Glory in the Lord Everyday Ministry

15/12/2024

10/12/2024

Get ready to be inspired! The beauty and power of holiness is a game-changer. Let's pursue holiness with all our hearts! "
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08/12/2024

1.

28/11/2024

Heavenly Father, today we humbly come before you, recognizing that hatred only leads to division, conflict, and pain. We confess that at times, we have allowed seeds of hatred to grow in our hearts.

Forgive us, Lord, for any words or actions that have caused strife in our relationships. We acknowledge that true love, which comes from You, covers all sins. Help us to cultivate a heart of love, compassion, and forgiveness towards others. Teach us, O God, to see beyond the faults and shortcomings of others, and to extend grace and understanding.

May we be instruments of peace, spreading love and unity wherever we go. In Your precious name, we pray.

09/09/2024

The holy spirit before and after Pentecost
We saw in the last issue that Adam was originally made body, soul and spirit and that when he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he lost the spirit. Therefore, God could no more communicate with him since he lacked the necessary receiver i.e. spirit. In this issue, we will examine the situation regarding the availability of spirit after Adam’s fall. Thus this issue could also very well be called "body, soul, spirit. (part II)". However, I preferred to call it "Pentecost and new birth realities" for the reason that Pentecost is going to be our central point of reference.

1. The man after Adam's fall and before Pentecost
As it was said, God is spirit and therefore to communicate with Him, and He with you, you need to have spirit. Since spirit was not available after Adam’s fall, what was happening during that period was that God put His spirit upon those who He wanted to communicate with. This does not mean that spirit was available. From Genesis to Acts, there is no record of any instruction as how to receive spirit, for the simple reason that spirit was not available. John 7:37-39 tells us:

John 7:37-39
"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the spirit which those believing in him would receive; for the holy spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified."

According to this passage, holy spirit was not available at the time that Jesus Christ spoke these words and of course it was not available before that time as well. During all this period (from Adam’s fall to the day of Pentecost) if God wanted to communicate with someone, He put His spirit upon him. Let’s see some examples from the Old Testament starting from Numbers 11:16-17. According to the context, Moses wanted helpers for the governing of the people of Israel and God answered his request in verses 16-17:

Numbers 11:16-17
"So the Lord said unto Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the spirit that is upon you, and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone."

As it is clear from this passage, Moses had spirit and he had it upon him. It is significant to point out two things here: first that the spirit was not in him, but upon him. When something is in you, it cannot be separated from you. It is part of your being. However, when something is upon you, then it is not one with you. Second: the fact that Moses had the spirit of God upon him, it was not because he decided that he would like to have spirit. Even if he decided that he would like to have spirit, there was no guarantee that he would have, for the simple reason hat spirit was not available. Actually, it was God that decided to put His spirit upon Moses and not the other way round. The same is true for those seventy men as well: the spirit of God was upon them, not because they decided to receive it but because God put it to make possible communication with them. Having seen this case, let’s see some more passages on the same topic. So:

Judges 3:9-10
"When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel and went out to war ....."

Did Othniel have spirit before? No. God put it upon him for the reason that he was the judge of Israel and God wanted to communicate with him. Let’s see another example:

Judges 6:33-34
"Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet [to gather the people of Israel for war]; and the Abiezernites gathered behind him."

Did Gideon have spirit before? No. Was it that Gideon received the spirit from God or that God put the spirit upon Gideon? To receive something it must be available and spirit was not available after Adam’s fall. So it was God Who chose to put His spirit upon Gideon for the reason that Gideon was the judge of Israel and God wanted to communicate with him. Similar examples are many in the Old Testament. Also if one examines the case of Saul, the first king of Israel, it can be seen that when he disobeyed God, the spirit of God that was upon him departed from him (see: I Samuel 15:26, 16:14).

So to summarize, Adam and Eve were originally body, soul and spirit. However, in the day that they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they lost the spirit. When you lose a form of life that is called death. That’s why they died in that day, exactly as God had said. From that time onwards spirit was not available. On the other hand, for God to communicate with people they have to have spirit. For this reason during this period, God had to put His spirit upon certain men of His choice. For example, all the prophets had the spirit of God upon them. God put it upon them to give them revelation. So, regarding the period before the day of Pentecost three things are noteworthy:

1. Spirit was not available.

2. God put his spirit upon those who He wanted to communicate with.

3. They could lose the spirit, which means that they had it under restrictions.

2. New Birth
Having seen what was the situation before the day of Pentecost it is now time to see what happens after the day of Pentecost. To see this, let’s start examining some things that Jesus Christ said in the gospels. As we read the corresponding records, we must bear in mind that at the time that Jesus Christ was on earth, spirit was not available as we have already seen from John 7:37-39. Therefore, whatever we see in the gospels about spirit it refers prophetically to the time that spirit would become available. Bearing this in mind, let’s have a look at John 3:1-6 :

John 3:1-6
"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born again [the Greek text reads "born from above"], he cannot see the kingdom of God."

