The Only Thing You Can Take
From This Life to the Next

kharakter

In ancient times, the Greeks had a tool called a kharakter. It was a stamping tool used to impress an image on various objects. When the word kharakter was later translated through the Latin to the French, it represented “scratching” or “engraving.” This meaning eventually morphed in Middle English to mean “a distinctive mark.” It finally came to mean “a feature or trait.”¹ Thus, the Greek kharakter is where we get our English word character.

In modern usage we don’t generally refer to a tool as a character, although we might still refer to the image it makes as a character. We might refer to the typescript on this page as characters. When we refer to a person as a character, we might mean that he or she is spirited, funny, or witty. When we refer to a person as having character, we usually are referring to noble or admirable inner qualities. When a negative modifier such as bad precedes the word character, we mean of course that the person has undesirable inner qualities, which may manifest themselves in undesirable outward behavior. Your thoughts and feelings combined make up your moral character. That’s a very handy definition of character.

(Studying Greek and Hebrew word definitions may not be your favorite pastime ☻ ☺ but if you will hang in with me for a few pages, I think you will find this a very intriguing and rewarding read.)

Spirit is the word most often used in the Bible when referring to a person’s rational mind or mental disposition. So the word spirit is synonymous with the word character (thoughts and feelings combined) in some respects. The most common New Testament Greek word for spirit is pneuma. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words tells us that pneuma primarily denotes the wind. It means breath, or to breathe or blow. But, as we shall see, the Bible expands that meaning by symbolically using the dynamic of wind — breath — breathe — blow to denote character (thoughts and feelings combined).

The New Testament Greek Pneuma corresponds almost identically with the Hebrew ruwach, the most common Old Testament word for spirit. As related to humans, both of these words primarily denote the mind or mental disposition, including the way a person expresses his/her disposition.

Pneuma and ruwach (spirit) are sometimes used similarly to the Greek psuche and Hebrew nephesh (soul) when the Bible describes thoughts and feelings, but they don’t have exactly the same meaning. We will clarify the difference between spirit and soul shortly. (For a fascinating, detailed definition of soul, see chapter 10, titled Do Ghosts Really Wear Clothes and Smoke Cigars?)

James Strong in his popular Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible mistakenly refers to pneuma-spirit as “the rational and immortal soul.”² But the Bible never says that the rational aspect of the soul is immortal. The Bible never attributes innate immortality to a person’s spirit as though the breath-spirit could simply fly away as a conscious immortal ghost upon the death of the body.

The Bible unmistakably teaches that dead people are asleep and don’t think. Let’s look briefly at a few Bible texts to support that assertion.

“For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know nothing, . . . their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished.” “There is no . . . knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5a, 6, 10 NKJV)

“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalm 146:4)

“From eternity to eternity, You are God. You return mankind to the dust, saying, ‘Return, descendents of Adam.’ . . . You end their life; they sleep.”(Psalm 90:2b-3, 5)

Chapter 4, They Sleep Until the Resurrection contains dozens of Bible texts similar to these. The Bible teaches that all dead people are asleep awaiting the resurrection of the body.

“There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.”(Acts 24:15

“Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead.”(Eph 5:14)

Chapter 6, There Will Be a Resurrection of the Dead, Both of the Just and the Unjust explains that Bible teaching in captivating detail. In fact, there will be two future resurrections. (1) People destined for eternal life will rise at the second coming of Jesus. (See 1^st Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1^st Corinthians 15:51-55) (2) Those destined for judgment and the “second death” will come up a thousand years later in a second resurrection. (See Revelation 20:5-6) Chapters 5 & 6 of this series, contain fascinating, compelling Bible presentations on those subjects.

I am looking forward to the exhilarating experience of flying someday, as the angels do, in a new glorified body. All the same, I don’t think flying would be much fun if I were merely a ghost without bodily senses. I want a glorified body so that as I gently fly I can feel a soft breeze on my face, smell the fragrance of a wildflower meadow or the fresh pine-scented air of a forest. I want to see the spectacular beauty of heaven and the new earth with the perfect vision of my new eyes. The Bible plainly states that the resurrected saints will have very real bodies; they will not be disembodied spirit-ghosts.

I think it is important to note here that the sleep of the dead does not seem to them to be a long wait or a long period of time. They are asleep, completely unconscious of the passing of time. For them the experience between the moment of death and the moment of the resurrection is but a flash. One instant their thoughts end as they fall asleep in temporal death. When awakened at the resurrection many years later it will seem to them that they have slept but one scarce moment; they take up their thoughts right where they left off when they fell asleep.

This fact emphasizes the importance of thoughts and feelings combined as the practical definition of moral character. Surely, people habitually thinking and feeling unrestrained evil will not rise in the first resurrection. Only those who are spiritually reborn and habitually cultivate faith, love and obedience to God can reasonably expect to reap eternal life. (See John 3:1-21) Of course, God is so merciful that even if that change in attitude doesn’t come until a moment before temporal death the repentant newborn person will rise to eternal life. (See Luke 23:39-42; 1^st Corinthians 3:11-17) “God is Love.” (1^st John 4:8, 16)

Concerning the thief on the cross that Jesus promised eternal life to, you might be shocked to discover that the thief did not die that day and neither did Jesus ascend into heaven to be with the thief that day. The whole issue is clarified with the simple proper placement of a comma in the translation from the original New Testament Greek, which had no punctuation marks. (See chapter 4 for a thrilling and very compelling Biblical presentation on this subject.)

