Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
The soul is an integral part of our makeup. It is very vital because the state of our souls at the time of death or rapture is what will determine our destination in eternity.
We see in the scriptures that man is a spirit being living in a physical body and having a soul. In Genesis 2:7, the Bible says, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. This suggests that the body was useless until the breath of God entered to make us living souls. It was the fusion or intermingling of the body and spirit that gave rise to the soul. So it’s looking like the soul is the middle man between body and spirit. It’s just like in science when we have a mix of an acid and a base, salt is produced. So when body and spirit came together, a soul emanated. Based on the scripture above, there was the body, composed of the dust of the ground and the breath of God was His Spirit in us that produced a certain kind of soul. However, this original state of our soul was corrupted because of sin.
The Bible makes it clear that the flesh, also the body, is in constant war with the Spirit. Galatians 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. Whoever wins this battle takes over the soul. The soul is where decision-making occurs because it’s our mindset and emotions that fuel the choices we make. Hence, whatever the soul decides will be based on the stronger of the two: Spirit and body.
Romans 6:19b Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. So we decide who takes over, thus the flesh or the Spirit of God in our spirit. When two people are fighting over a lover, each of them wants the person because of that person’s value. Our soul is valuable because it is the very breath of God in us that brought about a living soul. No wonder, the devil also wants a share in it.
How do we then strengthen the spirit to win and influence the decisions made by the soul? By feeding it. Of these two, which are the body and spirit, the one you feed the most influences the soul. Our human spirit will thrive on prayer and the Word. That’s how it’s made stronger than the flesh. This is why activities like fasting, giving, and sexual purity help tame the flesh.
There are two effects produced on the soul depending on what we allow to rule us; whether the flesh or the Spirit. They are life or death. Romans 6:23 says; For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Remember that we were living souls by the breath of God, but sin brought death to our souls. However, our acceptance of Jesus would bring us back to that state of life. 1 Peter 1:22 ‘Seeing ye have purified your souls through obedience to the Spirit….’ Hence, our souls are purified through obedience to the Spirit and then corruption of the soul occurs when we do otherwise.
A point worthy of notice is that the soul remains after everything. Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it. The soul faces judgment. 1 Peter 1:9 For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. So the point of faith in Christ is to secure the salvation of our souls. If the body ruled us, it means we focused more on the temporal than the eternal. So we see that the body that has the inclination to do wrong will lead a person and be nowhere to be found on the day of account. This hit me hard.
It’s up to us to determine who wins this battle between the flesh and the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has been given as a helper to live the way that would give us eternal benefits instead of eternal damnation. Philippians 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
God works in us by His Spirit to meet His standards because, in our own flesh, we can’t meet them.
The scripture also emphasized working out our salvation. So once we receive Christ, there’s an instant change of spirit and we are now one with Christ but the change in soul is not instant, it’s gradual so we work it out. Not work for, because Jesus has already worked for our salvation. This is working out which suggests enforcing what has been worked in us after receiving Christ. In other words, bring out what has been put in. This means everything we are doing in nurturing our relationship with God is just to bring to physical manifestation what was spiritually done for us or to bring to the earth realm what was made available to us in heavenly places. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
The Word In Clarity 