The Nature of Man (3); The Composition of Man

Someone in the 101 class Sunday night asked me what does Grow stand for GROW grow class this Wednesday night class is called the grow class and it is an acronym GROW and So it it calls me to think that there may be people who come on Wednesday night through here every week that don't know why we call this the grow class The letters GROW stand for getting the riches of The word and the idea is that Wednesday night is our opportunity to dig a little deeper than what we do and other services many years ago While I was in Indiana in fact in 1980s. I did a study through the The pastoral epistles first second Timothy and Titus as to the different words that Paul used In instructing Timothy what his ministry should be like all the different words he used for the ministry of the word and there are about 12 or 15 of them and tried to group them into categories or you know consistent ideas similar ideas and There are lots of different words he uses exhort rebuke preach teach All kinds of different words that he uses and basically they fall under three different categories and since that time I've tried to form my ministry Based on those three categories One of those is more the preaching or exhortation from the word which we try to do on Sunday morning and that's more Taking the word and making sure you divide it right and and explain it right and Interpret it correctly but more the focuses on application to power people to live What does it mean to me in my daily life? But then there are other words that Paul uses about teaching instructing and words like that which indicate that we are to grow in our knowledge of the word and that may not be quite as applicable it may not be like oh I'm really getting something good in jiu-ci It will change my life today, but it helps us to grow in our understanding of the Bible which ultimately Does impact the way we live? That's Wednesday night Sunday night is a little bit of a hybrid between the two but but the Wednesday night is our time to dig a little deeper into some teaching instruction Increasing our knowledge of the word and that's why we do Doctrically based studies on Wednesday night. There's there's actually a method to my madness There's there's really a reason for doing what we do with the different services here at Johnston Chapel This is our time to dig a little deeper to do a little more intense Bible study and So we are in a study right now what the Bible teaches about the subjects of man and sin Some of what we have seen to this point in talking about the doctrine of man or what the Bible teaches about man is Very applicable and informs us as to our worldview and about very current issues for instance We've been looking at the image of God and what that means to be created in the image of God And we've seen that really does impact how we view current issues like abortion and Euthanasia even capital punishment all of those issues are Touched on by what the Bible teaches about being made in the image of God and so that's very applicable now some of what we're gonna talk about tonight You're gonna scratch your head and think what in the world? Does that have any application at all to anything real in my life and my answer probably is no? It probably doesn't when we start talking about the different parts of us however And I'm anticipating a little bit of what I want to say later There is a well-known Bible teacher that teaches something to do with the different parts of us Internally that goes way off to an extreme as to what you can and cannot do with your spirit as opposed to your soul And I think he does that because of a misunderstanding of biblical truth So everything we study on Wednesday night does have some impact and helps us form a biblical World view I'm not saying that we've got it all right But we do our best to try to mine out what the word teaches and there are some some topics of course that We have to say I'm just not sure I can figure that out or explain that quite well enough But we do our best to try to understand what the Bible teaches Okay, have you said that let's jump into where we were last week talking about the image and the likeness of God We're talking about first of all man has a material part body He also has an immaterial part Everything else that is inside that body that makes us up and we'll be delineating those different things Probably more beginning next week But we wanted before we jumped into that talking about the the heart the soul the mind the emotion the will the conscience all those different parts of us on the inside We wanted to delve into what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God Because that is such a critical Biblical concepts so we looked at the major scriptures that That deal with that that talk about that about five of them We found that the image and likeness of God is not a bodily likeness. It does not mean that we resemble God physically because God is Spirit and so he does not have a physical body enough Christ does But Christ assumed a physical body to become like us. It's kind of the other way around We don't have a physical body that was made to look like his he took on a physical body that was one of ours and so The image and likeness of God has nothing to do with physical appearance We looked at the meaning of the terms image and likeness and we found that pretty much they are synonymous or at least they're used interchangeably they may have a little different shade of meaning But really there's not a big difference between the two terms and we ended last week by talking About the fact that the image and likeness of God includes all people Everybody is created or made in the image and likeness of God it actually Comes down to us through our parents procreation produces that we saw last week So we are all in the image of God whether or not we are believers it does not equal salvation We are not God's children because we're made in his image Being made in his image allows a touch point that makes it possible for us to establish a relationship with God But being made in the image does not equal that relationship with God. It's a very important distinction And then we saw that the the image of God gives us the basis for human dignity and Worth and that's where it touches on Genesis 9.6 capital punishment The basis for social conduct the way we treat one another James 3.9 and other other passages like that