6 Foundations for Intimacy with God - Week Two, Our Spiritual Make-up

by Barbara Latta

We are spirit beings.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

This verse clearly tells us we are three part beings. Being made in the image of God means we are spirit beings living in a body and we have a mind.

Spirit

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This verse tells us that because Jesus took our sin upon Himself, we are now given His righteousness.

But sometimes, and maybe most of the time, we don’t feel righteous. We reason that because we have done this and that or not done what we are supposed to, then we are not in right standing with God, which is what the word righteousness means. We do not attain righteousness by what we do, we are made righteous by what Christ did.

The inner circle is our spirit, middle our soul, and outer one is our body.

When we are born again, the sin nature we were born with is what becomes new. Our spirit becomes alive and is exchanged for the spirit of Christ. Everything Christ is becomes deposited into our spirit. I John 4:17 tells us as Jesus is so we are in this world.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Soul

If we are righteous, then why do we still sin? Because our minds are not renewed. Old habits have taken root and renewing our minds with the Word of God brings what has been deposited into our spirits through our minds and body. The more the scriptures become a stronghold in our thinking, the more our behavior changes. (Romans 12:1-2)

Picture a target with three circles. The inner circle is our spirit, middle is our soul, and the outer one is our body. 

The nature of God inside our spirit gets released into our minds and physical being by acting on faith in the Word He gives us.  We can’t feel our spirit like we can our soul or body so we must believe by faith that when we accept Christ we are made new, like the Word says. But our soul, or mind, can get in the way because of the way we think and faith is hindered.

Body

Our body is self-explanatory and we know what we can feel. We are the temple of God and

Renewing our minds brings faith in the Word.

He wants us to take care of our physical being. When we are tired, run-down or sick we cannot carry out His will.

Bringing the gifts God has deposited into our spirit through our mind to our body will keep us strong and healthy and able to glorify God in our deeds.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).

Having a true knowledge of who we are will keep us from falling into the trap of condemnation when we do sin. We can stand against accusations from the enemy by knowing we are truly righteous because of what Jesus did.

What are your thoughts? Join the conversation.