According to Jesus Christ no man can enter the kingdom of God, if he isn’t born again or born from above. This is probably enough to resolve many arguments and guesses as to how one makes it to heaven. The answer is simple: You must be born from above. Now what does this "born from above" mean? The only birth that most of us know is the birth that was given to us by our parents. Nevertheless, here Jesus Christ tells us that there is one more birth, which is the prerequisite to "see the kingdom of God". Questions may come immediately to our minds: "How does this birth occur?", "who is the parent of this birth?", "what do I receive from this birth?". How will we answer these questions? By going to the Bible and leave it to interpret itself. So let’s see what it says:

John 3:4-5
"Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

In this passage Jesus Christ explains us that for a man to enter the kingdom of God he should be born of water and of the spirit. To be born of water means the first birth. Without having been born once, how could you be born again? He tells us also that one should be born of the spirit. The word "spirit" has various usages in the Bible. However, most of the usages refer either to God who is spirit (John 4:24 "God is spirit") or to the spirit that God gives. In the above passage "born of the Spirit" means born of God Who is spirit. In the first birth you were born "of water". In the second birth you are born of the spirit i.e. you are born of God. That in this second birth you are born of God is also clear in verse 6 where we also learn what is received by this birth:

John 3:6
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Again the two births are put together in the same sentence but this time the purpose is to contrast them and to show that they are entirely different. From the first birth you received what your parents are i.e. flesh. Similarly, from the second birth you received what your parent, God, is i.e. spirit. Having answered the question about the second birth and who is the parent of this birth let’s move one step ahead to examine how this second birth occurs. Again the Bible is very sharp and clear in its answers:

I John 5:1
"whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God"

In this passage the Word of God tells us that to be born of God what is needed is to believe that Jesus is the Christ i.e the Messiah, the Saviour. Yes, so simple it is. Take a minute to think about it. If you are born of God what are you then? A child of God. A son or a daughter of God!! That is exactly what the epistle to Galatians also declares :

Galatians 3:26
"For you are all the children of God by faith (believing) in Christ Jesus."

To be a child of someone requires birth. And in the above given passages the Word of God declares that at the time that one believes in Jesus Christ is born of God. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? If yes, who is your Father? God is your Father. Is anyone more powerful than God? NO. What is impossible for Him? Nothing. Most people, because of either religion or tradition, think that God is someone that you cannot approach. Someone that is far from them and He becomes a bit nearer only after they follow a certain ritual or do certain religious works. If you have the same idea, you must change it if you want to fully exploit the power that God has put in you when He made you His child. Instead of the religious ideas that you may have collected from the church, the school and the family put on what the Word of God says: CHILD OF GOD. Let’s expand a bit more on this.

Isaiah 49:15
"Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb?"

If no then where do all these children that live in the streets and in the institutions come from? That’s why God says:

Isaiah 49:15
"Surely they may forget"

However, it does not stop there. It continues:

Isaiah 49:15
"yet I will not forget you"

Many parents forget or mistreat their children. However, God will never forget you. Do you know why? Because you are His child and He loves you. Also:

Hebrews 13:5
"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will nor fear. What can man do to me?"

Who said that? Not me. God ("He Himself") said it. He promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Your friends may leave you, the government may abandon you, your boss may forsake you. But God will never leave you because you are His child. If you feel forgotten, neglected etc. it is because you look upon wrong things. Look to God your Father; develop a father-child relationship with Him and you will see how much more light your life will have. You also may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can a man do to me?"

3. Pentecost: the day of a new beginning
Returning now to our initial point, remember that spirit was lost in the day that Adam sinned. Also remember, that spirit was not available, after that day. Nevertheless, in John 3:6 Jesus Christ, speaking prophetically to Nicodemus, said that one could again have spirit. The point in time where spirit was again made available was the day of Pentecost, almost 2,000 years ago. So let’s read to see what happened that day:

Acts 2:1-4
"When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."

What is described above is the first outpouring of the holy spirit, that happened in the day of Pentecost. From that day onwards, holy spirit is again available and everyone that believes in Jesus Christ receives it and he can also manifest it with the nine ways listed in I Corinthians 12:7-10. One of these ways is speaking in tongues and it is this manifestation that was operated in the above passage of Acts.

