The Functions of the Spirit, Soul, and Body — The Spiritual Man

The Functions of the Spirit, Soul, and Body

The body is the place of world-consciousness. The soul is the place of self-consciousness. The spirit is the place of God-consciousness. The body has five senses, which give a person five kinds of perception. Through this physical body, man interacts with the material world, hence it is called “world-consciousness.”

The soul is the part of man involving intellect, which enables the possibility of existence; the affection, which causes one to fall in love with people or things; and the stimulation, which arises from perception. These aspects belong to man himself—his personality—so it is called “self-consciousness.”

The spirit is the part of man that communicates with God. Through this part, man knows how to worship and serve God, and understands his relationship with God—this is called “God-consciousness.” God dwells in the spirit, the self dwells in the soul, and perception dwells in the body.

The soul is the meeting point; it unites the spirit and the body. Through the spirit, man interacts with the spiritual world and the Spirit of God, receiving and expressing the power and life of the spiritual realm. Through the body, man connects with the external world of perception, influencing and being influenced. The soul dwells between these two realms and belongs to both. On one hand, it connects with the spiritual world through the spirit; on the other, it connects with the material world through the body.

The soul has the authority of autonomy—it can make its own decisions regarding things in its environment. The spirit cannot directly govern the body; it must rely on a medium, which is the soul. The soul is born out of the interaction between the spirit and the body, binding them together. The spirit can subdue the body through the soul, making it obey God’s power. Conversely, the body can also draw the soul to love the world, thereby influencing the spirit.

Among the three components of man, the spirit is the highest, for it unites with God. The body is the lowest, as it connects with the material. The soul resides between the two, taking on characteristics of both and linking them together. The soul enables communication and cooperation between the spirit and the body.

The function of the soul is to maintain the proper order between the spirit and the body so that their rightful relationship is not lost. It ensures that the lowly body submits to the spirit, and that the exalted spirit governs the body through the soul. Thus, the soul is the central element in man.

The soul should look to the spirit to receive what the spirit has gained from the Holy Spirit, so that it may be made complete, and then pass that on to the body. In this way, even the body can partake in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and become a spiritual body.

Man’s spirit is the most noble, residing in the innermost part of man. The body is the most base, dwelling on the outside. The soul resides between the spirit and the body, acting as a mediator. The body is the soul’s outer shell; the soul is the spirit’s outer shell. For the spirit to govern the body, it must do so through the soul.

Before man’s fall, the whole person was governed by the spirit—through the soul. When the spirit moved, it would convey its intent to the soul, and the soul would then move the body in obedience. This is the meaning of the soul being the mediator.

The soul is the most powerful, because both the spirit and the body are united within it and are affected by it. However, before sin entered, the soul’s power was fully under the spirit’s control—thus, the soul’s power was essentially the spirit’s power.

The spirit cannot move the body by itself—it must do so through the soul. This truth is evident in Luke 1:46–47: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” The change of verb tenses in the original Greek reveals that the spirit first (past perfect tense) rejoiced, and then the soul (present tense) magnified the Lord. The spirit transmitted joy to the soul, and the soul then used the body’s senses to express that joy.

In summary, the soul is the seat of personality. Man’s will, intellect, and emotions are all in the soul. The spirit connects to the spiritual realm. The body connects to the natural realm. The soul stands between the two, using its judgment to determine whether the spiritual realm or the material realm will govern. Sometimes the soul rules the whole person based on intellect and emotions—this is when the ideal realm governs.

Unless the soul is willing to let the spirit reign, the spirit cannot. The soul must choose for the spirit to govern, only then can the spirit rule over both the soul and the body. Because the soul is the seat of personality, the Bible calls man “a living soul.”

The soul is the master of a person because the will belongs to the soul. The spirit governs the whole person only when the soul humbles itself. If the soul rebels, the spirit has no power to govern. This is the meaning of “man has free will.”

Man has full authority to choose; he is not a machine that turns according to God’s will. He has within himself the faculty of decision-making—he may choose to obey God’s will or reject it and follow the devil. According to God’s design, the spirit should be supreme and rule the whole person. However, since the will—the core of personality—belongs to the soul, the decision lies there. The soul ultimately chooses whether the spirit, the body, or the self will reign.