“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12.

MY PERSONAL STORY

I was born on October 12, 1943, in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The firstborn boy, of a family of five children, we went to 'church' every Sunday but my family never owned a Bible.  At the age of 12, I knew I was a sinner and desired to 'get right with God' but no one knew how!   So I researched other religions, yoga, transcendental meditation, esoteric philosophy, etc.  Some disciplines seemed to be partly beneficial but none really answered my initial desire to 'know God'.  At the age 37, before I came to know the Lord Jesus as my personal saviour and Lord, as a church goer I had a form of 'godliness' but not the power thereof.  To put it very plainly, I was not a Christian, even though I did 'go to church' and thought I was OK by believing Jesus is the Son of God.

By then my life was in chaos even though I had been searching for answers and a better life - for about 25 years - all religions and disciplines had failed me.  I was physically sick and soul sick, spiritually dead to God, confused and lost, without hope and without God in this world. (Eph.2:12). 

Then in 1981 a stranger Scripturally introduced me to God's Word, the Bible, and the Scriptures gave me new and accurate understanding I had missed for the first 37 years of my life, to my great loss and great sadness, and many heartaches.

Finally, about a year later, at the age 38, on Sunday, March 14, 1982, at 11:01 AM, I made the conscious decision to believe God in simple faith and received Jesus as my Personal Lord and Saviour.  That was the very best decision I have ever made.  

At that very moment, in an instant, my life was changed for ever. 

 WHY?  HOW?

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.… " Ephesians 2:13

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit," 1 Peter 3:18

Every individual has both a soul and a spirit, given by God. What separates the two, and how do they affect us?

Adam was created from the dust of the earth, and God breathe in his nostrils and he became a living soul.1.  Because of this, our senses, which are contained in our souls, are attuned to the earth, and earthly attractions.  That is why our feelings shift and change according to what is happening around us.  Everything that is of the earth is unsteady and changeable, which is why a person who allows their soul to control their life is never at rest.  Through the soul – through my senses and feelings – I am in contact with people.  Someone who lives according to the soul is always in unrest with regard to what other people think and say about him.

1. " The first man (Adam) was of the earth, made of dust (earthy); the second Man (Jesus) is the Lord from heaven."  (2 Corinthians 15:47)

Through my spirit I can be in contact with God.  However, when I am soulish I live according to my fallen human understanding, my senses, which are earthly, and my body is used to serve this world.  Then my spirit is also filled with that which is of this world, with the result that I have little or no contact with God.  Salvation in Christ is meant to change this relationship so that I become spiritual and heavenly minded instead of soulish and earthly.  The result is a life of faith instead of a life according to my human understanding and selfish desires.

The intention is that our spirit is to be made alive (or Born from Above) so that God can speak to us; we should live for Him and for the heavenly things.  Then we find rest for our souls.  The heavenly things are eternal and unchangeable. When we live before God’s face, we are free from people and the unrest that comes from living before their face.  Only in Christ do we have peace and rest.

The Lord Jesus said: " Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

This is where God’s Word is to do a work in us.  It is sharper than any two-edged sword.  It pierces and divides between soul and spirit and discerns the thoughts and counsels of the heart.  This is written in connection with entering into rest.

We usually judge situations according to our feelings and human reasoning; but if I have begun to seek God, I open myself to God’s Word.  It discerns the thoughts of the heart and pierces and divides between soul and spirit – between that which is earthly (human) and which I absorb in my soul, and that which is spiritual and heavenly, which I receive into my spirit.  I have to believe the Word and be obedient to it, and then my soul is poured out. (Isaiah 53:12)

For example, the word “Overcome evil with good” goes right against our human feelings and our human reasoning; but if we believe the Word and are obedient to it we enter into rest.  Then we will experience that God’s wisdom is greater than our imperfect human and faulty senses.  There is also the word to forgive the person who sins against you seven times seventy each day.  If you are soulish, you will preserve and hold on to that which is earthly, and your honor and your heart will make plans as to what you should do with such a person and you will also seek the opinions of family and friends.  Rather let God’s Word in your mind and heart to pierce and divide between what you are absorbing through your senses – especially through your feelings – and the wisdom that is from above, which you absorb through your spirit.  Live by faith and not according to your human reasoning; then you will enter into rest.

Peter cared for Jesus, but he only had a sense for the things of men, which is to spare yourself and your own.  This is the direction in which people have exercised their senses and have gained understanding.  Satan has access to this earthly soul, and the result is a terrible unrest.  Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Jesus had a sense for the things of God, which was to lay His life down for you, in order to pay your sin debt for the forgiveness of all your sins, in order that you may come to God with a clean slate.  

Now He wants to make our spirit alive as well so we can receive the wisdom that is from above, which is first and foremost pure, etc. (James 3:17-18)

The result is a life of faith in which we hold fast to the Word against our own human reasoning and present our body in the service of God.  Then our soul, which is earthly and restless, is poured out, and we become spiritually minded and enter into rest in God.

“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks … from heaven. … Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Hebrews 12:25,29.

All unrest, complaining, sighing, and anxiety stems from the soulish man who fights for his life.  The spiritual man lives by faith in God’s Word.  All things serve him for good.  He has a mind for laying down his life, and he rests in God.  What a glorious life and peace this is – a kingdom that cannot be moved.

NOW AT AGE 80

Today, 41 years later, I can truly say that the Gift of God's great salvation was the absolute and supreme transformation of my life.  I needed God and when I searched with all my heart He revealed Himself to me.  In the Gospel of John, chapter 10, the Lord Jesus uses the illustration of sheep to reveal spiritual truth.

He says:  "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  John 10:9-11

There Jesus tells us that our human nature, our soul 'the flesh', is naturally a victim of the world and all its changes and instability.  But in Christ we find pasture, nourishment for our spirit, and His Holy Spirit guides us into all truth which gives us discernment to learn to depend on His Word, not our hit-and-miss human understanding, and so we find security, stability, and peace with God, and peace with our fellow man.  

YOUR DECISION:

Today could be the best day of your life.

If you have been concerned with life's instability and confusion, disease and dishonesty, the political corruption, poverty, crime and all of life's uncertainty, please consider the Bible, God's Word, for true and reliable information.

The Scriptures provide all of life's answers, wisdom, and guidance you need to receive spiritual life by becoming a 'child of God', through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, ....”  Acts 16:31

 " My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.” 

John 10:27-30

The Gift of God is Eternal Life and it is Ready for You to Receive ... don't pass it up!

Credits:

Some portions are an edited version of an article that was first published in Norwegian under the title “Pierces and divides soul from spirit” in BCC’s periodical Skjulte Skatter (Hidden Treasures) in August 1955.  © Copyright Stiftelsen Skjulte Skatters Forlag.  Some of this content is borrowed from activechristianity.org

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This page created by Peter Brenner on Sunday, October 29, 2023