A common mistake made by many believers is that of giving the enemy, satan, far too much credit. The truth is that we are a greater enemy to ourselves than he is in many cases, because the greatest warfare takes place within our own minds. Many believers are going through it in the areas of their marriages, health, and finances. They have prayed and prayed, and in their minds, there circumstances don’t appear to change; in some cases, they seem to get worse. The Lord wants us to know beyond any uncertainty that we cannot address a spiritual problem with a worldly solution. We pray because we know we need help from Heavenly Father. He wants us to be free, and He has given us a spiritual solution, but here’s what we must grasp with every fiber of our beings; God’s spiritual solution cannot be applied through the soulish realm. It must be embraced by our spirit, because spiritual things must be applied spiritually.
Many of are praying for our outer reality to change without understanding that the change must take place first in our hearts. There must be a conversion on the inside, and this sums up the battle of the spiritual realm verses the soulish realm. It’s a battle that takes place within every human being, and it will last the entire span of our lives. It is a battle to align our minds with the mind of Christ, and many of us underestimate the degree to which God requires us to change from deep within.
Adam and Eve had the mind of Christ when they were first created, but they allowed themselves to be tricked out of it. At this point, the carnal nature was introduced. The carnal nature is also referred to as ‘fallen human nature’. It is the mind of the flesh, and it is a nature contrary to the Will of God. Romans 8:7 tells us that it is hostile against God because it doesn’t submit to God’s Law, nor can it. This is the soulish realm, and it is critical to our walk in Christ that we understand when we’re letting it control our lives.
The Apostle Paul said in 1Thessalonians 5:23(NLT), “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” This verse gives us several pieces of important truth, the first of which is that Heavenly Father is a God of peace. The second, He made it possible for you and me to be holy in every way. The third is that we are three-part beings, and in the fourth piece, we are given God’s expectation. It is that we keep all parts of us blameless. God would not give us an expectation that we are incapable of fulfilling. Therefore, is it possible for us to keep our spirits, souls, and bodies blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again; God expects us to get this done.
The human-spirit is recreated through the new birth experience, when we repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. 2Corinthians 5:17 tells us this means we become a new person; we are no longer the person we used to be. Our old selves are gone, and we are now operating under a new government—the government of Christ. He’s our owner, because we’ve given our lives to him. Colossians 3:3 tells us that our old sinful life died, and now our lives are hidden in Christ. This is where our real work begins. This work is the work of our souls. It is to deny the cravings and desires of the soul for a higher calling of Christ, which is to place the Spirit of God above all other things. It’s a battle because most of us will prioritize our own agendas in the top spot.
Our newly created human-spirit is perfect. It is so perfect, in truth, that the Spirit of Christ can take up residence there. He, the Holy Spirit, comes to live in our human-spirits. He is our friend and comforter. Romans 8:16 tells us that he, the Holy Spirit, joins with our human-spirit, and he continuously affirms that we are God’s children! As God’s children, we must recognize that He will allow us to wade through uncomfortable circumstances until we learn to press into Him and glorify Him even in the middle of tribulation. This is the proving of our faith, and the true conversion of our souls.
The soul and the body are not transformed during the new-birth experience, because the soul and the body are self-governed. God has given us the agency of free-will, and He will never take back this gift. So, it is our responsibility and tremendous privilege to align our human-will with the divine Will of God. In Romans 12:2, He tells us how to get this done. He tells us that He will work on the inside of us through His Spirit, and He will transform us from the inside out as we change the way we think. Why do we need to change the way we think? Because our souls and bodies have a fallen nature, and the mind of the flesh has a will that is an enemy to God’s Will.
You and I cannot control the Holy Spirit. He takes from Christ and delivers to us. He delivers to our human-spirit, and if our souls are submissive, a connection will be made between our spirit and soul. So, we absolutely must bring our minds under the submission of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit in order to respond spiritually to the spiritual solutions God offers.
The Spirit will lead and guide us according to the mind of Christ. We are not to lean on our own understanding. We are not to make decisions simply because our soul wants to do this or that. We can no longer do things just because we feel like it or don’t feel like it. We MUST be led of the Spirit. We must seek and trust God in everything we undertake, from the smallest detail to the greatest, because He’s the one who directs our paths. It is a totally different way of living life. It’s life in the Spirit!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Spiritual Realm vs The Soulish Realm”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.