All gifts are tax-deductible!

  The Three Dimensions of God
  (Parts 1 & 2)

  www.voiceofthetrumpet.org

  votmin@easystreet.net

  Apostle Traci Carson

PART 1

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". (1 Thess. 5:23)

The Lord often times reveals his purpose in threes. As one studies Scripture they will begin to see there is a three dimension process to God's Salvational work. Our spirit is automatically saved when we receive Christ as our Savior, but our soul is progressively being saved, and the body follows (3 John 2; 1 Thess.5:23; Heb.10:39; 1 Pet.1:9; James 1:21 - James is speaking to the church, not the world).

The Tabernacle of Moses is an excellent example of our whole being (spirit, soul and body) as it (our being) is the Tabernacle of God - 1 Cor.3:16; 2 Pet.1:13,14 okj). What God concealed in the Tabernacle of Moses would be revealed in a Tabernacle not made with hands (Heb. 9:11). Christ, who lives within those who have received Him is revealed as we grow unto full stature in Him (Gal.2:20).

Before we really get into this teaching I would like to begin with the difference between the spirit and soul. The first thing we must come to realize is that our spirit is the real man. We are spirit beings with a soul, and we dwell in a physical body (Numbers 16:22; Heb. 12:9).

It is crucial for us to learn how to tell the difference between our spirit and our soul, and to acknowledge that the two do exist.

In the original Greek New Testament the difference between the spirit and soul is extreme. The Spirit of God, and also our spirit is defined as a "pneuma". The word "pneumatic" originated from "pneuma", and means "air" or "breath". The Webster Dictionary defines the word "pneumatic" as something that is "Moved by or worked by air pressure".

The function of the human spirit is generally a passive or inactive one. The soul however is always active. Our spirit operates as a protective womb for the presence and the activities of the Spirit of God who abides within us. Our spirit is connected with our heart and our conscience. It is through our human spirit that we are able to discern and reveal what Jesus does through the Holy Spirit.

"God is a Spirit (pheuma); and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)

The soul (Psu-kay - in the Greek) is where "psyche" comes from, which consists of the mind (intellect), will and emotions. The soul is the function of the rational and intellectual. This is why we MUST NOT live from our soul, but from the spirit. Our soul will never comprehend the wind of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14). This is why so many within the Body of Christ are unable to discern God, because they often times are living from their soul alone. What they think to be of the Spirit is often times the soul, and what they think to be of the soul is often times the Spirit.

The soul as I pointed out is a combination of our mind, will and emotions. Its function is to work and choose between the things of the spirit and the things of the flesh (the body). The spirit reveals the truth, but the soul has to choose whether to follow the spirit or the promptings of the carnal flesh, the world, and the trickeries of satan. It is up to the soul (our will) to allow our spirit (the real man) to manifest enough to win the battle that we face from day to day.

The most powerful source that man has is his will. God gave us the power to choose. He didn't want a people who were like puppets on a string; He wanted a people who would choose Him and His ways on their own. And yes, there are consequences to the way that we choose. So, He advises us to choose life, and not death. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death (Deut.30:19; Prov. 14:12).

The responsibility of the soul is to submit itself to the Holy Spirit. When we allow our soul to do this, it will take us in the ways of the Spirit of the Living God. When we allow God to bring our will to a point where it has no more fleshly desire than we can truly say we have submitted to the ways of God. Our emotions will be healed and quieted before Father so that we can hear that still small voice that abides within us.

Those who are bound by demonic oppression or past hurts are unable to discern the quiet voice of God, because their emotions are screaming so loudly that the presence of the Lord is overpowered by the presence of the flesh.

Our intellect must be renewed by the Word of God daily so that we can better understand what the Holy Spirit is saying (Romans 12:2). Some people would negatively call this brain washing, but that is exactly what the spirit of God desires for us. There is a spiritual brain washing that must take place in order for our whole being to come in align with the Spirit of God (Eph.5:26).

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil". (Heb. 5:12-14)

From God's point of view, discernment is not something we should take for granted. Discernment comes by exercising that gift. It is likened to a muscle. Those who exercise that gift will grow in spiritual strength. It comes by practice and it only comes as we take in the WHOLE counsel of God through His Word. If we only drink the milk of the Word we will not be able to discern correctly. There is both milk and solid food. We use the milk of the Word to wash down the solid food of the Word that God desires for us (1 Pet.2:2; Heb.5:12,13).

The Word of God clearly states that we should practice discernment. God has given ALL His people the ability to discern. We need to practice discernment in every situation of our life, and when we discern it, we should then follow it as it aligns with the Lord.

How then do we discern between the Spirit and soul?

Spirit ("Pneuma" ) means breath, wind, and spirit. Now the Greek word for soul is "Psuche" (Psyche came from the word "psyche" from which we get Psychological or psychiatrist or psychosomatic. A psychiatrist is a doctor of the soul.

It is God's design that His people move on from the fall of the first Adam, and on into the resurrection power of the second Adam (Jesus - 1 Cor. 15:45). Of course we know this is a process that we must allow in our lives. If we continue living in the flesh by making excuses as to why we are living in the flesh, by blaming it on the first Adam than truly we do not know what Christ has done for us.

