Man is spirit, soul and body.
The body ages, dies and returns to dust.
The soul is comprised of the will, intellect and emotions, as well as reason, imaginations, and affections.
The spirit is the eternal life from God that makes the soul a living being.
The spirit of man is the eternal man. The body of man is the temporal man. The soul of man is his personality.
The soul’s personality will either taste like the body or like the spirit, depending on which one influences the soul the most.
As clothes define the body of man, the soul defines the spirit of man.
In the Old Testament, the priests ministering in the Tabernacle had to clothe themselves with specific garments designed for the duties of the priesthood. Before they could put these priestly garments on, they had to wash and cleanse their bodies. They then had to wash and cleanse their minds. Only then were they allowed to dress their bodies in the pureness of priestly apparel.
If they failed to do this, they could be killed while trying to minister the Holy sacrifices before a Holy God. When all was in purity and Divine order, God would make His Presence known by a manifestation of Fire, turning to a Cloud of Mercy. This took place in the Holy of Holies, upon the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, on the Day of Atonement.
The sacrifice was only accepted when the body and soul were aligned with the teachings of the Law. If one point of the Law was not followed, the sacrifice was not accepted, the High Priest died, and the sins of Israel were not forgiven.
Paul taught the Galations that Christ became the fulfillment of the Law to those who believe in His death, burial and resurrection. Christ fulfilled the Law. Christ became the Lamb, the Scapegoat, and the righteousness of the Law for us.
Luther started the Reformation with the book of Galations when he read that we are justified by Faith and not by works. Luther was upset that the church was trying to work and buy their way into heaven.
The Galations, as well as the Protestant Movement, fell back into trying to keep rules and regulations, while mixing it all with faith in Christ.
Paul wanted to know who had cast a spell on the Galations; who had bewitched them to cause them to so easily be deceived into going back to serving different Gospel than what He had preached to them.
The Gospel that Paul taught is recorded in I Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verses one through four.
Today the devil is corrupting the Gospel of Christ with New Age and Occult teachings; making Christ into anything one desires Him to be, as long as He is not the Son of God and Lord of their lives.
Christians today are able to profess the Justification of Christ, while clothing themselves with impure garments over their defiled bodies and souls.
Paul says that even if an angel preaches a different Gospel from that which he has preached, they should be accursed. There are many angels today who are nothing more than demons of darkness teaching another Gospel and another Christ.
Paul was able to practice some of the character of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ lived in his heart, and by bringing his body and soul into subjection to His teachings. Even the great Apostle Paul had his moods and temper tantrums, for no man can fully imitate the perfectness of Christ.
Under the Law no man could be justified; for all men broke one or more of the Ten Commandments, over and over again. Only the annual Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement sacrifice was able to forgive those sins.
Christ fulfilled the Law as the only one who was ever able to keep the teachings of the Law of Moses. Only by deciding to obey His Spirit living in our Spirits, can we begin to bring forth the Fruit of His Spirit into our hearts and souls.
When we decide with our will to imagine and reason that we can live for God in the strength of our flesh and mind, we bring forth the works of the flesh. We substitute rules and regulations to show how holy we can be compared to others, instead of allowing Christ to separate us unto His teachings by a desire to be in close fellowship with His Spirit.
Paul says we reap from where we sow. The Fruit of the Spirit comes from Christ and results in humility and the attitude of a servant. The works of the flesh come from desiring the things of this world and results in self-righteousness and exaltation of self over others.
Grace has given us Spiritual Freedom. We use this freedom not as a license to sin, but as an authority to command the flesh to obey what is eternally good for our soul and what pleases our Lord.
A driver’s license gives you authority to drive a vehicle on public roadways lawfully. It doesn’t give you the right to drive through red lights and stop signs. If used correctly, you have a good driving record and lower insurance premiums,(supposedly). If used incorrectly, your driving record is tarnished; and it will take several years of lawful driving before your records are purged of infractions.
