Saturday, June 18, 2011

Are You Soulish or Spiritual?

What Does it Mean to Live in the Spirit?

"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." I Thessalonians 5:23

We had posted previously about the importance of entering the most holy place.  Yet in the following message, Pastor Zac Poonen breaks down what it really means to do so.  How do we enter into the most holy place and why is this important? We must understand this in order to understand what it means to be spiritual.
  • Our "whole spirit, soul, and body" must be preserved blameless until Christ's return.  Yet many do not understand the difference between living spiritually, living soulishly, or living carnally.
  • Spiritual - Being ruled by the Holy Spirit
  • Soulish - Being ruled by your own human personality (our mind, emotions, etc.). 
  • Carnal - Being ruled by bodily passions.
  • God tells us that the word of God brings a division between the soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12).
  • Jesus - as the Living Word - came, not only to pay for our sins, but to show us how to live; and then He sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to live as He did.
  • Every born again Christian has the Holy Spirit, but that is not the same thing as being filled with the Holy Spirit.
  • We need to understand that the Old Testament tabernacle is an illustration of the design of man.
  • The place where God dwells is the most holy place, and He desires for us to go through into this place and LIVE there.
  • The thing that separates us from the most holy place is our own will!
  • Knowledge of Scripture and fervor in praise does not mean one is spiritual.  You must go beyond mind and emotions through the veil into the most holy place!

This is a beautiful message primarily because the word of God is beautiful.  In His word, we can see His redemption, His love, and His grace to us.  So, I hope this encourages those who may be feeling defeated in their Christian walk.

Don't get discouraged by the journey, but press in to the most holy place.  You might literally feel as if you are going through the wringer...but Jesus did too; it was called Gethsemane (the oil press).  If you stay the course then, like Him, you too will come out walking in resurrected life.

7 comments:

  1. This was so encouraging!! I feel like I am going thru the wringer, but I know there is purpose in all God does!! I will not go back, I will press into the Most Holy Place! Thank you Jesus for being my forerunner!!

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  2. Waow, Thank you for spreading this. There's probably no reason for me to explain further.

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  3. I have learned that many stay in the body and soul,(flesh) but walking in the spirit is what makes you a true follower of Christ.
    His will is of most importance, and thats why it is so important to feed our spirit man with His word and truth!
    Our will is to seek worldly comfort and compromise, but His will is to put to death our desires and seek His, as apart from holiness and seperation from the world and its system, we will not see the Lord.

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  4. I have so far to go.

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  5. Great message. Encourages me to dig deeper into my relationship with Jesus Christ daily. I never heard of this man before, I'm glad you posted this sermon.

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  6. Very sound teaching - reminds me of something I heard by Hal Linsey on the testimony of Stephen.

    Refreshment for my spirit

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  7. Absolutely loved it! Who are you guys? I was sooo blessed and also told my colleagues about this site, they too are loving it! God bless you all for helping to make a difference in the lives of God's people!

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