“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Of course, our human experience is the ‘elephant in the room’, the thing screaming the loudest at us to do something about. Sometimes it is like the baby that cries all the time and refuses to be ignored. The human experience certainly should not be ignored. We have to take care of our bodies and minds, or we could pay the price later when our health declines.
Have you seen the movie The Matrix? If you haven’t, you should because it is a very good example of how sometimes we just wonder, somehow know, there is more to this life than what we are experiencing. Just in case you haven’t seen the movie, let me familiarize you with the premise of the movie. It focuses on the life of the main character named Neo, who is a computer hacker who just doesn’t play the establishment game well and in the back of his mind suspects there is something more to life than the life he is living. He eventually finds out that the world he (and we) are living in is nothing more than a computer-generated experience and the reality is our human bodies are stored away in a kind of stasis by machines that have taken over the world and have found a way to tap into the electrical energy of the human body and use it to power themselves. Apparently, some humans survived the takeover, though and still live in the ‘real’ world or at least what is left of it. These survivors have even made it their mission to unplug and awaken humanity. These survivors live underground in a highly developed society, safe from the ‘eyes’ of the machines called Zion. The machines, though have flying sentinels that are always searching for rebellious humans. The survivors also have flying machines that they use to sneak into the power grid of human batteries to set them free physically and then hopefully open their eyes to true reality in hopes that humanity will eventually take back what the machines have stolen. The computer-generated world is a very elaborate simulation called the Matrix that is complete with computer-generated agents that are also on the lookout for rebellious humans. Neo eventually rises as the messiah they have been waiting for, who knows how to bend the Matrix to his will and take back the real world from the machines with the help of Morpheus, who is the spiritual leader of the humans and a military leader in the rebellion.
The red pill or the blue pill?
There is an elaborate method of freeing humans from the Matrix that starts with Morpheus visiting potential candidates like Neo in the Matrix and explaining the Matrix to them, and making sure they are truly ready for their dose of reality. Part of that process involves choosing a red pill or a blue pill. The red pill awakens them and provides a tracer so they can find them in the power grid and unplug and rescue their bodies. The blue pill allows them to go to sleep and return to the illusion of the Matrix and forget all about it. Morpheus says something in his interview with Neo that is very profound:
“Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.”
Have you ever felt that way, like there is more to life than what you are experiencing? You just somehow know. This conflict that you are feeling is when the Holy Spirit awakens something in you that you are more than your human experience. The Bible confirms this. Theologians call it conviction. It is the Holy Spirit telling us that Satan has been pulling the wool over your eyes, your entire life, making you think that this life is all there is, when in reality, there is a spiritual battle going on for your soul.
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” John 6:44
“The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste, or touch. A prison for your mind.”
Morpheus, The Matrix
I would add that it is a prison for your eternal soul also. Most just drift along in life, surviving the best they can with the job and situation they have. Some just live a party lifestyle and couldn’t care less about there being more to life than the human experience they are living. Part of that awakening is a revelation that we are all sinners who need to be forgiven and born again.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Conviction is this awakening that we are meant for more than this life.
Conviction awakens us to the reality of sin. Our natural man wants what it wants, which, if we are honest, is instant gratification, selfishness, whatever feels good and benefits us most, with no regard for eternity and where we will spend our eternal life when we die and pass on to the next life. Conviction and revelation are something only God can do.
“I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7
Satan and this world’s system do not want us to know that we can be more. It does not want us to know there is an eternal life beyond this life. It does not want us to know about demons and the authority we have over them (Luke 10:19). It wants us to continue in gratification of this illusion, this matrix it has created.
“The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around. What do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. Neo, sooner or later, you’re going to realize, just as I did, that there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”—Morpheus, The Matrix
The truth that is hidden from us, that this world’s system and Satan so desperately do not want us to know, is that we are spirit beings living in a human fleshly body. As amphibians can live in water and on land, so we as humans were created to live in the spirit and in the flesh.