Let’s get back now to our focus on soul and spirit. The next passage demonstrates the difference between soul and spirit. “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul-[psuche] and spirit-[pneuma], and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart-[kardia].” (Hebrews 4:12)

This passage clearly separates soul and spirit with the language “dividing asunder,” and yet we often see soul used in one passage similarly to the way another passage uses spirit. For example, the emotions are associated with the soul in Matthew 26:38, and with the spirit in John 13:21. Numerous other passages use these terms similarly. For example, compare Psalm 35:9 with Luke 1:47. So we ask, what is the difference between soul and spirit?

The Bible often looks at the difference in meaning between soul and spirit in the following ways: The soul feels a feeling, whereas the spirit is the feeling the soul feels. The soul has an attitude; the spirit is the attitude. The soul feels anger; the spirit is the anger. The soul judges; the spirit is its judgment. The soul lusts; the spirit is the lust. The soul feels happiness; the spirit is the essence of the happiness. The soul makes a decision; the spirit is the decision. Souls die! “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) Yes, the soul that feels can die, but the feelings themselves simply cease to be experienced when the soul dies.

Let’s look at another Bible passage containing the word “spirit” that demonstrates this subtle but fundamental difference in meaning between soul and spirit. This passage contrasts the mind or mental attitude with the physical nature. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit [mind or mental attitude] indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [physical nature] [is] weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

What happens to the mind when the body dies? Does the mind die along with the physical brain? The mind is not the physical person. Unlike the physical brain, the mind is not a concrete entity. But the brain being a material entity can die, whereas the mind, which is intangible, simply ceases conscious awareness when the brain dies.

The Bible, in some texts, refers to man’s spirit as the breath of life and in other texts as the personality-character. Therefore, when the breath of life returns to God for safekeeping at the moment of temporal death, we should also understand that the abstract record of each person’s character also remains in safekeeping in God’s hand. God keeps perfect record books including the “name” (detailed identity of every person).

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”(Revelation 20:12; See also Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 21:7)

Chapter 6 presents fascinating details about the record books that God keeps. He has a perfect detailed blueprint record of every person that has ever lived, including DNA, personality and every other aspect of individual identity. God will restore each person fully to the minutest identity details in the resurrection. The redeemed come up completely healed without blemish and defect while those destined for damnation will come up 1,000 years later in old sin corrupted bodies only viable enough to face judgment and the final irrevocable “second death” in the cleansing flames of hell. (See Revelation 2:11b; 20:6, 14: 21:8)

Let me also briefly note here that hell is not burning right now but is a future event, “the wrath to come.” (See Luke 3:7) That “day of judgment” will arrive; it will accomplish its purpose and then end. (Matthew 10:15; 11:22-24; 12:36; Mark 6:11; Romans 2:5; 2^nd Peter 2:9; 3:7; 1 ^st John 4:17; Jude 1:6) Hell will take place on the surface of the earth and will burn to the lowest depths completely sterilizing both the earth and its atmosphere. (See 2^nd Peter 3:8-14) God will completely blot out sin and sinners, wicked people and devils, in the cleansing flames; they will cease to exist forever. (See Revelation 20:9; Ezekiel 28:18-19, Obadiah 1:16; Malachi 4:1-3) Afterwards God will recreate the earth new and fresh without the slightest taint of blight and decay. There will be no more disease and death. (See Bite-a-Book™ chapters 2 & 20.)

“Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. . . . And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

“And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14-21:1, 3-8) ☺

With those helpful notes in mind, let’s return now to our thoughts on God’s preservation of our personal identity. We might wonder about the people, for example, who were vaporized at Hiroshima and Nagasaki when atomic bombs ended the war with Japan. Does God need the same exact elements to resurrect those people back to life? Well, He’s God; that should give us a clue right off the bat. If He had the power to create from nothing in the beginning, He can certainly recreate in the same way. (See Genesis 1; Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2^nd Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1)

Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave. The wondrous works of God are a mystery to man. The spirit, the character of man, is returned to God, there to be preserved. In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life. . . . The same form will come forth, but it will be free from disease and every defect. It lives again bearing the same individuality of features, so that friend will recognize friend. There is no law of God in nature which shows that God gives back the same identical particles of matter which composed the body before death. God shall give the righteous dead a body that will please Him.

Paul illustrates this subject by the kernel of grain sown in the field. The planted kernel decays, but there comes forth a new kernel. The natural substance in the grain that decays is never raised as before, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him. A much finer material will compose the human body, for it is a new creation, a new birth. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.³

“But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. . . . So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”(1^stCorinthians 15:35-38, 42-44)

Sanctified, Spirit, Soul, and Body

Scripture often uses the word soul to denote the life of the whole person — mind, body, feelings, passions and instincts. This clue will help us understand Paul’s use of the word soul in 1^st Thessalonians 5:23. In that passage, Paul makes an unusual threefold distinction between spirit and soul and body in order to emphasize the thoroughness of the sanctification process.

“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.”

Paul chose the word spirit to denote human intelligence. Body refers to the physical nature. However, Paul uses the word soul in this passage in a very interesting way. In this passage, Paul uses the word soul as a bridge connecting spirit and body. He creates a bridge between mind and body by using the word soul to denote the instincts, emotions, feelings, and desires. In the Bible, soul always refers to either the whole person or to an aspect of the person as a whole constituent being.

Because humans are wholistic in nature, we experience instincts, emotions, feelings, and desires as a whole person on both a mental and physical level. A fantastic array of chemicals, hormones, and nerve connections are involved in your thinking and feeling process. Even the condition of your body organs affects your thoughts and feelings. Your thoughts and feelings, in turn, affect your body — your blood pressure, pulse, respiration, nervous system, brain pleasure receptors, and so forth. God created you a wholistic being. (See chapter 10, titled Do Ghosts Really Wear Clothes and Smoke Cigars? for a humor-laced, thought-provoking discussion of that captivating subject.)

