First Thessalonians 5:23 strongly indicates that man is of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. There are many other passages in the Scriptures showing us that man is a tripartite being (see The Parts of Man published by Living Stream Ministry). The three parts of the soul are the mind, the knowing part (Psa. 13:2; 139:14), the emotion, the loving part (1 Sam. 18:1; S. S. 1:7), and the will, the deciding part (Job 7:15; 6:7). The mind is for us to think, to know, and to consider; the emotion is for us to love, to hate, to be happy, or to be sorrowful; and the will is for us to decide or to choose. The soul is the very person of a man.
The spirit also has three parts. These are the conscience (Rom. 9:1; cf. 8:16), fellowship (John 4:24; Rom. 1:9), and intuition (1 Cor. 2:11). The conscience is for us to discern right from wrong and either justifies or condemns us. The fellowship is for us to contact God and to commune with God. The intuition means to have a direct sense or feeling in our spirit, regardless of reason or circumstance. The intuition can directly sense the mind, the will, the heart of God. Many times this direct sense is against the knowledge of the mind and the emotion or the feeling in the soul.
The heart is a composition of all the parts of the soul plus one part of the spirit, the conscience. Thus, the heart is made up of the mind, the will, the emotion, and the conscience. Hebrews 4:12 talks about the thoughts and intents of the heart. The thoughts are in the mind and the intents relate to the will. Hebrews 10:22 tells us that our hearts need to be sprinkled from an evil conscience, and we have seen that we need to love the Lord with our whole heart. The shaded area in the following diagram illustrates the parts composing the heart.
The above diagram shows us that the spirit is enclosed in the heart as the hidden man of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” The heart is the gateway, the entrance and the exit of the spirit. When the heart is closed, the spirit is imprisoned. When the heart is open, the spirit will be released.
Jeremiah 31:33 says, “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” We need to compare this verse with Hebrews 8:10. Hebrews 8:10 says, “I will impart My laws into their mind.” In Jeremiah 31:33, inward parts is used for mind. This proves that the mind is one of the inward parts. It is also an interpretation of the term inward parts. The inward parts include not only the mind, but also the emotion and will, which are the composition of the heart. In Jeremiah 31:33 the Lord says He will put His law in our inward parts. But in Hebrews 8:10 the word “laws” is used. Eventually, the one law becomes many laws. By imparting His divine life into us, God puts the law of life into our spirit, from whence it spreads into our inward parts, such as our mind, emotion, and will, and becomes several laws. The law of life becomes a law of the mind, a law of the emotion, and a law of the will.
Psalm 51:6 says, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” Again, the inward parts are the mind, the emotion, and the will. Truth is something in the inward parts, and wisdom is something in the hidden part. Wisdom is deeper than truth. God desires that we would have truth in our mind, emotion, and will. In our spirit, which is the hidden part, the hidden man of the heart, He makes us to know wisdom.