Austin Bible Church
The soul has the ability to perceive, understand and categorize human phenomena. To perceive is to obtain knowledge by the senses. To understand is to obtain knowledge by the mind. To categorize is the means of putting knowledge into a system. The real you is your soul. Gen. 2:7.
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, NASB)
All characteristics of the soul are not evident at the same time. The soul is the seat of human misery. The body has a nervous system that cause us to experience physical pain, but all mental and emotional misery is in the soul. Emotional revolt of the soul causes wide emotional swings and a spectrum of misery. Psalms 6:3; Psalms 106:15; Psalms 119:28.
“And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD—how long?” (Psalms 6:3, NASB)
“So He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them.” (Psalms 106:15, NASB)
“My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.” (Psalms 119:28, NASB)
The soul is the basis of both mental attitude and rapport love. 1 Sam. 18:1.
“Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.” (1 Samuel 18:1, NASB)
Once God the Father creates and imputes the soul at physical birth, the soul never dies. Our souls are immortal. In Luke 16:23, the rich man’s soul was still alive in Torments after his physical death. He was looking across a great gulf fixed between Paradise and Torments. The real you is your soul and will always live whether believer or unbeliever!
“"In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.” (Luke 16:23, NASB)
The soul provides perceptive ability or awareness during physical life and after death and transfer to heaven. 2 Cor. 12:2-4.
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4, NASB)
The Format Soul and Soul Life
Man’s soul, not the body, was made in the image of God. Gen. 1:26-27.
“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27, NASB)
In Genesis 2:7, “formed” is יצר (yâtsar) and means to form as a potter would form clay. “Breathed into” is נפח (nâphach) and “the breath of life” חַיִּים נשׁמה (neshâmâh chayyim) and means soul life. “Living being” is נפשׁ (nephesh) and means a soul having life. Neshâmâh is the breath of God Himself. God generates human life when He breathes some of His life into the newly born baby. At the point of physical birth, human life results when soul life is imputed from God the Father to the format soul. Isaiah 42:5.
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, NASB)
“Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it,” (Isaiah 42:5, NASB)
The format of the soul exists with the embryo, but the soul life does not exist until physical birth. The biological life of the developing fetus exhibits movement called reflex motility. This accounts for body movement, which is not human life. There is no human life until the soul life is given by God at the point of physical birth.
In Luke 1:41 and Luke 1:44, “leaped” is σκιρτάω (skirtaō) in the Greek and refers to reflex motility of the fetus. This is fetus movement without thought. The fetus is not yet a functioning soul, just a format soul. The rapid pulse of the mother affects the fetus. “Joy” is ἀγαλλίασις (agalliasis) and means exultation, extreme joy, gladness. The great emotional response of Elizabeth resulted in an emotional joy in greeting her cousin that caused a rapid heartbeat which started the reflex motility of her unborn baby.
“When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:41, NASB)
“"For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.” (Luke 1:44, NASB)
The human body is formed by procreation, therefore the human body is a product of inheritance. The format soul is formed with the body and is also inherited. The mentality of the soul is inherited from the mentality genes of both parents. God does not make the format soul, it is inherited from the parents. Otherwise all mentality would be equal. God does not make the old sin nature either. The old sin nature is inherited from the father.
Development of soul essence is based upon mentality. The decisions you make, emotional development, norms or standards in your conscience, the poise or lack of it in your self-consciousness are all related to mentality.
At physical birth, God the Father imputes soul life to the format soul in the newly born baby, resulting in physical life. In Isaiah 57:16, “breath” is the qal perfect of נשׁמה (neshâmâh) and refers to the soul lives of people. The qal perfect means completed action with finished results in present time. “Those whom I have made” is עָשָׂה (asah) and means to construct. God makes a living soul out of a format soul which has no life. Only God can impart the spark of life. The term spark of life is not used in the sense of eternal salvation.