The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death.

Disease is sometimes produced, and is often greatly aggravated, by the imagination. Many are lifelong invalids who might be well if they only thought so. . . . Many die from disease, the cause of which is wholly imaginary. Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, love, promote health and prolong life. A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul. “A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine.”Proverbs 17:22.

In the treatment of the sick, the effect of mental influence should not be overlooked. Rightly used, this influence affords one of the most effective agencies for combating disease.⁴

Let’s review. The soul (psuche-nephesh) has a bodily aspect to it. It is the physical seat of personality, the seat of the sentient element in humans, by which we perceive, reflect, feel and desire. On the other hand, the spirit (pneuma-ruwach) is the mind or expression of the inner man; it is not a part of the body, but it does need the living body in order to function and express itself. The condition of the body affects the mind and the condition of the mind affects the body.

(Please let me share a brief personal testimony here. There are ten indispensable God-given laws of health. I made a list of them for you to review in chapter 17. I have kept most of them most of the time but that’s not all of them all of the time, so I began to pay the price with a toxicity and acidity in my body that culminated in a very aggressive form of cancer. I also went through a period of tremendous grief and sorrow, which also contributed to the development of the cancer. I am now in the process of battling the cancer in my body by carefully following a therapeutic diet and lifestyle, plus a potent comprehensive herbal therapy along with some conventional care such as radiation therapy. Lord willing, once freed from the cancer I will be able to maintain optimum health by faithfully obeying the ten laws of health.)

“Absent in Body, but Present in Spirit”

1^st Corinthians 5:1-5 is a famous text clearly showing that the mind does need the living body in order to function and express itself. But in spite of this text’s clarity, many biased theologians have interpreted it in such a way as to actually obscure its meaning. Let’s read 1^st Corinthians 5:1-5 now paying special attention to the phrase in italics.

“It is reported commonly [that there is] fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, [as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present] , [concerning] him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”(Italics supplied)

James Strong in his classic Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible uses this passage as a proof text to prove that each person has an immaterial spirit-nature that can exist consciously outside of and independent from the physical body.⁵ Nothing could be further from the truth as the general context of Paul’s letter makes clear.

If we apply a realistic understanding of the word pneuma to verses 3 and 4, we see that Paul is not saying that his rational spirit escaped from his body and went to Corinth, which of course would have left his body an empty, mindless organism. He was simply saying that in attitude as a judge he was “present” at Corinth. In other words, when Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that he was “absent in body, but present in spirit,” he was sending his judgment on the matter under discussion in the letter. The letter declared his mind in the matter as though he were there personally.

A similar passage to this is Colossians 2:5a, which reads, “For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit.” Here again Paul is simply saying that his interest is with the believers at Colossae, his thoughts are with them; he is not saying that his mind is leaving his body behind and traveling to commune with them. His mind remained in his living physical brain.

Have you ever written a letter to a friend or loved one and said “My heart is with you” or “My sympathy is with you” or “My best wishes are with you”? This is similar to what Paul was saying when he wrote, “For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit.”

The passages we just examined do not prove that the human spirit is a separate, immortal entity that can operate consciously independent of the body. Rather, they are perfect examples of the use of the word pneuma (spirit) as a person’s attitude or feelings expressed in a letter.

“Fleshly Mind” Versus “Spiritual Mind”

Let’s clarify one point in 1^st Corinthians 5:5 that can seem confusing at first glance. “Deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

The word “spirit” in this passage refers to the mind or inner person, the real person. We should not equate the Greek word sarx-flesh with Greek soma-body in the strictest sense. Soma is literally the body as a sound whole, whereas sarx, when used symbolically in Scripture, refers to various aspects of existence in a sin-filled body. The concept of a “fleshly mind” is one aspect of existence in a sin-filled body.

Here is what Paul is saying. “Deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the [fleshly mind] that the [spiritual mind]may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” God may use the natural consequences of man’s sin to bring him to conversion, but that change of mind isn’t as likely to happen if he is allowed to go on thinking that his behavior carries no consequences. Being disfellowshipped from the church may shock him into realizing his presently lost condition. Therefore, verse five, referring to Paul’s wish to save the spirit of the judged man, is simply a reference to the importance of transforming and redeeming the man’s rational personality, his character.

“Virtual Reality”

Some theologians claim that Paul knew a man whose rational spirit left his body and ascended to heaven. They cite 2^nd Corinthians 12:1b-4 as their proof text.

“I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body - [soma], I cannot tell; or whether out of the body - [soma], I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body - [soma], or out of the body - [soma], I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”

There is nothing in this passage to indicate that a ghost part of the man left his body as an empty, mindless shell and ascended to the third heaven. The words pneuma-spirit or psuche-soul do not occur anywhere in the text. Therefore, the man Paul refers to experienced one of the two following phenomenon.⁶

• He was carried bodily (“in the body”) up to the heavens.

OR

• He was shown heavenly visions in his mind as in a trance or a dream (“out of the body”).

Although Paul says that he did not know for sure, most likely it was a trance or dream, since that is the common manner in which visions seem to be given throughout Scripture. We can illustrate our point by referring to an Old Testament passage in which the prophet Ezekiel describes the manner in which a vision was given to him.

