff like this.
Then, one day he taught on the verse we are looking at today – 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
Man is a spirit being — this was the second revolutionary truth.
That truth cleared up all kinds of stuff for me.
You know I always wanted to hear from God — I wanted Him to communicate and tell me stuff.
I couldn’t figure out how to get that to happen.
After I came to Jesus and started attending church, I kept hearing people testify that the Lord spoke to them — that He told them to go here — and directed to do this and that and the other.
I wanted that — I wanted to hear Him and I kept trying to hear Him — straining to hear and I didn’t hear anything.
It was getting frustrating – I was saved six months – I heard zero – zip – nada – goose egg – nothing.
Came home from college one weekend and I was reading The Cross and the Switchblade — and, in that book, David Wilkerson, a country preacher from Pennsylvania, describes how God led him — spoke to him — directed him, told him to go into New York City and minister to the inner-city gangs.
Talk about a guy totally out of his element!
Yet, the Lord is giving him directions – turn here – go there — look here.
I got so mad when I read that — I remember exactly where I was — the hallway from my bedroom to the kitchen.
I walked back to the bedroom and I hollered out — I was upset about this thing.
‘God, this is not fair — you’re talking to all these other people and you’re not talking to me.’
That’s when He spoke to me for the first time.
Scared the living snot out of me.
His Presence came on me so strong — I didn’t know it was His Presence — I didn’t know a lot of things back then.
Man, I froze — I was scared to move.
I thought I was going to die — He’s going kill me sure enough for yelling at Him.
At that moment, this is what He said to me — “Son, It’s because you have not learned how to listen.’
‘Not learned how to listen’ — wow! — that means there is a way to listen.
And, I just didn’t know what that way was.
I was asking things beyond where I was.
I needed to learn some things.
Enter 1 Thessalonians 5:23!

Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit and Soul Are Not the Same

may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What did this passage teach me — what does it teach us?
How did it help me hear from God?
It teaches us that man is three parts not two.
I had a problem I didn’t know I had in this area as many others do.
In our circles, we all thought that spirit and soul were the same.
We talked about them like they were the same.
We used the terms interchangeably.
Just knowing that they weren’t the same opened up all kinds of understanding.

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) — 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Did you hear that? — the division of soul and spirit.
If soul and spirit can be divided, how can they be the same?
Put some study into this now.
Do your research.
Identify the spirit of man and understand this part of your being.
Define the soul of man and know this part of your being.
You should separate them for study purposes, but just know there is a joining between them.
They work together just like your lungs and your heart muscle.
We study body parts distinctly but they work together in the body.
Spirit and soul are the same way.
Now, we have already done some podcasts on this thought – go and look them up – it will help you get ahead.

Three Dimensions of Man: Man is a Spirit Being

The second truth you can know from 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is that man is a spirit being.
The emphasis in this passage is the spirit of man.
How do we know that?
It’s first in the list: spirit, then soul, then body is how the verse reads.
Since it is first in the Word, it ought to be first in your life.
We can say it this way: the health of your spirit is more important than the health of your body.
The health of your spirit can breathe healing into your body.
Your soul is the mind, the will, and the emotions.
You can look at this in automotive terms.
The spirit is the engine of man, the soul is the transmission, and the body, is the wheels.
No engine — no go.
If your spirit man is dead, you’re dead.
That’s why you must be born again.
When an individual claims Jesus as Lord, His engine doesn’t get overhauled.
Your engine was dead – seized – it was toast.
Your spirit is a new creation in Christ — a creation that never existed before.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Now, take that new spirit man and feed it, build it up, cause it to be nourished up in the words of faith.
When you do that, it becomes a strong and trusted guide.

Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit Conscience

So, two truths here — spirit and soul are not the same and man is a spirit being.
Now, take note of the fact, that spirit is first in this list of the three dimensions of man — it’s spirit, soul, and body, not body soul, and spirit.
Here’s a test for you — check this out.
Watch the order that people put use.
People who talk about their bodies all the time will recall this list as body, soul, and spirit.
You see they are more body conscious than spirit conscious.
To hear God you must be more conscious of your spirit than any other part of your being.
Your body makes a lot of noise — so does your head.
You have to look past that.
Make it a habit to look down inside of you.
You know we did a podcast on habits.
Did you know that it doesn’t take 21 days to make a habit?
That’s a fallacy.
It takes longer than that – about three times as long.
So, instead of putting your focus out here — out in front of you – turn that focus down and inward.
Instead of getting up in your head go downward in your heart with your attention or focus.
We can say this yet another way: maybe one of these ways will register with you.
Look to the Holy Spirit in your spirit.
That’s where direction comes from — that’s where wisdom resides — that’s where the answers are.
There are no answers in your head.
If there were, you would have had them already.
You must understand how God wired man.
He made your spirit to be the control center — everything originates from there.
Sometimes thoughts float up to your mind from your spirit and your brain catches a hold of them.
You thought that you were the originator of that thought — that it came out of your brain
But, you didn’t — you just didn’t grab hold of it until it was already up in your head.
Are you understanding what I’m saying?
If you are born-again, the Holy Spirit is in your spirit.
He’s in there giving you answers.

Three Dimensions of Man: You Can Locate Your Spirit

This next part should help you.
You can become more aware of your spirit by locating it in your being.
In fact, it’s rather easy to locate your spirit.
Once you get this zeroed in, it will help with this whole ‘looking inside piece.’
Here’s how to do it.
Ask yourself this question: ‘Has my conscience ever bothered me?’
Of course, it has — it has to be the case otherwise, you are in bad shape.

Acts 23:1 (ESV) — 1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”

Paul said, ‘I have a good conscience.’