Maybe some of you are wondering why this is important. But believe me when I tell you, understanding this concept will revolutionize your understanding of spiritual things! I’m serious! So many people want to group the soul and spirit together as synonymous with the same thing. But we are a tripartite being. Just like God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost, we are body, soul and spirit. For us to have a clear understanding of how things work in the spiritual realm and how it interacts with our physical realm and how to lead a victorious life, we must understand the existence and the workings of body, soul and spirit. We are spirit beings that have a soul and that live in a body. Ask God to help you understand and grasp what I am about to teach here before you continue on. Is it that important?
Let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 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.” Notice spirit and soul and body are specified, not just body and soul or body and spirit. This is important. Apostle Paul teaches us that to be sanctified (set apart as useful to God, to be used by God) wholly, spirit and soul and body must be kept and brought into line with God’s word and will for our life. You cannot grow spiritually if you do not make this distinction between spirit and soul. To not understand it is fatal to spiritual growth and maturity.
Hebrews 4:12 is a verse frequently quoted, but I think one part is missed and glossed over by most who read it. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 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.” Here again, the distinction is made between soul and spirit. In fact, it is made known that if we study the Word of God, it will divide asunder the soul and spirit. In other words, we will know when something is soul and when something is spirit. In fact, we should pray for and desire that God divide our soul and spirit.
The Bible is careful to distinguish when it is the Holy Spirit and when it is our spirit, as in Romans 8:16: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” So, don’t confuse the two.
Basically, the human spirit is the only part of you that can communicate with God, and the spirit world in general, for that matter. So, beware, don’t talk to any spirits except God. It is where your intuition and conscience dwell. The body, of course, is your physical body, the part of you that interacts with this physical realm. The soul is like a bridge between your body and spirit. It is where your mind, will, intellect, personality and emotions dwell. The soul can be influenced by your body (fleshly desires) or your spirit (spiritual desires). The spirit can be evil or good, depending on who indwells you. If you are born again, the Holy Spirit dwells in you and will guide you if you yield to Him. You will be ruled by your flesh or your spirit, depending on who you give control to the most and which side of you that you feed the most. An understanding of the inner workings of body, soul and spirit will help you to be in control rather than thinking you are out of control. Read Romans 6. You are free. You are limited only by the choices you make and to whom you yield control to! God dwells in the spirit, the self dwells in the soul, while senses dwell in the body.
SPIRIT
If a believer doesn’t learn to discern his own spirit, he will never know how to commune with God in spirit and will be easily deceived. He may even substitute the thoughts and emotions of the soul for the works of the spirit. This will confine you to the outer realm, unable to ever reach the spiritual realm.
The function of the spirit is conscience, intuition and communion. Conscience should never be confused or convoluted by reason. Reasoning can justify things that our conscience says is wrong. The conscience is independent and direct; it does not bend to outside opinions. If you ignore your conscience long enough, its voice becomes like white noise after a while. Paul called it “having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” in 1 Timothy 4:2.
Intuition is the sensing organ of the human spirit. Intuition involves a direct sensing independent of any outside influence. What we know that we know that we know comes through our intuition. Our mind may help us understand and interpret it, but what we ‘know’ comes from our intuition. A believer must always listen to their conscience and intuition.
Communion is communication and worship of God. God is not apprehended by our thoughts, feelings, intentions, or words. These are of the realm of the soul. Our worship and communication with God are only through our spirit. If the words from our lips are not from our spirit, or as it is sometimes referred to, our heart, they do not communicate with God. You can’t fool God. He knows if our words are from our hearts. Remember the Pharisee and the publican praying in the temple? The Pharisee prayed an elaborate prayer and the publican just smote his chest and said, “God have mercy on me, a sinner”. Jesus said the publican rather than the Pharisee went away justified. (Luke 18:-12-14). “For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”1 Samuel 16:7. That is why our very tears are a language to God. That is why our spirit can groan and cry out to God and God understands (Romans 8:26).
