1 Thessalonians 5:23
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.
The believer's born-again spirit is complete in every way. But Paul made it very clear in this verse that it is God's will for our entire person to be sanctified. Our soul and body will not experience the same degree of sanctification as our spirit until we go to be with the Lord or He returns for us. They [current soul and flesh you have] can be blameless but not sinless. No single human being ever created with the exception of Jesus has a sinless body or sinless soul. But through the blood of Jesus who is the propitiation of our sin [1Jn4:10] we can stand blameless. In other words God the only complainant is already appeased through the blood of Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 is one of the clearest references in scripture that we are a three part being-i.e., spirit, soul, and body. It's obvious that we all have a physical body. Likewise, it is easy to understand we have an inner part which the Bible refers to as the soul. For instance, we have emotions by which we can feel pain even when no one has physically touched us. It's not a physical pain but it is an inner pain we feel. This is what many people call the personality. It is comprised of our carnal intellect, our emotions, our will, and our conscience.
The spirit part of man cannot be perceived through any of our physical senses (Jn. 3:6) that part is spirit and can only be seen by spiritual means or through the word of God, which is the mirror of the spirit man. Therefore, the natural man cannot understand the existence and function of the spirit, and the terms spirit and soul are commonly used interchangeably. Paul makes a clear distinction between them here. So Just as you behold your physical makeup by way of the mirror or reflection, your spirit can only be perceived through the word of God.
The spirit part of Adam was the part of him that died when he ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:16-17). Adam's physical body didn't die until 930 years later (Gen. 5:5). So, when Ephesians 2:1 says we were dead in trespasses and sins, it was speaking of a spiritual death, see also Col. 3:3. Our spirits were dead or separated from God.
At the new birth our dead spirit is made alive unto God. The Christian is completely new in his spirit. The rest of the Christian life is bringing the body and the soul under the control of this born-again spirit through the renewing of the mind. This new spirit has the wisdom of Jesus and knows all things and does not need educating with the word of God. It is in total agreement with the word of God and the word of God is a description of the spirit man – like a mirror.
For example two of the verses in the bible that describe the New Spiritman in you and there fore your new identity are John 1:16 and 1John 4:17 .
John1:16 says …And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
1Jn 4:17 says Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
From John1:16 It is evident from the context that John is speaking to believers and saying that all of us have received the fullness of Jesus. Those who reject the salvation [the new birth] which Jesus offers have not received the fullness of Jesus.
This is an awesome statement. Jesus had the fullness of the Godhead in Him (Col. 2:9) and to those who receive Jesus into their life, they also have the fullness of God in them. We are complete in Jesus (Col. 2:10). The rest of the Christian life is not trying to obtain more from God but rather renewing our minds to what we have already received through Christ, so that it manifests in the physical realm in your life.
Another illustration on the distinction between the body and the spirit is Mathew 26:41
Matthew 26:41 says Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak.
Our spirit is our best advantage. The born- again Christian receives a new spirit at conversion (2 Cor. 5:17), which is just like Jesus (1 Jn. 4:17) because it is the Spirit of Jesus (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6). Our born-again spirit is always willing to do God's will. It's our flesh that is the problem.
The flesh, as Jesus is using it here, not only includes our physical bodies but is also describing our soulish part, too Mt. 22:37. God has given every believer everything that it takes to walk in victory, but "we have this treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7). That is to say that our spirit, which is where God has deposited all of His power and glory, is locked inside our flesh and surrounded by our soul in a sense like the functional diagram below.
While no evil can penetrate your spiritman because it has been thoroughly sealed [Eph 1:13, Eph 4:30] with the Holy Spirit of Promise until the day of redemption, all that Christ is including the eternal Glory and the resurrecting power flow from your Spirit and manifest into the physical realm, depending on how renewed your mind is to the word of God which reflects that which is in your spiritman. Your Spirit is a divine source. That’s the new you and new authority. As much as we will renew our minds (Rom. 12:2) and act on the Word of God (Jas. 2:20), we can experience this divine flow through our physical bodies. However, just as in the physical, muscles have to be used to increase in strength, so our soulish and physical parts have to be exercised unto godliness (1 Tim. 4:7-8). Your have to stay your mind onto God’s word, because that’s the battle ground.
