Trichotomy of Man

“…now is our salvation nearer than when we believed”

Paul, the Apostle in the power of the Holy Spirit, is writing here to Christians. He says “we” — himself and other Christians; he says, “now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” What is he talking about? Is he saying we Saints are not yet saved? Are we going to be saved sometime in the future?

Is he talking about enduring to the end, or not really knowing if we are saved or not until we die? What does he mean when he says our salvation is nearer than we believed? Did we not receive salvation at the moment we believed, at the very moment we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour?

Did our Saviour not save us? Are we not saved yet? How can something we are supposed to already have be nearer now than when we first received it? Paul clearly states that at this point in time, irregardless of when one was saved, irregardless of when a person accepted Christ, be it 25 years ago or this morning, their Salvation is nearer now than it was when he/she first believed in Christ.

But there is another Apostle who was led to write in a similar fashion. He said that Christians “are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). So, Peter says those of us who are saved are kept UNTO Salvation. This Salvation unto which we are kept will not be revealed until “the last time.” That implies Salvation is not yet here (a quick note is that “salvation” by definition deals with deliverance). We are being reserved for it; we who believe are being kept unto Salvation. But, if we are presently saved (and we are, i.e.…Christians) then what did Peter and Paul mean in referring to a future Salvation?

This study deals with complete Salvation and as we will see scripturally, complete salvation involves the trinity of man (Body, Soul, and Spirit). From (1 Thessalonians 5:23) and many other vs.’ we will see that we are saved and sealed in Spirit. Our Soul is continually being saved, and ultimately (Physical Salvation — Glorification) awaits the last time, or “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So having this in thought, a brief discussion of each part of man would be in order at this point.

Body, Soul and Spirit (Divisible)

According to (1 Thessalonians 5:23), man consists of three (3) parts: spirit/soul/body. We are triune beings, just as God is; man is a trinity created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Now, just as with God, the trinity of man is divisible with each part being a separate manifestation of the whole.

So the word of God can divide the soul and spirit (note the comma after “spirit”) from the joints and marrow (body). It can divide the spiritual from the carnal; it can also divide the soul from the spirit and even subdivide the body into its component parts. (cf. Psalm 139:16) It divides between the soul and spirit, and the flesh (joints and marrow).

The Bible says then that soul and spirit are divisible from the body…“the flesh.” We know that when we die a division takes place; (Genesis 35:18) tells us that when Rachel died, her soul DEPARTED, the body was left behind, “for she died.” The three parts of man are divisible, each from the other two. The soul IS NOT the spirit, and the spirit IS NOT the soul; these are two (2) different and distinct parts of the whole which is one but yet three (3) parts in all…kind of sounds like the Godhead, huh?

So, how does this happen, and WHEN does this happen? How does the word of God divide body, soul, and spirit; and when does such a division occur? The writer of Hebrews says triune man can be divided up. He further states that the word of God is the instrument used in making the divisions. The Apostle Paul tells us in (Colossians 2:9–12) how God goes about doing this. He says that Christ is “the fullness of the Godhead bodily…” and that Christians are “complete” in him.

The circumcision “made without hands” is obviously a spiritual operation, or surgery (“the operation of God”); involving the “putting off” of the body, i.e. the removal of the flesh from that which is spiritual (“dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow,” again note the comma). This putting off is pictured in the same way as the taking off of clothing (Ephesians 4:22–24; Colossians 3:9–10). In fact, the body is referred to as the clothing of the soul (2 Corinthians 5:1–4). Note, that in verse 12 of Colossians 2 Paul through the Spirit says we are buried with Christ in Baptism; this baptism is the baptism of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).

It is the spiritual operation whereby God, using His word as the scalpel, separates “the body of the sins of the flesh” from the spiritual part, which part is of course the real person; the body being only the “house” of the soul. This operation occurs at the moment of Salvation (Ephesians 1:12–13); so when a person calls on the Lord to save him (Romans 10:9–13), God goes inside that person and cuts him (soul) loose from the flesh, to which he had been bound through sin all of his life (Hebrews 2:15; Romans 6:23, 17–18). Thus, it is called a spiritual circumcision, a cutting away of the flesh, a putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh.

Compare (1 Peter 1:22–23) — the word of God is the seed of the new birth (John 3:3). The word is the instrument used in bringing about the new birth (1 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:6). When we called on the Lord to save us, the Great Physician took his scalpel (the word) and cut the soul and the spirit loose from the body (Hebrews 4:12; Colossians 2:11–13). He then immersed (baptized) that soul and spirit into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 8:9 — this is the “one Baptism” of Ephesians 4:5; of which water baptism is a PICTURE, 1 Peter 3:21).

