There’s much confusion about why life doesn’t work the way we thought it“should”. Christiansare often surprised and disillusioned when problems arise and last longer than a few hours or days. We think life is “supposed” to be abundant and joyful, right? After all, Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; but I came to give you life, to the full, abundantly overflowing.” (John 10:10) Day after day, I meet believers whose lives are overflowing with disappointment and frustration. But Jesus can’t lie! So if we’re not enjoying a life filled with meaning and purpose, we need to examine what keeps us from receiving what He promised!
A toaster is not designed to fry waffles. If we try to use it as a waffle iron, we’ll have a smoke-filled kitchen, and the toaster will burn out and stop working. Even kitchen gadgets have to be used according to their designer’s intent to be fully functional.
It’s impossible to confidently enjoy our God-given design when we are ignorant of how He designed us! We are spirit beings, created in God’s image, who is Spirit. We have a soul—mind, will and emotions. We live in a body. These three parts are our design.
We must stop merging spirit and soul into one entity. It’s like saying, “Because my arm and hand are joined, they’re the same thing.” But clearly your arm cannot pick up an object. The hand does that. The hand does not pivot at the shoulder. The arm does that. They certainly work together, but to say they’re the same thing is ludicrous.
Our spirit is the core of our being; where eternal life or death reigns. Death from first Adam’s rebellion is present in our spirit from the moment of conception. When we’re born again into the family of God; given eternal life through Jesus— Last Adam—our spirit person is eternally perfected. Because we receive Jesus’ own life and nature, our spirit person is made identical to Him. The soul, however, does not become perfected, holy and righteous when the spirit does. The soul has to be restored—and that’s the work of a lifetime. However, our eternal condition is not determined by the soul’s maturity level, but by life or death in the spirit person.
We often hear evangelists counting how many “souls were saved” during a revival. To be Biblically accurate, we should be saying how many spirits were saved, so that souls can grow into maturity! The human spirit is heaven-ready from the moment of salvation. We are now raised up with Jesus and now seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Salvation of the spirit person is an immediate and eternal one-time event.
But the soul—the mind, will and emotions—has to be intentionally restored. The mind must be renewed to think in agreement with God so that the will is strengthened to make God-pleasing choices; and the emotions become subjected to the authority of the mind being renewed by the Word of God.
Salvation makes restoration of the soul possible, but it isn’t automatic. Without daily, intentional restoration of the mind, will and emotions, life will remain broken and lacking abundance. We can become born again and even go to church, but if we fail to deliberately renew our mind, our we’ll experience the same old sin-life.
“Do not be conformed to this world, fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your mind—by its new ideals and its new attitudes…Romans_ Infinite Grace Ministries is a Biblical Guidance ministry that teaches how to become free from the wrong thinking we’ve all absorbed from the world around us. Call 580-774-2884 to begin your journey to freedom today!
