The Soul of Man Explained

After Bible college,  twenty years of ministry, and a lot of study; I wanted to know some of the intimate issues about my existence.  It started with a a two year indepth study about the source of truth.  I ran down many rabbit trails until I felt like I had found some solid answers.  That search is found in The Principal Truth, which is in update now and soon to be released.

In the process, I learned about my true nature.  There are two principle parts.  The "Outer Man" (my body with its operations) and the "Inner Man" (Heart, Mind, and Soul) that govern the person I am in the inside.  Beyond my outward appearance, there is what I call "The Real Me" that cannot be judged by what you see.

The Inner Man is not designed for physical work, procreation, or entertainment.  Looking into a mirror, it is who you really are behind those eyes.  The Inner Man is all about "Relationships", which happen on many levels.  To function, I have done my best to take something we have never seen and put it into some approximate approximation.  

Like the body with its many organs, the Soul of the Inner Man has eight faculties that blend to make "The Real You".  They are:

• The Flesh
• The Spirit
• Volition
• Emotions
• Imaginations
• Conscience
• Past Memories
• Future Expectations

I takes some substantial explanation to understand how all these work much like studying the operation of the organs of the body.  Nonetheless, to be a healthy person, we need everything working well.  The Heart is where we build our Belief System, which I will cover in another article.

All the faculties of the Soul are undeveloped at birth, and parents, teachers, and other people or operations act as influences and relationships in our lives.  The happens mostly during the maturation phase but continues throughout life.  Our education during this period is by natural methods.  We learn in a less-than-perfect world via imperfect communications how to behave.  For the moment, this is under that banner of The Flesh as one of two dominate faculties.

The Spirit is a faculty with a special purpose.  This is the other dominate faculty, but it is non-functional because it must be connected to God.  I would dare suggest that a non-functioning Heart can be coopted for corrupt spiritual powers that are not from God.  

The faculty of the Spirit is enlivened when we connect to God via His Son, Jesus Christ.  A Christ believer then has a growing relationship with God.  Remember the teaching of Jesus who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the light.  No man comes to the Father except through me."  The enlivened faculty of the Spirit goes into function when we open that door by accepting Christ as our savior.

At this point, there is a new relationship with God providing grace and truth into our Inner Man. I'd like to get further into how either of these two dominate forces give our Free Will the ability to better mature the six other faculties.  There isn't enough space here, but you might easily see that Volition and Emotions set before use multiple opportunities in a variety of relationships.  

There can be a healing and reconciliation in the Past Memories that heals old hurts.  We may find that our Future goals and desires shift to a better path when we operate in under the influence of the Spirit.

We are all familiar and momentarily comfortable using our physical attributes and inner Soul faculties under the control of the Flesh.  Society, which is the communal relationship, has educated us in thousands of pre-existing truths and acceptable communal behaviors, but it brings other unworthy relationship opportunities to us as well.  The Flesh may seem amoral, but it literally ranges between moral and immoral depending on social influences.

The enlivened faculty of the Spirit is a disruptive influence.  We gain new insights and perspectives on our relationships.  The primary relationship becomes God and His Word that will disrupt what you thought was true, meaningful, and good in life.  This new perspective should be an influence that makes the Real You into a new person willing to make incremental changes in your life.