As already stated: the grammatical structure of Hebrews 4:12 in both English and Greek further affirms the separating of the soul and spirit from the body. The strategically placed comma — “the dividing asunder of soul and spirit (spiritual) and of the joints and marrow (physical)” — clearly reveals the effect the word of God has on the Trinity of Man. Look at this illustration in comparison to our discussion thus far.

A (dead spirit which cannot be) the “spiritually minded” of (Romans 8:6 cf. 1 Corinthians 2:16); the (Body, Flesh) is the “carnal/outward” man (2 Corinthians 4:16 cf. Romans 2:28) and is separated by the word (Hebrews 4:12). So let’s look at the dead spirit and live body issue from the scriptures’ view.

Dead Spirit; Live Body

The spirit of a lost man is dead; for all practical purposes it is a nonentity…it is non-existent. The Bible says Adam “became a living soul,” not a living “quickened” spirit; so a lost person has a body and a soul, but his spirit is dead (non-quickened).

In order then for a person to be a whole person, he must be saved (given life); his spirit must be made alive. The Bible says we “were dead” before salvation; obviously the body was not dead. It moved, ate, talked, laughed and all that business; then it must have been the spirit which was dead in trespasses and sins, therefore, one has a dead spirit before salvation.

When we were born physically (“of flesh” John 3:5, 6; Psalm 51:5), we were born in the image of Adam by SETH (Genesis 5:3); he (Adam) having marred and destroyed through SIN that “image of God” (Genesis 1:26; 3:7). Adam was then sentenced to death (Genesis 2:7; Genesis 5:5; Romans 6:23a) because of his sin and furthermore was cursed into restitution (Genesis 3:17–19) by being (“banished/castaway” 2 Samuel 14:14c; 1 Corinthians 9:27) from service and the “peace of God” within in the garden.

Thus, all of his (Adam by Seth’s) descendants are born in this MARRED/DESTROYED and INIQUITY laden image (Dead — Spiritually); we are born as dead men, the spirit of man is dead and he then having no ability to cease from SIN which separates us from having the Lord’s COMPLETE image, thus a need for a REDEEMER to make us COMPLETE. So, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit SAYS Christ “died for all,” hence, he concludes (“we thus Judge” 2 Corinthians 5:14) that all must have been dead.

We are told in (1 Corinthians 15:22) that in Adam ALL die, but all who are in Christ shall be made alive (having been “made alive or quickened”). A lost man, however, has a dead spirit, a non-entity as far as God is concerned. A saved man, on the other hand, has a “live” spirit, but as far as God is concerned the body of a saved man is dead; (THE BODY CAN GRIEVE THE SPIRIT THROUGH THE YIELDING OF THE SOUL TO IT’S DEVICES, LUSTS AND APPETITES Ephesians 4:30).

Live Spirit, Dead Body

The spirit of the saved man has been (redeemed, quickened, made alive)! But his body remains unredeemed at present, dead before God “because of Sin.” If Christ indwells a person (which he does if that person is saved — Colossians 1:27; Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:17), then that person’s body remains dead in the sight of God (because of sin [Romans 7:18, 23]) until the “day of redemption.”

The spirit is alive because of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Before one is saved, his spirit is dead but his body is alive and breathing, affording him an opportunity for salvation. Once he SURRENDERS to the Lord as his Saviour, God cuts him aloose from “the body of sin” (Romans 6:6), thus leaving a crucified (Romans 6:3–6; 6:14) and dead (Galatians 2:20), spiritless (James 2:26) body in the sight of God.

Now, his spirit is alive and breathing, so to speak; and being dead he is “freed from sin” (Romans 6:7) and “married to another” (Romans 7:4) even unto Christ, and has become the servant of righteousness (Romans 6:17–18). When we really analyze these passages, it becomes evident why the spiritually minded man (Romans 8:5–6) would desire the day when we will be free of the body of sin (2 Corinthians 5:1–2, 8).

The apostle Paul almost despaired when he thought of being bound to and influenced by his body (Romans 7:15–24). But he realized, that even though he could not escape the presence of his body, yet through the power of Christ Jesus (Romans 7:25), and his indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:4), he could have victory over the body (1 Corinthians 9:27).