1 Peter 3:14–16 (ESV) — 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Peter said we ought to have a good conscience.

1 Timothy 1:18–19 (ESV) — 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,

Timothy is instructed to have a good conscience.
A good conscience is a clear conscience.
It’s a conscience that doesn’t bother you.
How valuable that is.
Conscience is the voice of your spirit.
Next, take note of when have done something you know you shouldn’t have — or you say something you know shouldn’t say.
What happened inside of you?
You got that little grungy…….. sense where you go off and think to yourself — you know I wish I had that back — next time you get that ‘conscience bothering you sense’, put your finger right where you sense that.
That’s the general area of your spirit man.
You will never point your finger towards your head ever.
Your spirit is not in your head.
It’s somewhere between your belly and your chest area.
I am telling you this is so easy to do.
And, here it is in scripture.

Romans 8:14–16 (ESV) — 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

The Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit.
Back up to this passage in the second chapter of Romans.

Romans 2:14–16 (ESV) — 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

So we just read in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit bears witness.
This passage in Romans 2 says the same thing — only it’s the conscience that bears witness.
The conscience bears witness — the Holy Spirit bears witness — you can see the link between the two.
The Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit — your conscience communicates that transaction.
These are some of the most vital verses in this whole deal.
Now you understand what ‘bear witness means?’
Again, what people call their conscious is your spirit communicating to you.
Conscience is the voice of your spirit.
Your spirit man can be trained to accurately pick this information up from the Holy Spirit.
Your conscience can be a guide you can trust.
How it gets to this point is via you feeding the Word of God into your heart.
You can train your heart with the Word.

Hebrews 5:12–14 (ESV) — 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Feeding on solid food enables one to distinguish between good and evil.
Good and evil mean right and wrong.
The Greek word ‘distinguish’ is the one we want to look at and with that thought here is the Definition of the Day.
The word ‘distinguish’ used here means the ability to evaluate or differentiate.
A Jesus follower who feeds on the strong meat of the Word will have the ability to evaluate or differentiate between the good and the bad.
All of this comes with practice.
Did you notice that’s what the scripture said: ‘…trained by constant practice?’
Some translations say ‘trained through constant use.’
The revised English Bible says through ‘long use.’
Long use refers to a habit that’s in place.
The habit of looking inside — the practice of monitoring your conscience and not overriding it.
Get the Word of God inside your spirit.
Speak it into your spirit.
Meditate on it — quote it out of your mouth.
Build the Word into your heart — if you do, your conscience will be a safe guide.
When I say a safe guide, I don’t mean that the Lord will direct you only in areas where there’s a specific Bible verse — a ‘thus saith the Lord’ verse.
No, He will guide you in the simple everyday affairs of life.
The Father will do that because He loves you and cares about the everyday stuff of life.

Three Dimensions of Man: A Live Example

I’ll give you a live example of how you can identify your spirit.
The scripture talks to us about speaking the truth, doesn’t it.
They warn us against lying.
Do you know where those verses are at?

Exodus 20:16 (ESV) — 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Try this passage in Proverbs.

Proverbs 6:16–17 (ESV) 16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue…

Drop down to verse 19.

19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

How about a verse from the New Testament?

Colossians 3:9 (ESV) — 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

Meditate on these verses, think about them, quote them, — build them inside of you.
Now once you do this, what do you think will happen when you plan on lying?
Your conscience will whip the holy snot out of you — that’s what will happen.
Where did all that uproar come from?
Inside your spirit.
So now, you mark that experience.
Some time passes and you think about telling a lie.
What happens?
As you think about trying to tell it, right down in your spirit, you get that same sense as you when you outright told it.
All the while now, you are building other verses inside you.
You get exposed to more and more of the Word.
It’s growing in you.
You’re growing.
You begin to notice this check in other areas as well.
You’re becoming sensitive to the Spirit.
You go to make a purchase and there it goes — your conscience starts bothering you.
We just made a major purchase here — it was not the amount that I went in there to spend.
Everything was clear in my spirit the whole way except when we got to the end.
A nice gentleman, just trying to do his job, tried to sell us some insurance-type products.
The first few products he tried to sell us, I had no intention of purchasing.
But, he hit this one particular package and I was starting to lean — that’s when my conscious started talking to me.
I got a check.
That’s what you call this negative sense on the inside of you — a check.
So, I turned it down — the salesman asked me, ‘Why?’
I told him, it’s not right down in here, pointing to my spirit.
You may have heard people say, ‘You know I got a check in my spirit.’
‘Something wasn’t right on the inside of me.’
See that — you’re able to discern good from evil — right from wrong all because you’ve learned that the Spirit uses your conscious to bear witness to you.

Now Father God, thank you once more for theses truths. May they find a place in our hearts and in our practice. Help us to incorporate these truths into our everyday life in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

How to Understand the Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit, Soul, and Body.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

#S2-041: How to Get Your Faith in the Right Tense [Podcast]

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How to Understand the Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit, Soul, and Body

Encore Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Thirty-Nine

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of First Thessalonians, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Three Dimensions of Man: My Testimony

Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit and Soul Are Not the Same

Three Dimensions of Man: Man is a Spirit Being

Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit Conscience

Three Dimensions of Man: You Can Locate Your Spirit

Three Dimensions of Man: A Live Example

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of First Thessalonians, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Three Dimensions of Man: My Testimony

Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit and Soul Are Not the Same

Three Dimensions of Man: Man is a Spirit Being

Three Dimensions of Man: Spirit Conscience

Three Dimensions of Man: You Can Locate Your Spirit

Three Dimensions of Man: A Live Example

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