Prayer is one important way of exercising ourselves unto godliness, and this is why Jesus admonished His disciples to watch and pray with Him.
Some lessons learnt about spiritual laws.
Let me start with something I used to ask myself when I was young. I used to be baffled by how people were able to balance on bicycles without any support to avoid falling. I knew a bicycle could not stand on its own. But then many people were riding bicycles, and I kept wondering how it was possible. Gradually I got the explanation when went to school.
A bicycle in physics is able to balance while being ridden due to some kind of physical law. According to Newton's first law of motion, a moving body travels along a straight path with constant speed (i.e., has constant velocity) unless it is acted on by an outside force. For circular motion to occur there must be constant force acting on a body, pushing it toward the center of the circular path. This force is the centripetal (“center-seeking”) force. Numerous innovations depend on this law and are in existence today but were not at the time Jesus dwelled on earth, because some scientist had not discovered how to harness this already existing physical law.
The point I am making is that everyone who receives Jesus into their life, also receives His fullness. A born again person receives a new spirit, the Spirit of Christ. This spiritual part of you has everything Jesus is, His knowledge, wisdom, righteousness and strength…. Everything.
Like physical laws these wonderful attributes are resident in your Spirit man, and your not knowing how to harness them is the number one reason for lack of victory and authority in the body of Christ, in this physical realm we live in. If the 1st disciples had many signs and wonders we the believers of today ought to have another thing going far more amazing than what those so called illiterates ever experienced. These attributes can remain dormant if not harnessed. There are so many things to learn in order to get this attributes to manifest into soulish realm or our flesh. For example many believers want to identify with Moses but Moses was not even greater than John the Baptist, according to Christ Jesus, yet the bible reveals than a born again believer is far greater than even John the Baptist, why because of the Spirit of Christ that you received at salvation.
Now these attributes which are resident and dormant in your spirit-man, need to be manifested into your physical realm and this is only possible through constantly renewing the mind with the word of God. The mind as you grow up accumulates a lot of stuff that negates the spiritual laws written in the bible. But spiritual laws govern how the new spirit will exercise authority in the earthly realm. The spirit realm and its laws are the parent realm of the physical realm.
An unrenewed mind unaware of the spiritual dynamics technically disables a believer from exercising this Christ – like authority, and as well hinders God from exercising His authority in the physical realm through you, the physical Human being. So renewing your mind unto the spiritual laws written in bible will cause the spirit man to dominate in the physical realm, and then signs and wonders even greater than those Jesus displayed will be seen. Many people don’t understand the spiritual realm and do not even venture to teach it or talk about it. It is impossible to prove spiritual things in a carnal situation. Phyisical senses just cannot comprehend spiritual things, and people who harness the spiritual realm are the movers and shakers of society whether the spiritual realm they are using is of the darkside or the Which Jesus gave you.
I have learnt that it doesn’t matter how long you have been saved, or how much you pray or have matured in the word. If you are not living a spiritaul life and are unaware of the spiritual laws and you are not operating in them you cannot manage this life, and in addition you will not be aware of who you really are and cannot exercise your full spiritual Christ driven authority. Matter of fact if you simply believe that Jesus can do it but do not believe that he has given you the ability to do likewise then you cannot call that faith. If you haven’t experienced signs and wonders in your life most likely you are still carnally minded i.e to live by what you see, feel, taste, hear and smell – physical senses. We fail in our faith because we have chosen to ignore the life in the spirit, forgetting that the spirit realm is the parent realm of the physical life. Spiritual laws dictate the physical realm. The devil knows this and has been tinkering with some spiritual laws to torment our lives. Satan has messed up with our identity; we think we have no dominion in any situation on earth.
