Our "Moral Compass"

Hey all,

I was playing golf with my pastor friend last week and asked him, "What difference do you see between the soul and the spirit?"

"Well, the soul is the moral aspect and the spirit the mental." He replied.

That's pretty good! Many here cannot distinguish any difference and "this thread's is for you!" (Better'n a Bud any day! :laugh

I have consistently called the soul the conscience but "moral compass" seems even better. Before we are saved, our "moral compass," having died (no longer pointing at God) on account of sin, points wherever we think it should. Sometimes it points toward good -- we fall in love, have kids, carry out our material and spiritual responsibilities for good.

On occasion, our "compass" points toward things that are not good -- we envy our neighbors, hate those who don't beleive the same way we do, etc.

What happens when we are saved? We make a spiritual decision. First, within our spirit (mind, emotions, will) we ponder the "gospel of grace" offer. The we make a positive, willful decision that reorients our "compass" away from self (through repentance) and toward God (through receiving His Sacrifice/grace/salvation/Spirit) PERMANENTLY! Our souls are ALWAYS saved for eternity thereafter. We call this "JUSTIFICATION." From Adam to the 2nd coming, "the JUST shall live by faith."

So we have learned that "the SOUL that sinneth, it shall die." Ezek 18:4
We've learned that we must "believe to the saving of our SOULS." Heb 10:39

But there's still a place where the decisions are not all "cut and dried" -- in our spirits (minds, emotions, and wills). Why? Because the spirit "listens" to the indwelling Holy Spirit on one hand but it also has to "listen" to the "flesh" on the other hand. It is SO essential for the Christian to realze where the "war" is raging (Rom 6-7) and, as well, to realize where the "war" rages for the lost. It's in the same "field of battle" called the mind or spirit! You'll not win (Paul calls it "reign in this life" Rom 5:17) nor win any converts until you can cut off the thoughts of evil and the flesh long enough to CHOOSE the good --- which is what we know as "sanctification." Is it any wonder that, in Christ's kingdom, "hate" = "murder?" Mt 5:21-22, 1John 3:15 Sanctification is by daily living the Christ-life through the power of the Spirit in our THOUGHT life!

11 "Likewise reckon [mentally trust] ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, [HOW?] that ye should [not] obey it in the lusts thereof [Don't "listen" to the "flesh!"].
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: [HOW again?] but yield yourselves unto God [the Holy Spirit], as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin [the "flesh"] shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Rom 6:11

Throughout the NT, we are taught to reckon the flesh as dead and the spirit -- our minds -- submitted unto God's Spirit. This is also known as "being saved by the life of Christ," Rom 5:10 "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:..." Rom 6:8

So, are there both soul and spirit in God's "equation" for justification? Are there soul and spirit in the process of sanctification that follows (an eternal disposition to do God's will coupled with a living spirit determined to know His will)? Does this put the debate about the major distinctions between soul and spirit to rest?

skypair

 

This is not necessarily for you PL

Nothing about what? souls? spirits? Did you see the scriptures I presented, Lar? What are your thoughts on THEM?? Or is this just blind denial of anything I offer?

I was reading Sproul again last night -- his philisophical tome The Consequences of Ideas. Seems even Plato knew that man was "tripartite." He called the 3 parts Reason, Spirit, and Appetite.

"Reason includes the awareness of a value or goal. The spirit is the drive toward action under reason's impulse. Appetite is the desire for physical things. We experience moral conflict when the spirit is opposed by the appetite. ... The good and virtuous life is dominated by contemplative reason." Sounds reasonable -- and very similar!

This is fun -- you denying everything and me discovering more evidence that you should have uncovered already! :laugh:

skypair