'SPIRIT' IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
That the New Testament Greek word
pneuma is the direct equivalent of the Hebrew word ruwach
can be shown by comparing the following verses.
From the Old Testament :
The
Spirit (Heb. Ruwach) of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the
LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he
hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound; Isa 61:1
...and from the new Testament
where Jesus quotes Isaiah 61:1 in Greek:
The
Spirit (Gk. Pneuma) of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to
heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, Luke 4:18
Being the exact equivalent of
Ruwach, Pneuma is rendered in the New Testament in the
following ways:
Of God Himself
God is a Spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) : and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth. John 4:24
In the Greek text of the New Testament, there
is no indefinite article, and the verse would be more correctly
translated as 'God is spirit'; that is, God is
invisible yet powerful. One should begin to see how a proper
understanding of this word straightens out so many problems.
The Holy Spirit
In whom ye also
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) of promise, Eph 1:13
And grieve not the holy Spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Eph 4:30
He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but
God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit
(Gk. Pneuma). 1 Thes 4:8
The new nature in the believer because we
are begotten of God
Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb, and be born?Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit (Gk. Pneuma) ,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) is spirit.(Gk. Pneuma)
John 3:3-6
This birth of the new nature is invisible, and
yet we see the effects it brings in the life of the believer.
Note the words of Jesus himself in the same conversation in John
chapter three:
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that
is born of the Spirit. John 3:8
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) , if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
his. Rom 8:9
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are the children of God: Rom 8:16
It is here that so much confusion begins. In
the life of a believer God sends His spirit as a gift and seal.
It is this gift of the spirit which brings about the new nature,
and the new creature within man. It does not entail a change of
nature from fleshly to spirit nature until is is consummated
in the resurrection. This was brought out in the passage we
considered earlier from the apostle Paul:
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The
first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord
from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are
earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are
heavenly.And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Cor 15:45-49
So how does a man know if he has the Spirit?
That is the sense brought out in Romans 8:16, God's spirit bears
witness with OUR SPIRIT. That is, our spiritual faculties are awaked
to an awareness of God. Our will is set
to please God, our mind wants to know and learn of God,
our heart aims to serve God. We seek to communicate with
God, we feel emotions toward God. Because we are not currently of
a spiritual nature and won't be until the resurrection, the only
way the Spirit of God can manifest itself now is in the spiritual
faculties of man. The man is thus awakened to serve God 'in
spirit' instead of fulfilling the passions of the flesh.
God's spirit seals the man and brings about the
new creature. We are given 'the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16).
The life of the believer becomes the life which Christ has
imparted to him by the Spirit, however the man must remain a new
creature in a body of flesh which wars against it.
Again, it is important to remember that the
gift of God's spirit which can now only manifest itself in our
spiritual faculties will not undergo a change of nature from the
fleshly to the spirit nature until the resurrection.
The animating life force of man
For as the body without the spirit
(Gk. pneuma) is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
James 2:26
It is amazing to me how often this verse is
quoted to 'prove' that man has a conscious immortal
spirit when it says nothing of the kind. As we have discussed at
length, man has a spirit either as spiritual faculties, or the
life which God imparts to him. This verse is clearly in line with
the way we saw 'spirit' used in the Old Testament. The
body without its 'spirit' or the force which animates
it is dead.
Character or Spiritual Faculties
For God hath not given us the spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind. 2 Tim 1:7
What will ye? shall I come unto you with
a rod, or in love, and in the spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) of meekness? 1Cor 4:21
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him: Eph 1:17
For ye have not received the spirit
(Gk. Pneuma) of bondage again to fear; but ye have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Rom
8:15
In these verses, fear, meekness, wisdom and
bondage are invisible and only manifested in one's actions. No
one here would suppose that a 'spirit of bondage', or a
'spirit of meekness' were actual spirit beings.
The will, seat of emotion
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into
temptation. The spirit (Gk. Pneuma)
truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:38
Angels
But to which of the angels said he at
any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits
(Gk. Pneuma), sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation? Heb 1:13-14
Demons
For a certain woman, whose young
daughter had an unclean spirit ( Gk.
Pneuma), heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
Mark 7:25
From these examples we see that the word is
used in the New Testament in exactly the same ways as it is in
the Old Testament. Again, in every instance, without exception,
spirit is used to represent something that is invisible yet
powerful.