Okay, now that's where we left off last week. Okay, we've got kind of a running start We can jump in now where we are tonight is the fifth Part of the immaterial part of man the fifth description of it and that is that the image and likeness of God was Mard in the fall Now you know what I'm talking about when I say the fall. Don't you it's Adam sin The fall of man into sin which brought about death and sin to the whole human race when we talk about the fall That's what we're talking about the image and likeness of God We're just going to refer to as the image of God Was Mard in the fall now. I'm using those words carefully. It was not completely lost It was Mard And that's why the distinctions we made in describing it are very important The image of God is not our salvation. It's not equal to salvation So the image of God is still present to some degree Even in lost people it was not completely lost as seen in the fact that it is still the argument in Genesis 9 for the Responsibility of human government to take the life of those who who commit murder The rationale for that is because man is in the image of God not used to be in loss that completely But he still is and it's also the the rationale for how we should treat one another in James 3 the rationale for Church conduct in 1st, 3rd, and 11 and so forth What was lost in the fall Was our moral inclination toward God where you might say the moral tendency toward holiness We did lose that in the fall we are not inclined toward God anymore because of our sin nature Our inclination our natural direction is to go away from God. That's what Paul means in in a Romans 3 When he says there's no one that seeks after God Because we're all corrupted by sin So what we lost in the fall was that that natural moral tendency toward holiness But the other elements of the image of God are still there. We are still personal beings We still have the capacity to have a relationship with God that in us which is kind of that Touchstone where we can still have a relationship with God Communication with God is still possible Adam talk with God even after his sin So communication with God is still possible for a lost person to be able to communicate with God and And repent of his sin and turn to Christ and faith So what we would say about the image of God is that it was not obliterated in the fall But it was greatly marred a huge chunk of it We lost which means we no longer inclined toward holiness we no longer have a tendency to move toward God Which was present in the image of God in the beginning that Only grace can restore Okay, so the image of God is still there to some degree But it is greatly marred through the fall all right any questions Comments about that before we talk about how it can be restored Okay, yes Okay, I didn't mean to imply that we still he said a relationship with God Relationship with God is only established through personal faith in Christ There is still the image of God still provides the capacity to To turn to God in faith and trust Christ call out to him if you will call on the Lord for salvation Romans 10 um There's there is an interesting story in Acts 10 about Cornelius an unsaved man Who the Bible says very plainly his prayers and his alms were heard and seen by God Now that didn't save him it could not save him But it did mean that because he was He was seeking truth God sent Peter to him to take the gospel to him So I on the basis of that I would not say that God never hears the prayer of an unsaved person But there's no relationship there Father son relationship Okay, so I would be careful about saying God never hears the prayer of an unsaved person be careful about that based on Acts 10 but When there's no relationship with God Then that person is not is not in the family of God cannot call upon God as a father Yeah, I guess you could you could say that Okay But it's important to see it back coming back to the image of God that it was marred in the fall in the sense that we have no inclination toward holiness anymore no tendency to move toward God um But there is something of the image that's still there. It's still referenced even of people who are lost Uh, throughout the rest of scripture But the image of God is being renewed in salvation the only thing that can fully bring us back To the image of God all the image of God image and likeness of God was intended to be the only thing that can bring us back to that is salvation So There is a process of renewal Made possible by the grace of God in salvation We're going to look at a number of verses just fairly quickly that reference that and give us Uh, the understanding that when when we get saved God begins a gradual process of renewing His image in us Okay, look at Romans 829 on the screen For those God for new He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the first born among many brothers and sisters So that which God is working toward in us Through the process of sanctification or growth in Christ the goal he's working toward is the image of Christ And that is a process of sanctification is a process of growth as the next verse makes clear Second Corinthians 3 18 and we all Who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory are being transformed into his image With ever increasing glory In other words in increments as we behold the Lord in his word contemplate his glory We are being transformed from the inside out changed To be more like Christ to be Transformed into his image with ever increasing glory by increments by growth stages if you will which comes from the Lord Who is the spirit and then Paul talks about this in Ephesians 4 look at this verse You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires To be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self Created to be like God in true righteousness And holiness again These are commands that we are given to put off the Actions the attitudes the evidences of the old nature and to put on the new self the word put on is a Greek word Which means to put on like clothing So you dress yourself you you you grow you put on The the new man or the new self the attributes of of what it means to be in Christ Same thing in Colossians 3 verses 9 and 10 Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self Now that's talking about the transaction that happened in salvation Which the old man has gone You've put on the new man but notice Which is being renewed there is The transaction