We are a spirit, a
soul, and a body. The Bible says
that God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the
breath of life into him. The Bible also says that God is a spiritual
being (John 4:24). Therefore, God’s breath is spiritual. It is not
composed of elements of the material universe. All inanimate matter
can become living biological material only through the spiritual
breath of God. Life becomes living tissue when God created man by
breathing into him; only through that breath can it become living
biological material. Moses said that Adam became a living soul (Gen.
2:7). I believe it is equally important to note what Moses did not
say. He did not say that man became a living spirit. Moses
understood that the human soul is the part of the person that
possesses self-awareness, can think, and is endowed with free will
to make choices. Those choices are heavily influenced by the five
senses of an earthly body. In that way, the human soul functions
differently from the spirit. Though the soul can communicate with
the spirit world, it has no means to understand and thus function in
that world. To do that, we would need not only a self-aware spirit
but also a spiritual body. Adam had only a carnal body made from the
elements of this material world. We know that Adam also had the
living spirit breath of God, giving life to that soul and body, but
nowhere do the scriptures indicate that this spirit was a self-aware
spirit, any more than the life-giving air one breathes is a part of
a person's body. It gave life to the soul and the material
biological body, but did not give birth to a self-aware spiritual
person. If it had, there would have been no need for the Tree of
Life. Moses realized this, or he would not have had the
understanding necessary to write the Genesis. God's breath is
necessary for all living things to be alive.
After Adam sinned, a later meeting of the Divine Minds gives further
evidence for what I have just said. In a conversation amongst
themselves, the Godhead stated that Adam was now in danger of living
forever in his sin if he were to eat of the Tree of Life. (Gen.
3:22) How so? Why would Adam have to live forever in his sin if he
did this? The only plausible explanation I can think of is that the
Tree of Life would give birth to Adam’s spiritual person, who was
not yet a fully formed, self-aware being. Here is another logical
thought. Since he would now have to live forever in his sin, is it
not plausible to say that there could have been no redemptive power
provided by the Tree of Life? We know that redemption can only come
through Jesus's death at the cross. It is also important to note
that there is not a single scripture in the Bible that says that
man’s spirit goes to Hell. Solomon said it returns to God when the
body dies (Ecc. 12:7). Jesus says nothing about our spirit going to
Hell, but He does say that it is a man’s soul that is condemned to
Hell (Mat. 10:28). Nothing that I am saying here lines up with what
most theologians say. However, nothing theologians say about this
subject aligns with what I find in the scriptures. Not a single
scripture in the entire Bible mentions anything about our spirit
being condemned to Hell. On the contrary, scriptures seem to
indicate that Adam's spirit could not sin, because it was not a
fully formed personage capable of making choices. If it had been,
then what would have been the need for the Tree of Life? Although
the Tree of Life's function is not explained in detail in the
scriptures, it is evident that the Tree of Life was made available
to enable Adam to exercise his free will to choose between becoming
like the angels or becoming like His Son, Jesus Christ. If Adam had
chosen to become like the angels, then there would have been no
redemption from sin if we had sinned at a later date. Being born of
Christ's Spirit provides redemption for all sin, past, present, and
future. (1 John 1:7). When we confess Jesus Christ as Lord of all
(Rom. 10:9), we become a fully formed, self-aware spiritual person
whom the Bible calls the new man. Our new man is created in
righteousness and true holiness ( Eph. 4:24) (Read John Chapter 3).
God seals our newborn spirit with His Holy Spirit until the day of
redemption (Eph. 1:13), (1 Peter 1:23), (1 John 3:9). Sin cannot
touch our newborn spirit. However, it can affect our souls, which
must be continually sanctified while we live in this world. The
completion of that sanctification shall take place at the judgment
seat of Christ (1 Th. 5:8). A new heart is given to us in our soul,
and the old stony one is removed. (2 Cor. 1:21,22) (Eze. 36:26).
This new heart is the seat of our soul. It is a core part of a
believer’s personality and communicates directly with the new spirit
through the power and direction of God's Holy Spirit. Our new heart
is the beachhead of the soul. Through it, the Holy Spirit guides us
to take every thought of the soul (mind, will, emotions) captive (2
Cor. 10:5).