“And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, [as] I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire [a radiant life-form, an angel]: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form [structure]of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where [was] the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel [was] there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north.” (Ezekiel 8:1-5a)

After reading this passage, it is easy to see how a prophet might not know exactly how the vision was given. Did Ezekiel receive this vision virtually in his imagination, or was he literally carried to the scene? Did he actually see an angel or only a virtual vision of an angel? The visions must have been so vivid and real that the prophet could not tell whether his experience had been physical reality or virtual reality. We are familiar with the concept of virtual reality through some of our modern technology. We with our modern technologies should not find it difficult to believe that God could show “high definition movies” to prophets.

(Rather than disproving God, our modern technologies actually add visible, tangible evidence that what He claimed to be able to do thousands of years ago was a perfectly scientific possibility — HD-TV proves that. Modern science is even now researching into how to project high definition holography images into the atmosphere of a room in a form of virtual reality.)

Your Spirit Is Your Mental Attitude

Let’s look now at some more uses of the word spirit (pneuma-ruwach) in the Bible that can help us to understand “spirit” as a person’s state of mind or mental attitude. Spirit denotes one’s state of mind in the following passages.

“Blessed [are] the poor in spirit-[pneuma]. (Matthew 5:3a) And he sighed deeply in his spirit-[ pneuma]. (Mark 8:12a) fervent in spirit-[ pneuma]. (Romans 12:11) in the spirit-[ pneuma] of meekness.(Galatians 6:1b) for anguish of spirit-[ruwach ].(Exodus 6:9) the spirit-[ ruwach]of my understanding.(Job 20:3b) in whose spirit-[ruwach ][there is] no guile. (Psalm 32:2b) renew a right spirit-[ruwach]within me.”(Psalm 51:10)

“Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit-[ruwach]: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live ye.(Ezekiel 18:31, 32) And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit-[ruwach]within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh.(Ezekiel 11:19a) And be renewed in the spirit-[ pneuma]of your mind.”(Ephesians 4:23)

In Holy Scripture, Pneuma occasionally refers to the vital life force or breath of life, without which a living soul becomes a dead soul. On the other hand, even though spirit (pneuma) occurs dozens of times in the New Testament, it is never said to be an immortal or conscious entity apart from the body, not even once! The same is true of spirit (ruwach), which occurs hundreds of times in the Old Testament.

Pneuma in the New Testament and Ruwach in the Old Testament, when used in relation to humans, usually refers to the rational aspect of a person. These words refer to an individual’s mental disposition, his/her mind. That mind ceases to function consciously when the person dies.

The soul is the wholistic living being, both mental and physical. When the person dies, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”(Ecclesiastes 12:7) God holds the spirit (the character record) of the redeemed person in safekeeping until the resurrection when the whole person will reawaken in a glorified new body. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”(Titus 2:13) O blessed hope!

The Bible refers to our bodies in their fallen condition as “natural” bodies.The Greek for natural body ispsuchikŏs sōma. We carry this“natural body [psuchikŏs sōma]” with us to the grave,but in the resurrection, the redeemed will be“raised [with]a spiritual body-[pneumatikŏs sōma].”

“So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body-[ psuchikŏs sōma]; it is raised a spiritual body-[pneumatikŏs sōma]. There is a natural body-[psuchikŏs sōma], and there is a spiritual body-[pneumatikŏs sōma ].”(1^stCorinthians 15:42-44)

In this passage, both psuche and pneuma apply to the physical body, the sōma! Therefore, neither psuchikŏs sōma nor pneumatikŏs sōma are an immaterial entity. The resurrected spiritual body is a physical body. A spiritual body does not have carnal (sinful) impulses — it is fully in harmony with the Holy Spirit, fully in harmony with a spiritual mind. That is what spiritual body means!

An unconverted person has both a natural body and a natural mind. But the converted person receives from God a spiritually regenerated mind and becomes spiritually minded. This regeneration of the mind takes place while still in this present life in a natural body. The Bible clearly applies both the natural (psuchik ŏ s)mind and the spiritual (pneumatikŏs) mind to the present life in the following passage.

“But the natural-[psuchikŏs]man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually-[pneumatikōs]discerned. But he that is spiritual-[ pneumatikŏs]judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” (1^stCorinthians 2:14-15)

Here Scripture distinguishes between the naturally or carnally minded person (psuchik ŏ s)who is not guided by God’s Spirit, and the spiritually minded person (pneumatikōs) who is guided by God’s Spirit.

At creation, Adam’s body did not crave sinful things. But since the fall, the natural body equates with sin because of the sinful tendencies inherent in it. An unconverted person has a natural mind and a natural body — there is no conflict between the mind and body — they are united in opposition to God’s spiritual desires. However, when any person experiences spiritual rebirth, God gives him/her a new spiritual mind. How can you and I receive this new spiritual mind?

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. . . . Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water [natural birth] and [of] the Spirit [spiritual rebirth], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?”(John 3:1-10)

Nicodemus eventually understood these things and so can we.The new spiritual mind comes in “baby form” and is not yet very well educated in spiritual principles, nor is it tested and refined by resistance of temptation. Nevertheless, it is a new mind, a spiritual rebirth. The frustrating problem for the new spiritually reborn Christian is the fact that the body is still in a fallen state and will remain so until the resurrection. This presents a difficult test for the new spiritual mind because it continually faces a resistance factor from the fallen body.

In Romans 7:14-25 we see a vivid description of the struggle that ensues between the new spiritual mind and the old natural body when a person experiences spiritual rebirth.

“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good.

“Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I 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. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”(Romans 7:14-25)

I used to think that Paul was saying here that we couldn’t ever hope to stop “accidentally” sinning in this life. In essence then, I had an excuse to be impatient at times, overeat at times, or even under stress to sometimes lose my temper and speak unkindly. I didn’t really think I was excusing those things in my life; I prayed continually to overcome those things, but as long as I lacked confidence that I could overcome I didn’t overcome consistently. My life was a continual round of sinning and repenting. Then one day I heard a sermon by an old preacher named W. D. Frazee. The insights he shared on Romans 7, gave me a renewed courage and so I want to share the meaning of Romans 7 with you.

Paul states in Romans 7 that his mind serves the law of God but his flesh the law of sin. What does he mean? Is he serving sin in his actions while serving God in his mind? In the immature Christian, that is often the case, but it doesn’t have to be. The flesh wants to sin but the converted mind wants to obey God. The issue then is which will dominate. Will the flesh overcome the spiritual mind and carry out its sinful desires or will the spiritual mind keep the flesh in subjection. The flesh may overcome the newborn or immature Christian quite often. But Paul is clearly saying that we have a choice as to whether we will remain weak and faltering or whether we will grow up to spiritual maturity.

The flesh cannot force us to act contrary to the will of God without our mental consent. Therefore, Satan is constantly seeking to use the sinful flesh to convince the Christian’s mind to yield to the fleshly cravings. Those cravings cover a wide range from appetite and passion to materialism to egotism and include even wrong attitudes and feelings. God is constantly seeking to use the Christian’s divinely empowered mind to keep the flesh in subjection. He will help us to identify and eradicate all wrong attitudes and feelings if we will cooperate with Him.

God commands us to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts. “And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”(Galatians 5:24; See also Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20) Even though it is painful to the fleshly nature, we keep “the flesh” nailed to the cross so to speak. It is alive but not in control. It causes us discomfort when we do not gratify it but it cannot control us unless we choose to “release it from the cross” and allow it to regain control. The cravings of the flesh weaken the longer it “hangs on the cross” and the suffering correspondingly lessens. Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not saying we should deny reasonable physical and emotional needs and normal desires but only ungodly or excessive appetites and desires.

Paul recognizes the extremely frustrating struggle between the spiritual mind and the natural body. He cries out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”(Romans 7:24, 25)

I used to wonder why Paul constructed the statement that way. Why did he make such a positive affirmation of victory through Christ and then immediately restate the negative resistance of the flesh? He is reminding us that the sinful flesh will remain with us throughout this mortal life; we cannot escape it. We will not have holy flesh until the resurrection. But he is also telling us that the connection with Jesus Christ is the source of power we need to deliver us from the control of the sinful flesh. Through Jesus Christ, we can have complete victory over the inordinate pull of our sinful flesh.

When the Christian yields to the flesh, he falls back into a carnal state of mind. This is inexcusable and unnecessary. Paul says, “To be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace. Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:6-8) We don’t want to fall back into the fleshly way of thinking, feeling and behaving. It would place our salvation in jeopardy. “To be carnally minded [is] death.”

I’m sure I haven’t “arrived” yet. But the closer we come to God the more motivated we are to obey from our heart. Loving obedience becomes a natural way of thinking and feeling. We please God!

“[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 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: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”(Romans 8:1-4)

If I continue habitually losing my patience, I need to examine the root causes. Perhaps I have some long cultivated wrong thoughts or feelings that God wants me to eliminate, or perhaps I need to practice temperance in some area of life that is out of control. Perhaps I have a physical illness affecting my emotions that I need to recognize and attend to. Perhaps I’m overworking or overeating. It is impossible for an intemperate person to be a patient person. As long as the smoker or overeater is gratifying appetite she may appear patient; but if you remove the “fix” irritability and impatience will speedily rise to the surface. As you cooperate with Christ, you will gain victories over old habitual sins.

Becoming a Christian does not mean that the flesh does not crave wrong things. That does not make you less a Christian. But you do not give in to those desires and eventually the desires subside and fade into the back recesses of the brain. We do not have to have our minds dominated by fleshly tendencies. As we grow in Christian love, failure is the exception and not the rule and eventually we can have complete victory. We won’t brag about it; we won’t even recognize it but the Bible says we can become mature “perfect” in love. It’s not us but Christ in us that is perfect. But His perfect love becomes ours as we choose Him.

We can live in a fallen fleshly body and not sin. That is what Jesus did. He came “in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3) We cannot equal Jesus, the pattern, but by His grace, we can copy Him. When His church demonstrates this and witnesses to it, He will come and get us out of this world. Time is running out so Jesus will increase the pressure significantly in order to motivate His church to get serious about loving obedience. When we really get sick of sin and all the heartache and suffering it causes we will be broken hearted and we will be willing to endure any amount of suffering so that sin can finally end. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of” (2^ndCorinthians 7:10) Perhaps you have never heard a message like this from any Christian pulpit but this is clearly what the Bible teaches.

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

“Be perfect.” (2^ndCorinthians 13:11)

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:13)

“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

“For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same [is] a perfect man, [and] able also to bridle the whole body.” (James 3:2)

“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.” (1^stJohn 4:16b-19)

Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying about perfection or Christian maturity. I once met a man who publicly claimed, “There is nothing between me and my Savior. I have no known sin in my life.” My friend, the closer you get to Jesus the less you will see in yourself to brag about. I pray for that man but I avoid his influence. I’m sure I’m not perfect yet! But even if I were, I would be the last to know it or claim it.

