what is "spirit" ?

What is a person's "spirit"?  And why does it matter?  The answers to both of those supremely important questions are almost universally unknown and misunderstood--even among religious, or supposedly spiritually-minded persons, including Christians.

The image at right purports to show a person's "spirit" leaving his body.  The image on the left is supposed to be an actual photograph of a person's spirit (the white, wispy thing near the ceiling), caught on film at the moment of death.  The image on the right is obviously a dramatized representation of the "spirit" leaving a woman's body.  The similarity between what is supposed to be the "spirit", in both of the above images, is remarkable.

But does a person's "spirit" actually appear anything like what is shown in the above images?  And, if so, what does that mean?  For, even if a "spirit" does look like what is shown, above: So, what?  What does that tell us about the actual nature of "spirit"?  In fact, it tells us nothing at all, except, perhaps (if those images were true), that "spirit" is something "smoke-like".  Big deal.  Then, we still don't know what "spirit" is.


It does seem that most people imagine their "spirit" to be something ethereal (airy, delicate, light) and ephemeral (transient, fleeting): in other words, "smoke-like", similar to what is shown in the above images.  Otherwise, the true nature of "spirit" evidently remains one of life's greatest mysteries.

But not understanding the true nature of one's "spirit", has devastating consequences for the human person.

Pervasive, gross ignorance on this subject, I am convinced, has arisen from the widespread confusion (mostly propagated by teachers of religion) involving the supposed differences between "spirit" and "soul".  It is almost universally taught amongst Christians, especially, that the human person consists of three, distinct parts, or elements, namely: body, soul, and spirit.  But that teaching is wrong.  And it is wrong because it does not agree with the revelation of Scripture.  The Bible teaches us that man is: an embodied spirit.  Think very carefully, if you will, about every word of that definition.  The word "soul", importantly, is not even mentioned as part of the definition.

It will be helpful if we will closely examine the following verse of Scripture.  It is the definitive verse in the Bible, which tells us exactly what "man" is, in his nature:

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."  (Genesis 2:7)

Look at the three words in blue: "formed", "breathed", and "became".  They are action words.  God "formed".  God "breathed".  But man "became".  Now, look at the two phrases in red: "dust of the ground", and "breath of life".  Both of those phrases indicate something of substance.  What was the substance of which God "formed" man (that is, his body)?  It was the "dust of the ground".  And what was the substance which God "breathed" into man's nostrils?  It was the "breath of life"--that is, God's life.  God "breathed"--something--into man's nostrils (that is a very specific part of the body).  Thus, the "breath of life" must be something of substance: that is, spiritual substance.  We could therefore say that God "formed" man's body of dirt; whereas, that which God "breathed" into man's nostrils (the "breath of life"), was man's "spirit".

Thus, when the "spirit" which God "breathed" entered into the body which God "formed" . . . a great miracle happened.  And what was that miracle?  "Man became".  Man came to be.  But just what did "man" become?  Man became "a living soul".

So, we have "dust" for man's body, and God's "breath" for man's spirit.  But what else was "added" to those TWO "substances" (one physical, one spiritual), in order to make "man"?  Nothing else was added.  But, when the "spirit" entered into the "body", "man--became".  Again, I ask, What did man "become"?  Man became "a living soul".

I realize I'm belaboring the point.  Yet, simple though it is, still, it seems that the concept is difficult for most people to grasp (because, as I said, it has always been taught that man is composed of three, distinct parts: body, soul, and spirit).  But man does not "have" a "soul":

Man IS a soul.

Man is a "soul".  What, then, is a "soul"?  A "soul" is an embodied spirit.

Thus, when Jesus warned sinners against the danger of "losing" their own "soul", what did he mean?  He means that sinners who die without Christ, lose the right of embodiment.  As the result of losing the right of embodiment, the sinner's spirit thus has no means (no body) whereby to participate in, nor to experience, the Created Order (the Creation).  Sinners who die lost are forever cut off from God's Creation.  Yet, those sinners still exist, forever (more about that, later in this essay).  Here are some relevant passages of Scripture:

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36) 

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28) 

I have written, elsewhere, that "Man is not 'man' without a body".  A disembodied "spirit" is not a human being; though it once was.  Note, however, in the first of the above Scriptures, the Bible does not say that man is at all capable to lose his "spirit", but his "soul".  Again, what is the soul?  It is an "embodied" spirit.  To lose one's "soul", therefore, is to lose embodiment.  The second of the above-quoted Scriptures, further shows that what is "destroyed" in hell, is not the "spirit", but it is "both soul and body".  Well, when the body is destroyed, the soul is also thus destroyed--by definition.  Where the "body" is "destroyed", the "soul" does not persist.  There is no "soul", where there is no body.  But there is only, then, "spirit".

Man does not have a "soul", but man IS a soul--so long as he has a body.  What is the "he", then, of which we have said, "so long as he has a body"?  "He" is a "spirit".  Man is a spirit living in a body.  And when you put the two together, that is called a "soul".

All of the above, lengthy explanation, is to prove that it is absolutely meaningless to say that the various functions of our psyche are divided between our spirit and our soul.  It is typically taught, for example, that the functions of cognition (thinking) and of emotion pertain to the "soul", whereas, the functions of intuition and of communion with God pertain to our "spirit".  But not only are such ideas nonsensical and wrongheaded.  They are furthermore dangerous to one's spiritual life and development.

