THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews
Message Two—The Dividing of Soul and Spirit
Scripture Reading: Heb. 3:12-13; 4:1-2, 12-13
I. We need to beware of having an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God—Heb. 3:12-13:
A. Unbelief is so evil because it insults the living, faithful, and almighty God, preventing us from entering into Christ as our Sabbath rest—Heb. 3:10, 19; Psa. 103:7.
B. Although God is living and faithful, the evil heart is hardened against Him, and its unbelief causes us to turn away from Him—Heb. 3:7-8, 12.
C. Nothing honors God more than our belief, and nothing dishonors and insults Him more than our unbelief—Num. 13:31-33; 14:7-9, 24, 30.
D. In order to be people of faith who are well pleasing to God, we need to exercise our spirit of faith and keep our hearts turned to the Lord, looking away to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith—Heb. 11:6; 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:13.
II. “The word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart”—Heb. 4:12:
A. The children of Israel are a type of us, the New Testament believers (1 Cor. 10:6a, 11), in our participation in the full salvation of God:
1. In the first stage we receive Christ and are redeemed and delivered from the world just as the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt.
2. In the second stage we become wanderers in following the Lord, just as the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness; our wandering always takes place in our soul.
3. In the third stage we partake of and enjoy Christ in a full way, just as the children of Israel partook of and enjoyed the riches of the good land; this is experienced in our spirit.
3. The Hebrew believers were wondering in their mind what to do with their Hebrew religion, and this wondering in their mind was a wandering in their soul, not an experience of Christ in their spirit.
B. The writer of the book of Hebrews advised the Hebrew believers not to stagger in the wandering of their soul but to press on into their spirit to partake of and to enjoy the heavenly Christ:
1. The very Christ who is sitting on the throne in heaven (Rom. 8:34) is also now in us (Rom. 8:10), that is, in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), where the habitation of God is (Eph. 2:22).
2. At Bethel, the house of God, the habitation of God, which is the gate of heaven, Christ is the ladder that joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth—Gen. 28:12-17, John 1:51.
3. Since today our spirit is the place of God’s habitation, it is now the gate of heaven, where Christ is the ladder that joins us, the people on earth, to heaven, and brings heaven to us.
4. Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter through the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder—Heb. 4:16.
5. The staggering Hebrew believers were wandering in their soul and had neglected their spirit, but the new testament is absolutely a matter in our spirit, not in our soul—Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; Gal. 6:18.
C. The Hebrew believers’ soul, with its wondering mind, its doubting concerning God’s way of salvation, and its considering of its own interests, had to be broken by the living, operative, and piercing word of God that their spirit might be divided from their soul—Heb. 4:12:
1. As the marrow is concealed deep in the joints, so the spirit is deep in the soul—Psa. 51:6; 1 Pet. 3:4.
2. Just as the dividing of the marrow from the joints requires mainly the breaking of the joints, the dividing of the spirit from the soul requires the breaking of the soul.
D. Whenever we read the Bible, it must be living, energizing, and sharp enough to divide our soul from our spirit and discern our thoughts and intentions, revealing which are of and for the self and which are of and for God—Heb. 4:12:
1. We must mix the word with faith by means of all prayer in spirit in order for it to be living and operative—Heb. 4:2; Eph. 6:17-18.
2. The living word of God must pierce into our being and deliver us from our wondering mind and wandering soul into Christ as the Sabbath rest in our spirit.
a. The knowledge of the truth does not come from a daily self-examination; there is no spiritual value to constantly asking ourselves whether we are of the spirit or the soul.
b. All we have to do is allow God’s word to shine within us. This word is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is so sharp that it can pierce through bones. Once this word comes in, we will immediately know what is of the soul and what is of the spirit.
E. We do not acquire this discerning power through a process of learning, but through inward enlightenment. Our hope before the Lord is that His word will come in, shine, and show us the part of our personal life and work that is soulish and the part that is spiritual.
III. May the Lord be gracious to us and grant us inward light, so that we have an inward seeing and an inward discernment. Discerning the spirit from the soul is the foundation of Christian discernment.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE PARTS OF MAN
This brings us to the parts of man. This is covered adequately in the book The Economy of God and the booklet The Parts of Man.
Body
Our body is our outward organ by which we contact the outward, physical world. It is composed of all its members and is signified in 4:12 by the joints and marrow.
Soul
The soul is our very self. This is proved by comparing Matthew 16:26 with Luke 9:25. Matthew 16:26 says, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Luke 9:25 says, “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Here we see that our soul is simply our self, our being, our personality. In following the Lord, we must deny our soul, our self (Matt. 16:24; Luke 9:23).