When Adam lost dominion, he only lost the dominion on earth, but Jesus said all power in heaven and on earth was given unto Him. Today we are joint heirs meaning we have power in both realms, on earth and even in heaven. Why else are you seated with Him in the heavenly places? Because this is shared authority in any realm you can think of.
For example one of the laws often misunderstood is preaching the Gospel, for people to get saved. Instead we prefer to pray that people may get saved, but nowhere in the bible does it say that we ought to pray for people to get saved. It says in Mark 16:15 ...Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. It does not say lets pray for the world to get saved. In fact Jesus said in Mathew 9:37 that the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. The verse shows you that somebody has to reach the unbeliever with the word. All we we need to pray, are more spirit filled believers to go out and preach, but not waste time bombarding heaven with prayers mbu for people to get saved.
Romans 1:16 defines the power of God unto salvation as the Gospel. So when the Gospel is preached the power of God is exercised from the spiritual realm to the physical realm. This is true spiritual warfare. People get saved through the preached Gospel, for it is more powerful than just your prayers.
Did you know that the devil won’t interfere with any effort by believers to pray for unbelievers to get saved because he knows that since it is not the spiritually ordained means by which people receive salvation, and it has no impact on his hold on an unbeliever’s mind. People have to be preached to, why, it is because the word of God is a seed [meaning it has life and power] and that seed has to be sown into someone’s heart in order to germinate. Praying that it germinates without sowing is like a farmer who prays for a harvest without sowing any seed – total futility.
You need to understand that when the preached word of God travels through the ears and reaches an unbelievers heart, it comes loaded with the faith of Jesus, which starts renewing the mind and dealing with those arguments and pride that satan uses to blind people. Gradually this causes the person to confess that Jesus is Lord and then that person becomes saved. So, do you realize how in that way even the spirit man is becomes born through your physically spoken words – your confession. Rom 10:9 says That, if you shall confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
The faith you use to believe the Gospel of God is a free gift. This is the faith of Jesus. The preached Gospel is pregnant with the faith of Jesus. See Romans 3:22, Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: also Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Faith is gift you receive by hearing and this is the faith of Christ, it is the measure not a measure. This faith is the same all through no one has bigger or smaller faith. Each one has received a standard measure. It is the measure, so do not be deceived about getting more faith or having less faith. You have the faith that counts, your obstacle is your mind, educate it to agree with your new spirit man who has everything. Romans 12:3 say…according as God has dealt to every man the measure of Faith. If this measure is the size of a mastard seed then it is the measure, if it is the size of a ladel then that is the measure everyone receives. It is “the measure” not “a measure”. “The” is used when reffereing so the same thing repeatedly.
Before I stray, let’s get back to the words. Words are power, words create. You became born again when you confessed, you confessed after believing and you believed after hearing the word preached. You confessed yourself into the new birth. Just as Col 2:6 says As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: it means that since you were born by speaking, speak your way through this life taking into account the spiritual; laws and then see victory, even your Father spoke for things to exist in this life. Speak to the problem. James 3:2 shows that you can actually speak to your body and it will obey. Satan attacked eve with spoken lies.
God operates in the physical realm through physical human beings, that’s a spiritual law He has set and respects. Dominion on this physical earth belongs to physical bodies, and therefore any spirit needs a physical body to operate physically. That’s why God is not in direct confrontation with the devil, because Jesus totally defeated the devil; both are fighting for you, with your mind as the battle ground. The devil has zero power but he can cause thoughts in your soulish realm that can make you speak negativity over your life and yield yourself to him, in that he controls you. Authority can take effect through spoken words coming from a physical body. That is why satan cannot physically confront you by speaking to you, because authority in the physical realm was only given to physical man, and not spirits. Satan attacks your mind.
Even God observes this spiritual law and works through people. This is why God had to become flesh and come in the form of Jesus. It took Him a lot of time to do this because He was getting the right people to speak the right words through the Old Testament history to bring about Jesus, the way He was born.