that took place at salvation which changed us from an unsafe person to a safe person There's still something being done in us to transform our character It's it's being renewed a continual process in knowledge In the image of its creator So these four passages at least and others like them Indicate to us that part of what God is doing in us as a result of our salvation Is gradually transforming us changing us on the inside To be more conformed to his image again the goal is to have the image of God fully restored in us Now do you know when that will happen when the process will be complete When we get to heaven first John 3 2 says that look at this verse Dear friends now we are children of God care standing in Christ our position in Christ is unquestionable We're children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known But we know that when Christ appears We shall be like him In other words will fully have his image restored again for we shall see him as he is so we will fully be like Christ When we get to heaven When we are in his presence Until that time God is doing a work in us to continually transform Renewed both of those words we're using those other verses Us to the image of Christ the image of God so it is being renewed In salvation Justification has to do with our standing and position before God that is completely settled We are perfectly holy in that sense at the moment we get saved as far as our standing before God is concerned And the fact that we have a home in heaven our sin will never be A brought up again against us But that's justification sanctification is the process of growth in the Christian life where little by little the more we behold Christ in his word The more we are transformed on the inside To be like him to be renewed in his image Until when we finally see him we will be like him Okay, that's that's the process of restoring the image of God in man It can only be done through salvation To restore it in its completion Okay, any comments or questions about that and then there's one other issue about the image of God that we need to we need to see Okay, Tommy It is the work of the Holy Spirit To do that internal transformation in us through his word Like second Corinthians three tells us it is through the word And it is done by the process of the Holy Spirit's work Yeah, Christy Yes, that's true, and I don't know if anybody back there could hear what Christy said talking about Cornelius The fact that he was praying and doing good deeds arms Um, the Bible says God saw that and heard that and then got Peter in touch with him Is that more an evidence of the fact that the Holy Spirit was working in his life Obviously, yes, there's nothing we can do Apart from the grace of God and the Holy Spirit working in our lives So God always takes the initiative and and we're really getting now into an area that will study more when we get into what the Bible teaches about salvation but um Obviously any any move toward God is initiated by the Holy Spirit Bottom line that has to be because we do not in and of ourselves Have the inclination to move toward God now do people seek God But depends on what you mean by that the Bible says we do Acts 17 and the Bible says we don't Romans three Ha ha so it depends on what you mean by seeking God Now does does man naturally move toward God so that he's moving towards salvation and God meets him halfway no Does man seek spiritual truth for meaning and purpose to fill a void in his life? Yes, and in that sense it may be said that he seeks God. I think that's what was happening with Cornelius Yeah, it's not that Cornelius had the kind of a seed of salvation in him naturally and he was moving toward God Any movement toward God is the result of the drawing and and moving of the Holy Spirit But I do think it is possible for an unsafe person to have a longing and a heart desire to find some meaning and purpose and fulfillment in life And in that sense even though they may not know it they're seeking God And that's what Acts 17 is talking about what Paul says God made us so that we might seek him in finding even though he's not far from any of us Okay, that's a it's a bit of a complicated issue, but you have to be kind of careful in your terminology there Phil Sure Yes, we can we can definitely hinder our growth um Sin hinders our growth, you know, James one talks about rooting out the evil and sin in our hearts so that the word can be implanted and can start growing if we if we are Dealing with sin in our lives that we're not we're not dealing with appropriately We're not confessing we're not getting right. We've got we're we're stunting our growth. We're hindering our growth So yeah, we're any unyieldedness to the Holy Spirit is is hindering that process of growth. So yes, by any disobedience unyieldedness we can hinder what the Spirit of God seeking to do to mature us Obviously, we will we will all go into the presence of the Lord at different stages of our spirit from maturity and growth and There will be some that are further along in their growth and we'll be longing to see Him and there will be others that will be shocked. Yeah, I think I think what you're saying is right. I think for all of us It'll be a huge leap when we see the glory of Christ for sure But there will be some that have progressed further in their spiritual growth no doubt Okay, good very good questions and discussion All right, one other thing about the image of God that we want to see and that is the image of God made possible The incarnation the incarnation is Christ taking on human flesh becoming a human being when he came down to the earth The reason Christ could become a human Reason he could become man is because the image of God in us provided a contact point with God um So that it is possible for God to come down and be a man there was a Contact point between man and God which made that possible um, especially in the fact that that we have a personal nature look at this verse We'll put it on the screen for you and then we'll look at one we'll turn to John 114 the word Speakew Christ the word became flesh And made his dwelling among us we have seen his glory the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father full of grace and truth So you've got the word who existed in glory in eternity past Christ in all the excellency of deity and glory but he became flesh In other words, he took on a human body The fact that that man was