The Composition of Man (2)

I was doing some thinking about the book of 1st Timothy this morning and yesterday in particular and I'm going to be starting a new series of messages on Sunday morning on 1st Timothy, 1st and 2nd Timothy, this coming Sunday and was I don't want to preach the sermon I'm going to preach Sunday but I was just struck again with the emphasis in the past orally pistols on sound teaching and the need for churches to be taught the Word of God. I noticed in the book of 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy and Titus those three past orally pistols, 32 times there is some form of the Word teacher or teach, teaches teaching some form of the Word teach is found as the responsibility of the pastor in regard to feeding the flock. So the ministry of the Word is not just preaching that's an important thing as well but it is also teaching and the Bible places a high value on that and the need for that will become very apparent Sunday morning when we talk about Paul's warning about false teaching and what to look out for but that's for Sunday morning but it does provide again the context in which we do what we do on Wednesday nights it is important for the church to be taught what the Bible teaches and so we're looking at a whole series of things and have over the past few years about what the Bible teaches about various major topics that the Word of God deals with, major doctrinal things and we're right in the middle of a study now about what the Bible teaches about man and sin. We've been looking at the composition of man and by that we're talking about the parts of who we are, how many parts do we have and that may at first seem like it doesn't really have much bearing on daily life and it may not have a lot of bearing on daily life except that anytime we understand the Bible better we are better prepared to sniff out to discern error and there are errors in the whole concept of how many parts we have particularly in what's called the deeper life movement and I won't try to get into all of that tonight that would take a whole lesson in of itself but the deeper life movement basically tries to separate us into distinguishable parts that only one part of you can can commune with God and could go deeper than the rest of you and deeper than anybody else and it kind of teaches a special communion with God that you get onto a deeper level and that really is a misunderstanding of some of the things about what we're made of and how we're made and how God intends us to relate to him. So this is important stuff and so we're going to talk about it tonight and hopefully then we'll move on to some other things next week. Last week we talked about the fact that there are two basic views as to the composition of man and that is how many parts do we actually have what are we made of what are our components what are we composed of and one view that we looked at last week which is called the tricottomist view that word means cut into three cut into three parts that view teaches there basically we have three parts body, soul and spirit and so it makes a very hard and fast distinction between soul and spirit and and we saw some scriptures which are used to support that and found that there are really different ways of looking at those different ways of explaining them and really understanding them but tonight I want to describe for you what I believe to be a more biblical approach to our composition what we're made of and that is what is often called the dichotomous view and you can see from the term dichotomous as opposed to try means dichotomous means to cut into two parts and so let me give you a statement of this view and then we'll see some of the support for the statement of the view first of all is that human beings are composed of two principal parts body and soul or spirit it's better to say it this way material part and in material part the material part of us is our body everything else the real us on the inside of the body is the in material part or the soul as some people call or it can be called the spirit or it can be called other things there are lots of different words that are used for our immaterial part but they are not separate parts of us like here's a finger here's a toe here's an ear they're not separate chunks inside of us it's better biblically to see them simply as functions of who we really are on the inside so two parts we have a body then we have the real us on the inside the immaterial part of us and that's that view is probably the most common view throughout church history it's based on several arguments let me give you a couple of supports for this view first of all the bible makes it clear that there are more than three parts to us if you want to use the word parts there are more than three parts to us actually there are lots of different aspects to our being and especially to our inner being look at this verse mark 12 verse 30 when Jesus said love the Lord your God with all your notice what he said with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength now notice the four words that were to the descriptions of how we are to love the Lord with all our heart soul mind and strength okay so we're adding a few other things here to body soul and spirit aren't we so we know we have at least a body a soul which is mentioned in that verse a spirit but we also have heart a mind and strength so there are at least six things that have just been mentioned in the bible and what we're going to see is there are others beyond that emotion conscience other things beyond just those six so really the bible doesn't doesn't limit us to