“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.” (Heb. 4:12)
Discerning between soul and spirit is not easily accomplished. It is compared to the separation of joints and marrow and the discerning of thoughts and intents in the heart. This is not too difficult, however, for the Word of God. I believe one of the challenges in understanding our redemption is the lack of distinguishing between soul and spirit.
Lately, I have been hearing some concepts of redemption that are alarming to me. What makes them threatening is that they are coming from people who love God and have a clear calling on their lives. As I mentioned in my last article, we cannot walk away from believers just because they have different views than us. We are a family. Even so, that does not mean we cannot have a conversation about these disagreements. I am referring to the doctrine of Inclusion.
The idea that all of mankind is included in God is not a new concept; it is a basic doctrine in Buddhism. It is based on the concept that God is everything and we are part of Him because we are part of the universe. If we already exist in God, we do not need to get saved, we only need to become aware of our oneness with God. The pursuit of spirituality, then, becomes not holiness or redemption, but enlightenment. Even though there is a big difference between the Buddhist concept of God and the Christian belief, what happens if we try to blend their different ideologies? The result is a syncretism which accepts all religions as different expressions of the same truth.
The Scriptures are clear that God is “in” everything, but can we say that He “is” everything? There is a passage in the Bible that says something close to this, but we must be careful to interpret it with other Scriptures. “Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” (1Cor. 15:28). This verse does not say that God already “is” all in all, but that He “may be” (i.e. become) all in all. Looking at the context of this verse, we see that it is referring to authority. God is bringing all things into subjection to Christ, who is Himself in subjection to the Father. Other passages referring to this are Ephesians 1:7-10 and Hebrews 2:5-9.
The basic belief of Inclusion is that when Christ died on the cross, He placed all of mankind in Himself, so we were all crucified with Him. The Evangelical belief, however, is that when Christ died on the cross, He took our sins upon Himself. We are not united with Him in His death and resurrection until we are baptized into the Body of Christ by the Spirit (1Cor. 12:13). If all of mankind is included in Christ without the need for repentance and faith, then there is no longer any accountability for sin. If this is the case, then there is no judgment, and thus no need for mercy. The spirit behind the Buddhist concept of inclusion is antichristian in nature.
Just because believers are becoming entangled in these doctrines does not mean that they have departed from the faith. It is a sign that there is something lacking in traditional Evangelical doctrines. As we enter the end-times, many Christians are experiencing heavenly encounters. In these visions, they are seeing things which are shaking their traditional belief systems. Is it possible that more people go to heaven than we originally believed? I believer the problem with the traditional view of heaven and hell is the lack of dividing between soul and spirit. If we take Scriptures and apply them to the whole of man without distinction between body, soul, and spirit, we risk misapplying them.
A basic evangelical doctrine is that the soul is eternal and will either live with God or be separated from God eternally. Is the soul eternal because of the spirit? Is it possible that the soul, like the body, has no life without the spirit (Jas. 2:26)? Does the spirit of man stay connected to the soul forever? God can distinguish between soul and spirit, but does He separate them? If He does, a person could be saved in spirit, even though suffering the loss of body and soul. In Ecclesiastes 11:7 we read that the body returns to dust and the spirit returns to God. What this verse says about the spirit is interesting, but it does not mention the soul, so it prevents us from drawing conclusions.
These are concepts that concern mankind in general, but what about for believers? Does salvation mean that because the spirit has eternal life in Christ, the soul and body do also? In the book of James, we read that even a believer’s soul can die if they return to their sins. “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” (Jas. 5:19,20). Can a believers’ spirit be saved but not the soul? The Apostle Paul seemed to imply that when he said he was delivering someone to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that their spirit may be saved (1Cor. 5:5).
There is another verse that is used to justify inclusion. “To this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” (1Tim. 4:10). This verse seems to imply that there are different degrees of salvation, which would make sense if we divide the soul from the spirit, but we cannot conclude this from one verse alone. It could also be implying that salvation is available to all men, while it is received by those who believe. In any case, the gospel must be preached, and men must receive the message before it is applied to them.
It is not wrong to ask questions but what is important is that we “rightly divide” the Word of God as we ponder these questions. We cannot base our conclusions solely on one aspect of God’s nature, like His kindness. God is love, but He is also just. Without justice, we cannot have a kingdom of joy and peace.
Highway in the Wilderness 