4. Before Pentecost and after Pentecost: comparisons


4.1 The spirit is again available
It is now interesting to compare the situation after Pentecost with the one before Pentecost. As we have already seen, before the day of Pentecost, spirit was not available. However, from that day and because of what Jesus Christ accomplished, spirit is again available and you can again be body, soul and spirit. What a dramatic change! But it is not the only one.

4.2 The spirit is in you: you are the temple of God
We saw previously that before Pentecost people had the spirit of God upon them. It wasn’t in them. On Pentecost this situation also changed dramatically. From that day onwards, not only everyone that believes in Jesus Christ receives holy spirit, but also this spirit is in him. Let’s see some scriptures on this:

I Corinthians 6:19
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the holy spirit which is IN you, which you have from God.....?"

Where does the holy spirit, that you received when you believed in Jesus Christ, dwell? IN YOU. It is not upon you . It is IN you.

I Corinthians 3:16
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you?"

Again where does the spirit of God dwell? Many people, believe that the spirit of God dwells, in the so and so church of the so and so denomination. How much have people misunderstood what the Bible says? Here the Word of God tells us , that the spirit of God dwells IN you. It also says that "YOU are the temple of God". So the temple of God is not the church at the corner of the street but YOU and do you know why? Because the spirit of God dwells IN you. Here is the great difference between having the spirit upon you (before the day of Pentecost) and having the spirit in you (from the day of Pentecost). Before the day of Pentecost, those few people who had the spirit of God upon them, were not the temple of God for the simple reason that the spirit of God wasn’t in them but upon them. That is the reason that the temple of Solomon was constructed. It was a temporary dwelling place of God. But today, there is no more need for man-made temples for the reason that today God does not dwell in buildings, but in men that love Him. This fact makes any man-made building, in which it is supposed that God dwells, at least a waste of time and money.

4.3 You cannot lose the spirit
Finally, it is very interesting to see whether you can lose the spirit that God gave you or not. We saw that Adam had the spirit under the restriction that he wouldn’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When he violated this condition, he lost the spirit. Similarly, before the day of Pentecost, the people who had the spirit upon them, they had it under restrictions. So when Saul disobeyed God, he lost it. What about today? For one more time the difference is great. Today you don’t have the spirit under restrictions and therefore you cannot lose it. There was one condition that had to be fulfilled to receive spirit and that was to believe in Jesus Christ. Once you believed, you were born of God and you received holy spirit. You didn’t receive it under any restriction and that’s why you cannot lose it. Moreover, holy spirit is what you received when you were born of God. As your flesh and blood are the tokens of your first birth so the spirit is the token of your second birth. The birth is birth. It is an unaltered fact. As you will continue to be a child of your earthly parents whatever may happen, so you will continue to be a son or a daughter of God. I Peter tells us:

I Peter 1:23
"Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides for ever"

Our new birth came as a result of believing what the Word of God says concerning Jesus Christ. It is therefore a birth "through the Word of God". Now, when you were born of God you received the spirit of God in you. That's the seed, the proof, that you are born again and this seed is incorruptible. If you could ruin it, it would be corruptible. If Satan or any other could ruin it, it would be corruptible. But it is INCORRUPTIBLE.

So is it true to say that you have as much as Adam had before the fall? NO it isn’t true for you have more than Adam. Adam lost the spirit because he had it under restrictions. You cannot lose it because you have it without restrictions. Now you may think that in any case you cannot have as much as those great Old Testament prophets like Moses, Isaiah, David etc. had. Well, according to what we have read you do have much more than they. They had the spirit upon them, under restrictions and certainly they were no more than servants of God since new birth was not yet available. But you:

Galatians 4:7
"you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

So is it much more than Moses, Isaiah, David? Certainly yes. May you utilise to the full extend what God has made available for you in the new birth and walk the great walk that he has prepared for you.

08/09/2024

Body, soul and spirit
Is it a man just body and soul or is he body, soul and spirit? This I believe is one of the most fundamental questions that somebody needs to have correctly answered. I consider the subject of body, soul and spirit as one of the most important subjects dealt within this magazine. Therefore I would like to ask you to please pay close attention as we go through the Word to find the answer not only to the matter of body soul and spirit but also to some other equally important questions related to it.

1. Body, soul, spirit: what died in the day Adam and Eve sinned?
To start approaching the topic of body soul and spirit we need to go to the first book of the Bible, the Genesis. There, after God made man, He imposed a restriction on him, making also clear the penalty, for the case that this restriction was violated:

Genesis 2:16-17
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die".