three parts the bible basically describes that we are a body then we are a real person inhabiting that body inside that body and the real person on the inside has lots of different aspects or functions of our personhood of who we really are I think that's a more biblical way of looking at this whole thing of how we're composed what we're made of and the second the second argument or reason for believing this view is the biblical usage of the terms soul and spirit I want us to take a little time on this to describe how the bible uses these two terms soul and spirit but before we jump into that any comments or questions maybe something I've said that is utterly confusing and you have a question wow is it really that clear I'm impressed not really okay no questions we'll move on the biblical usage of the terms soul and spirit it really when you look at how the bible uses those two words it's really not possible to make make hard distinctions between them there is a shade of difference just like there's a difference between the soul and the mind or the spirit in the mind and the mind and the conscience but really there's a lot of overlap in all of those terms they all describe different functions of who we are on the inside but there's a lot of overlap and sometimes those words are used interchangeably especially soul and spirit those are the two most common words in the bible for who we are on the inside soul and spirit and they are often used interchangeably in the sense that sometimes the real person on the inside is called soul and sometimes the real person on the inside is called spirit and it can be called either or it's not like you've got two separate parts down inside you somewhere those are just two descriptive terms that are used of who we are on the inside two different functions of our immaterial parts so let's let's take a look at them first of all the word soul the word soul is found seven hundred and fifty six times in the old testament pretty common word it's found ninety five times in the new testament let me just give you an idea for two or three shades of meaning when the word soul is used what does it mean well sometimes the word soul is simply used of a person's life just their life a couple of examples we'll put these on the screen Genesis 14 21 the king of Sodom said to Abram give me the people and keep the goods for yourself now the niv has properly translated the word soul as people the Hebrew word is the word nefesh which is the word for soul literally if you're going to translate it exactly literally you would say give me the souls and keep the goods for yourself well obviously the king is not asking Abram to somehow take the soul out of the person's body and hand it to him obviously that's not the issue sometimes the word soul is just used of the person and we use that we use it that way in English sometimes too remember the old expression in English there were there were seventy souls on board the ship you know that that expression that's often used well we still use the word that way and in the bible it was used a lot that way sometimes it just means the person who you are another example of that would be Romans 13 1 and I'm using this out of the king James to make the point let every soul be subject under the higher powers for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God the word literally is the Greek word for soul psuke but it is translated literally in the king James most modern translations will translate it something like person let every person let every man or person be subject under the higher powers why because obviously Paul's intent is not to say okay the inside of you on the inside you can be subject to the higher powers but you don't really have to do anything to show that you can disobey the law but as long as your heart is right long as your soul is you know you say on the inside I really do support the you know the higher powers over me but I'm not going to do anything with my body that shows that obviously that's not Paul's point he's not making a division here the word soul is simply used for the person that every person be subject under the higher power so you can see there's a lot of fluidity in these terms they're not always used of a just one particular way of something down inside me another example is sometimes the word soul can mean life sometimes it is for verse of the person sometimes it means life just the fact that you are living and the life that you have is sometimes called your soul for instance look at this verse Leviticus 1711 for the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar describing the circumstances of the and the purpose of the offerings on the day of atonement I've given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls for it is the blood that make it an atonement for the soul the word soul here is used of the person's life the King James uses the word soul more modern translations typically use the word life in other words your life you are given life based upon the substitutionary sacrifice so your soul or your life is being referred to there Paul says this in Philippians 2 verse 30 speaking of the paparitus who had been sent by the Philippians to minister to Paul he's in prison in Rome and Paul's writing back to describe some things that had happened to a paparitus he got very sick almost died and he says this because he almost died for the work of Christ he risked his life to make up for the help you yourself could not give me you see the word life there the Greek word is the word for soul psuké and so literally it would be he risked his soul for you does that mean