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"May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless..."
A key to understanding the good news of Jesus Christ is the fact of our creation in three
parts!
The very first human being called Adam was created "another speaking spirit" in
God's image, able to live forever in fellowship and friendship with God and to rule on earth
as God's agent. Adam possessed his living soul, consisting of his mind, will and
emotions. And he lived in his physical body, consisting of earthly elements. But,
because our earthly father (Adam) disobeyed God and opened the door to sin and death,
every naturally-born human being enters the world spiritually comatose and paralysed by
sin! In the absence of spiritual vitality, our souls presume dominance and are naturally
rebellious toward God, self-centered and proud. And our bodies begin the process of
death even at birth! If we remain in this state until our bodies die, then our whole: spirits,
souls and bodies are lost from eternal fellowship with God forever! Forever!! And if we
die outside fellowship with God, we will live on in eternal torment, forever aware of what we
lost, in hell!
God knew that mankind would rebel from the very beginning. But His intention in creating
us was, and still is, to make us like Himself, free to make choices. He gives each one of
us freedom to choose between eternal life with Him and eternal death without Him. He
has provided our means of redemption from the curse of death we inherited from our
father, Adam. The Bible calls this provision Salvation and being Saved. If we choose it,
salvation comes to each of our parts in order: Spirit first, then Soul, and then
Body.
A person's spirit is saved instantly, quickened to everlasting life and fellowship with
God, when he trusts the Christ as his personal Savior. Then that person's soul is saved
progressively during the lifelong process of being transformed toward Christ-likeness, as
the person recognizes and yields to Jesus as his rightful Lord in all things and produces
"fruit" or reflections of God's glory on earth, which work is completed perfectly only when
the soul departs the body at the moment of physical death and enters the presence of
Christ Jesus, face- to- face! And the "saved" person's body will be saved in the
future, when all saved persons' bodies will be raised incorruptible to meet Jesus in the
air when He snatches away His church and takes us with Him physically.
Salvation is a work of God's grace (unmerited favor) through our faith (trust in the Christ
and His finished work), which He gives to us when we seek and realize, by the Word of
God, the whole truth about our natural, earthly condition and His remedy, which He planned
from the beginning of time. Sadly, there are many who never will.
But God has plans for all of us and for each of us individually who are saved! And
understanding our three-part salvation is of paramount importance!
Spirit, Soul & Body
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