CONCLUSIONS
FROM THE ABOVE
In a previous section we demonstrated from the
Bible that when the body dies, the soul dies also. The word
'soul', once properly understood never gives the
indication that it survives the body at death. Now, having firmly
established the way 'spirit' is used in both
testaments, it will be much easier to make sense out of verses
which previously would seem to contradict what we have learned
about the soul.
Please note that in the above verses, when
'spirit' is used in regard to man, it is always in
reference to either the life force given by God which animates
man (thus frequently rendered 'breath' such as in Gen
6:17), or used of man's mind, will, emotions, 'heart',
courage etc. This is in contrast with the way 'spirit'
is used of God, angels, and demons. God is said to be 'a
spirit' because God is an invisible being of a spirit
nature. Angels are also said to be ministering
'spirits' because they are also invisible beings of
a spirit nature.
Man is never spoken of in these terms. Man is
not a spirit being by nature, because he must by definition be
invisible to be such. Thus, while men can be said to posses
spiritual faculties and to have a spirit which makes him a living
soul, he is never referred to as a 'spirit' as a being.
As Jesus himself stated:
Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold my
hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for
a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have. Luke 24:39
The earthly nature and the spirit nature are
always shown to be distinct and separate. It is important to
grasp this because many people believe and teach that a man's
spirit is some invisible part of the man which, in their
teaching, along with the soul departs at death.
In this teaching, there is already something
within the man which is kin to the type of body angels posses,
and can survive outside of the fleshly body. This is simply not a
scriptural teaching. The real confusion regarding the
differences between the soul and the spirit does not come from
the Bible, but from preconceived ideas and assumptions. Only when
we try to force these ideas into the text does the confusion
result.
OBJECTIONS
CONSIDERED
Those who teach that the soul and spirit
separate from the body at death claim to get their teaching from
the Bible. If we hold that the Bible does not contradict itself,
then we can be sure that one view is correct and the other wrong.
The problem becomes complicated because these
two teachings ultimately form two systems of interpretation. That
is to say; if a man is convinced that one or two verses solidly
back up what he believes, he will interpret the rest of the Bible
to fit with that belief. Proof -texts will be offered as
satisfactory proof that a teaching is so, and any texts offered
in contrast will be explained away or interpreted in light of
what is already held to be true.
In considering the verses which follow, I am
not attempting to 'explain away' anything. On the
contrary, I hope to explain why each of these verses need not be
read in a way that contradicts our teaching that the soul is
mortal, the spirit is the breath of life, and man sleeps until
the resurrection.
AS
THE BODY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT
IS DEAD
For as the body without the spirit
(Gk. pneuma) is dead, so faith without works is dead
also. James 2:26
Is James here teaching that when one dies,
something ghostlike departs from the body? Not at all! Compare
this with the following verse from the Old Testament.
Put not your trust in princes, nor in
the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath
(Heb. Ruwach, Spirit) goeth forth, he returneth to his
earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Ps 146:2-4
The sense of both verses is exactly the same.
When the invisible life force goes out of a body, then the body
is no longer alive.
THE
SPIRIT RETURNS UNTO GOD
Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was: and the spirit (Heb. Ruwach) shall
return unto God who gave it. Eccl 12:7
This is one of the most frequently cited verses
used to 'prove' that a man's spirit is something
ghostlike which departs from the body at death. Is this in fact
what the verse teaches? Would such a conclusion be reasonable
when in the same book (Ecclesiastes), Solomon writes the dead
'know not anything'? What a strange conclusion to reach
when the same author writes:
For that which befalleth the sons of men
befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one
dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath (Heb
Ruwach); so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast:
for all is vanity. Eccl 3:19
Does it make sense that the same author would
reach two different conclusions within the same book? Is God the
author of confusion?
Further complicating the matter is what these
same people teach as to where the spirit goes upon death. If this
verse really does teach that an immortal part of a man leaves the
body at death, then it also must teach that all such
spirits return to God. The problem is that this is not at all
what many believe. The common belief is that only the righteous
go to be with God, while the wicked go to hell. With hell being
complete banishment from God's presence, could these spirits in
any way be said to have 'returned to God'? If you begin
to explain how a spirit in hell has returned to God, aren't you
moving away from the plain sense of the verse into the realm of
'mental gymnastics'?
If we will compare scripture with scripture, we
will find that this verse is in complete harmony with the entire
teaching of scripture, as well as its own context in
Ecclesiastes. We need only to compare the verse with the previous
proof text to see its clear teaching.
