Publisher's Synopsis
Discover how to live a spiritual life instead of a soulish life.We are tripartite beings, having body, soul, and spirit.The spirit is conscious of God; the soul, of self; and the body, of the things of this world.In this relatable treatise, backed by her own experience, author Juliet Tennison describes how to avoid war within ourselves as she examines the spirit, soul, and body and unpacks scriptural truths about spiritual versus carnal living.God created us for love and to have an intimate relationship with Him. We will never understand who we are until we see ourselves as God sees us. In the Garden of Eden, man had perfect relationship with God, but after the Fall, sin separated man from Him. Adam and Eve hid from God because the soul had become self-conscious instead of God-conscious, and they could no longer enjoy walking in fellowship with a Holy God.We were created to love God and to love others, but our soul keeps us from ever achieving this purpose. We must lose our soul to love and we must seek God, who is love. God created us to live a supernatural life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our brain, our will, and our emotions, which make up our soul, are natural. The body we walk in is natural. The soul and the spirit are so close to one another that the two require the word of God to divide them, to separate them from each other: "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).So many of us practice religion without relationship. This is "churchianity"-we attend church but have no relationship with Jesus Christ. We pray for forgiveness without repenting our sins. Repentance means to stop doing our will and to start doing God's Will. We struggle in our walk with God because we fail to differentiate between our soul and our spirit; we substitute the thoughts or emotions of the soul for the works of the Holy Spirit.The Holy Spirit can only take residence in our spirit. It is in our spirit that we worship, fellowship and stay connected to God for "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." - John 4:24.The knowledge of God is not some generic idea that He exists "up there." It involves an intimate acquaintance with His character and actions. God's love is manifested in His Son Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. He has placed His Spirit within His adopted children, giving us a heart to love Him, a mind to know Him, and a will to obey Him. The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from our self and being placed into perfect union with Him by the Power of the Holy Spirit. As fallen humans, we need a savior to save us from our own wicked soul. Salvation is only understood in our spirit and only when the spirit is made alive by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The soul cannot comprehend this, because it is filled with its own pride; neither can the body, which is world-conscious and only understands the worldly things.Knowing these things, we learn to live a victorious spiritual life as the Holy Spirit lives in our spirit, and we crucify the detrimental desires of the soul and body.