Preachers, teachers, and authors oftentimes speak of things which are supposedly "soulish", as contrasted with things which are supposedly "spiritual".  That false dichotomy (false distinction) not only serves to confuse the entire subject of: What is, then, "spiritual"?  But that false dichotomy, no less important, also serves to create in the minds of many the wrong belief that life itself is therefore naturally divided between "spiritual" things, and "soulish" (or secular).  Most Christians live their lives as if "spiritual" matters only pertain to what goes on in a church service, or in missions-related endeavors, or in the privacy of one's own devotions.

But there is NOTHING which pertains to the "soul" which does not, in fact, belong to the "spirit".  The "soul" is nothing more nor less than the "spirit" using the body to interact with the external world.  The Bible plainly states: "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26).  It does not say, The body without the "soul" is dead.

Now, we can begin to address the questions posed at the beginning of this essay, i.e.: "What is a person's spirit?  And why does it matter?"  In order to understand what "spirit" IS, it will be most helpful to understand what "spirit" DOES.  What are the functions of the human spirit?  Here are some of the more important of those functions (though the list is not exhaustive):

• cognition
• the ability to think and to reason
• communication
• the ability to exchange and to understand meaning, in symbols
• emotion
• the ability to experience "feelings" of joy, anger, peace, empathy, etc.
• affection
• the ability to valuate and prioritize, according to personal preferences
• volition
• the ability to choose, and to will (and to believe)
• imagination
• the ability to conceive and/or to create
• intuition
• the ability to "know", apart from apparent evidences
• assimilation / integration (learning)
• the ability to increase one's capacity and ability to perceive and to understand
• memory
• the ability to retain a mental record of past events

It is evident that all of the above named functions of "spirit" involve the "mind".  I will go so far as to say that I believe the essence of "spirit" is "mind"--or what is also sometimes called "intelligence" (do not confuse that term with relative "smart-ness").  If we may then substitute one term for its equivalent--that is, "mind" for "spirit", we can thus say, that:

Man (or, a person) is an embodied mind.

A very gifted, Christian philosopher, Gordon H. Clark (d. 1985), said he believed that "A person is a set of ideas".  I believe a person is something more than merely a "set of ideas".  Nevertheless, Clark was mostly correct.  For, how could it be possible (for us, at least) to differentiate between any two or more "persons"; except, by contrasting the differences between a host of ideas which those persons variously hold in their minds?  Especially that were true, in the case that we could neither see, nor hear the voice of, those persons.

But why am I going to such great length to impress upon my Readers the fact that each of us is, essentially, a mind living in a body?  Here's why:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by [means of] the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."  (Romans 12:1-2)

You are a mind.

But what kind of a mind are you?  What is the content of your mind?  What do you love?  What do you hate?  What do you choose, or reject?  What do you value most, or least?  What kinds of thoughts, and images, and memories, and imaginations flow through your consciousness?  What is your mind preoccupied with, most of the time?  What is your mind filled with?  What are you doing with your mind?  What are the goals, and motivations, and aspirations, of your mind?  What are you doing--if anything, consciously to change the content or the condition of your mind?  Are you purposively attempting to get new or different things into your mind?  What sort of things?  Are you purposively trying to get certain things out of your mind?  What kinds of things are those?  And why do you want them out?  Are you largely concerned with the state of your own mind?  Or, are you also concerned with the state of minds other than yours?  What do you know--or care--about the mind of God? or, about the mind of Satan?

If you could be perfectly honest with yourself, how would you characterize your own mind?  Based upon the things which your mind is mostly occupied and concerned with: would you say that you are heavenly-minded, or earthly-minded?

God is a mind (John 4:24).

Is your mind anything like God's mind?  Really?  How much do you care that your mind should be like God's mind?  Or, do you not even believe that such a thing belongs to human beings?  Do you love what God loves?  Do you hate what He hates?  Do you want what God wants, in this present world?  Do you seek after those things God seeks after?  Do you even know what those things are?  Do you care to know?

Do you know that God has revealed and expressed His mind to you?  Do you know that God has even made it possible that His mind can be communicated to you, by different means?  Do you know--or care--that God has a deep, personal interest in what kind of a mind you are?  Do you also know that God sits in judgment--at every moment--of what kind of a mind you are?

Do you know that you have a solemn duty, unto God, to submit yourself to God, in order that you can undergo a process whereby you may be "transformed" by the "renewing" of your mind?  Do you know--or care--that God wants to radically change both the content as well as the condition and orientation of your mind, according to His divine will?

If you profess to be a Christian; and, if you answered most or all of those questions in a manner that basically agrees with that profession: then, do the things you do--as a "mind", throughout each day, line up with that profession?  How do you spend your time to develop your mind in accordance with God's mind?  And how do you express the mind of God to others--on your Facebook, or at work, or at home, or among the public?

What things you willingly take into your mind, by means of your eyes and ears and thoughts: those are a direct indication of what you want to fill your mind with.  And what things come out of your mouth: those are a direct indication of what you have, in fact, filled your mind with.

You are a mind, a spirit.  Therefore, everything you are, and everything you do, is spiritual.  There is nothing you do, which is not a direct action of your spirit.

Do you think you are going to heaven, some day?  Well, the only way that is going to happen is if the mind you are may be judged, by God, to be worthy and fit to be granted the unspeakably high privilege of being housed and preserved, eternally, in an immortal body--one which can never be destroyed.  Only thus may you then be allowed to be a part of God's eternal Kingdom.

But the body you're in now, is just a temporary arrangement -- until it shall be determined just what sort of a mind you really are.

Are you a mind like Jesus Christ?