Is it Soul or is it Spirit? What is the difference? Or, are they the same. Following is a short explanation of two commonly misunderstood concepts. Let’s clarify. What is the difference between soul and spirit?
1 Corinthians 15:45(KJV) And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Every human being has a soul, or, as it is referred to in the Bible, soul life. As a matter of fact, your dog and cat each have soul life. Seriously, we’re not talking about jive dancing and soulful singing. Most assuredly, we were not all born soulful singers and dancers; myself in particular. Just as surely, we all have a soul. Most particularly, that’s soul life, the life that is ebbing through your body and the body of every living man or beast. According to the Bible (that’s where I ascertain truth), the genesis of life is in the blood. Once the being takes its last breath, the soul life of that human being or animal is gone, and, the being is dead. D-E-A-D! Just take a gander at a skeleton a few short months after death. It’s obvious—nobody’s home.
For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul. (Lev 17:11 KJV)
You’ve noticed that when the blood flows out of a living being, and it isn’t stopped, that being is dying. Ceases to exist. Not true of a plant. Plants have no blood. Therefore, they have no soul life. So sorry to all you tree lovers, of which I am one; trees don’t have a soul, only shade. Now, what about Spirit?
Biblically, Spirit Is Not Soul and Soul Is Not Spirit. This is a common misunderstanding. To obtain spirit, you must ask God to provide it to you by accepting His Son Jesus Christ as Lord in your life. That’s what being born again means. Spirit is not thrust against you, as is true when an evil spirit possesses a person. (Human beings and animals can be possessed; trees and plants cannot.) Truly, to have the Spirit of God one must be born from above. That’s entirely true. All men do have a soul, but all men do not have a spirit. The Spirit is a gift from God given to men by way of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and is given to all men freely when they ask to be a son of God.
Men May Have The Spirit Of God—Animals Do Not
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luk 11:10-13 NIV)
God is Spirit. He gives to you Holy Spirit when you ask. That spirit provides both eternal life and, the greatest of all, a part of what He is, His nature. The nature of God is love. So then, the spirit is not soul and soul is not spirit. All men have soul. All men do not have spirit.
If you know someone whom this would help, please forward it to them!
Love you all!
Anthony Barbera