Did you know that Jesus had to be spoken into existence by the law and the prophets, since the fall of Adam. Have you ever asked yourself why God did not bring the second Adam immediately, instead of going through Moses and the prophets. Why take all that time before Plan B. It is because the moment man was spiritually dead the only means of communication was through the Mosaic Law or the moral law which was limted to the canal nature. God could not communicate by way of the spirit, so He had to do it through physical senses, and as the right words were said at different times in history by various people then the coming of Jesus was set in motion. Words are power, and that’s a spiritual law. God who is orderly has set such order.
God has given you His word where all His promises, Might, and Spiritual authority in His laws are. This new authority spans the entire physical realm. This authority is identical with that of Jesus and whether or not you experience it in its fullness depends on what you believe and what you have conditioned your mind to. Whether it is His word or the ways of this world which dorminate, determines what authority you operate in. There are many things for us to unlearn as we embrace the spiritual laws of God. Doctors will tell you to swallow medicine yet when you have mastered these laws you will instead speak to the sickness laying hands and it will vamoose.
Another ignored spiritual law is James 4:7 ... Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. If you turn this round it would say if you do not resist the devil he will not flee from you. Many times we prefer to pray to God about what the devil has done instead of speaking to the devil about what God has done. God qualified Himself on this issue as He is not the one to rebuke the devil for us, it is we who have to resist the devil and then God’s power which is resident in us will thrash him out. If God tried to resist the devil he wouldn’t flee because it is us with physical bodies that have to resist him. To resist means to refuse to go along with, or actively fight against or to persevere in opposing his deceit. In this case it means insisting to go with the written word of God than what you see taste hear feel and smell – carnal mindedness.
There is no direct conflict between God and the devil. God already dealt with satan through Jesus by defeating him hands down at the cross, now it’s your turn. The only one satan is fighting is you and as you yield to him through fear and unbelief you limit the holy one of Israel. Satan is indirectly fighting God through you because he knows it’s you alone that can hinder God because the authority in this earthly realm is with you. Resist the devil and he will flee, praying about it to God won’t cause him to flee. Resist the devil, and then he will flee, don’t attempt to make him flee by begging and whining to God. We simply aren’t taking charge because we’re ignorant of the authority we have.
Another example is Mat 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
You have to speak to the mountain not pray about it to God. Speak to the mountain because the bible shows that you will have what you say. You are what you say. In John 6:63 Jesus said .... It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Words have life, a force that creates. Power and death lie in the tongue.
Another spiritual law often overlooked is give and it shall be given unto you. Today the business world teaches that get all you can, and can [pack] all you get. In other words collect all you can and give nothing in return to become rich --- this is hoarding. Believers are not in the habit of giving but getting and getting and getting and as a result there is serious lack in the church. Some brand it commercialization, forgetting that in so doing we are violating some spiritual law governing the spiritual taps of provision. We ought to give in order to be given, its a supply chain, when you stop the entire supply chain grinds to a halt.
Isaiah 26:3 says The Lord will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him. 2Peter 1:2 shows that Grace and peace are multiplied to you through the Knowledge of Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:22 shows that every born again person with the new spirit has peace as one of the by products, which peace can be multiplied through the knowledge of Christ. So you can rebuke satan all you want so as to have peace, but if your mind is not being renewed with the word of God then you won’t have perfect peace, another spiritual law. Peace comes by what you know. Peace is an emotion; therefore emotions are based on knowledge. Satan attacks your mind because it affects the emotions. Satan attacked Eve not with weapons but with lies and deception, he messed up her mind, he attacked her mind. The devil tempts us with thoughts.
So in conclusion for John 1:16, 2 Corinthians5:21, Philippians 4:13 and 4:19 to make sense, you need to understand that these verses are referring to the spirit man who has the same Identity with Christ. Look not at your physical stature and then attempt to align it with the word of God [behavioural change] you will not succeed, because actions are a by product of your thought life...as a man thinketh in his heart that’s the way he is. So we need to understand that it is from inside out, inside from the spirit man through the renewed mind into your flesh. Renew your mind by staying on the word. This is not to say that I am 100% operating in these laws but I have dared you to believe, for me I have at least left even if I have not yet reached.
1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Have a nice day people.
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