How many years of unlawful living have we accumulated? How tarnished is our heavenly driving record? Jesus is ready to purge our files as we yield to His teachings for our life.
Human nature follows the desires of a human heart and soul, while reaping guilt and shame.
The desires of the heart need changed. The only power to change the human heart is Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
Man insists on trying to be good enough, by being kind and loving, and practicing good deeds. But whatever comes forth from the flesh is still flesh; and falls short of the righteousness of God.
Only by infusing our spirits with the power of Christ’s Spirit can our carnal soul, heart, and mind be transformed and renewed into a Spiritual Man that bears the fruit of Christ.
My body is aging and dying. One day this flesh shall go back to dust from whence it came. Christ will put all those deteriorated cells back together again; transforming it into a body like unto His at His coming. This is our hope, and His victory over death and hell.
My soul is carnal and has extreme hatred toward the things of God. It cannot please God because it is impure and defiled with desires for this world. If left to itself it will dictate to my flesh to do that which feeds its ego and desire to be its own god.
My spirit is dead to the things of God until I awake it from sleep by accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and asking Him to empower me with His Holy Spirit.
Once His Spirit fills my human spirit, He gives power to influence the soul to yield to His desires. I begin to think spiritually in agreement with His Word. I begin to feel peace, joy, contentment, and purpose while in His Presence. I find rest for my soul and security and assurance in my sleep; knowing that He is with me and will never leave me alone.
I become a New Man, a New Creation. My carnal mind is transformed and renewed after the knowledge of Him and His Word. He grants spiritual understanding and wisdom in the knowledge of Him. The Spirit and Life of His living Word becomes a spiritual river of water that cleanses not only my body, but my soul, on a daily basis. (John 7:38 & Ephesians 5:26) The closer I draw to Him through prayer, reading His Word, obeying His teachings, the easier His Fruit flows from His Vine into my branches.
Today we are professing Christians without the fruit of Christ; because we have not set ourselves apart to serve Him above all else. Our garments are stained with the sins of this flesh. Our bodies and souls are impure from being fed scraps from the world’s pig pen. We are stressed and weary of soul and body from the cares of this life and its broken relationships. The shame and guilt condemn us in our secret places, while we put on a smile to hide it from all around us.
We need to separate ourselves from false teachings about Christ. The New Age, the Occult, and Atheism all attack the validity of the Bible, and the purity and Divinity of Christ, while making fun of Christians for their beliefs. They do this to justify their ungodly lifestyles, blaming it on a society that will not recognize their rights to do their own thing, and on fundamentalists who insist that the Bible is the Word of God and Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.
Unfortunately, we have given them reason to doubt, by our lukewarm and double-standard Christianity. It is time to change and take back what we know is truth.
We need to repent for corrupting the teachings of Christ, and not dedicating our time to prayer, reading and testifying of what He has done for us. We need to rededicate our lives to the only true God, Jesus Christ, and allow Him to fill us anew with His Power to bear the fruit of His Vine before the world.
We need to allow our souls and hearts to be clothed with His purity and Holiness in restored personal fellowship again.
The world needs revival and a new outpouring of His Holy Spirit; a holy fire that will burn out the impurities from the hearts of those who will believe in Him. May the Lord give us all hearts of flesh, whereon He can write His teachings and cause the hearts of all to know Him from sea to sea.
Let the church repent, bow down in intercession, and rise up with new countenances that will allow all to see and know that we have been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)
Isaiah 61:3, “and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
A wooden bucket used to draw water from a forty foot deep well only allows you to taste the purity of the water as long as the bucket is dipped continually in the well. If the bucket is allowed to soak in the atmosphere of the Sun and air, it will dry out and begin to taste like the bucket itself. But if the bucket is used on a daily basis to draw water from the depths of the well, it will always taste like the cool refreshing water. Those who drink from it will never taste the flavor of the bucket.
What does your soul taste like? Jesus is the well, as He taught the Samaritan woman. Nothing else will satisfy the soul and nothing else will taste of eternal life. Ask Him to come into your heart today, all over again.