In 1 Cor. 15:44-46 Paul is pointing out that we are no longer a part of the first Adam - we are now a part of the second Adam (Jesus). There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. There is the soulish and there is the spiritual.

There is the receiving of the resurrection life that God is looking for in His people. His desire for us is to bring our soul into subjection to our spirit man, the real man, wherein we exercise our senses (our mind (intellect) will and emotions). By doing this we are living and moving in the Spirit.

Prophet Ezekiel saw this in the first chapter of his writing (Ezek. 1:12). When we read about the cherubs we clearly understand that they have spiritual bodies. They go wherever the spirit wants to go. Wherever the spirit went, they went because the spirit went there. A spiritual body is directly motivated by the spirit, not the soul. The natural man will not receive this, but the spiritual man will grab hold of it because they have, are, and will continue to exercise their spiritual senses (1 Cor.2:14,15). The soulish person cannot be in one accord with the Spirit of God because they constantly must have ample reasoning to every happening. He is unable to receive the things of the Spirit because he cannot understand them (Mark 4:13-20).

Have you ever talked with a person of worldly intelligence? A spiritual person can attempt to explain the things of the spirit, but the worldly educated person will not understand because they are operating in the realm of the soul. All the intelligence in the world cannot compare to the wisdom and ingenuity of our God (1 Cor. 3:19; 2 Cor. 1:12).

PART 2

My prayer is that you eat the revelation that the Lord longs to feed you:

"Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts". (Jer.15:16)

We have the whole counsel of God before us. To discern correctly, we must not only read the Word of God daily, but also apply what we read, and do it by the Spirit of God (Spirit and Truth).

In Jude 16-19 we see an example of those who operate in the flesh. Instead of their soul following after the spirit, it follows after the flesh.

"These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual (soulish - following their natural senses) persons who cause divisions, not having the Spirit." (Jude 14-19).

In Jude 20-23 we see the example of those who are of the Spirit.

"But you, beloved, building yourself up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even their garments defiled by the flesh."

When our soul is living out of our flesh (the earthly) rather than our spirit (the heavenly - (Eph.2:6), we have now stepped down into the earthly. Our choices will be flesh influenced. We become ego-centric, completely wrapped up in ourselves. Instead of saying, "Lord, be glorified in and through me" , we say, "Lord, give me, give me... I want, I want... What do I get out of all this, how does this benefit my life??"

Our body and soul are here on this earth, but through the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit, our spirit has been brought into direct fellowship with Christ in heaven (Eph.1:20-23; 2:6,10). From the heart of God, the entire Body of Christ was recreated after Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected - we ARE the Body of Christ!

"And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (all who receive and believe Him." (Eph.1:22,23)

So, how does one move from the soul to the spirit?

First, we must know that we are the temple of God. When we study the tabernacle of Moses we will see that there is an outer court, inner court (the Holy Place), and the Holy of Holies (the Most Holy Place). When God gave Moses the blueprint for the tabernacle it was much more than a place to worship for that period of time. God had the Body of Christ in mind. Through His creative and powerful outline of things to come, the Tabernacle was a prophetic symbol of Christ and His Church (John 5:45,46; Acts 3:22,23).

Our body is made in three dimensions. We have a spirit, soul, and a body. We are made in the image of God. There is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (I will address the Godhead a little later in this study). We have a soul, which represents the Holy Place, and the spirit which represents the Holy of Holies. As our soul and body comes in line with the spirit we can see what God had originally designed, and what His intention and purpose is.

The outer court (body-flesh) is that place we have come out of Egypt (bondage - Exodus 6), and on into Salvation (Exodus 12:31) of Christ Jesus (Acts 7). As it were, the Holy Spirit hovered over us while we were without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep within us. As He hovered over the face of the waters (source of life), God spoke and said, "Let there be light", and there was light, dividing the light from the darkness, and we were able to see the Salvation before us. It was then that the Holy Spirit introduced us to Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior!

It is within the outer court that many things are going on. We learn about the blessings, the gifts, the joy, the dancing, the many provisions that God has given to His people. In the outer court there is alot of activity. It is here that there are spiritual children who must be watched over carefully and prayerfully due to being tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of teaching that is out and about (Eph.4:14). The outer court is also the place where we are considered workers for Jesus. As we move on with Jesus we come into a place where we no longer work for Him, but "with" Him.

The inner court (the Holy Place) is where we have moved from being spiritual children on into that of young adults. We are developing in the spirit. As we mature we begin to understand the ways of Jesus by the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is within the Holy Place that we are led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness experience (Matt.4:1; Mk. 1:12; Luke 4:1). There is suffering here that most would like to forsake (Phil. 1:19-29; 2 Tim. 2:7-10; 1 Pet.2:20-22;1 Pet.3:17).

