We have seen that by the sense of the spirit we can know the spirit. Now we will see the difference between the soul and the spirit. If we can discern the difference between the soul and the spirit, we then can deny the soul and be delivered from the soul in all matters of our living and service in order to live before God by the spirit and serve God by the spirit.
Ordinarily, people confuse the soul and the spirit, thinking they are the same thing. The so-called psychologists analyze man and divide him into two parts: the metaphysical and the physical. The physical part refers to the body, and the metaphysical refers to the psyche, which is the soul spoken of in the Bible. They say that within the body of man there is only the psyche, the soul. However, the Bible tells us that within man, besides the soul, there is the spirit. First Thessalonians 5:23 does not speak only of the “soul” but “spirit and soul.” The spirit and the soul are two things and are different. Thus, Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the dividing of soul and spirit.
If we desire to have true spiritual growth in life and proper spiritual knowledge in service, we must know that the spirit and the soul are two different things, and we must be able to differentiate the soul from the spirit, discerning what is the soul and what is the spirit, what is soulish and what is spiritual.
First Corinthians 2:14-15 speaks of two classes of men. One is the soulish man, and the other is the spiritual man. This shows us that man can live by and belong to either of these two different things, the soul or the spirit. Man can either live by the soul and belong to the soul, thereby becoming a soulish man, or he can live by the spirit and belong to the spirit, thereby becoming a spiritual man. If a man is spiritual, he can then discern the things of the Spirit of God. If, however, he is soulish, he cannot receive such things, and he cannot even know them. This makes it clear that the soul is in contrast to the spirit. The spirit can communicate with God and discern the things of the Spirit of God. The soul, however, cannot handle or understand the things of the Spirit of God. The spirit delights in appreciating and receiving the things of God, but the soul does not. Not only does it not receive such things, but it considers them foolish.
In the Bible not only is there Romans 8, which shows us that the flesh is opposed to the spirit, but there is also 1 Corinthians 2, which shows us that the soul also is opposed to the spirit. When a man lives by the flesh, he is of the flesh and not of the spirit. Likewise, when a man lives by the soul, he is of the soul and not of the spirit. When speaking of the flesh, Romans 8 emphasizes its relationship to sin; therefore, all who sin are fleshly. However, the soul is not necessarily directly related to sin. Many times man may not sin and is not fleshly, as man sees it, yet still he is soulish and not spiritual. (Strictly speaking, when man is soulish, he is also fleshly, because the soul of man has fallen under the flesh. But when we speak of the soul itself, there is a difference between being of the soul and being of the flesh.) Thus, even if we do not sin and have been freed from sin, so that in man’s eyes we are not fleshly, this does not mean that we are necessarily spiritual and not soulish. Neither does it mean that we can truly understand the things of the Spirit of God or that we can perceive, apprehend, appreciate, and receive the things of God. We often think that if we could only be freed from sin and cease from indulging the flesh, we could then be spiritual, communicate with God, and understand the things of the Spirit of God. No, this is not necessarily so. It is quite possible that, though we seem to have been freed from sin and have ceased from indulging the flesh, we still live by the soul and not by the spirit.
The salvation of the Lord delivers us not only from sin and the flesh but also from the soul. The purpose of the Lord’s salvation is not only that we should not be in sin and in the flesh but also that we should not be in the soul but in the spirit. His salvation would save us not only to the degree of morality that we become a moral man, but even more to the degree of spirituality so that we become a spiritual man. It is quite possible that a man of good morals is a soulish man, a man who lives by the soul. Thus, a brother or sister may be very moral and very good, yet as to the spiritual things of God he or she may not be enlightened, may not desire or appreciate them, and even may not receive them, because he or she is living by the soul and is soulish.