everything about him was okay except something on the inside no no it just simply is talking about him as per his life he risked his life for you so sometimes the word soul is used of just the person sometimes it's used of life it can be synonymous and another example just to show you how these words are sometimes used interchangeably it can be synonymous with heart and mind the soul the life the person can be synonymous also with the words heart and mind look at this verse which is may sound a little puzzling in Proverbs 237 for ad and again this is the king or the end this is the niv for as he think of that's got to be king James we've got the wrong that's got to be King James I don't think niv has any f's in it think of for as he think of the news heart yeah that's King James so is he eat and drink saffy to the but his heart is not with the um notice as he thinketh in his heart okay you've got seemingly two different things going on there do we think with our heart or do we feel with our heart typically we think of the heart as being the seat of the emotions right I love you with all my heart we think of the heart as being the seat of the emotions in Bible times the heart was a very broad term it could mean your mind it could mean your emotions it could include your will it basically was one of those terms it was widely used of everything you are on the inside and so you think with your heart in biblical terms your heart thinks okay it's just an example of how these words sometimes overlap and the word soul is much like that it overlaps with other words like it person life and sometimes even spirit okay so the word soul is a very broad term sometimes it cannot be narrowed just to one little specific thing inside you all right now any questions about that before we look at the word spirit okay let's look at how the word spirit is used this word is even more common in at least as far as the spread of the two testaments in the Old Testament the word spirit is found 375 times in the New Testament 386 times very common word and it has again very broad meanings it is not used of just one little chunk of substance inside you it has a lot of different meanings sometimes the word spirit is used of intellectual capacities sometimes it's used of emotional capacities there's a lot of overlap between the word spirit and soul give a few examples Genesis 41 8 in the King James and it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled and he sent and called for all the magicians of e to this is this is the Pharaoh sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof and Pharaoh told him his dream there was none that can interpret them and when it says his spirit was troubled that's talking about an agitation of mind and emotion but it's referred to as a spirit okay so it just shows the word spirit is used to really refer to what we think typically of other functions of a person's personality the emotions were troubled his mind was troubled the Bible speaks of that here as his spirit another example of the broad use of that word is in Exodus 283 and that shall speak unto all that are wise hearted there's an interesting combination your heart wise or is your mind wise well in biblical terms your heart is wise okay whom I have filled with here it is the spirit of wisdom that they may make errands garments to consecrate him so they may minister me in the priest office this is speaking of the people who were to make the tabernacle and the garments that the priests would wear and God says I've given them the spirit of wisdom okay wisdom again is something we think of as tied to the mind the thinking capacity but here it is described with the word spirit okay so spirit has overlapped with emotion and with thinking capacities all right so at least those two and then look at this verse in 2nd Timothy 1 7 this is in the NIV for the spirit God gave us does not make us timid but gives us power love and self discipline you notice the NIV has capitalized the word spirit there's a lot of debate about that whether or not that word is intended to refer to the Holy Spirit or our human spirit in the sense of a spirit of boldness a spirit of power a spirit of self discipline meaning what's on the inside of us is God has given us that spirit or that outlook or that mindset that view of things and certainly that's energized by the Holy Spirit as all good that comes from us is energized by the Holy Spirit but here the word spirit even if it does refer to what's inside of us the human spirit is tied to various different things strength emotional and volitional capacity love and self discipline action and so forth so spirit tied to all of that one more Acts 1921 this is in the King James after these things were ended Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia in a cave to go to Jerusalem saying after I've been there I must also see Rome so here the spirit is tied to the will of the decision making capacity the he purposed in his spirit so I give you all these verses just to show you that these terms are not narrow terms in the Bible they are terms that are used to describe a lot of different things that come from within us sometimes are thinking sometimes are emotions sometimes are will and all of these things and others so the words soul and spirit are broad words that are often used to describe in very very general terms the immaterial part of man sometimes it refers to the mind the will the emotion sometimes just the life or the person itself himself or herself so very broad terms my point is that you cannot narrow them down to two different totally distinct substances inside you