Spirit, soul, and body – do you know the difference?
Your spirit is that inner part of you that connects you to the spiritual world; your body or flesh is that external part of you that connects you to the physical world; and your soul is that part of you that chooses whether you are going to walk after the spirit or the flesh.
Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Faith is the means by which we live the spiritual life. Or to put it another way, you cannot live the spiritual life by relying on your natural senses and abilities.
And if you want to walk in newness of life, the spirit comes first. This is why it is helpful to think of the spirit as an antenna that connects us to the spiritual realm. The spirit receives signals from the spiritual realm (e.g., the Holy Spirit) which it transmits to the soul, and the soul exercises the body in response to the spirit’s instruction.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. (1 John 4:1a)
Since our spirits can detect signals from any spiritual source, divine or demonic, we need to test the spirits to see if what we are hearing is from God.
For instance, if we find ourselves doubting what God has said and asking, “Did God really say?” we can be sure we are hearing from the demonic realm. Since God is unchanging, he will never contradict himself. So anything that causes you to question what God has said is not from the Holy Spirit.
A word from the devil
One of the sadder stories in the Bible concerns a man called Ananias. Ananias told a lie and died when Peter confronted him about it:
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …? (Acts 5:3)
The temptation to lie came from the father of lies. It did not come from the Spirit of Truth. Nor did it come from Ananias himself. “Satan filled your heart” means Satan fed him a lie and Ananias swallowed it.
He never tested the spirits.
Many outrageous claims come prefaced with the words, “God told me to…” Did he really? Are you certain? Or were you fed a lie?
“God told me to divorce my wife.” Are you sure about that?
“God told me to bet the farm on a suspect business dealing.” And how did that work out?
Growing up I had a friend who blossomed into a beautiful young woman. During her late teens and early twenties about a dozen men proposed to her saying, “God told me you were going to be my wife.”
Hmm. They couldn’t have all been right.
No doubt handsome young men have heard similar things from Christian women. “God told me you were going to be my husband.”
Playing the God-told-me-so card is one of the most dangerous things believer’s do. If you ever hear it, make sure you test the spirits to see whether it is actually from the Lord.
All sorts of ideas pass through our heads; some are good, others are not-so-good. We should not act on anything without first asking, is this from the Lord?
How do we test the spirits?
We test the spirits by asking questions:
- Does this idea (or word or message or advice) encourage me to rely on the Lord or myself?
- Does it feed my faith or my doubts?
- Does it release freedom or bind me in chains?
- Does it promote man’s agenda or bring glory to God?
- Does it glorify Christ’s righteousness or my failures?
- Does it fill me with peace or anxiety?
- Does it have the stench of flesh or the fragrance of Jesus?
Ultimately the test is: who does it point me to? Origin determines destination. Any spirit from God, will lead you to God.
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. (John 15:26)
If the message you are hearing causes you to look to Christ or rely on Christ, you can be sure that you are hearing from the Holy Spirit.
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Source: Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, available now on Patreon.