made with the capacity to have a relationship with God With a likeness to God and that we are personal beings and all those other things we talked about made it possible for Christ to have some Commonness if you will with man time so that he could come down here and be one of us uh, he brews to says it probably a little more fully so look at look at that passage He brews chapter two And verse 14 since the children here he's talking about the the children of God in the context those human beings who have become part of family God Since the children have flesh and blood he too shared in their humanity So you see that common as he shared it was something he shared with us and that is humanity He shared in our humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death That is the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death for surely it is not angels. He helps But Abraham's descendants in other words mankind um He didn't become an angel he became a human being Verse 17 for this reason he had to be made like them fully human in every way In order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest and service to God And that he might make a tonement for the sins of the people because he himself suffered when he was tempted He is able to help those who are being tempted There's that that touchstone that that makes it possible that that commonness between human beings and God that image which ties the two together in a sense that made it possible Not only for us to be transformed into the image of Christ and be with God But also for Christ to come down It's kind of a two-way conduit if you will to come down and take on human flesh and become one of us He didn't become an angel he didn't become an animal He became a human being because human beings have the image and likeness of God Hey, there's a there's a common denominator there that enabled that that to go both ways Okay, image and likeness have got a very critical concept and understanding a lot of biblical truth Any questions further comments about that? Okay, then for the last 15 minutes we're going to look at the composition of man And this is this is the the part of the study tonight and we'll continue on next week That is going to leave some of us scratching our heads saying What difference does this make? Why even look at this and there are some reasons for it, but let me just go ahead and jump into it There are certain texts of scripture which seem to describe humanity as though we consist of certain basic parts There are certain parts to us Want to look at a passage of scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5 so if you'll turn to this one 1 Thessalonians 5 We've looked at the nature of man as far as being in the image and likeness of God now We're going to go a little deeper and say Okay, try to answer the question. How many Parts are we composed of what what what is mankind composed of First Thessalonians 5 verse 23 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 So this verse mentions three parts spirit soul and body so can human beings in reality be divided into distinct parts if so are some parts more important than others or Is it parts or parts what difference does it make? What is the basic composition of human beings? How many parts do we have? Well believe it or not although it may seem like it's Just something for Academians to talk about in the halls of Seminaries and so forth and it doesn't seem to have much bearing on how we live there are two Well actually four major views but two real major views throughout church history about how many parts Do we have and basically it was them do we have three or two? So the first one do we have three parts basic parts to a human being that is called the tri-cottomist View Tri-cottomist tri-mini three Cottomist having to do with cutting and take cut it into three separate parts Human beings are composed of three distinguishable parts body soul and spirit Those three are mentioned here in first Thessalonians by So the tri-cottomist view has been held by some people throughout church history the church Father ironess held this view a 19th century German scholar Franz Daylich who wrote with CF Kyle a great series of Old Testament commentaries that were the standard for many years But this view basically was popularized by the Scofield reference Bible The Scofield reference Bible taught the tri-cottomist view and its notes and really popularized it for churches and folks like us because the Scofield reference Bible basically was the first study Bible that taught Dispensationalism that there are Several dispensations throughout human history that God deals with people in different ways Made a clear distinction between the church and Israel and and makes clear that the kingdom of God is Primarily his millennial kingdom on the earth and by the way, I'm one of those. I'm a dispensationalist so among Among those of us of that ill-conquined the Scofield reference Bible was kind of the Bible of the day and It taught this tri-cottomist view That there are basically three parts to mankind and because of that there were really hard and fast Distinctions made between the soul and the spirit And that has led to some really bizarre teaching about Doing things in your soul and doing other things in your spirit Bill gothard is the teacher that I was referring to earlier with the what used to be called the institute basic youth conflicts um Which I took way back in 1980 um in Tampa, Florida He he was one who taught that that there are certain things you do in your spirit certain things you're doing your soul He really made some bizarre distinctions that led him down some paths of Really kind of messed up his his teaching so There's a little red flag there about that That maybe I'll touch on a little bit later So how many parts do we have does it matter? Parts are parts does it does it really matter? Let's let's talk about the support for the tri-cottomist view that I want to introduce the dichotomous view Just so you kind of know where I'm going. I believe the Bible teaches that we have two parts a material part and an immaterial part A body and then everything else And in that everything else there are many functions not Divideable parts that all do separate things but many different functions like the soul the spirit the mind the emotions the conscience the will and you could go on and on They're about ten or twelve of them So it's not as simple