Transformation – Spirit, Soul and Body

1 Thessalonians 5:23;   Romans 12:1-2

“Man is a spirit, he has a soul and he lives in a body.”

I heard my father preach this sermon when I was 13 years old and I will never forget it.

A very simple explanation of this is as follows:

• My body is the “tent” I live in to be part of this world, when my body dies, I no longer have a part in this world.
• My soul is the part of me that connects me in relationship with this world – it consists of the mind, the will, the emotions and the conscience.
• My spirit is the part of me that connects me to God and the spirit realm.

(In his book,   SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY , Andrew Wommack, gives a more indepth study of the relationship between the spirit, soul and body.)

The Bible tells us that before we turned to God, we were dead in our sinful ways.  Dead to what?  Dead to God and the things of God.

Ephesians 2:2-3  ”As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”

Our bodies were alive and our souls were alive as we could interact with people on this earth and we could follow the desires of our “flesh” or our souls, our spirits were dormant.  When we gave our hearts to the Lord, or became born again, as Jesus explained to the rich young ruler, our spirits are born into God’s family.

John 3:1-21  (NIV)  “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.   He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.””

Made Alive in Christ

Ephesians 2:4-10 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Have you ever wondered why it is that you become born again, give your heart and life to Jesus, but still struggle with issues in your life? –  Things such as anger, fear, depression, lack of self-worth, etc.

At the age of 39, as I was approaching my 40^th birthday, I began to experience some deep, searching and overwhelming issues in myself.  It was a time of letting go of the things of the past that don’t really matter, forgiving people for past hurts and asking God to forgive me and release me from things of the past where I had messed up in relationships with others.

I asked the Lord the question: “Why, if I gave my heart to Jesus as a young child, do I still struggle with issues in my life?  I have lived as a Christian, serving You, worshipping You and even being in full-time ministry, but I still have these issues. Why didn’t You just take them away when I gave my heart to you?”

He told me this: “You struggle with issues because your spirit was instantly made alive and transformed when you were born again, but your soul has to deal with the things of this world and it takes a longer time for your soul to catch up with your spirit.  It needs to be renewed, to go through a total transformation. There are relationships and incidences that have wounded your soul and you need to be healed of those wounds.”

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

How do I present my body to God and how do I renew my mind?

Over the past few years, the Lord has been taking me back, dealing with my past, with things passed down in my family tree (bloodline) and with mind sets that I had believed to be true concerning myself and life that were contrary to the truth found in His word.

He has been transforming my soul to line up with His truth and His calling for my life.  He has changed me from a fear-filled, discouraged, frustrated, impatient, intimidated, lacking in self-worth person to a person who is on a journey to embracing faith, courage, peace, patience, boldness, and understanding that I am a person of value to God, not for what I do, but simply because I am His child, His son or daughter.

THE KEY TO THIS TRANSFORMATION IS TO SATURATE YOURSELF IN THE WORD OF GOD.  THE MORE YOU READ, THE MORE HE WILL REVEAL TO YOU.  THE MORE HE REVEALS TO YOU, THE MORE YOU WILL UNDERSTAND. THE MORE YOU UNDERSTAND, THE MORE YOU WILL CHANGE.  THE MORE YOU CHANGE, THE MORE YOU WILL BE TRANFORMED INTO THE PERSON HE CREATED YOU TO BE – VICTORIOUS, AN HEIR AND SON OR DAUGHTER OF THE KING.

What is God’s part in this process as I renew my mind?

I have always known that God has a purpose for my life and always imagined what that purpose would be as a victorious Christian.  However, the process to becoming that person, requires sacrifice as I let go and let God do His refining work in my life.

Malachi 3:2-4  (NIV) “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.”

There is a process of cleansing that we go through as Christians and the process is worked in our lives as God leads.  I have tried so hard to cleanse myself, or to try to fix myself based on sermons or books I have read as others have received revelation from God.  However, until we arrive at God’s timing for dealing with things in our lives, we will merely be operating from the flesh/soul.

Gold does not jump into the fire to purify itself, rather, the goldsmith is responsible for purifying the gold.  He has the eye for it and the knowledge to know how hot the furnace must be, how long the gold must be in the fire and to which degree he needs to purify the gold.

Job 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take;   when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”

God is the Refiner and He knows the exact process needed to purify each of our lives.

The Refining Process is one of bringing out that which is within the rock – gold or silver.  The rock itself looks like any other rock, unless you know what you are looking for in the rock.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV) ”May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There it is again, the word SANCTIFY – purify or set apart. Let’s take a look at this verse in the Amplified Version:

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God does not leave us to get on with transformation on our own.  He meets us in the middle and helps us by His Holy Spirit within us.

The way of the seed:

An apple seed has within in it the potential to become an apple tree.  However, if we don’t plant the seed in soil, place it in the sun and water it, it will never become an apple tree.

When we are born again, everything God has for us has been placed within us, our spirit was instantly changed.  We have within us the potential to do mighty exploits for God.  However, if we don’t nurture our spirits, the potential will always remain potential and we will never become the world-changers that God has called us to be on this earth.

We don’t spend our Christian lives trying to receive, but rather we spend it learning to release that which is within us, which has been placed in our spirits.

The change begins with us as individuals as we spend time in the word, in prayer and in relationship with the King, the Creator of us all.