“"For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made.” (Isaiah 57:16, NASB)
The body is the area of human life, but does not receive life until the soul life is added at physical birth. Therefore the embryo of the child in the womb does not experience joy, misery, love, or anything else pertaining to life until after physical birth.
In Job 33:4, “Spirit of God” refers to God the Holy Spirit. “The breath” is נשׁמה (neshâmâh) and refers to God breathing soul life into the format soul resulting in human life. “The Almighty” refers to God the Father. “Gives me life” refers to physical human life. God breathes the spark of life to the newly born baby at physical birth resulting in human life.
“"The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4, NASB)
Ezekiel 18:4 indicates that God gives the soul life to both father and son. The father passes on soul format, but not soul life.
“"Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4, NASB)
In Ecclesiastes 12:7 and Zechariah 12:1, “spirit” is רוּח (rûach) and refers to soul life.
“then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7, NASB)
“The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him,” (Zechariah 12:1, NASB)
The Essence of the Soul
Self-consciousness
The soul includes self-consciousness which is self-awareness of the soul. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, “by the grace of God, I am what I am” refers to the mentality or the thinking part of the soul.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10, NASB)
Self-consciousness makes us aware of our own existence and makes us able to relate to both animate life and inanimate objects on earth. Animals have consciousness, but not self-consciousness. Acts 20:10; 1 Kings 17:21; Gen. 2:7; Gen. 35:18.
“But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him."” (Acts 20:10, NASB)
“Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child's life return to him."” (1 Kings 17:21, NASB)
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, NASB)
Volition
God the Father, in His sovereignty and grace, decided in eternity past to provide man with uncoerced free will or volition. We can decide for or against anything in life. There are consequences for each, but we are free to decide. Our free will is why man was created to resolve the Angelic Conflict. See category on Volition.
The soul is the source of all sin because volition or free will resides in the soul. The soul is where the spiritual battles are fought in life. Matt. 10:28; Eph. 4:17-19; Psalms 143.
“"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28, NASB)
“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:17-19, NASB)
The soul includes volition or the decider of the soul. Negative volition causes a vacuum in the soul into which are pulled false and evil concepts from Satan’s world system of evil and deception. Negative volition is expressed through the old sin nature as either sin, human good, evil, or emotional revolt. All negative volition results in divine discipline. Rom. 1; Rom. 2; Jer. 17:9.
""The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, NASB)
Positive volition is expressed through the filling of the Holy Spirit and the daily function of the grace apparatus for perception. Positive volition is expressed through the application of the Word of God to experience resulting in divine blessing. Gal. 5:22-23; Acts 20; Rom. 12:1-2.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB)
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2, NASB)
While the old sin nature is in the genetic structure of each human cell and is the source of internal temptation, when you sin whether knowingly or unknowingly, you decide to do so in your soul. This is your volition in action. That is why it is the soul that has to be saved. Ezek. 18:4; Lev. 5:1.
“"Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4, NASB)
“'Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt.” (Leviticus 5:1, NASB)
Emotion
Emotion is the capacity to appreciate spiritual life and capacity to appreciate temporal life. Emotions are the appreciator of the soul. Emotion responds or reacts to whatever thoughts we have. Ideally, our emotions are dominated by our thinking from the right lobe of the soul. Luke 12:19; Phil. 2:1.
“'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'” (Luke 12:19, NASB)
"Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion," (Philippians 2:1, NASB)
Through Bible doctrine, our emotions come to appreciate God and what He has done for us in grace. We are not to be dominated by our emotions. If the emotions do not have epignosis Bible doctrine controlling them, then havoc is the result and often results in the believer getting into false doctrine. See category on Emotions. See category on Emotional Revolt of the Soul.
Mentality
Mentality is the thinking part of man and is composed of two parts – the left lobe or perceptive lobe of the soul and the right lobe of the soul or the “heart.” All human thought originates in these two lobes of the soul. Rom. 1:20-22; Prov. 19:2.
