Salvation
Each human being is a body, soul and a spirit. That is how God created each one of us. Moses writes, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
Our body was formed of the dust of the ground, and is sustained by that which grows up from the ground. With our body we are in contact with everything that has been created.
In the beginning, God breathed the spirit of life into man’s nostrils. With our spirit we are in contact with God. Man didn’t become a living soul until the spirit entered his body. The soul is our life – the result of the union of body and spirit. With our soul we are in contact with people.
Separated from God
The original intent of God was that man would lead by His spirit in union with our spirit. But Satan interfered with our union with God and caused man to disobey God and thus disconnect from God. Disobedience or Sin is anything that separates man (us) from obedience to God’s will.
Moses tells the story of how man fail, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:1-6)
It was the lusts of life that caused man to be lured in by Satan. John enumerates the lust by which Satan temps mankind. The Apostle John foretells, “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:16)
With fruit of the tree forbidden of man to eat, Satan tempted Eve and in turn Adam. Verse 5 states, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, – this is the pride of life – to be like a god. Verse 6 reads, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food – this is the lust of the flesh.” And, Verse 6 continued, – “and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.” – This is the lust of the eye.
The body is supposed to be an instrument of the spirit in the service of God. But with Pride and Lusts, the body takes the lead and leads the soul and spirit away from God.
The consequence of Adam’s disobedience was separation from God. The spirit in man became a slave to the lusts of the flesh. The fruit of pride and lusts are the under-pending of all the corruption we see in the world. The corruption is in the world through lust.
Peter writes, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. “ (2 Peter 1: 3,4)
Peter goes on and adds that the measure by which we protect ourselves from the lusts of the world. He states, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” (2 peter 1:5-7)
Never-ending emptiness
The body took over the leadership of man’s life. Thus man (meaning both male and female) being earthly by nature became carnal and lost the necessary leadership of the spirit. Man lusts after the things that have been created, and naturally worship the greatness of things in this world.
Our soul – our physical life – revolves around visible things. The truth is that man is in a restless state, and suffers under an emptiness of this world, for his spirit can never be content or satisfied by the things that have been created.
God has not forsaken Us
God has not left us to ourselves in this state! James writes, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? (James 4: 4,5)
Spiritually minded
It is possible, through the light of the gospel, to be converted to God. Instead of loving our lusts, we can act according to Salvation which we have in Jesus. Luke records, “And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Luke 9:22)
Jesus has done his part for our Salvation. Now we must do our part, and do it continuously. “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9: 23)
By denying ourselves of worldly lusts and foolish pride, our spirit is delivered from the sin in the flesh, and we enter into fellowship with God. And then, as we start to nourish ourselves with God’s Word, we receive strength to discipline our body and bring it into the subjection of obedience.
Paul explains the purpose of living godly lives, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9: 24-27)
As a result, we become spiritual and have our life – our soul – in the heavenly places. We will start to get a sense for invisible things, which are eternal. We come out of that restless state of corruptible emptiness and into incorruptible treasures of life that give our spirit purpose and rest.
We actually get a foretaste of heaven in our soul. The perfect liberation of the soul from that corruptible emptiness is the end of our faith. Peter states, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,” (1 Peter 1:3,4)
The result of having a whole life (Salvation) with God is explain by Peter as, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8,9)
A calling to fulfill
When His disciples asked him to teach them to pray, Jesus taught them (us) to pray: “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
Jesus fulfilled this prayer in the days of His flesh. Paul reminds us that when Jesus came into the world, “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am it is written about me in the scroll I have come to do your will, my God.’” (Hebrews 10:5-7)
We, too, have a calling to fulfill. We have also received a body. If our body is presented as a living, holy, acceptable sacrifice to God, then we spread God’s kingdom. We receive God’s will through our spirit, and we carry it out with our body. The fruit of this co-operation is a heavenly life, a saved soul.
Death shall have no power
Jesus explains the power of obedience as it pertains to our lives. He says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (Matthew 6:25)
Jesus teaches us that Life and the abundance of life is in God and not in material or physical things. He explains the method of proper sowing and reaping when he says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
Jesus teaches us that heathens seek what the body needs, so do animals. For these are the concerns of heathens and animals.
But we must live differently. We must keep the nourishment and well being of our spirit in mind. We must seek God’s kingdom first! If we do this, then God will provide for our body. If we do this, we are saved from all the anxiety that plagues the world.
This deliverance of the spirit from sin in the flesh is a Resurrection. And only those who partake of this salvation will have a part in the first resurrection. John the Revelator, while on the isle of Patmos, wrote as commanded, “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)
We are saved by grace, we cannot earn salvation, but we must be one with God. So Paul writes: “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.” (1Thessalonians 5:23)
What Paul is saying, May God Separate – Set Apart – Sanctify – You living and life that you may be kept blameless. And he puts the order of man as Spirit, Soul and then Body. Meaning we must be lead by the Spirit.
Dr. Colbert says
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