that never overlap at all that's just not the way the terms are used in the Bible not at all so basically soul and spirit describe functions of the immaterial part of us who we are on the inside and very broad terms at that really encompassing a lot of other things if you want to make any distinction between the two and some people really like to do that anyway if there is any distinction the soul probably refers more to self-consciousness and the spirit refers more to god consciousness or relationship with him but again you can't make that hard and fast distinction all the time okay here here basically is an attempt just to be more biblically precise in the way we use the Bible terms okay questions or comments about parts or parts how many do you have now the Kistie is asking do I have any guesses as to why the Hebrew word in particular is not more specific why it's why it kind of covers a wide range of things and I think it's simply because sometimes the Bible writers just want to use one word to describe the totality of everything is going on inside of us and rather than saying your soul spirit mind conscience will emotions and all is included in this they just group it all in one term your soul or your spirit and those are the two most common terms to describe everything inside of us but but in the Old Testament the word heart is right up there with them that that is a real common word too that's the only thing I I can think of and I may not be on target there but I I would think the only reason for that is simply economy of words that they don't want to use all the words just summonerize it in one and we'll choose the word soul or spirit to communicate the immaterial part of man bill oftentimes I'm sorry what vows vows oh I'm sorry yes very very different yes yes yes yeah that is that is specifically in the New Testament the Greek word sponknah which really is a very expressive term for balsaponknah I mean that just kind of gets the point across sorry about that but it that that term is used of the emotions feeling it in the gut is the idea it's a very descriptive term for our emotions and what you feel deeply yeah ow oh yes I'm sorry I don't need to be coy two minutes to reply can I use a lifeline it is both it is the immaterial part of us and sometimes the Bible refers to it as the soul and sometimes it refers to it as the spirit the spirit leaves in ecclesiasties but those who are seen in heaven are souls so it can be either one but basically again those two words are just describing the person you are on the inside so when you die the one part of you the material part the body ceases to function the rest of you goes to heaven and and that's the immaterial part the real person on the inside it can be described as the spirit it can be described as the soul and those would be the two most common terms for what leaves the body yeah was that under two minutes or okay Blaine I'd have to look that up I know the the main words are the ones I mentioned Hebrew word for soul would be nefesh Greek word would be psuke for spirit the Hebrew word or main word would be ruach and the Greek word would be numa but those are the those are the main words there may be some other minor words but I'd have to look that up to be sure the Greek language in particular I'm a little more familiar with it is much more specific and precise than English and so typically if you have an English word there may be three or four different Greek words that communicate different nuances or shades of that same word like love for instance we use the word love and we can mean lots of different things well the Greeks had specific words for each of those things is it physical love that would be one word is it friendship kind of love that would be another word is it self-sacrificing commitment that would be a third word entirely so Greek typically was much more precise but there are some words that are broad in their meaning by intention and that's the reason they're used so much and that would be like the word soul or spirit yeah okay great questions any others okay I want to finish up tonight then by describing a third view which is not really a third view it's kind of a refinement or further explanation of the dichotomous view and I think it's a good biblical perspective overall and that's called the essential unity view and and basically the view as this the unity of man is the is the main concept in this view and that is that human beings are a unity of both the physical part and the spiritual part or the material part and the immaterial part as we've been saying and God intended those two parts to exist together in an indivisible and essential necessary unity in other words to be human to be really human we need both we need the material part and the immaterial part in order to really be to be in the ideal state as human beings now the reason why that's important biblically is because of Greek philosophy the Greek philosophers beginning with Plato he was one that really advanced this idea that everything material is evil and only that which is immaterial or of the spirit of the inside of you is good and can be holy well that that may sound attractive at first but it led to some very serious doctrinal errors in the early church and one of those doctrinal errors is that if everything that is material or bodily is wrong sinful bad then what do you do with the human body of Christ and there were those by the end of the New Testament time and it would grow even bigger after the end of the first century who were teaching that Christ could not have had a real physical body because that's evil everything