The restriction that God imposed on Adam was that he should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The penalty for the case that this restriction was violated was that: "in the day [pay attention: that very day] that you eat of it you shall surely die". Two very significant things have to be noted in that penalty. The first is that if Adam ate from the tree death would happen immediately, in that very day. The second is that this would happen surely. The phrase "you shall SURELY die" has exactly the purpose to put emphasis on the fact that death would happen 100%, surely, in that day.

Now from Genesis 3:1-6 we all know how Satan deceived Adam and Eve to violate the only restriction God had imposed on them, and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After eating from that tree and according to what God had told them in Genesis 2:17, they should have died at that moment. The problem here is that Genesis 5:5-6 says about Adam:

"After he [Adam] begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died."

Therefore, according to the Bible, Adam continued to have life in his body for many years after he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On the other hand, God had said that if he would eat from that tree he would surely, 100%, die, in that same day. So what really happen in the day that Adam and Eve ate from that tree. Did they die as God said, or they did not die? Who will solve us this "problem"? Man's ideas, theories, religion and tradition? No! Only one can give us answers, and this is no other than the Word of God. And if you want this Word to give you answers, you have to leave it to speak for itself (self interpretation).

In our case, since God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19) in the day that Adam and Eve ate from that tree they really died. Actually, it was the Devil that said, when he deceived Eve, "you shall not surely die". Thus, if they did not die that day, as God said, then Satan was right and God was wrong, which is simply impossible. However, that's exactly what many teach today when they say "actually when God said that they would surely die He meant that just the s***m of death would be planted". The Word of God does not need such kind of defense. Actually it does not need any defense at all for it is truth and truth can stand by itself. Returning to our topic: SINCE GOD SAID THAT THEY WOULD SURELY DIE THAT VERY DAY, THEY INDEED DIED THAT DAY. However, since they continued to have life in their bodies even after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is self-evident that they must have had another form of life, in addition to the life of their bodies, that was lost in the day that they ate and for this reason it was death (absence of a form of life). So, we have to search the Scriptures to see how man was created and what were the parts of his being. Knowledge of what composed the life of the first man will also enable us to see what was lost in that day.

2. Body, soul and spirit: the body and soul parts.
Starting our research on how the first man was created, let's go to Genesis 2:7. There it says:

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground........"

Which part of man did God form of the dust of the ground? His body. That's why the elements of the human body can be found in the ground. So one part of the first human being was the body. But let's continue:

Genesis 2:7
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul [soul = nephesh in Hebrew]"

We saw that God formed man's body of the dust of the ground. However, this body did not have life. It was just formed, without life. Then, the Word of God tells us that God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul". Therefore, what is soul? Soul is what gives life to the body. The fact that people do not understand the simple truths of the Word of God described at that point has caused no end of confusion. Here the Word of God tells us that soul is what gives life to the body. Without soul the body is dead. Where is the soul, the life of the body, the life of the flesh? The Word of God again is very precise:

Leviticus 17:11, 13-14
"For the life [nephesh in Hebrew] of the flesh is in the blood.....Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust; For it [i.e. the blood] is the life [nephesh] of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life [nephesh] of it: therefore I said to the children of Israel "You shall not eat the blood of any flesh: for the life [nephesh] of all flesh is its blood"

We saw in Genesis 2:7 that soul (nephesh in Hebrew) is what gives life to the body. Here in Leviticus we see that "the life of the flesh is in the blood". In the above passage the word “life” is a translation of the Hebrew word "nephesh" that is translated as “soul” in Genesis 2:7 as well as in 471 out of the 753 of the places where it occurs. Therefore, what is “nephesh” or soul? According to Genesis 2:7 soul is what gives life to the body. Where is the “nephesh”, the life of the body, the soul? According to Leviticus 17:11-14 it is in the blood: "For the life (nephesh, soul) of the flesh is in the blood". How this soul life passes from generation to generation? Through the blood. That's why Acts 17:26 says:

"And He has made from ONE BLOOD every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth".

The "one blood" of this passage is the blood of Adam which passes from generation to generation and actually is the blood that all of us have.

Actually, soul is not something that only man has. Animals have also soul which again is in the blood. Although this is immediately understood from the above passage of Leviticus, where we are told that the life of all flesh is in the blood let's go to Genesis 1:20-21, 29-30 to see it there as well:

Genesis 1:20-21
"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature [nephesh, soul] that has life [nephesh, soul] and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature [nephesh, soul] that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good"

Genesis 1:29-30
"And God said "Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yield seed; to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul [nephesh in Hebrew] I have given every green herb for meat:" and it was so."

