Week 3 - Freedom from The Other Me

God designed you with three distinct parts, and each of them are unique. We have a spirit that must be redeemed, a soul that must be restored, and a body that must surrender. At the moment of salvation, our spirit is made alive in Christ and immediately put in right standing with God (Romans 3:24, 5:1). However, the soul and body are not immediately on board. In reality, our bodies will never be on board. The soul will require time and effort to be conformed to the image of Christ, and then exercise influence on the behaviors of our physical bodies. This gradual process is called sanctification. God’s plan is that our spirits becomes the strongest part of our three-part design and be the “shot-caller” of who we are and what we do. This is spiritual order in the life of a believer.

Body, Soul, Spirit. Our souls include our mind, our will, and our emotions. The soul enables us to experience relationships, think with great intelligence, and express our emotions in a variety of ways. Our physical bodies (flesh) are temporary shells that house our soul and spirit. Our bodies have appetites, cravings, and dishes. Some are good. Some are bad and immoral. Some are neither good or bad. Since our flesh wars against the Christian’s spirit, for this study, we will call it “the other me.” The secret to living in freedom is making sure that our flesh remains in submission to our soul and making sure that our soul remains in submission to our spirit. That is proper spiritual order.