1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the opening verse of scripture, Paul was praying that the spirit, soul, and body of God’s people be kept blameless at Christ’s coming. 1 John 4:13 says, This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. The moment we accept Jesus into our lives as Lord and Savior, we have received His Spirit which makes us new creatures.
We first had a human spirit that was corrupted by the disobedience of one man but now we have been made new in spirit. The newness in spirit did not take away the past experiences and traditions that have shaped who we are. The things we were taught by our parents, society, teachers, or even friends are still with us. And this gives me the impression that salvation does not end with a renewed spirit. There is more.
Most people say a soul is the spiritual aspect of a person but it’s not just that. It involves the emotional and intellectual aspects of a person as well. In looking at a saved soul, it is vital to understand all the aspects of the soul of a person. The soul comprises the mind, will, and emotions of a person. The mind is the seat of our thoughts, our will is the seat of our intellect which determines our choices, and our emotions are our reactions to what happens around us. So what characterizes a saved soul?
First, let’s take a look at the mind, the seat of our thoughts. Everything begins from this point. Proverbs 23:7 says As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. This means that we are a product of our thoughts. Whatever we imagine, we become. Apart from our spirit man receiving life, our mind needs renewal and that is why we are admonished in Romans 12:2 not to conform to the standards of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. After being born again, the mindset we built over the years still remains but to complete the process of salvation while we are on earth, the mind must be renewed because we are now in a different system which necessitates a different way of thinking. Philippians 4:8 gives us a template of what to think on and in Joshua 1:8, we are to meditate on God’s Word. All these are to rid us of the old mindset and expose us to God’s thoughts on life’s issues. So when our minds are renewed daily, we have completed the first aspect of the salvation of the soul.
The second concept is the will. Your will is that inherent power to decide. It is the seat of intellect. Intellect has to do with your reasoning. Before you make a decision, you reason it out to see if the choice will make sense or not. God has given us free will to make choices concerning our lives based on Deuteronomy 30:19. Jesus said in John 4:34 that His food was to do the will of the Father who sent Him. This means that Jesus had to forgo His own desires and plans to fulfill God’s purpose. The state of your mind determines the choices you make and that is why I stated earlier that it all begins in the mind. A saved soul also has subjected its will to God’s will, thus making decisions based on what God says.
The third is emotion. Emotions are expressions of how we feel. Your emotions are a revelation of your reaction to life’s situations. The fruit of the spirit is what we need to replace ungodly emotions. The fruit of the spirit is the expression of God’s character in a Christian. Fruits are evidence of what was sown. If I see an apple fruit on a tree, I can easily tell that the seed sown years ago, was an apple seed. In the same way, your emotions will be based on what you sow into your mind. Again, the mind is a determinant of our emotions. Isaiah 26:3 says, You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You Because he trusts in You. So what you fix your mind on, determines your emotions. If you fix your mind on offenses, you will be full of hate that opposes God’s love. Peace here is a fruit of the spirit according to Galatians 5:22-23. Love is also a fruit. Romans 8:6 says, For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Philippians 4:8- 9 summarises all three for me. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
The first part addresses the mind – thoughts. Then He says what you learned from me put to practice -that is the will. You decide to take action or not. After that, the God of peace – a fruit of the spirit.
In conclusion, a saved soul is a mind renewed daily, a will that is submerged in God’s will and emotions controlled by the fruit of the spirit.
The Word In Clarity 