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,” (Romans 1:20-22, NASB)
“Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who hurries his footsteps errs.” (Proverbs 19:2, NASB)
The left lobe of the soul is the recessive lobe or perceptive lobe where spiritually understood Bible doctrine in the form of gnosis resides and is a staging area. From this left lobe, if the Bible doctrine is believed, the Holy Spirit transfers the gnosis doctrine to the right lobe of the soul as epignosis doctrine – ready to be applied to the issues and situations of life.
The right lobe of the soul is the dominant lobe, the authoritative area or headquarters of the soul. “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” Prov. 23:7.
"For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you." (Proverbs 23:7, NASB)
The heart or right lobe of the soul contains the Frame of Reference, the Memory Center, Vocabulary Storage, Categorical Storage, the Conscience, Spiritual Growth, and Wisdom. These compartments all participate in the believer’s application of epignosis Bible doctrine to life. See category on The Right Lobe of the Soul.
Soul Life and Spiritual Death at Birth
At physical birth, soul life is imputed to the format soul of the baby and the baby is then a living human being. The format soul becomes alive and begins to function and express what is in the format soul which includes self-consciousness, volition, emotion and the conscience. All of these are influenced by both soul mentality and the old sin nature, which are both inherited. Self-consciousness, volition, emotion, and the conscience are influenced.
When Adam’s original sin is imputed by God the Father to the genetically-formed old sin nature at birth, there is spiritual death. Therefore, man is born physically alive and spiritually dead simultaneously. Rom. 5:12.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12, NASB)
The Old Sin Nature vs. the Soul
The old sin nature is not part of the soul. It is genetically formed in every cell of the human body and is inherited through the father. 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. Jer. 17:9.
“"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, NASB)
The old sin nature is the distorter of the soul. 1 John 1:8-10.
"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:8-10, NASB)
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.
The believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit and has epignosis Bible doctrine in the right lobe of the soul frustrates the old sin nature. When the old sin nature controls the soul, the believer can only produce human good from the area of strength and sins from the area of weakness. See category on The Old Sin Nature.
The Human Spirit vs. the Soul
A distinction must be made between the soul and the human spirit, even though they operate in conjunction with each other. Hebrews 4:12 makes a distinction between the soul and the human spirit.
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, NASB)
Prior to the Fall, man was trichotomous, having a body, soul, and spirit. Gen. 2:7.
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, NASB)
After the Fall, man is born dichotomous, having only a body and soul. Prior to accepting the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross by faith, the unbeliever cannot understand spiritual information. 1 Cor. 2:14; Jude 1:19.
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (1 Corinthians 2:14, NASB)
“These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.” (Jude 1:19, NASB)
When the believer exercises faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, they are said to be “born again.” Faith belief results in regeneration where God the Holy Spirit gives each believer a human spirit. All believers have a physical body, a soul, and a human spirit meaning there are trichotomous. The believer is now spiritually alive. 1 Thess. 5:23; Eph. 2:1; Eph. 2:5. See category on The Human Spirit.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NASB)
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,” (Ephesians 2:1, NASB)
“even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” (Ephesians 2:5, NASB)
The physical body cannot not be saved because the old sin nature resides genetically in every cell. At the point of salvation, only the soul is saved. This salvation is strictly a matter of God's grace. In eternity, the soul of the believer will be united with a perfect resurrection body with no old sin nature and no human good. Eph. 2:8-9; Psalms 19:7; Psalms 34:22; Mark 8:36-37; 1 Peter 1:9.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB)
“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalms 19:7, NASB)
“The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” (Psalms 34:22, NASB)
“"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? "For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37, NASB)
“obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:9, NASB)
The Soul and Physical Death
The human body is the temporary house for the soul. When the soul departs from the body, physical death results. 2 Cor. 5:1-4; Job 27:8; Psalms 16:10; 2 Cor. 5:8; Gen. 35:18. See category on Physical Death.
“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-4, NASB)
“"For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, When God requires his life?” (Job 27:8, NASB)
“For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” (Psalms 16:10, NASB)
“we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8, NASB)
“It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.” (Genesis 35:18, NASB)