Gen 6/76; 11/19/72
A. The Essence of the Soul.
1. Self-consciousness. Man is aware of his own existence and is able to relate to both animate and inanimate life on earth, Acts 20:10. Animals have consciousness, but not self-consciousness.
2. Mentality. Self-consciousness is no good without mentality. This is the thinking part of man and is composed of two parts.
a. The mind or left lobe of the soul.
b. The heart or right lobe of the soul contains the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, norms and standards, and launching pad for application of knowledge to life.
c. Rom 1:20-22 and Prov 19:2 teach that all thought originates in these two lobes. The soul is the source of all basic sin. It is the battleground between the old sin nature and the Holy Spirit, Mt 10:28; Eph 4:17-19; Ps 143.
3. Volition. Man has the ability to be negative or positive to anything in life. This is why man was created to resolve the angelic conflict.
4. Emotion, Lk 12:19. This is the appreciator of the soul. Emotion responds or reacts to whatever thoughts are in the soul. Normally the emotion is dominated by the right lobe of the soul.
5. Conscience. This is the evaluator of the soul. It contains the norms and standards, Acts 24:16.
6. The old sin nature is not part of the soul. It is genetically formed in every cell of the body. It battles for control of the soul through sin, human good and evil. Because we have an old sin nature, we are said to be totally depraved. Without Bible doctrine in the soul, you tend to run loose with your old sin nature’s area of strength and link this activity with pride. Therefore you use your mentality to say you are something you are not. You set up your system of standards and compare yourself to others to further your pride.
B. The soul must be distinguished from the human spirit.
1. Originally man was trichotomous, having a body, soul, and spirit, Gen 2:7.
2. After the fall, man is born dichotomous, having only a body and soul, 1 Cor 2:14; Jude 19.
3. The believer, however, is said to have a body, soul, and spirit, 1 Thes 5:23. The human spirit is regenerated by God the Holy Spirit at salvation.
C. Only the soul, not the body, is saved at the point of regeneration, Ps 19:7, 34:22; Mk 8:36-37; 1 Pet 1:9; Heb 10:39.
1. Therefore, there is no “healing in the atonement.” The body is not saved because the old sin nature resides there. In eternity the soul is given a perfect body minus an old sin nature or any human good.
2. To have a soul, a human spirit, and a resurrection body is strictly a matter of grace.
3. Those in eternity who glorify God will be those who had maximum Bible doctrine in the soul during time.
D. Only the soul, not the body, was made in the image of God, Gen 1:26-27 cf Gen 2:7. God is not material but spiritual.
E. The soul is the area of the worse sins which are mental attitude sins, Job 21:25; Zech 11:8.
1. The content of the soul is seen when a person speaks. What you truly are is only revealed when you speak.
2. Sins of the tongue reveal mental attitude sins. If you are guilty, arrogant, bitter, or full of revenge, you will talk a certain way that reveals the content of your soul.
3. Therefore, the soul sponsors all overt sins and sins of the tongue.
F. The soul becomes the seat of misery because of scar tissue of the soul, Ps 6:3, 106:15; 119:25, 28, 81.
G. The soul is the area for all capacities, good or bad. Inside the divine dynasphere, the mature believer has maximum capacity for life, love and happiness. Inside the cosmic system, the reversionist has maximum capacity for sin, human good, evil, and self-induced misery, 1 Sam 18:1; 1 Pet 1:22.
H. In physical death, the soul departs from the body, Job 27:8; Ps 16:10; 2 Cor 5:8. ________________________________________________________________________
© 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.
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