that's bodily is evil so they were teaching that Christ could not have a real human body and thus he was not fully human well that's a very serious error very serious error in the early church had to deal with that and finally came to the conclusion in a council of the the full humanity and full deity of Christ and how those two functioned in one person but this view basically is saying human beings are a composite and essential unity of material the body and immaterial everything else you are on the inside now the little the little twist and the thing that's most interesting about this concept is what do you do with what's called the intermediate state now let me explain what I mean by that and then we're going to look at a passage that deals with it in second Corinthians five by the intermediate state we're talking about what state are we in after we die and we go to heaven but before the resurrection do we have a body or do we not have a body okay let's say you die tomorrow hope you don't but let's just say you do but Jesus hasn't come back yet the resurrection hasn't taken place yet he hasn't called forth bodies from the grave so who are you in heaven are you just a spirit floating around do you have a body or do you wait till the resurrection to get a body that that state between death and the resurrection is called the intermediate state and that's where the real question comes in let's look at a very interesting passage in second Corinthians five verses one through nine Paul says verse one four we know that if the earthly tent we live in and we looked at this earlier that's talking about the body if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed we have a building from God an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands meanwhile until we get that resurrection by that glorified body meanwhile we've grown longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling because when we are clothed we will not be found naked he's talking about the spirit or the soul the immaterial part without a body is naked if you will verse four for while we are in this tent we groan and are burdened because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose for what purpose for the purpose of having a body united with a soul i'm going to use the soul for the entire immaterial part of us for now okay so they don't have to use all those words God made us for the purpose of body and soul being united and so what Paul is saying here is when we die we leave our body behind but we don't want to stay in some kind of naked state without a body we long to be clothed with our heavenly body so that we will not be found naked that's that's his point God made us even in eternity to have a body now look at what he says in verse six he says therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord for we live by faith not by sight we are confident i say and would prefer notice these next words to be away from the body and at home with the Lord so what he's saying is it's possible to be out of the body to be away from the body leave the body behind and when that happens we are with the Lord okay so we are disembodied if you will and we are with the Lord in heaven apart from the body away from the body so verse nine he says so we make it our goal to please him whether we are at home in the body or away from it well this passage has led many to to ponder what are what is it like in heaven then are we just spirits our souls do we have bodies in heaven before the resurrection like if you were to go to heaven now before the rapture and the resurrection of your body what would you be like would you have a body or not well let's let's make sure we understand exactly what Paul's saying here he is teaching that it is possible for a believer to be away from the body and in the Lord's presence I mean you left your body behind he prefers that to continuing in this mortal failing decaying dying body verse eight he says I would prefer to be away from the body in a home with the Lord so that state of being out of this decaying body is preferable because we are with the Lord then we are not in this this body that aching and getting old and decaying and so forth that's preferable but note also that it's not the preferred state ultimately because he says we long to be clothed with our heavenly body verses one through four it says we don't want to stay in this disembodied state we long to be clothed with our heavenly body that's talking about the resurrection body the glorified body so it appears at least here that the intermediate state in heaven is we are without a body but that state is an incomplete state that's not the way God made us God made us for the purpose in verse five of having a body so we are awaiting the resurrection body in heaven now I think there's maybe a little bit more to it than that okay that seems to be what Paul's saying here but many have have put forth the view that between death and the glorified body that we get at resurrection God gives us some kind of temporary body while we're in heaven and that does seem to be born out in some scriptures even though we do not have yet our glorified body our resurrected body and we won't have that until the resurrection which takes place for for us at the rapture is it possible that in that intermediate state God gives us some kind of temporary body do you remember the story in Luke 16 Lazarus and the rich man and the rich man who has died and is in hell you would think the same thing would be happening he's left his body behind he is his soul has gone to hell but do you remember he describes being in torment and feeling