THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SOUL, SPIRIT, AND BODY OF MAN

"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 our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Thessalonians 5:23

"[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." - Genesis 2:7

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground - body

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; - spirit

and man became a living soul - soul

THE BODY

Our Body is the physical body of flesh that each of us is given at birth. This body is
corruptible. It will grow old, die, rot, and return to the earth. (Isaiah 40:6) Our physical
body is what the Bible calls the "Flesh." Flesh = Body, and the two words are used
interchangeably through out the whole Bible. Sometimes flesh refers to man's sinful
nature or weak nature, but many times it refers to the body.
"And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,"-- Proverbs 5:11
ALL true believers will one day be given an incorruptible body of eternally perfect flesh.
This will happen at the resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:35-50)

THE SOUL

The word soul can mean different things depending on the context.

SOMETIMES SOUL REFERS TO THE WHOLE MAN

"And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall
be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." - Genesis 17:14

"[12] Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any
stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood." - Leviticus 17:12
"[18] And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I
bestow all my fruits and my goods.

[19] And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine
ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

[20] But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose
shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" - Luke 12:18-20

MOST OF THE TIME, SOUL REFERS TO THE IMMATERIAL PART OF MAN THAT EXISTS BEYOND
DEATH

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BODY AND SOUL

"[18] And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name
Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.

[19] And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." - Genesis
35:18,19

"[20] And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon
the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

[21] And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O
LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

[22] And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and
he revived." - I Kings 17:20-22

WHERE DOES THE SOUL GO AT DEATH?

"[28] And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." - Matthew 10:28

The souls of lost people go to hell at death.

"[9] And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:" - Revelation 6:9

The souls of saved people go to heaven at death.

"[6] Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord:

[7] (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

[8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present
with the Lord." - II Corinthians 5:6-8

If saved people are absent from the body and present with the Lord at death, that means their
body goes to the grave and their soul goes to be with the Lord in heaven.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE SOUL

The Characteristics of the Soul.

The soul thinks (Ge.49:6);

it can sin (Le. 4:2);

it can love God and keep His commandments (De. 6:5; 10:12; 11:13);

it can meditate upon God’s words (De. 11:18);

it can love a friend (1 Sa. 18:1-3);

it can trust in God (Ps. 57:1; 63:1);

it can be chastened with fasting (Ps. 69:10).

The soul is particularly associated with man’s feelings and desires.The soul can be hungry (Is.
29:8), can experience romantic love and friendship (Ge. 34:3; 1 Sa. 18:1-3), can be
discouraged because of difficulty (Nu. 21:4).

The soul can be “anguished” (Ge. 42:21), “dried out” (Nu. 11:6), “grieved” (Ju. 10:16; Job
30:25), “cast down” (Ps. 43:5). The soul can “lust” (De. 12:15), “long” (De. 12:20), and “thirst
for God” (Ps. 42:2).

THE SPIRIT

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12

WHERE DOES THE SPIRIT GO AT DEATH?

"[18] I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest
them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

[19] For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as
the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no
preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

[20] All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

[21] Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth
downward to the earth?" - Eccelesiastes 3:18-21

Man's body is made of dust. At death man's body returns to the dust which means his body is
buried in the ground in a grave.

The spirit of man goes upward to heaven at death. Where does it go?

"[5] Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the
almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because
man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

[6] Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at
the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

[7] Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who
gave it." - Eccelsiastes 12:5-7

The spirit of man returns to God at death, while the body returns to the dust until the day of
resurrection.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE SPIRIT

The word spirit has various meanings in Scripture according to the context.

(1) Sometimes (rarely) it refers to man’s breath (Job 27:3).

(2) Sometimes it refers to intelligence and skill (Ex. 28:3;De. 34:9).

(3) Sometimes it refers to the emotions (Ex. 6:9; 1 Sa. 1:15).

(4) Sometimes it refers to devils (Le. 20:27; Ju. 9:23; Job 4:15; Mt. 12:43; Mk. 1:23; 3:30;
5:2; 7:25; 9:20-26; Ac. 5:16; 8:7; 16:18; 19:12, 13; 1 Ti. 4:1).

(5) Sometimes it refers to angels (He. 1:7, 14).