Those in the outer court who have no understanding of the things of the Spirit, will begin mocking those in the inner court. What seems to be a place of dullness, inactivity and cursing, is really a place of adjustment, preparation, and a powerful elevation in the things of the Spirit. However, these times of intense cultivation may from time to time seem extremely barren as our hearts are tested in this place. Do we serve God for His presents, or His presence? Do we serve the gifts, or the Giver? Do we know His acts, or His ways?

"He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel". (Ps. 103:7)

There is a test within the inner court for the people of God. The Lord does not tempt us, but He does test us (Ex.20:20; Ps.11:4; Zech.13:9; 1 Cor.3:13; 1 Thess.2:4). When we first enter the Holy Place we notice it is a quiet place, a place that seems to have no activity whatsoever. At first we enjoy the presence of the Lord, and the quiet solitude of His workings; but as time moves on we become agitated as our flesh begins to scream for attention! We MUST be noticed by others who have not seen the powerful workings of the Lord within the inner court experience.

The problem with most of God's people at this point is they have a tendency to walk back and forth between the outer court and the Holy Place. When the going get's rough and tough in the Holy Place, it is much easier to go back into the outer court where visually things are happening (2 Cor.4:18). It is God's design for us to mature to a place where we can walk into the outer court without being pulled back into a place of fallacy, apathy and false comfort, or self serving.

Those who remain in the outer court (the body - flesh) look at those in the Holy Place (the soul learning to subject itself to the spirit, not the body) and say, "Gee, doesn't look like much is happening in there... hmmm, looks like the blessings have lifted off of them... have they sinned??" For those who are in the Holy Place their soul is struggling between drinking of the cup or not (Matt.26:38-42; Matt.20:22,23), but if their soul follows the way of the spirit and not the flesh, they will say, "Nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done".

In the Holy Place on the north side stood the table of shewbread. Opposite of the shewbread was the candlestick; before the Holy of Holies was the incense altar. To the west hung the veil with the cherubim forms supported by the four pillars. I would first like to talk about the lamp stand; just as the bread was to be kept on the table continually, the lamp stand was to be kept lighted. It was a divine symbol of our Lord Jesus Christ who is both a light and light bearer.

The golden candlestick was a constant reminder to the priests that they must not walk in the natural light; and that they could fulfill the service of God only as they walked in the light that was provided by Him. All natural light was excluded from the Tabernacle. The only light was that of the golden light bearer. If they were to walk in the natural light they would have to go outside of the Holy Place. The more they walked in the natural light, the less they would be able to see the things of the Holy and Most Holy Place. They would begin to look at things through their natural senses rather than the spiritual.

To the natural mind (soulish reasoning), the Holy Place seems very dark and boring. There is no natural light there, only the moral and spiritual light of our Lord. Those who are spiritual will walk in the light of Christ as the priests walked in the light of the Golden candlestick as they performed the service of God.

The table of shewbread was the center of daily nourishment for the priestly family. In Leviticus 24:9 it reads that "they shall eat bread in a holy place". This bread was symbolic of our Lord being the "Bread of Life".

The altar of incense is symbolic of prayer. In Ps.141:2 it says to "let my prayers be set before you as incense".

The alter of burnt offerings is symbolic of Christ continually emptying Himself before the Father. It is here in the Holy Place that God's people continually offer themselves to God as a burnt offering (Rom. 12:1-2). We deny ourselves. We not only drink of the same cup Christ drank from, but we also pour ourselves out as drink offerings (Phil.2:17). As we empty ourselves, we are being filled to the brim with Him. We empty ourselves of our form and appearing so that He can reveal His form and appearing and His outward glory as God.

In the Holy Place our soul is learning how to mediate between the spirit and body. The spirit cannot touch the body without the soul, and the body cannot touch the spirit without the soul. The soul is the mediator between both. Jesus, who is the very soul of God is the mediator between us and the Father. Our soul must line up with the mind, will, and emotions of Christ Jesus so that it can follow the way of the spirit.

The tabernacle was a place where the type of Jesus Christ was the meeting place between God and man. Do you see yourself as the meeting place between God and man as you reveal Jesus (2 Cor. 3:2,3)?

I pray you receive this revelation, because it is the answer to backsliding if you can grasp it!

We cannot come to the Father without Jesus, and the Father WILL NOT come to us without us first coming to Jesus. Our body cannot come in alignment with the spirit without the soul first getting in alignment with the spirit. The body will follow the soul as the soul follows the spirit. This understanding will take care of allot of sickness, weakness (addiction), poverty and failure within the Body of Christ.

The second Adam (1 Cor.15:45) turned it around - Praise Jesus!!!

Our soul makes choices from moment to moment. We must realize the battle between the soul and body (fleshly appetites - 2 Pet.2:22; 1 Pet.2:11). The body loves to feel good, and draws upon the soul to go with those feelings. The soul must choose whether to move with the spirit or move with the body. The body says, "I want that which is pleasing to the flesh"! The soul must choose whether it is good for the body or not. When we choose the flesh, we listened to the body and not the spirit.

Further Scriptures to study regarding the soul: Ps. 35:9; 34:2; 42:5; 62:1; 119:175

To be continued...