God, as the ultimate giver and sustainer of
all living things, is the only one who can give the breath of life, and the
spark of life (Heb. Ruwach). Life is given as a gift of which we are only
stewards. When we die, the breath of life which made us living souls goes back
to God who, as the author of life, is its rightful owner. God as such then
holds the only hope for that person of a future life and resurrection for the
dead. Our hope is not in the belief that we are immortal in any respect, but in
our faith in God, that should we lose our life he has the power to keep it and
give it back to us in the resurrection
I COMMEND MY
SPIRIT
And when Jesus had cried with a loud
voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:46
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon
God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And
he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay
not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this,
he fell asleep. Acts 7:59-60
These two verses give exactly the same thought
as 'proof-text 2' above. Jesus and Stephen are not here
asking God to receive their 'ghost' into heaven. Both
knew that they would sleep until their resurrection and hence in
dying they left all their prospects for a future life in God's
hands. While the teaching is clear, and in harmony with what the
rest of the Bible says about death, some further discussion will
help us to appreciate even more that we have correctly
'divided the Word of truth' and arrived at the proper
conclusions.
Luke 23:46 is giving the account of Jesus'
death which is also given in the other three gospels:
Jesus, when he had cried again with a
loud voice, yielded up the ghost. Matt 27:50
When Jesus therefore had received the
vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and
gave up the ghost. John 19:30
And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and
gave up the ghost. Mark 15:37
Between all four verses there are two phrases
which are open to interpretation (or misinterpretation). These
are 'into thy hands I commend my spirit', and
'Gave or yielded up the ghost'. Both of these are used
by some to prove that a conscious immortal part of man departs
from the body at death. Is this what these phrases really teach?
A look at the Greek text of the New Testament
is again very enlightening.
In the accounts Mark, and Luke, the phrase
'Gave up the ghost' is being translated from one Greek word 'exepneusen'
which means simply to breathe out, or expire. By no stretch of the imagination
can this be used to prove that Jesus released an invisible ghost from his body.
In both the New American Standard and New International versions, this phrase is
rendered 'breathed His last'.
The accounts of Matthew and John use two
different phrases which the King James translators rendered as
'yielded up the ghost' and 'gave up the
ghost' respectively.
The Greek phrase in Matthew is 'afeeken
to pneuma', which means literally 'yielded up his
spirit'. So we see that the King James translation is
accurate except for the use of the word 'ghost' for
pneuma which is literally 'spirit'
The Greek phrase in John is 'paredooken
to pneuma'. This differs from Matthew's account in that 'paredooken' is
used instead of 'afeeken'.
The phrase literally translated here is 'entrusted the
spirit'.
Combining all four accounts so far we know that
Jesus did four things:
1) Said 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit'
2) He entrusted his spirit
3) He breathed his last
4) He yielded up his spirit
The Greek text of the phrase 'into thy
hands I commend my spirit' is also interesting. Here the
Greek word rendered 'commend' is paratithemai,
and means 'to entrust as a deposit for protection'.
The beautiful harmony of the Bible can be seen
when we compare all this with a couple of verses we studied
earlier:
Put not your trust in princes, nor in
the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath
(Heb. Ruwach) goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in
that very day his thoughts perish. Ps 146:2-4
Then shall the dust return to the earth as
it was: and the spirit (Heb. Ruwach) shall return unto God
who gave it. Eccl 12:7
So we see then that Jesus was not releasing a
ghost from his body. Knowing he is about to expire, Jesus
entrusts the Father with his very life, having faith that God
will be faithful and raise him from the dead. Having thus done,
he breathed his last and expired.
Those who would teach contrary to this must
explain how a being can have his 'thoughts perish' and
yet continue to think. They also must explain how someone can
yield 'up' a spirit into the Father's hands while they
teach that it actually descended into hell.
The exact same thought is brought out in the
stoning of Stephen. Stephen is obviously imitating his Lord when
he says 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit' just before he
died. By saying this he was entrusting his master with all his
hopes for a future life and resurrection.
THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN
MADE PERFECT
But ye are come unto mount Sion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of
all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect, Heb 12:22-23
Here we come to the only verse in the entire
Bible where men are referred to as 'spirits'.
Some use this verse to teach that the
'spirits of just men made perfect' are those of saints
who have died and gone before us into heaven. There are a couple
of reasons why this interpretation simply can not be correct.
First of all, the Greek word for
'perfect' is teleioo which means to bring to a
full completion and consummation. Do those who hold that these
are disembodied spirits in heaven believe that they are now
perfected? When does the apostle Paul teach that believers, both
dead and living will reach perfection or consummation?
