What’s The Difference Between Soul And Spirit?

Every now and then, I feel compelled to write something theological. I guess I do it for a couple of reasons: first, just to keep myself fresh on important truths; and second, to help others firm up their theological foundations. One of the more crucial truths for us to grasp is to understand who we are as God created us. As it is important that we understand ourselves physically so that we can properly care for our bodies, so it is with our spiritual selves.
In this instance, I would like to tackle our comprehension of soul and spirit. We toss the terms around without much thought. To be honest, there are good people who have great academic credentials who differ in their understanding of soul and spirit. From my study, here are my comments.
The soul is that immaterial part of man that gives physical life to our bodies. Without the soul, we are just a collection of various elements with little value. The graveyard is full of examples of bodies with no souls. In Genesis 2:7 we read that when God breathed into the nostrils of the inanimate lump of clay called man, man became a living “soul.” That which was lifeless became alive and animate. The same term, “nephesh,” is used often in the Old Testament in reference to that special God-given “life force” found in us. All animal life that is alive has a soul, a life, a divine spark of energy that makes that which logically shouldn’t have life be alive. Of course, we recognize that the soul of man is vastly different from the rest of created life because only man has a soul created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and designed to be eternal.
The spirit of man is that immaterial part of us that has the capability to connect with God. Some feel that the spirit is a part of the soul. Some feel that it is separate. Either way, all men are born with a spirit. According to Romans 5, when Adam sinned, the spirit in us died and we lost our capacity to know and connect with God. Although the passage doesn’t clearly state that it was the spirit that died, Paul’s reference in Romans 8:10 about the change in our spirit due to faith in Christ would indicate that the spirit was dead. In fallen man, that spirit is dead to God and destined to eternal separation unless it becomes alive by being reborn through faith in Christ. Remember Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” It was because of the condition of his spirit that Jesus said to Nicodemus “You must be born again.” He had been born once physically but now needed a spiritual rebirth since he was actually spiritually dead. When we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, God’s Spirit brought life to our spirits and we became “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We who were dead in our trespasses and sin have been made alive. We were, truly, dead men walking, until Christ brought life to our spirits.
Because there are people smarter than I who take differing positions on the soul and the spirit, I reserve the right to be wrong on this matter. However, as I have read and considered Scripture and the evidence, I feel pretty comfortable with my position. All mankind walk the face of this earth reflecting the image of God in their souls, but only those who have put their trust in Christ for their salvation have spirits that are alive to God and connect them to Him for eternity. I pray that the concepts shared here will stir you to think a little more about God and a little less about the world that wars against both our soul and spirit.

Pastor Doug Dennee