I once read about a very imperfect heathen man who demonstrated that the Holy Spirit softens even a heathen heart if that heart is receptive to His promptings. The Viking marauders of the 8^th century were some of the most brutal and merciless killers of the middle ages. Fierce warriors like “Eric Bloodax, Harold Bluetooth, [and] Ivar the Boneless” . . . ravaged far and wide.”⁷The cruel Vikings “occasionally practiced human sacrifice. Sometimes a man’s wife was slain to accompany him in death or a wealthy man’s funeral pyre might include a slave girl.”⁸

The Vikings “had a fine contempt for an indication of mercy. One warrior, for example, won from his fellows the scornful nickname, ‘the children’s man,’ because he declined to partake in their practice of tossing the babies of conquered enemies into the air and catching them on the point of a spear.”⁹

I can’t help but wonder if perhaps that heathen marauder, “the children’s man” will someday find the surprise of his life as he rises from the dead in the first resurrection and flies away with myriads of other believers into the glorious Paradise that God has reserved for those whom He can trust. “The children’s man” most likely knew nothing of the God of the Bible, nothing of Jesus Christ and yet like the heathen mentioned in Romans 2 he demonstrated that he had a conscience where was written at least some degree of mercy, compassion and love. Those principles are at the foundation of God’s government.

“For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”(Romans 2:11-16)

I hope someday to meet that Viking marauder in heaven. Yes, I’m sure he, in his darkened world, was involved in a lot of violence. And yet he was willing to face the ridicule of his fellows for conscience sake because he would not join in the cruelty to babies carried out by his companions and glorified by his culture. The Vikings worshipped war-gods and nature-spirits but this one young warrior stood out from the crowd as a man with a tender conscience, a man whose heart was receptive to the voice of God. The reception may have been dull and almost imperceptive, yet it was nevertheless, evident. That man may very well have been an ignorant “believer.”

The story of that nameless warrior’s softened heart was a huge encouragement to me at a time when I was groping in the dark for even the slightest glimmer of encouragement, a time when hope and courage seemed a million miles away. I felt a kinship to him the moment I read his story and I hope to meet him in heaven and become friends with him. What an amazing thought that a 21^st century man and an 8^th century man could become companions and fast friends and carry on a close friendship for all eternity without end. Wow!

In this chapter, we’ve talked about soul, spirit, conscience and character. The “children’s man” clearly had a conscience. He had a more noble character than his companions did. In other words, his thoughts and feelings were more like God’s than were those of his companions.

The Bible often uses the words soul and spirit to describe the inner thoughts and feelings of individuals. But there is a word used in the Bible that takes us even deeper into the human personality than soul and spirit. That word is heart. We speak of getting to the heart of the matter, the heart of the city, the heart of the issue, and so forth. The heart of anything represents its center or core. When we speak of the heart, we mean the primary motivating aspect of an individual. We find within the heart the most passionate desires and cherished loves, and we discover lurking there the deepest fears and darkest forebodings. Heart and conscience, although in some respects distinct from one another, are so intimately wedded as to be almost one.

The Hebrew word most commonly found in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) denoting heart is lêb or its cousin lêbâb. These words refer to the most interior organ of the body, but the Old Testament uses them extensively to denote the central will, intellect, and feelings. The Hebrew Scriptures often use heart to denote the center of anything.

The New Testament Greek word most often translated “heart” is kardia (pronounced kar-dee’-ah). Kardia refers to the central motivating principle of man, and includes the mind with its thoughts and feelings.

The “children’s man” had a tender compassionate heart, at least relative to his cultural environment and circumstances. We don’t have the details of his life so we don’t know exactly how he came to be different from his fellows but there are some principles that we can discuss that can give us insight on how to develop a good character, good thoughts and feelings, a noble heart — a character fit for heavenly society.

What You Say Enters Your Own Ears

We influence ourselves by our own words. Under a momentary impulse or in a fit of anger, we may say something that we know is not true; but our expression reacts on our thoughts. Our own words then deceive us, and we come to believe what we once knew to be untrue. This principle has a great impact on every area of life, especially on marriage and family. If we exaggerate or distort something once, we tend to restate that exaggeration repeatedly each time embellishing it more and more until we can come to believe some really awful things that actually have little or no basis in fact. Even if there is some basis in fact, we must never exaggerate or distort that into more than it really is. To do so is to wreak havoc on our conscience and ultimately jeopardize our relationships, happiness and salvation.

A group of people might influence one another with exaggerated, distorted statements spoken in passionate anger. This is the dynamic of the mob mentality. By complaining and expressing a distorted view of reality, almost the entire population of Israel came to believe that Moses had led them into the wilderness to kill them — they were actually ready to stone him to death! (See Exodus 17:3-4)

Moses had dedicated his entire life to safely leading and protecting Israel. He had risked his life for them many times. After one of their great rebellions, he actually prayed that if God could not forgive them, he wanted his own name blotted out of the book of life too. That is how much he loved them. Imagine the horrible pain their ingratitude and betrayal must have brought to his heart.

Moses’ experience was similar to the experience Jesus had when He was betrayed and then accused and abused by a mob. Jesus was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3) Moses can sympathize with Jesus because he knows how it feels to love very deeply and to have the very ones you love turn on you with the intent to get rid of you. Perhaps that is why Revelation speaks of “the song of Moses . . . and the song of the Lamb.”(Revelation 15:3)

I repeat, every expression of a thought or feeling entrenches that thought or feeling more deeply within your heart and character. What you say with your mouth enters your own ears and more deeply confirms in your mind what you expressed with your words. How very important then, to always speak truth without exaggeration and without alteration.

When you speak truth, you strengthen your hold on reality. The firmer your grip on reality, the better equipped you are to make wise decisions that will lead to long-term life successes. On the other hand, you might knowingly tell a lie. Then pride requires that you justify the lie in order to silence your accusing conscience. You begin to believe your own lie and warp your view of reality.