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Cor 15:52-54
So we see that it is not until the
resurrection that men are perfected in any sense.
Second, men are never spoken of as having any
type of spiritual body which lives outside of the physical body.
Remember that the natures are distinct, and for men to enter
heaven they must have a change of nature. Paul again tells us
when this will take place.
So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is
sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body;
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and
there is a spiritual body. 1 Cor 15:42-44
So again we see that the condition of the
saints as 'perfect' spoken of in Hebrews 12:22 is
something which is not possible for any Christian until the
resurrection.
So, what then is the meaning of Hebrews 12:22?
Again we will find out answer by comparing scripture with
scripture. Lets consider another statement by the apostle Paul:
Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Eph
2:5-6
Were Paul and those in Ephesus literally seated
in Heaven when Paul wrote this? No, Paul merely wrote from a
future perspective, calling something that was sure to come as
though it were already a fact. Paul could do this because he had
faith in God who himself stated in Isaiah:
Remember the former things of old: for I
am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none
like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Isa
46:9-10
Paul is here obviously speaking from the
viewpoint of 'the glory', describing the future scene
men are called to.
YOUR
WHOLE SPIRIT AND
SOUL AND BODY
And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Thes 5:23
This verse is widely quoted to teach that man
is a trichotomy; that is, that he is made up of three parts, the
body, the soul, and the spirit. Numerous works have been written
to attempt to explain the function of each part. As we saw
earlier, there is usually confusion as to the difference between
the spirit and the soul, but most writers are in agreement that
both the soul and the spirit depart from the body at death and
continue to exist.
Before we attempt to show what Paul had in mind
when he wrote these words, let's look first at what the verse
does not say. Even if this verse does teach that man is made up
of three parts, it says nothing about their function, and nothing
as to what becomes of them at death. The teaching that the soul
and spirit continue to exist and depart at death must be read
into the verse.
There is good reason however, to believe that
Paul was not trying to teach doctrinally that man was made up of
three parts. Whatever conclusion we come to, we must make sure it
is harmony with what the Bible teaches elsewhere about the nature
of man. Remember that when studying the soul we saw that man is a
soul.
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. Gen 2:7
So we saw that the body, plus the spirit
(breath of life) equaled the soul.
Was Paul contradicting this? Not at all! To
properly understand what Paul meant we must understand that many
times poetic features of the Greek and Hebrew languages are used
which are not evident to the English reader.
Dennis Bratcher, writing for the Christian
Resource Institute, comments on these features and their use in 1
Thessalonians 5:23:
A second issue relates to two features of
Hebrew language that are also evident in the NT, especially
when the writers are using OT texts or alluding to them
directly certain languages communicate ideas or points of
emphasis. First, Hebrew has a tendency to describe the whole
by referencing parts of the whole. 'Strong right
arm' is a way to refer to the overall strength or power
of a person. 'From Dan to Beersheba' is a way to
reference the entire land of Israel, from far north to south.
'David' is a way to talk about the Israelite
monarchy.
Second, Hebrew has a tendency to string
together two or more complementary images for poetic effect
or emphasis. That is, the same idea is repeated with a series
of words that mean the same thing. This is especially evident
in poetic passages, and is termed parallelism . For example,
in Psa 19:1, there are 2 pair of parallel lines in which the
words of the paired lines mean essentially the same. The same
feature can also be used to contrast ideas.
The implication of these features is that a
series of words, such as 'with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your might' (Deut 6:4), is not an
attempt to describe different aspects or compartments of
human beings, but is a way to say 'with all of your
being,' with the whole person. They are not
'parts,' as in a trichotomous view, but an emphatic
way for an element to stand for the whole, and for a series
of parallel terms to emphasize a point.
This feature is fairly obvious in the
passage from 1 Thes: 'May God himself, the God of peace,
sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit,
soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.' The emphasis is clearly on the
whole person, not on a person composed of three parts.
There may be some sense in which the terms
may reflect the person as seen from various points of
emphasis, for example, the person in relation to God's gift
of life (spirit), in relation to his existence as a human
being (soul), and in relation to his existence in a physical
world (body). But that is not quite the same as a
trichotomous view, even a functional trichotomy. The
conception is of a unified human being, not one who can be
broken down into component parts. Copyright © 1999
Christian Resource Institute (Italics mine)
So we see that Paul was not attempting to teach
doctrinally that man consists of three parts. Instead he was
using a familiar poetic way of describing the whole man. This is
in perfect harmony with Genesis 2:7 and everything else we have
learned regarding the nature of man.
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