Sermon Tone Analysis

Does scripture support a tri-nature part of humanity?

Looking at how we are created, in the image and likeness of God…makes one ponder does that mean we also have a tri-nature like God?

In some ways, we think of humans as body, and we shouldn’t look over the fact that there is an immortal soul with each human.

Some biblical dictionaries will define both spirit and soul as the same.

However closely related they are, the soul and the spirit are not the same.

I will attempt to use scripture to show the distinction.

If we are created in the image and likeness of God, the Trinity, would it not make sense that we (humans) are tri-nature also?

In this thought, we have a spiritual nature distinct and separate from the body.

But we can also find scripture to point that soul and spirit are separate.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV)

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow (body), and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Life is not ultimately physical and the body is not the whole man.

And we might add that neither the body in itself, nor the soul in itself, nor the spirit in itself makes up the whole man, but he is “spirit and soul and body.”

So in the New Testament, we find a tri-nature human (body, soul, spirit) being acknowledged just as God is triune as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Let’s take a closer look at each factor of the human: body, soul, and spirit.

Body

What is the body?

soma - the physical being

Lexham Theological Wordbook - The physical substance of an entity that gives it a concrete reality in physical space.

With reference to humans, the body can designate the whole person, especially in a physical sense, whether living or dead.

We can find scripture which shows, due to the penalty of sin, the physical body is now temporary and appointed to die.

What will be judged?

The spiritual relationship one has with God.

Spirit

pneuma - breath

From the word meaning wind or breath, any non-corporeal being.

Spirit refers to a living “intangible essence” with rational, emotional, and volitional attributes.

The Bible primarily uses the concept of spirit for the non-material living essence of human beings.

Neither Hebrew nor Greek has a word that exclusively means “spirit”; rather, the concept of spirit is primarily expressed with words that also mean “wind” (Gen 8:1; John 3:8) or “breath” (Gen 6:17; 2 Thess 2:8), such as רוּחַ (rûaḥ) or πνεῦμα (pneuma).

In Hebrew, rûaḥ can refer to the wind, the breath of a living being, or the spirit as the living essence of a creature.

We see by this definition that the spirit can have several meanings.

“S”pirit is the Holy Spirit of God.

“s”pirit can reference the spirit of man or an evil spirit such as a demon/agent of Satan.

Let’s take a look at the spirit of man, and where it was derived.

Where did man receive his spirit?

God breathed his own breath into our lungs giving us life (nepesh - whole person).

I would even go so far as to say that during the fall, the communion of the spirit ended.

In his unfallen state the ‘Spirit’ of man was illuminated from Heaven, but when the human race fell in Adam, sin closed the window of the Spirit, pulled down the curtain, and the chamber of the spirit became a death chamber and remains so in every unregenerate heart, until the Life and Light giving power of the Holy Spirit floods that chamber with the Life and Light giving power of the new life in Christ Jesus.

How is it spiritual communion with God restored?

If sin separated us from God, then acceptance, belief, and repentance restores.

And the love God shows towards His creation, and the restoration of our spirit with His Spirit can be seen here:

Upon profession of faith, our spiritual bond is restored /regenerated and will be made perfect at the event of the resurrection.

Soul

psyche - inner self, heart, mind; a psychological faculty.

Do we have a soul, or are we a soul?

Man not only has a living soul but he is a living soul.

The Hebrew ideal of man was threefold: (1) The body, or material part.

(2) The vital part, seat of sensations, passions, etc. (3) The sentient, thinking, or spiritual part.

It is the soul that is the sphere of activity where Satan operates making his appeal to the affections and emotions of man.

Some may refer to the “soul” as our “conscience”, the place where our emotions, sensations, and passions are attached.

It is in the soul where fleshly lusts, desires, and appetites arise:

Lexham Theological Wordbook - The soul is the life-force of the person and often refers to the whole being.

It needs to be sustained in order for life to thrive, and it is the seat of desires, emotions, and the will.

The soul can be in intimate relationship with God or be under God’s judgment.

She could not praise the Lord in her soul until she had recognized God in her spirit as her Savior.

The Hebrew word translated “restoreth” is said to mean quite literally “turneth back.”

At no time had David lost his salvation, but there were times when his affections and desires were turned from the Lord, as in the case of his sin with Bathsheba.

Having become one of the Divine Shepherd’s flock, he testified: “The Lord turneth back my soul.”

In the end, we must be focused on one thing - restoration of our spirit with God.