The Bible is full of wise counsel to guard your tongue because of the powerful influence it has not only on others but also on yourself. The following are a few choice samplings of that good-sense advice. (Psalm 141:3; Proverbs 4:20-27; 10:11a; 13:2, 3; 14:3; 15:2, 14; 16:1-3, 21-25, 32; 18: 7; 21:23; Ecclesiastes 5:2, 6a; Job 34:3; Matthew 12:34-37; 15:18; Ephesians 4:29, 30; James 1:26)

This issue of guarding the tongue is especially relevant to me. I have a gift for words but along with that gift comes danger. I can easily convey a compelling message with my words and just as easily create unnecessary conflict or problems. Along with the gift comes added responsibility to use the gift in a way that redeems and doesn’t destroy. Even when I do my best I still sometimes wonder if I have said things the right way in a given situation. Sometimes when I write I need to confront a problem or person in a firm manner and yet I’m not always sure I have hit the “sweet spot” in my efforts. I’m sure I don’t bat 1,000. ☺ My introduction to chapter 15 is a good case in point. I used a good bit of satire there. I decided to let my confrontational writing there stand but with some reservations in my conscience. I pray that it will bear fruit for Jesus’ kingdom.

Responding to Temptation

Evil suggestions may come to you inadvertently, but they will not become rooted in your heart unless you toy with and caress them. Yes, it is actually possible to caress an evil thought in your heart — people do it every day. The things that you willingly choose to look at, recreate with, and listen to, whether good or evil, valuable or trivial, become wedded to your character.

The self-centered heart is unfit for citizenship in Christ’s eternal kingdom because that heart would be, as it were, a germ, a source of the same malignant cancer of selfishness that has brought so much heartache and suffering into this present world. You may believe that you “got saved” many years ago but if you are sleeping with your neighbor’s wife you are as lost as lost can be!

Have you considered that you can actually cooperate with God in the conversion and renewal of your own heart? Yes, you most certainly can and must! Please meditate upon the following Old Testament passage, which addresses both individual and corporate repentance and our role in helping to bring about that repentance:

“The day of the LORD [is] great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye [even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he [is] gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth [if] he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him? . . . Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.”(Joel 2: 11b-14a, 15-18)

As you seek God He impresses His attitude on your mind. As you begin to think God’s wholesome thoughts and behave in harmony with His spiritual ways, your brain begins to change. New habit patterns quickly develop in your organic brain. Your brain literally reconfigures itself, replacing bad habit patterns with new habit patterns that are good for you. Nevertheless, the old, bad tendencies, though recessive, still exist (through synaptic brain connections). This will remain so until you receive a new glorified body at the second coming of Jesus.

A well-known political consultant made a very simple observation about the human brain that applies here. After noting several old advertising slogans such as “Let your fingers do the walking”¹⁰and “Where’s the beef?,”^{11which we may not have heard in years, he points out that these phrases “hibernate for decades in some seldom-visited alcove of our minds — but it doesn’t take much for them to awaken and burst back into our consciousness.”12Unfortunately, this same principle also applies to the recordings of many harmful things embedded in the recesses of our minds. I long ago gave up the immoral lyrics of popular country and rock music. But I am forced to listen to them against my will as they blare out on the store speakers while navigating the isles of the local lumberyard or the department store, or even while I’m pumping gas or waiting on hold on the telephone. I make a conscious effort to ignore the songs, but I still sometimes find them bringing back old, better-forgotten memories that my brain associates them with.}

Like the message of an old song with a corrupting influence, as long as old, impure habit patterns exist, even in a weakened condition, they still pose a dangerous threat to your soul. Your old tendencies are always lurking in the background ready to reassert themselves and bring about your eternal ruin. You need a constant, unbroken infusion of God’s loving Spirit in order for you to maintain a noble heart and character. That infusion comes through Bible Study and simple direct prayer as you choose to take the high road in every situation.

“Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:14, 15)

“The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings. . . . Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou [art] my praise.”(Jeremiah 17: 9, 10, 14)

“I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”(Philippians 1:6 HCSB; See also Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 8:1-18; Ephesians 3:16-20)

Keep your focus on the words and ways of Jesus Christ. As you study His teachings and behavior and seek to copy Him, He will steadily transform you into His character likeness — this is your safety. In this manner, you will have perfect liberty under the pleasant boundaries of His protective Law.

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass [mirror]the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2^ndCorinthians 3:17, 18)

As we have already noted, every human heart has selfish tendencies by natural birth. Yet, if we ask in sincerity, God will begin a re-creative and redemptive process within our heart.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you.”(Ezekiel 36:26, 27a)

The “heart of flesh” mentioned in the above passage is a metaphor for a pliable heart that is willingly open to God’s Spirit. When God, by His Spirit, gives any person a new heart, that heart is given in an infant-like or untested state and must grow up to spiritual maturity. Jesus used the analogy of planting a kernel of grain to make this point.

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

This parable makes it clear that you cannot make yourself grow. God makes you grow as you cooperate. The farmer doesn’t know how the grain grows; he just knows that if he cooperates with the Unseen by planting, weeding, watering and cultivating the plant will grow and eventually bear fruit.