as saying well have a body of soul and a spirit now you have a body and then you have an immaterial part and that immaterial part has lots of different functions I think that's a more biblical view, but let me give you at least the the rationale for taking the tri-cottomist view And that is the separate description of three parts The fact that there are three parts listed separately in some passages seems to indicate they must have a clear distinction especially between the soul and the spirit We looked at first that's known as 523 which mentions all three but it's probably best to see Those three as three functions of man rather than three separate parts of man to make a hard and fast separate distinction between the soul and the spirit We're going to find when we look at the way the words are used in the Bible is just not appropriate. It's just not a biblical way of looking at the words Both the Hebrew and Greek words for soul and spirit are used interchangeably in the Bible They're all used hundreds of times and they're used interchangeably. We'll look at that a little bit later But these are three different functions Our spirit is the god conscious part of us our soul is the self conscious part of us and our body is The world conscious part of us and so there are different functions, but You can't really say there are three different parts in me. There's there's a part inside of me that's over here's a soul and over here's a spirit Now, there's just three different functions of how we operate So that's really a better way to see first test five a couple of other verses real quickly We'll look at we'll put these on the screen first Corinthians 1544 When Paul's talking about the death of the the physical body and the resurrection body the glorified body He says it is so our body is so put in the ground Buried a natural body it is raised in the resurrection a spiritual body If there is a natural body there is also a spiritual body Interestingly enough the word natural comes from the Greek word for soul Sukay It's the Greek word for soul. So there are those who say well, there's a soulish body and a spiritual body those two are very distinct the soul and the spirit are two different bodies Well actually what Paul is saying is The body that is raised is the same body We're not talking about two different bodies here We're talking about the body being able to function in two different realms When when you die and your body is buried the body that comes out of the grave when Christ comes back is the same body It's just turned into a glorified version of that body So that it can now operate in a different realm a spiritual realm in heaven And will not have the limitations of the natural body That was sewn in the ground When Jesus was resurrected it was the same body But it had different properties to it He was able to live in a spiritual realm that had some different properties. He was able to appear in rooms There were no barriers and that's the way we'll be when we're in heaven But it that text was never intended to teach that there's a sharp distinction between soul and spirit. It's just talking about The resurrected body has properties that the natural body doesn't it can operate in a spiritual realm And then one other passage which is often used to support the tricodimus view and that is Hebrews 412 For the word of God is alive an active sharper than any double edged sword it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints and marrow it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart Now there are those who say oh look see the Bible says that the word of God can divide the soul in the spirit Really What this text is talking about is that the whole the the word of God can penetrate all the way down to the level of the soul All the way down to the level of the spirit and it makes Distinctions in the sense that it penetrates all the way down to that level of our being To the separation of the soul the separation of the spirit Doesn't mean that we have those two parts in us and the body and that's all we have The writer hebrus could have said it penetrates all the way down to the separation of the mind and the emotions and the will His point is that the word of God penetrates to the very deepest part of us And is able to reach down to distinguish I'm going to deal with the soul part of you I'm going to deal with the spirit part of you or I might deal with the mind part of you the emotion part of you The will part of you he's not saying here that we all have just two parts inside us And that's what the word of God divides between He's just making a point that the word of God penetrates to the very deepest part of our being And he could have used any number of terms there There's one other reason why some people believe in the tricotomist view and that is because God is a Trinity So they say well, we're in the image of God God is Trinity three three persons. So we must be we must have three parts Because we're like God Well, that's not a very good analogy because the Trinity is not saying that God Is in three separate parts of one person The Trinity means that God is three separate persons Not three separate parts of one person. So the analogy kind of breaks down Um, we don't have time to get into it, but next week we're going to show that in the Bible The term Soul and spirit are often used of the same thing. They're very interchangeable. Although there is a shade of difference Sometimes the word mind is used and is used interchangeably with both of those words sometimes the word life the life inside us is used um and used interchangeably with those words Sometimes the word will is used interchangeably with those words So basically there are lots of different functions of our immaterial part There's a soul function a spirit function a mind function a heart function a will function and you go on on down the list So we're going to see that's more a more biblical way of looking at how we're composed So the Bible is not really teaching. Okay, I just got three parts Body soul spirit You really have two parts a body and then the immaterial part that you can't see everything else on the inside And that immaterial part functions in a lot of different ways Soul spirit mind motion will conscience all those things And we'll flesh that out a little bit. No pun intended. We'll flesh that out a little bit next week, okay Questions or comments? Okay, all right, let's pray