Our soul is composed of the mind, the will, and the emotion. Proverbs 2:10 suggests that the soul needs knowledge. Since knowledge is a function of the mind, this proves that the mind is a part of the soul. Then Psalm 139:14 says that the soul knows. Knowing is a function of the mind, which again proves that the mind is a part of the soul. Psalm 13:2 says the soul considers, or counsels, which refers to the mind. Lamentations 3:20 indicates that remembrance is of the soul. From these verses we can see that there is a part in the soul which knows, considers, and remembers. This part is the mind.
The second part of the soul is the will. Job 7:15 says the soul chooses. Choosing is a decision made by an act of the will. This proves that the will must be a part of the soul. Job 6:7 says the soul refuses. To choose and refuse are both functions of the will. First Chronicles 22:19 says, “Set your soul to seek.” Just as we set our minds to think, so we set our souls to seek. This is, of course, the soul making a decision, which proves that the will must be a part of the soul. Psalm 27:12; 41:2, and Ezekiel 16:27 translate the Hebrew word soul into will. The prayer made by the psalmist is, “Do not deliver me to the will of the enemy.” In the original it means, “Do not deliver me to the soul of the enemy.” This proves clearly that the will must be a part of the soul.
The emotion is the third part of the soul. With the emotion there are many aspects: love, hate, joy, grief, etc. References to love are found in 1 Samuel 18:1, Song of Songs 1:7, and Psalm 42:1. These verses show that love is something in the soul, proving, therefore, that within the soul there is such an organ or function as the emotion.
Spirit
As the body is our outward organ to contact the physical world, the spirit is our inward organ to contact God (Zech. 12:1; Job 32:8; Prov. 20:27; John 4:24; Rom. 1:9; Ezek. 36:26). We are a being, a soul, with two organs—the body outwardly and the spirit inwardly. The spirit is a complete unit composed of three parts or functions: conscience, fellowship, and intuition. We are all familiar with the function of the conscience, which is to perceive right from wrong and to condemn or justify. It is also easy to comprehend the fellowship. The fellowship is our communion with God. Within our spirit we have a function which makes it possible for us to contact God. It is not very easy, however, to understand the intuition. Intuition means to have a direct sense or knowledge. There is such a direct sense in our spirit, regardless of reason, circumstances, or background. Intuition is a direct sense of God and a direct knowledge from God. Thus, the spirit is known by the conscience, the fellowship, and the intuition.
That the conscience is a part of the spirit is proved by comparing Romans 9:1 with Romans 8:16. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit. On the other hand, our conscience bears witness with the Holy Spirit. This proves that the conscience must be a function of our spirit. Psalm 51:10 speaks of “a right spirit within me”—that is, a spirit which is right. Since knowing right from wrong is related to the conscience, this verse also proves that the conscience is in the spirit.
What is the scriptural ground for saying that the fellowship is in the spirit? John 4:24 says that we must worship God in our spirit. To worship God is to contact God and fellowship with Him, proving that the function of worship or fellowship is in our spirit. In Romans 1:9 the Apostle Paul says, “I serve God with my spirit.” To serve God is also a type of fellowship with God. This also proves that the organ for fellowship is in our spirit. Luke 1:47 says, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God,” meaning that the human spirit has contacted God. Once again, fellowship with God is a function in the spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” Real fellowship means that we become one spirit with the Lord. This fellowship is in the spirit.
How about the intuition? First Corinthians 2:11 reveals that the spirit of man can know what the soul cannot. This proves that something extra is in our spirit. Our soul can know things by reason and by circumstantial experiences, but the human spirit can discern things without these. This direct sense shows that the intuition is in our spirit. Mark 2:8 says that the Lord perceived in His spirit. To perceive in our spirit comes from a direct sense of discernment which is not dependent upon reason. This is the intuition, the third function of our spirit. Therefore, we do have the scriptural ground for saying that the conscience, fellowship, and intuition are the three functions of the human spirit.
Our spirit is the deepest part of our being, a spiritual organ by which we contact God. It is in our spirit that we are regenerated (John 3:6). It is in our spirit that the Holy Spirit dwells and works (Rom. 8:16). It is in our spirit that we enjoy Christ in His grace (2 Tim. 4:22; Gal. 6:18). Hence, the writer of the book of Hebrews advised the Hebrew believers not to stagger in the wandering of their soul, but to press on into their spirit to partake of and to enjoy the heavenly Christ.
Heart
Our spirit is the organ by which we contact God, while our heart is the organ by which we love God (Mark 12:30). Our spirit contacts, receives, contains, and experiences God. However, it requires that our heart love God first.