Therefore, not only man but also the animals have "nephesh" i.e. "soul". This is not strange at all, if we understand that soul is what gives life to the body. When you die there is no more life, no more soul. The same happens with the animals. Soul is for them the same that is for man i.e. what gives life to the body. Although, there is no problem about what is defined as soul in the Bible, the problem is created when we go to the Bible with the preconceived idea that soul is immortal. If soul was immortal, then really the souls of the various animals would also be immortal, since they have "nephesh" as man has "nephesh". Soul is not something immortal. It just gives life to the body. When you stop having life in your body, you have no more soul.

By now, we have seen that the Bible teaches that God formed the body of man of the dust of the ground, and that He gave to that body life i.e. soul. The same is also true for the animals. They also have body and soul. Every man in the world, believer or unbeliever, has body and soul. It can therefore be concluded that since Adam died 930 years old, when he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he obviously lost neither his body nor his soul. Thus, since something had to die for Adam that day, he must originally have had at least one more part, which was lost, died, when he ate. So, let's continue searching the Scriptures to see what they say about that.

3. Body, soul and spirit: the spirit part.
To continue our enquiry let's go to Genesis 1:26-27. There it says:

Genesis 1:26-27
"Then God said "let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them"

According to this passage, God created man "in His own image". Here is a very critical point, a key point, if we want to understand not only what happened in the day that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but also other passages of the Bible that are affected by what is said here. Reading the above passage, the question that has to be asked is what is the image of God? What does He look like? John 4:24 tells us:

"God is Spirit"

God is not flesh but Spirit. That is His image. Therefore, when the Word of God tells us that God created man according to His image, it means that in addition to body and soul man also had that which is the image of God i.e. spirit. In order to understand better the usage of the phrase "in his image" in the above critical passage, let's see another place where this phrase occurs.

Genesis 5:1-3
"This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, In the likeness of God made He him; Male and female created He them ; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth"

This passage says that Adam begat a son "in his own likeness, after his image". What does it mean? It means that as Adam was, so his son was i.e. as Adam had hands so Seth had hands. As Adam had feet so Seth had feet etc. As Adam was body and soul so Seth was body and soul. Similarly, when the Word says that God created man "in his image", "in the likeness of God", what it means is that as God is, so Adam was. God is not flesh. He does not have feet, hands, head. He is spirit. So as God is spirit so Adam had spirit. One could ask, why did God make Adam apart from body and soul, spirit as well? The simple reason is that without spirit Adam could not communicate with God Who is spirit. God being spirit, cannot communicate with the body and soul. They are different things. You see, you cannot receive the messages of a radio station unless you have a radio receiver. You may have a washing machine. But the fact that you have a washing machine does not make it possible for you to receive the messages of the radio station. You need a radio receiver. Similarly, God is spirit and to communicate with Him you must have spirit. Body and soul are enough for things of the five senses. But when it comes to the things of God, what you need is spirit. This truth is also explained in I Corinthians 2:14:

"But the natural [psuchikos in the Greek] man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him: nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

In this passage, the word translated "natural" is the Greek adjective "psuchikos", which comes from the noun "psuchi" which means soul. So, psuchikos means "a soul man" i.e. a man with body and soul only1. According to that passage a man who is only body and soul "does not receive the things of the Spirit of God". As it was said above to receive "the things of the spirit of God", to communicate with God you need the appropriate receiver i.e. spirit. That's why the passage says: "nor can he (the man of body and soul) know them because they are spiritually discerned". The man of body and soul is impossible to know the things of God for the simple reason that such things have to do with the spirit, "they are spiritually discerned", and since he lacks spirit he cannot know them.

Summarizing all the above, Adam had body, formed from the dust of the ground, soul that gives life to the body and spirit to communicate with God. He was body, soul and spirit. Having established that, there is no question about what happened in the day that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had told them that in the day that they would eat from it, they would surely die. Bearing in mind that death means the absence of a form of life, we can now see what died that day. Adam was body, soul and spirit and his body died many years after the day that he ate. Now since without soul a body has no life, Adam had body and soul even after he ate from that tree. On the other hand, since God is always right in what He says, something had to die that day. Since Adam was body, soul and spirit before he ate and since, as we saw, he continued to have body and soul after he ate what was lost for him that day, was the spirit that God gave him. He continued to have body and soul but he did not have spirit. The spirit departed from him and this was death for him since spirit, a form of life that he had before he ate, was no more there.

You see, how clearly the Bible settles the things when you leave it to interpret itself. It was actually this loss of the spirit that was restored in the day of Pentecost where holy spirit was made available, so that today after believing in Jesus Christ you are again body, soul and spirit. That’s why then Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says:

“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.”

We now, after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection and receiving the gift of the holy spirit, we are no longer just body and soul but body, soul and spirit.