Man has Three Parts – spirit and soul and body

Man Has Three Parts

Now everything that is designed or built today has a specific purpose.  An automobile, for example, is designed to be a comfortable vehicle for travel.  Just like a car has parts and functions, you can also say a man has parts and functions as well.  The beginning of the Bible reveals to us the three main parts and functions of man:  body, soul, and spirit.  Let’s put a diagram on the board to represent these three parts. First of all, we’ll draw a large circle to represent man’s body. Second, we’ll draw another circle inside that, representing man’s soul. Third, we’ll draw a circle inside that to represent man’s human spirit.  In the beginning of the Bible when God describes how He created man, He tells how He formed man out of the dust of the earth. Then it says that God breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living soul. This passage shows us the three parts of man.  Now it says that God breathed into man the breath of life. This phrase, “breath of life” can also be translated, “spirit of life”. Now another place in the Bible says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord”. So we see that man has three parts. Later in the Bible, the Apostle Paul also mentions these three parts. He is praying for the sanctification of believers.  He prays that God would, “Sanctify us wholly—our whole being; our body, and our spirit and our soul.”