The heart is not a separate part in addition to the soul and the spirit, but rather a composition of all the parts of the soul plus the conscience, the first part of the spirit. It is composed of the conscience, the mind for thoughts, the will for intents, and the emotion. Man does not have more than three main parts in his whole being. As a human being, we have a body, a soul, and a spirit. We do not have a fourth and separate part called the heart.
What is the scriptural ground for saying that the mind, will, emotion, and conscience compose the heart? Hebrews 4:12 and Genesis 6:5 speak of the thoughts of the heart. Since thoughts are in the mind, the mind must be a part of the heart. That the will is a part of the heart is proved by Acts 11:23, which speaks of “purpose of heart” or “purpose in the heart.” Purpose is a function of the will, showing that the will is also part of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the intents of the heart. The intents correspond to the purposes, which are of the will. This again proves that the will is part of the heart. John 16:22 says that the heart rejoices. To rejoice is surely an element of the emotion in our soul, but here we are told that the heart rejoices. Therefore, the emotion is also part of the heart. In John 16:6 the Lord speaks of sorrow filling the disciples’ hearts, again proving that emotion is found in the heart. Concerning the conscience, Hebrews 10:22 says that our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience. The conscience has much to do with the heart. If we would have a pure heart, we must have a conscience that is without offense. Our conscience must be sprinkled in order that we might have a pure heart. First John 3:20, which speaks of our heart condemning us, also proves this. Since to condemn is a function of the conscience, this verse proves that the conscience is undoubtedly a part of the heart. Thus we have adequate scriptural ground to prove that the three parts of the soul and the first part of the spirit compose the heart.
MAN’S THREE PARTS CORRESPONDING TO THE
THREE SECTIONS OF GOD’S TEMPLE
Man’s three parts correspond to the three sections of God’s temple. God’s temple, or tabernacle, is composed of three sections: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. First Corinthians 3:16 says that we are God’s temple. Our body corresponds to the outer court; our soul, which is somewhat inward, corresponds to the Holy Place; and our spirit, the innermost part of our being, corresponds to the innermost part of God’s temple, the Holy of Holies.
In our heart is the mind with the thoughts and the will with the intents. The thoughts affect the intents, and the intents carry out the thoughts. The living word of God is able to discern the thoughts in our mind and the intents in our will. What was quoted from the word of God by the writer in chapters three and four is able to expose what the thoughts and intents of the Hebrew believers were while they were staggering in the process of their salvation.
Now we can understand why the writer of Hebrews spoke in 4:12 of the living word of God piercing into us, dividing our spirit from our soul, and discerning the thoughts and intents of our heart. He realized that the staggering Hebrew Christians were wandering in their soul and had neglected their spirit. But the new testament is absolutely a matter in our spirit, not in our soul. The new testament is altogether heavenly, not at all earthly. The earthly things belong to the physical body and to the mind. Judaism is earthly. As an earthly religion, it suits the thinking of our natural mind. The new testament, on the contrary, is heavenly and belongs to the spirit. In order to touch the heavenly things, we must be in our spirit. Ephesians 2:6 says that we are sitting with Christ in the heavenlies. But if we are in our mind, we can never experience being in the heavenlies. In our mind we may mentally visit various places on earth, but we cannot touch the heavenlies. To touch the heavenlies, we must be in our spirit.
It is not easy to understand this portion of the Holy Word because it requires a good deal of experience on our part. For years I was troubled by the writer’s sudden mention of the living word of God and the dividing of the soul and spirit. I could not understand it. Eventually, I considered my experience. I realized that whenever we have problems with the church, it is always due to the thoughts in our mind. Thus, we need the living word to pierce into the depths of our being, dividing our soul from our spirit. Then we would not stand with the devilish soul but with the heavenly spirit. If we will do this, we will immediately find ourselves in the church life.
Everyone in the church life has had some problems with the church. We may not like a particular elder or a certain brother or sister, thinking that they are unqualified, too strong, or too loud. What can deliver us from such thoughts? The living word which pierces into the depths of our being and divides our spirit from our mind. When our devilish mind is exposed, we shall declare that we love all the brothers and sisters because they are all so lovely in the spirit. When we are in our mind thinking about the brothers and sisters, none of them is lovely. We think that we are the only ones who are any good. How we need the living word to divide our soul from our spirit that we may be in the church life! This is the way to enter into today’s Sabbath rest. And this is also the way to remain in the Sabbath and not to break it. To break the Sabbath is to leave the church life. Those that have forsaken the church life, having left today’s Sabbath, can testify that there is no rest outside the church. It is in the spirit that we enjoy the rest of the church Sabbath. This is why 4:12 is placed where it is in the book of Hebrews. (Life-Study of Hebrews, msg. 25)