It is in the spirit that God regenerates us, teaches us and leads us.
Before a person is born again (John 3:3), man’s spirit is dead to God. It is engulfed and subject to our soul that is ruled by our flesh. That is why Jesus, talking to Nicodemus, called it being ‘born again’ (Read John 3:1-21). He goes on to explain to a baffled Nicodemus that we must be born of water and of the spirit (John 3:5). Water speaks of a natural birth, spirit speaking of a quickening, a coming to life, of our spirit, a spiritual birth. Let’s think about this in depth. Before you are born again, your soul is used to pretty much yielding to what the flesh desires, whatever gives us pleasure, whatever we think is ‘best’ for us. Then the Holy Spirit convicts us of the sinful life we are living (by ‘sinful life’ I mean we all are sinners in need of God if we are not born again. Read Romans 3:23.) and we call upon the name of the Lord and He quickens our Spirit to hear His voice. This is in immediate conflict with our old nature. We might not notice right away because we are so happy about being born again, but it will come (Romans 7). It is like taking the red pill and becoming aware of The Matrix for the first time. When it comes, we must decide who we will listen to: our new nature or our old one. This is why it is so important to disciple someone newly born again. We must nurture them and show them their source of strength and learning by teaching them how to live in the Spirit. They must be directed to the Word of God, prayer and their spiritual armor (Ephesians 6).
SOUL
The soul is our self-consciousness. We would not even be conscious of our existence except for the soul. The soul is the seat of our personality and all the elements that make us human. It is in the soul that our intellect, our thoughts, ideals, love, emotions, choice and a whole range of human experiences dwell. It is in the soul that the spirit and body merge. That is why man is often called a living soul (Genesis 12:5, 46:27). So, the soul is the bridge between our body and spirit. It is where we decide who we will listen to.
The soul is the seat of man’s volition, mind and emotion. Volition is our ability to make decisions, our power to choose. This is important; otherwise, man is nothing but a puppet, an automaton. The mind, of course, is the instrument of our thoughts and our intellect. From our thoughts also arise wisdom, knowledge and reasoning, or our foolishness.
BODY
The body is fairly self-explanatory. The body is the part of us that interacts with the physical world. It is where we feel hot, cold, and physical pain. It consists of our five senses: hearing, taste, seeing, smell and touch. The body is where we feel physical pleasure. The body is also, most importantly, where we carry out those decisions we have made, good or bad.
Take time to understand this concept. Let your spirit rule as directed by God’s Spirit. Then your mind and body will carry out the will of God and your whole being will know the peace and harmony you truly desire. When one is out of sync with the other, this is where all our problems start. How do you keep the spirit strong? By feeding it spiritual things from God’s Word. The story is told of a man that a missionary met, who said that since he had been born again, it was like a white dog and a black dog fighting inside of him. The missionary said, Well, which one is winning? The man said, the one I feed the most. That pretty well sums it up. If you give in to what the flesh wants, your soul drags the spirit into subjection to the flesh. But if you deny what the flesh wants and let the spirit rule, then the soul must bring the flesh under submission. Man’s will is free. The devil can’t make us do anything, for that matter, neither will God MAKE us do anything because God has created us with free will and the power of choice and He has chosen to honor that. He has placed before us life and death, choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). The spirit-led man is a man who will be blessed and in harmony with this world and the spirit world. He will be healthier in body and mind. He will be blessed by God. Why would you choose any other way than God’s way? Proverbs 16:25 pretty much sums it up: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
I end with another quote from The Matrix. It is up to you to decide. You can take the blue pill and live in an existence far below what God created you to be, or you can choose a more abundant life in Christ, as in John 10:10, where Jesus states, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Give the Spirit control, my friend. You won’t regret it.
“I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world … without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries; a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.”—Neo, The Matrix.
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