the physical effects of that torment and he asks for Abraham to dip his finger in water and just put it on what his tongue okay that sounds like he has some kind of body doesn't it and then there's another passage in there's several passages like this if you're really interested in following up on this you might want to read Randy Alcorn's book heaven which is probably the most complete treatise on the subject of heaven ever written he has five pages on this topic of the intermediate state and whether or not we have a body and he's pointed out something that I've never really thought of before until I read his book and that is a scene of saints in heaven in Revelation 6 and they are called souls the souls that are around the throne in heaven but they're wearing robes huh why would a spirit need a robe a body needs to be clothed wears clothing but not a spirit so it appears that the souls in heaven have some physical frame to them that can hold up a robe a garment so for those reasons and other passages like that that describe scenes of heaven where there are physical activity happening people with palm branches in their hands and so forth it seems as though while Paul is saying we don't have the body that we're ultimately eternally designed for yet our resurrection body our glorified body it seems that God gives us some kind of physical expression in heaven even before that happens I tend to believe that's the case I wouldn't start a new denomination on it you know the body in heaven Baptist church or something like that I wouldn't do that but but I think it's probably worth thinking of ourselves in terms of not just spirits that are floating around in heaven but people who look like ourselves who look have a body okay so that's what you have to come to grips with when you deal with this intermediate state but the essential unity view basically takes this passage seriously in the sense that verse 5 says we were created by God for the purpose of soul and body being together in any sensual unity so in heaven we will have a body ultimately a resurrected glorified body that will be with us throughout eternity we were not made to be without the body we were made to inhabit a body now thankfully as Paul says here we're going to get rid of the old decaying body and we're going to get a heavenly one that's perfect and you know you want to get rid of this old decaying one at some point but you don't want to remain unclothed you want a body and God wants it he made us for that purpose so in eternity we'll have a body okay and I think it will be recognizable I think it will be a perfect version of who we are now that's a whole other subject but any any comments or questions Tommy and he is thinking of what will be like to be with the Lord and I would much rather be apart from the body away from the body and present with the Lord I'd rather that happen and he is thinking that just like it wasn't Philippians 1 I'm torn between the two have a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better but to remain here in this body is more needful for you so he is kind of grappling in his mind with these two concepts that's exactly what's what's going on that let me just finish up your outline or somebody will come up to me afterwards what was this word in this last point here let me give you the different biblical terms kind of summarize here on the different biblical terms we're going to look at the more in depth next week but soul spirit heart mind conscience body flesh all of those terms refer to who you are to you to yourself to humanity they are different aspects of a unified person and that unified person is composed basically of two components two parts the material part the body that's what you see and the immaterial part or un-material part that you don't see everything that's inside your body and everything that's inside your body is referred to with many different terms that may express different shades of function like the mind and the conscience and the will and the emotions and the soul and the spirit and on and on the heart but those functions overlap a lot that's why the Bible says you can think with your heart and you can feel with your spirit okay that's those terms overlap a lot so it's better just to see that we're made of two parts material body immaterial everything else that we are what's on the inside and there are different ways of expressing what's on the inside that may have little shades of meaning and kind of different things at times but we're going to we're going to look at more what some of those words actually mean and how they're using the Bible next week like will and conscience and mind and heart and some of those other terms as well okay actually won't be next week I'll be in Chicago next week hold my little grand baby so that'll that'll have to wait for two more weeks let's pray Father we thank you for your grace and kindness to us and giving us a body that we can function in this world with and and the real us on the inside that inhabits this body thank you for how you've made us we are fearfully and wonderfully made and Lord we thank you that even in eternity future we will be united with a glorified body a perfect body that will be able to function in eternity Lord we thank you for that the excitement of that prospect to know that there will be no aches or pains or deformities or diseases or illness or anything wrong with our bodies but they will function as you intended them to when you first created Adam we thank you for that and look forward to that Lord thank you for the way your plan incorporates even that part of us in Jesus name amen