A call to grow up (2)
1 Peter 2:2
‘..As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.’
Peter says that we may grow thereby. Birth precedes growth. The believer is born again upon believing the gospel. (Jn. 3:3-6, 16; Ephesians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 10:9-10). Just like everything that’s born needs to grow, upon salvation, the believer has been called to spiritual growth. This growth will primarily be in knowledge – insight into God’s word.
When anyone believes in the resurrection, he is saved, at salvation, he receives eternal life, the believer didn’t give his life to Christ, he received eternal life upon believing. A man doesn’t get saved by works but by grace, unmerited favour, we are saved by Grace. God offers eternal life.
Many think the spirit got saved, the body and soul is getting saved, but that’s not so.
In every bible interpretation, one thing that must never be done is to give blank meanings to every word. Words can mean different things in different contexts. Naturally, one will be tempted to think the soul, body, and spirit is another part of man. Let’s examine some scriptures.
Acts 2:41
‘Then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.’
3000 souls were added, will it mean the seat of knowledge or emotion? He said 3000 souls were saved he was referring to men, he used soul for men here.
Acts 4:32
‘And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul…….’
He said they were of one heart and soul, it means they were together. The word soul has numerous applications, that’s why one must not give blank meaning to every word one sees.
1 Peter 1:22
‘Seeing that you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:’
Peter was explaining to us that what happens at salvation is the purifying of the soul, at salvation the soul was saved, he explained salvation as the purifying of the soul.
Luke 12:20
‘But God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee……..’
Soul here is life, Jesus switched soul and life together. The word soul has a wide application.
Genesis 2:7;
‘And the lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.’
Moses wrote this book, in his writing he says that the entirety of man can be called soul, Paul mentioned it in 1 Corinthians 15:45
The word ‘soul’ is from the Greek word NEPHESH which means inner life. Remember why Adam was a living soul, because God breathed into him. The soul can be used to describe the entirety of man (Genesis 6:17, 2:19, 1:21). Moses describes the entirety of man as soul. Soul is inner life, outer life is the body, so in genesis, a living being qualifies the use of soul.
Mathew 16:26
‘For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’
The soul here will mean his life, Jesus himself used soul and life inter changeably.
Mathew 6:25
‘Therefore I say unto you take no thought for your life, what shall ye eat, or what shall ye drink, nor yet for your body, what shall ye put on, is not life more than meat…’
Jesus included the body as part of life, the body is part of the soul. Jesus in explaining soul explains the things of the body as part of the soul, soul was interchangeably used.
Can we say man is a spirit that has a soul? No, man is a soul.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
‘And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the lord Jesus Christ.’
Paul wasn’t referring to 3 different things here, it was an emphatic mention. Man can be referred to as soul or body. Man can be referred to as a soul, as a spirit or as a body.
We have been able to see that the word soul doesn’t have a rigid application. If the soul is to be defined it would be life, the spirit of man is part of his soul, and so also is his body. The best word to describe man is a living soul. Man is totally saved, he doesn’t have a part of him saved; we are complete in him.
However, see what Paul instructs in Romans:
Romans 12:2;
‘And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove’
The renewal of the mind is actually spiritual growth, the believer must choose to grow.
Daily Bible Reading Plan:
Bible Reading – 2 Corinthians 1-4
TEACHING OF THE DAY
The training of the Spirit (2)