Today we hope to answer the question that probably has crossed every born again believer in the body of Christ: Is there a difference between my spirit, soul and my body?
That’s a good, good question.
The short answer is, yes there is a difference.
Once we where born-again, (believed in Christ and received salvation) we became a new person in the spirit. But we still have our own mind, will, and emotions, which is our soul, and we still are encased in this flesh, which is called our body.
I can write a long blog post on this topic because recently my small bible study group has just finished studying the book Spirit, Soul, and Body by Andrew Wommack. But instead, I’m going to defer to Andrew Wommack article to best explain it.
There is a whole universe that man in all his wisdom is ignorant of. That is the world of the spirit. And I’m not just talking about the spiritual realm outside of us but also the spiritual being inside of every person. We aren’t evolved animals; we were created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). We are spirit beings.
Yet sadly, even many Christians have lost this spiritual point of view. Very few Christians know who they are in the spirit. In fact, they have been taught by religion that they are sinners by nature—just the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
It’s true that we were all born sinners (Ps. 51:5) and had the nature of the devil working in us (Eph. 2:2-3). But when we came to Christ and received salvation, we became a new person in the spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
This isn’t talking about your body. If you were a man before you accepted Christ, you were still a man afterwards. Your body didn’t change. And your soul, which is what the Bible calls the mental-emotional part of you, didn’t automatically change either. It’s subject to change, but you have to renew your mind to experience the change in your mind and emotions.
You’re a new creation (Spirit), not reused
But in the spirit, you became a brand-new species of being. Your spirit is totally new. There isn’t an old sin nature left in you.
I know this comes as a complete shock to many of you who have been indoctrinated in the-old-nature-versus-the-new-nature theology. Most Christians have been taught to believe that after salvation, they are still the same at their core, and they live the rest of their lives trying to restrain this old nature. They believe they have two natures. That’s schizophrenic, and it produces Christians who are nothing like Christ.
Your soul (mind, will, and emotions) needs reprogramming
Your old nature is what dominated your soul, which is made up of your mind, will, and emotions. Your old nature (sin nature) ran the show for so long that your soul was just programmed to follow without asking questions.
But Paul asks a question to the Roman church:
[If] we are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Rom 6:2)And the answer, of course, is no: “By no means!”
Unfortunately, this is not believed by the majority of Christians today. They believe that they are alive to sin and that it is with much effort, frustration, and failure that they battle this sin nature the rest of their lives. That’s not what Paul believed.
Paul said that once we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3), we experience a death to our old sin nature. It’s dead. It’s gone. It doesn’t exist anymore.
I can just hear people saying, “What!? Are you crazy? I still struggle with many sins. I’m not dead to sin.”
I will admit that Christians still sin. Paul made mention of this in this very chapter and dealt with it in more detail in Romans 7. But our nature has been changed. The only reason we still sin is because we don’t know these truths (John 8:32).
Our minds are similar to computers in the sense that they can be programmed. And once programmed, they will continue to function as programmed until we reprogram them. We were all born in sin, and our old sin nature programmed our minds how to be selfish, bitter, angry, how to lust, etc. When we are born again (John 3:3), we become totally new in our spirits. This old nature has been completely changed (2 Cor. 5:17). It’s not in the process of becoming new; it’s already as pure and perfect as Jesus (1 John 4:17, 1 Cor. 6:17, and Eph. 4:24).
As the man’s soul thinketh so is his body
Our sin nature is dead and gone, but it left behind a body. That body is the carnal mind. It will still function as programmed until we reprogram it. That’s what the Bible calls the renewing of the mind. Our lives are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2).
Therefore, victory in the Christian life is as simple as renewing our minds to who we are and what we have already received in Christ. It’s not the struggle of two natures inside of us; we are the way we think (Prov. 23:7). If we see ourselves as old sinners, saved by grace, then we will continue to struggle with sin. But when we see the total change that took place in our nature, we will manifest that change in our actions.
When we see ourselves as being part devil, we act like it. But when we see who we are in Christ—i.e., in our born-again spirits—we become like Him (2 Cor. 3:18 and 1 John 3:2). The way we see ourselves becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This is the dominant revelation the Lord has used to change my life. I had a life-altering encounter with the Lord on March 23, 1968. The Lord used that to get my attention and show me there was so much more. But it’s the revelation I received from the Word on who I have become in my spirit that has made the biggest impression and lasting change in my life. It has totally changed my identity.
I call this revelation Spirit, Soul & Body. That’s not a catchy phrase, but it’s descriptive of the way the Lord revealed these truths to me. I’ve come to know I’m a spirit being who has a soul and lives in a body. But the real me is my spiritual person. And it’s in the spirit that I’ve been totally changed and made just like Jesus.
Since God is a Spirit and He deals with me on the basis of who I am in the spirit (John 4:24), this has changed everything. I now worship God based on who I am in the spirit and not on who I am in my flesh; i.e., how I act or feel. I now understand how our holy God can truly love me because in my born-again spirit, I’m totally righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24). My spirit is His workmanship (Eph. 2:10).
I’ve discovered that I’m redeemed from the Law because the Law wasn’t made for a righteous man (1 Tim. 1:9). The Law was given to show us our need for salvation, but it couldn’t save us (Rom. 3:19-21). But what the Law couldn’t do, Jesus did (Rom. 8:3-4), and I’m now the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).
This entitles me to everything God is and has. I have His authority to use, and to the degree that I’ve done this, I’ve experienced miraculous results. I’m so excited about this that I’m trying to let the whole world know these truths.
Source: Spirit, Soul, And Body | Andrew Wommack Ministries
Additional Resources:
Living in God’s Best: Don’t Settle for Less
You’ve Already Got It! (So Quit Trying To Get It)
Excellence: How to Pursue an Excellent Spirit
Question: Did that answer your question, if not, what follow-up questions do you have?
Feel free to leave your answer below in the comment section of the blog. I will use the most common responses and develop them into future blog posts to help others.
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