1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (24) Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
Man is made up of spirit, soul, and body: see handout[1]
As Christians and ministers, we must understand the tri-part nature of man in order to help people at the root (the source) of what has plagued them for years (sometimes their lifetime).
Genesis 1:26-27, “(26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
God created Man in His Image and Likeness:
- Image = Total Man (trichotomy)
- Imago Dei = “Image of God”
- Spirit = Transformed, New Creature, Born Again. This is where the Holy Ghost dwells. If unregenerated the spirit is empty of God’s presence and open to demonic spiritual attack.
- Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.”
- When you receive the Holy Ghost, both your spirit and God’s Spirit are hermetically sealed together until the judgment seat of Christ.
- Soul = Mind, Will and Emotions. Subject to attack by tormenting, oppressive spirits through the thought life. Your mind sets your will. Your emotion is a direct result of your mindset.
- The Battleground: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, (3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations [carnal reasoning and fleshly calculation], and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (6) And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
- Body = Subject to attacks by spirits of infirmity (weakness and disease) through improper habits of health, nutrition, safety.
- Spirit = Transformed, New Creature, Born Again. This is where the Holy Ghost dwells. If unregenerated the spirit is empty of God’s presence and open to demonic spiritual attack.
- Likeness = goings and doings (choices we make)
- Free will
- Man, in God’s Image, chooses the likeness he pursues
- Mark 12:13-17, “(13) And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. (14) And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? (15) Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. (16) And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. (17) And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.”
- Whose image is on you, and what likeness do you display?
- Why does a man do the things he does?
- A key to life is to learn to accept responsibility for your actions: the likeness you choose.
PLEASE NOTE![2]
Unless there is an open door, evil spirits cannot freely attack. We do not pick up an evil spirit while walking down the street.
Many have opened the door before they were filled with the Holy Ghost and when the spirit level of God is low in their natural life, satan starts invading their mind.
Why? The spirit of the man has allowed the Holy Spirit of God to become low in their life.
You, through the power of the Holy Ghost, have the right to evict all unwelcome guests to your body, soul and spirit.
This brings us to the point of renewing your mind. We renew, or refresh, our body by sleep and nourishment.
Likewise, we need to renew our mind in the Holy Ghost. This can best be accomplished through prayer and praise.
Ephesians 4:22-24, “(22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation [lifestyle = goings and doings] the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God [Image of God] is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
The mind cannot maintain a common relationship with the Lord if the heart, for instance, holds to things, such as resentment, bitterness and hatred. Body, soul and spirit must be purged to maintain a productive spirit level.
“The Holy Ghost can only flow through you as pure as you are in your body, soul and spirit.” –Johnny Garrison
A sick body naturally can come under attack spiritually. God wants us to maintain body, soul and spirit to the very best of our knowledge.
We all will be held accountable for what we know to do.
There is a strong link between sickness and sin, or sickness and fear (anxiety), which manifests itself in what has been called “psychosomatic disorders” (mind-body).
James gave us an antidote for these issues:
(13 )Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. (14) Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: (15) And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:13-16).
Christians who have obey the Word and God and follow Jesus with an undivided heart bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
That obedience is the best revenge of our past disobedience when we were the servants of sin.
As Christians we have a choice regarding whose Image and Likeness we choose to carry and model: Romans 6:15-23
(15) What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
(16) Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
(17) But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
(18) Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
(19) I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
(20) For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
(21) What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
(22) But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
(23) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
When you decide to carry the Image and Likeness of God you live in victory because of these truths:[3]
- You are separated from the power and enticement of sin: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:2).
- You are alive unto God: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).
- The finished work of Calvary satisfied the demands of the Law and payment for our sin: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ…” (Romans 7:4).
- Sin no longer has control over you: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:12-14).
- There is still a battle going on between the Law of God and the law of sin, which presents a choice between the Image and Likeness you choose: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:22-25).
- The Law of the Spirit is more powerful than the low of sin and death: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death…. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:1-2, 13).
- The victory Christ purchased for you helps you to approach every temptation from a position of victory: “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:…And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:19-21, 2:6-7).
[1] Notes: Dr. Joe Nelson. Techniques of Counseling 1. Parkersburg Bible College. Fall 2001.
[2] Ibid. (italicized parts are directly quoted from the PBC notes from the textbook on page 101)
[3] Ibid. p. 105-106.
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