Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Man is a tripartite being Just as man lives out of his soul & we have been taught many things as to how to live & function from our soul we need to learn to live in, walk in the function of the spirit.

In order to accurately and adequately define the spirit, soul, and body we must first identify the sphere in which each part functions.

• First and most crucial is the spirit, the faculty that enables man to communicate with God. With his human spirit, man can worship God, serve God, and know God intuitively.

• Second, the soul is that part which forms the personality of man and enables him to contact and function within the psychological realm.

• Finally, the physical body with its five senses enables man to relate to and communicate with the physical world. Body – five senses The body of man with its five senses is that part which contacts the physical world.

This physical body as man’s outward frame is God’s provision for his existence; without it man would be unable to exist in the material realm. Originally, man was created with a pure, undefiled body. But due to man’s fall his body was changed in nature, transmuted, thus becoming the fallen flesh full of lust. Hence, man’s body is a corrupted body as Paul observed in Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells” Soul – mind, emotions & will.

The soul, the “person” of man, is likewise composed of three parts: the mind, the will and the emotion. God’s Word proves this clearly and definitively. First, the Scriptures consistently identify the mind as part of the soul. For example, the Psalmist exults, “I will praise You, for I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, and my soul knows it well” (Ps.139:14, italics added). Knowledge, no doubt, pertains to the mind. In addition, Lamentations 3:20 says, “My soul remembers them well and is bowed down within me.” To remember is another function of the mind. These verses clearly indicate that there is a part of the soul that knows and remembers; this part is the mind. Spirit –

Our human spirit is also composed of three parts: the conscience, fellowship, and intuition.

• The conscience is that part which enables us to perceive right from wrong and which, accordingly, either condemns or justifies us.

• Through the fellowship, we are able to contact God and commune with Him.

• Finally, through the intuition God imparts to us a direct, particular sense or knowledge which is independent of reason, circumstance, situation, or precedent.

These three faculties of the spirit: conscience, fellowship, and intuition are clearly described in Scripture. The Scriptures likewise reveal that the fellowship pertains to the spirit. Christ Himself told us that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness” (John 4:24). Worshipping God is altogether a matter of contacting God in fellowship. Furthermore, Ephesians 6:18 mentions “praying at every time in spirit,” another form of fellowship with God. Based on these verses we can conclude that fellowship is a component of the human spirit.

Finally, we must see in the Scriptures that the intuition is also a part of the spirit. First Corinthians 2:11 says, “For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him?” This verse shows us that there are things which only the spirit of man knows, and which the soul is unable to know. This function of our intuition has the capacity to know and discern apart from human reason or circumstantial experience. For example, in the gospel of Mark the scribes were silently reasoning within their hearts about the Lord’s statement, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” In response to their reasoning, “immediately Jesus, knowing fully in His spirit that they were reasoning this way within themselves, said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts” (2:8). This verse further illustrates that the spirit can have an inner sense and knowledge independent of the reason or outward circumstances upon which the soul’s discernment relies so heavily. This spiritual sense, or intuition, is an essential faculty of the human spirit.

Why is it hard to walk in the spirit. Galatians 5:17 (NKJV) 17For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.