SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY because we were all born like that with a spirit which

has an inbuilt predisposition to sin (a sin nature), and

In Psalm 144 David asks, “LORD, What is man that thou
takest knowledge of him or the son of man that thou
makest account of him?” He then continues, “Man is like
vanity, his days are as a shadow that passeth away”
In one sense David is right, man is short lived and his time
on earth is fleeting – but that’s not the whole story. Man
is also an eternal being, fearfully and wonderfully made1
and created in the image of God.2
Paul tells us more about the nature of man, when in one of
his letters he mentions that we are composed of a spirit, a
soul and a body.3 We all know, of course, what our body is
and what it does, and our soul is what we would normally
call our personality. It’s made up of our mind, the part of
us that thinks, our will, the part that makes decisions, our
emotions, and our conscience. Again we know something
about all of these, but when it comes to our spirit, we need
an explanation. Most people don’t know anything about
their spirit, so let’s look briefly at this.
Our spirit is a vital part of us. It’s the part that’s at the very
core of our being and without it we’d be dead!4 However,
unlike our body and our soul which can give us feedback
as to how they are, (“I’m hungry,” “I’m upset” etc.), our
spirit can’t do that. It can’t be accessed by any natural
means and it can’t communicate it’s state and condition to
us. Nonetheless, there is a way of finding out about it and
that’s through God’s Word. God formed our spirit within
us5 and knows exactly what it’s like, so He tells us in the
bible. In this respect, when we look into the bible to find
out about our spirit, it’s a spiritual mirror,6 reflecting in
words, exactly what our spirit is like. The Word of God is
the only reliable source of information about our spirit.
So what does the bible say about it? It says that if we
haven’t been born again, our spirit is sinful and dead.7
It’s not that way because of anything we’ve done – it’s
this came about through Adam’s disobedience.8 When
we do sin, the individual sins we commit are simply the
outward expression of our sinful spirit. It’s because we
were born like this, that Jesus said every one of us needs
to be born again.9
When we are born again, an incredible miracle takes
place. Our dead, sinful spirit is removed and replaced
with a new spirit which is righteous and holy;10 and at the
same instant, the spirit of Christ comes into our heart and
becomes one with our new spirit.11 The unity between the
two is total and complete and as soon as it takes place,
the Holy Spirit seals our spirit so that it can never again
be contaminated by sin.12 When we do sin after we have
been born again, our new spirit doesn’t participate. It’s
completely untouched by any sin we commit and always
retains it’s original holiness and purity. As well as being
perfected forever13 and unable to sin,14 it’s righteous,
holy,10 eternally redeemed,15 and just like Jesus Himself.16
It will remain that way throughout eternity.
Furthermore, within our new spirit is the mind of Christ17
which knows all things.18 Everything Jesus knows is
there!19 In addition, the Holy Spirit dwelling within the
very core of our being, constantly produces the fruit of
the Spirit,20 – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. All these
wonderful gifts, qualities and attributes are right there
at the very centre of every Christian. However, we will
never manifest them and they will not impact the way we
live, unless and until we learn how to release them from
our spirit into our soul and our body.
At the time we are saved, our soul and body may be
slightly impacted by what happens, but, unlike our spirit,
they remain fundamentally unchanged by the experience.
Our body remains unredeemed until we go to be with
the Lord when we will be given a new spiritual body,21
but whether there are any changes in our soul after we
are saved, is entirely up to us. If we do nothing, our soul
will remain the same as it was before we were saved
and we will continue to think, feel and live just as we
did previously. In fact, we may well feel disappointed
and think nothing has happened, not understanding
the immense transformation that has taken place in our
spirit. However, God desires that not only our spirit,
but our soul too, be completely transformed and His life
released into our soul and even into our body22
The key to this happening is our mind. We cannot
emphasize enough the role of our mind in drawing
out the life of God from our new spirit, where it would
otherwise remain unrecognised and ineffective, into
our soul, where we can experience its benefits and see
it outworked in practical everyday living.
How is the mind involved? Well, in Romans 12:2 Paul
tells us to be “transformed” by the renewing of our mind.
This word “transformed” comes from the Greek word
“metamorphoo,” which means a complete metamorpho-
sis – i.e. the type of change that takes place when a
caterpillar changes into a butterfly. It’s this degree of
change that Paul says will take place if we renew our
mind. If we do this, the change isn’t in our spirit – it’s in
our soul, and the results are tangible. Discouragement
and defeat are replaced by joy, peace and victory.
Healing, prosperity, anointing, deliverance, victory and
prosperity begin to manifest. The faith that’s resident in
our new born spirit becomes available in our soul, and
the joy of the Lord flows into our emotional realm! In
fact the potential is there for all the good things of God
which are in our spirit, to flow into our soul, and as
we continue to renew our mind, there is a continuing
change which is obvious to everyone. This type of
change takes place in us, if, and only if, we renew our
mind.
So how do we do it? We do it by believing God’s Word.
It’s that simple! But that’s not to say it’s easy! As we
change our thinking and attitudes, and conform our