(6) Sometimes it refers to the Holy Spirit(usually with a capital "S") (Ge. 1:2; 6:3; Ze. 4:6; Mt.
3:16; Ac. 2:4;5:9; Ro. 8:9).

(7) Spirit also refers to the immaterial part of man, the inner man that is distinct from the
body and that passes into eternity at death.

The spirit can faint (Ge. 45:26), can be willing(Ex. 35:21), can be hardened (De. 2:30), can be
sad (1
Ki. 21:5), can be troubled (Jn. 13:21), can rejoice (Lk.10:21), can be refreshed (1 Co. 16:18).

Jesus dismissed His spirit from His body when He died on the cross (Lk. 23:46).

Death is separation of the spirit from the body (Ja. 2:26).

The Christian is to be holy in body and in spirit (1 Co. 7:34; 2 Co. 7:1).

Finally our spirit is made alive or “quickened” when we are born again. (Ephesians 2:1-6)
Before salvation, your spirit is dead in trespasses and sins. This is why understanding of
scripture is impossible without being saved. "But the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)
John 3:3-8, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's
womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born of ((water and of the Spirit)), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
WATER - 1st Birth from the water of your mother's womb.
SPIRIT - 2nd Birth (being born again) is where your spirit is made alive or “quickened”
when we are born again. (Ephesians 2:1-6)

OVERVIEW OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT

What is the Difference between Soul and Spirit?

The “soul” is used in close association with the “spirit.” Job was anguished in spirit and soul
(Job 7:11). So in some cases the “soul” might be a synonym for the “spirit,” but the N.T. makes
a plain distinction between the two. It says that man has both a soul and a spirit (1 Th. 5:23),
and the soul can be divided from the spirit (He. 4:12). It appears from Hebrews 4:12 that the
the spirit can be conceived of as “inside” the soul as the marrow is inside the joints or bones.
The soul is the “outer part” of the inner, immaterial man.

As we have seen, the soul is the part of man that relates to the world. It lusts, hungers,loves,
joys, fears, sorrows. It is emotional and affected by the environment and therefore unstable.
The spirit of man is also affected by emotions (2 Co. 2:13), but the spirit of man is the deepest
part of man; it is that which
communes with God. The spirit is where the Lord dwells in the believer and where He
communes with us (Ro. 8:16; 1 Co. 6:17; 2 Ti. 4:22). It is with the spirit that we seek God (Is.
26:9). It is by the spirit that we search the heart (Ps. 77:6). The spirit is the candle of the Lord
that searches all the inward parts, which would include the heart and soul (Pr. 20:27). The spirit
is the wellspring of man’s being.

“We may use the illustration of three concentric circles:

The outer circle refers to our body. Our body is our outer part containing our five senses with
which we contact all the things of the physical, material realm.

The middle circle refers to our soul. Our soul is our inner part containing our mind, emotion
and will with which we contact all the things of the psychological realm.

The inner circle refers to our spirit. Our spirit is our innermost part with which we contact God
and substantiate all the things of the spiritual realm” (Tom
Smith, What Is the Difference between the Soul and Spirit of Man? holdingtotruth.com).

There are two important applications to this teaching.

First, God intends for man to walk in the spirit so that man’s spirit, surrendered to God’s Spirit,
controls
his soul and body. The heart and the soul affect the spirit (Pr. 15:13), but the spirit should
control the heart
and the soul. See Ps. 42:5; Pr. 23:19. Consider the example of Mary’s praise (Lk. 1:46-47). It
could be said
that Mary’s rejoicing spirit moved her soul to praise God. “Mary lived and acted in her spirit,
which directed
her soul” (“What Is the Difference between the Soul and the Spirit?” Bibles for America, Feb. 2,
2014).

Second, the Word of God can cut through man’s being, through the turmoil of the soul, to bring
peace by His presence in the spirit (2 Ti. 4:22).

It also appears that soul and spirit point to a major difference between the natural body and
the
resurrection body. The natural body is largely soulish, whereas the resurrection body is spiritual
(1 Co. 15:45). This means that the resurrection body is totally oriented to the spirit. The natural
body has a spirit within the soul, but the spirit is often overwhelmed by and controlled by the
soul. The resurrection body will be oriented in an entirely different manner so as to be
completely dominated by the spiritual realm.