Dividing Soul and Spirit Part II

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2Cor. 10:4,5)

This verse tells us that strongholds of the enemy are “thoughts”.  They are “arguments” that chip away at the pillars of truth that help support sound doctrine.  When someone gives in to these false teachings, they become more and more focussed on those “arguments”.  The power behind these teachings drives them to convince themselves and others that they are right.  They begin to repeat the same isolated verses as “arguments” and change the meaning of biblical words that do not agree with these “arguments”.  They are not “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2Tim. 2:15). 

I am convinced that when true believers go into error, the Lord works to bringing them back, but if they refuse, they will experience the discipline of judgment (1Cor. 11:32).  There are false teachers who are not true believers.  They belong to the enemy, and for them judgment is delayed because the Lord judges those that are His.  My desire for true believers in error is that “God perhaps will give them repentance, so that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” (2Tim. 2:25,26). 

Before we go further with this message, I would ask that you would take a moment to pray.  Ask the Lord to guard your heart and mind against pride.  If you have given in to a false teaching, pride will keep you from receiving the truth that will set you free.

The doctrine I started to address in my last article is the message of “Inclusion”.  It teaches that all of mankind was included in Christ in His death, so everyone is already saved from sin and death.  Doctrines like this have the appeal of emphasizing the kindness and goodness of God.  I agree that God is good, but I also know that He is just.  Christ has paid the ransom for our freedom from sin and death, but He has not removed our freedom to choose.  The problem some have with this is it seems unfair because people are blinded by sin.  There are foundational principles of the Gospel like repentance from dead works, faith toward God, and eternal judgment (Heb. 6:1,2).  We are exhorted by the writer of Hebrews to move on from these foundational truths, but that does not mean we reject them.  They provide a firm foundation for other truth.

I agree that the traditional doctrine of heaven and hell seems unfair but rather than reject the foundational principles of the Gospel, we should trust God to be both loving and just.  I personally am not convinced that after this earthly journey we live eternally with God, or we face eternal punishment in hell.  Hell, or Sheol, is the keeping place of the dead; it is not the eternal lake of fire.  At the final judgment, those who reject Christ will be cast into the eternal lake of fire.  Death and Hell themselves will be cast into that lake of fire.  What happens between this life and the final judgment is up to God. 

The Apostle Peter tells us that Christ “went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah” (1Pe. 3:19,20). “The gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1Pe. 4:6).  The understanding Peter had about this is still a mystery to us.  For example, why was the gospel only preached to those who died before the flood?  It seems to imply that there was a dramatic change in creation at the flood which also affected where spirits are kept after death.  Note also that Christ preached to the spirits of dead men, not to their souls.  If they accepted the message, would only their spirit be saved?  One thing is clear, if Christ preached to them it implies that their forgiveness was not automatic; they had to accept the message.  It also implies that if they chose to reject the mercy of God, they would stay in their prison until the final judgment.

This doctrine of “Inclusion” is closely related to the hyper-grace doctrine.  That false doctrine takes aim at the religious spirit which has become so much a part of the Christian experience.    We must resist every influence of a religious spirit, but this also should not be at the expense of truth.  The challenge we face when understanding salvation “by grace through faith” is the part that obedience plays.  We are justified before God by faith (Rom. 5:1); we do not have to work for it.  Why then does Scripture also say, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12)?  Like a seed that sprouts it must continue to grow, but because it is spiritual, it must still be “by grace through faith”.  Romans Chapter 5 says that since we are justified by faith, we have access to grace.  We need to abide in this grace to complete the process of salvation.  When we are justified, our spirit is saved.  When we walk in grace, our soul is sanctified through obedience of the truth (1Pe. 1:22).  This is not obedience by our own power, it is God who works in us “both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13).   

Sanctification of the soul is a process.  It is not instantaneous like justification.  We become conformed to the Word of God through repentance and faith.  After obtaining salvation, we must not turn back to works of religion to complete our sanctification.  We obey the commandment of love by grace through faith (Gal. 5:6).  Our faith must be in the finished work of Christ.  We must live as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ (Rom. 6:11).  As we allow Christ to live in us by His Spirit, we bear the fruit of the Spirit.

The difference between walking in the Spirit and living by religion is freedom.  With freedom comes responsibility, and with that comes accountability.  A basic weakness in man is to shy away from responsibility because of accountability.  We are afraid to fail.  By grace, however, we can overcome fear and do what pleases God.