1. Psalm 139:14 5. Zechariah 12:1 8. Romans 5:19
2. Genesis 1:27 6. James 1:23-25 9. John 3:3-7
3. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 7. Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:19; 10. 2 Corinthians 5:17;
4. James 2:26 Genesis 2:11; 3:6 Ephesians 4:24
11. Galatians 4:6;
1 Corinthians 6:17
12. Ephesians 1:13
13. Hebrews 10:14
14. 1 John 3:9
15. Hebrews 9:11-12
16. 1 John 4:17
17. 1 Corinthians 2:16 22. Romans 8:11
18. 1 John 2:20
19. For a fuller explanation, see
Spirit Soul and Body, (book
or audio messages) by Andrew
Wommack and also
Revelation Knowledge (audio
message)
20. Galatians 5.22-23
21. 1 Corinthians 15:51-54
values to the Word of God, and as our mind begins to
understand and align itself with what it sees in the Word,
our spirit and soul agree and a supernatural flow of the
life of God from our spirit into our soul takes place.
This is how we experience in practice the benefits of
salvation that we have already written about. If, on the
other hand, we align our soul with what our senses tell
us – what we see, taste, hear, smell and feel – instead of
what we read in the bible, that supernatural flow of life
from our spirit to our soul stops. The alignment of our
soul acts just like a valve. If we align our thinking with
the Word of God and believe what it tells us, the life of
God flows from our spirit into our soul. If we align our
soul with our body and believe instead, any feedback
from our senses which is contrary to the Word of God,
the flow of life from our spirit into our soul and body
stops – just as if we had turned off the valve!
An example might help. I may have a headache. My
head is aching and causing me much pain – there is no
doubt about it – my head is aching! This is a physical
truth and a physical reality. On the other hand, the
bible tells me, ‘... by his stripes ye were healed!’23 The
bible is telling me that when Jesus died 2000 years ago,
He healed my headache! That is a spiritual truth and a
spiritual reality! The information I am receiving through
my senses and the information I am receiving through
the Word of God are both true, but they are true on
different levels. On one level we have the physical truth
that my head aches, on another, we have the spiritual
truth – my headache was healed at Calvary. If I continue
to believe the physical truth, my head will continue to
ache. ... If I choose to believe the spiritual truth, my
headache will go, because – to put it at it’s simplest
– when we believe spiritual truth, physical truth must
give way to it. So, my soul has a choice to make – it can
agree with the message my senses send to it – “There is
a pain in your head” and close the ‘valve’ on the life of
God in my spirit; or it can decide – “I can feel a pain in
my head but I believe that Jesus healed that headache at
Calvary.” If I choose to believe what the bible says, and
23. 1 Peter 2:24 and for further
study see Andrew’s teaching
in book or audio format God
Wants You Well
focus, in spite of the pain, on the fact that I was healed at
Calvary, and hold steadfastly to the spiritual truth that by
His stripes I was healed, – then I open the ‘valve,’ and the
resurrection life of God will flow from my spirit into my
soul and body and the headache will cease.
Renewing our mind by believing in our heart what the
Word of God says about us rather than believing any
contrary information received through our senses, causes
the life and truth in our spirit to manifest. This doesn’t just
apply to healing, it applies to every aspect of our life and
it’s what ultimately transforms us.
SPIRIT, SOUL & BODY
So – in conclusion – once we are born again our spirit
can be completely renewed, our soul can start out in this
process of renewal – to be completed in eternity, and our
body must await it’s ultimate renewal when we go to be
with the Lord.
What next?
If you want to know more about this subject Andrew has
written a book called Spirit, Soul and Body which explains
this in much greater detail. Or, if you prefer, there are
both audio and DVD formats by the same name. You
may order these by ringing the helpline number below.
We can also send you a resources catalogue which will
give you further details of the many messages which
Andrew has available.
Further copies of this teaching
may be obtained from the address below:
+44(0)1922 473300
Andrew Wommack Ministries – Europe
PO Box 4392, Walsall, WS1 9AR, England
enquiries@awme.net www.awme.net
© 2007 Andrew Wommack Ministries – Europe Item: 509
Registered Charity