Spirit and soul

[Tea4me]

I hope I am posting this in the right area.

I have a question concerning spirit and soul.

Is our spirit and our soul the same thing? I read a few things online about it. Some say they are the same and others say they are different. I was wondering your views on this and if there are any scriptures about this.
Thanks!

 

[oboy]

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "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."

I believe that the Bible teaches that man has a spirit, a soul, and a body.

The body is the flesh which is used to connect and interact with the physical world. This is the temporal side of man.

The spirit is that which connects to the spirit world. We use the spirit to communicate with God. This is immortal side of man.

The soul is that which allows spirit to communicate with body and vice versa. The soul contains the mind, memory, emotions, etc.

Some people believe that Genesis 2:7 describes the formation of all three: "The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground (the body) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (the spirit), and the man became a living being (the soul)."

 

[Boanerges]

We are created in God's image. God is tripartite so we are tripartite (red emphasis mine):
1Th 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 our Lord Jesus Christ.


They are not the same and the scripture differentiates between them:

Heb 4:12 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.

Your spirit is that reacted inner man that we receive when we are born again- this is the new life we receive from God. This new man is created perfect and is Christlike in every way:
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.


Your soul is your mind, will, intellect, emotions , etc- these make up your thought life. This is the area you are called to die to self in and be renewed or made new in your thinking as the Holy Spirit imparts revelation from the Word to your spirit.
We receive a new spirit when we are born again.
We receive a new body at the resurrection.
This soul is the part of you that He saves- He is the Savior of your soul.
Remember Jesus was crucified at Golgotha (the place of the skull) signifying that we must die to all our old ways of thinking and begin to think like our God with absolute faith in Him and His Word and no faith in what we see, touch, taste ,etc. There is no limit to what He can do in and through us as we simply choose to believe Him.

 

[rlowe]

Strong's Definition of soul & spirit

Definition of soul:
breath
the breath of life
the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing 1a
of animals 1a
of men
life
that in which there is life
a living being, a living soul
the soul
the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)
the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life
the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)

valid part of Definition of spirit: (for humans)
never referred to as a depersonalised force
the spirit, i.e. the vital principal by which the body is animated
the rational spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, decides

These are connected & similar in some aspects but 2 seperate things.

 

[MontanaCowboy]

The soul is consciousness to the world around us, even animals have a soul. Hunger, heat, cold, breath, social patterns etc.. The Spirit is what drives us to seek God. Mankind has always sought God, through out history it is proven, in every tribe, every culture ever studied or discovered they sought our God. Animals however do not have a Spirit, they do not seek God. They do not gather & worship & fellow ship.