Have you ever gained victory over any sin? If so, you have evidence that you can be victorious over every sin. God is going to bring the whole world to a decision in the very near future. At that time, the “grain” will be ripe; He will have people living on this planet that have grown up to spiritual maturity and are ready to be harvested. Those people will have witnessed to the world through their preaching and example that God’s love can overcome human selfishness. Jesus then immediately returns and reaps His precious harvest.“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”(Matthew 24:14)

We cannot look deep inside a person and read the truest intents of the heart — only God can do that. He gazes intently upon our true inner self our true heart. His light is penetrating. God is “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. . . . all things [are] naked and opened unto the eyes of Him” who has the rightful jurisdiction over us to whom we must give an account.(Hebrews 4:12b, 13b)

At the end of each professing believer’s temporal life, God looks deep inside that person’s heart and takes inventory. He looks to see if that individual is sincere in his/her claims of loyalty to Him. If God sees that the heart is true, He retains the record of the claimant’s name “in the Lamb’s book of life.”(Revelation 21:27b; See also Revelation 3:5; 20:12) Yet, if He sees that the heart is not truly loyal to Him, to His Law of unselfish love, He strikes or blots out the individual’s name from the book. (See Exodus 32:33; Deuteronomy 29:18-20; Psalm 9:5; Proverbs 10:7)

There is no Limbo, no Purgatory, and no eternal life in hell for wicked people — this life is our only decision time. Death marks the close of human probation. The Bible makes no allowance for a second chance after death. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27; See also Ecclesiastes 9:4-10)

You are made “in the image of God.” (Genesis 1:27) Picture your body as a temple with a throne room. Your conscience resides in the throne room of the temple of your body. Its position in your forebrain, symbolizes the preeminent role that God designed it to play in the choices of your life.

Who you are at the very throne of your being determines whether God can safely retain your “name” in the book of life when your probationary time on earth ends. Where is your heart? Who or what has your affections and loyalties today? What if God were to say to you, “Behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.” “This night thy soul shall be required of thee”? (2^nd Corinthians 6:2b; Luke 12:20)

The Viking Marauder with the “soft heart” and “sanctified conscience” had the same fallen nature that you and I have; He was a dweller in corrupted human flesh with all of its sinful desires. God promises to deliver us from the dominance of this sinful flesh. Deliverance from the body of sin comes in two stages:

(1) God strengthens the spiritually minded person so that the sinful body does not control the will. And even if the Christian falters in a moment of weakness, all is not lost. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”(1^stJohn 2:1) ☻

(2) At the resurrection God will replace the fallen natural body with a new spiritually programmed body. The new body will be in harmony with the spiritual mind that the Christian has nurtured while struggling against the lawless desires of the natural body. The redeemed will not awaken to life with traces of sin’s corrupting effects in their new spiritual bodies. All deformities and effects of the curse of sin will be gone.

“So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural-[psuchikŏs] body; it is raised a spiritual-[pneumatikŏs] body. There is a natural- [psuchikŏs] body, and there is a spiritual-[pneumatikŏs] body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul-[psuche];the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit-[pneuma]. Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual-[pneumatikŏs], but that which is natural-[psuchikŏs]; and afterward that which is spiritual-[pneumatikŏs].”(1^stCorinthians 15:42-46)

This is perhaps the most authoritative passage in the New Testament, clearly contrasting the present fallen (psuchikŏs)body against the promised spiritual (pneumatikŏs) resurrection body. This passage contrasts the way Paul used psuche(soul) and pneuma(spirit) in his writings. Please note that Paul was careful not to confuse or mislead his readers. Paul did not want his Gentile converts to believe that there is anything inherently immortal in human nature. Therefore, as Samuel Bacchiocchi points out, Paul

never uses the term soul – psyche to denote the life that survives death. On the contrary, he identifies the soul with our physical organism (psychikon ) which is subject to the law of sin and death (1 Cor 15:44). To ensure that his Gentile converts understood that there is nothing inherently immortal in human nature, Paul uses the term ‘spirit – pneuma’ to describe the new life in Christ which the believer receives wholly as a gift of God’s Spirit both now and at the resurrection.¹³

Shouldn’t we be as careful as Paul not to blur these two terms in our Biblical explanations? Paul never uses the word soul (psuche) to claim that a conscious bodiless entity survives the death of the body. Instead, he identifies the soul with our physical organism (psuchik ŏs sōma). The physical organism is subject to death; the soul is subject to death.

Now we will look at part b. of 1^st Corinthians 15:45 which says, ‘the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.”“Quick” is an archaic English term meaning living or alive. To quicken something is to give something life. Quickening spirit means life-giving spirit. So “the last Adam”(Jesus Christ) is a life-giving Spirit.

The spiritual body that Jesus rose from the tomb with was a very real physical body which He carried with Him into the highest heaven, there to represent us before the Father. “For in him dwelleth-[katoikeo]all the fullness of the Godhead bodily-[somatikos].” (Colossians 2:9) That word “dwelleth,” literally means to house permanently, and “bodily” means exactly what it says — bodily! The Bible is unmistakably teaching that Jesus has a permanent human body. (See also John 20:1-29) (That text destroys the Jehovah’s Witness heresy, which claims that Jesus is an eternal spirit without a body.) The spiritual aspect of resurrected human bodies then does not indicate that they are non-physical, but that they are not corruptible. Therefore, when Paul says in 1^st Corinthians 15:50 that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” he is not saying that we won’t have real bodies at the resurrection, but only that those bodies won’t be subject to corruption like our present sin-corrupted bodies.

In the resurrection, God will reinstate the faithful to a condition of Edenic harmony between the body and the mind. Mind and body will be spiritually “in tune” with one another. If you are among the redeemed, there will be no more internal conflict within your human soul! Your wholistic soul (mind and body) will be spiritually in tune with God and His principles. You will have a noble spiritual influence on renewed society for all eternity thereafter with no corrupted physical resistance factor hindering you. The entire population of that new society will have an equally positive influence on you as well. I can hardly wait to enter into the realm of such high civilization!

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