The soul is the seat of life, that invisible entity that God imputes to us at the moment of birth, the
life force that animates this body of corruption. It is the soul that identifies us as unique individuals,
even more so that our appearance or personality. When this flesh waxes old and dies, it is the soul that
departs this world and joins God in His kingdom. The soul has immortality. Even the unbeliever will continue
to live forever, but one of the attributes that are essential for life with God, eternal life, is given
only to the saved.
The soul has two spheres, or lobes, each of which has an exclusive function.
The left lobe, called the "nous" in the Greek, and sometimes the "mind", is the receptive lobe where all incoming
stimuli are processed. Where information is concerned, after processing the information is "understood" and the
individual either accepts it as true, or rejects it. Obviously, things that are not understood are not accepted.
The right lobe is called the "heart" in the Word. This practice was common among biblical scholars, to assign the
name of a body organ to intangible concepts in soul function that they could not explain any other way. The "reins",
or kidneys, mean "emotions", and sometimes the "bowels" are used for this same aspect of the human psyche.
The function of the right lobe is that of a depository where information accepted as true is stored. The "gate"
to the right lobe, where all data is cued for final disposition, is the volition. If the volition approved it,
it is admitted into the heart. This function has another, more common name; "Faith".
These two areas of the soul are but the primary chambers where information is received, processed and classified.
There are also several other soul "compartments";
Memory Center
Memory is a common word in our volcabulary, and most of us understand how this characteristic functions.
Frame of Reference
The function of the soul where concepts and principles form recognizable configurations that we are able to
correlate with issues and circumstances in life.
Norms and Standards
This is the compartment where the values we live by are stored.
Conscience
Another common term, this is the "sentry" of the soul that alerts us to right and wrong.
Volcabulary
Yet a third common term. The volcabulary stores the words we understand which comprise our ability to think.
Without a suitable volcabulary we cannot think well.
Emotion
The emotions serve a unique purpose in the function of the soul, that of appreciation or enhancement of life's
experiences. But the emotion also has a dark side. A problem arises when emotions rise up to control the soul
because thinking and emoting are exclusive processes. When you are emoting your thought process is temporarily
shut down.
To demonstrate how this works, think back to an occasion when you lost your temper. I mean REALLY wigged out!
You probably said or did something you regretted later. Anger is a sin that incorporates emotion, and many
foolish deeds are committed under the control of emotion.
Legitimate emotion also eclipses thought. For example; I come from a family of hard core football fans. One
Sunday we gathered at my parent's house to watch the Houston Oilers. The ranting and raving that took place
there was spectacular! If we resorted to that kind of antics during a supposedly calm chat some guys with
straight jackets would be sent to subdue us. But it was considered quite normal on a fourth and one play, or
an acrobatic pass reception.
This feature of emotion is very helpful in the area of relaxation. One leisurely activity I enjoy is listening
to music. We emote when we hear beautiful music, and this blocks our thoughts, which tends to ease the pressures
pf a hard day and provide a pleasant interlude.
We've all "puddled up" when we are involved in certain activities. The ladies invariably weep at a wedding, and
most of us get tears in our eyes when we sing the Star Spangled Banner. I shed a few tears whenever I hear the
Marine Corps Hymn. These are legitimate applications of emotion.
Old Sin Nature Trends
Every cell of the human body is contaminated with a sin nature, something we inherited from our original parents,
and the reason why we are born alienated from God. This corruption will be left behind when we depart this body
and we will "put on incorruption", or a body without a sin nature.
One of the things we inherit from our birth parents is an OSN trend, which span the spectrum from lasciviousness
to aestheticism. Trends run the gamut of sins from promiscuity to rigid self-denial and piety, both of which are
equally corrupt.
Areas of Strength and Weakness
The soul also has an area of strength, which gives us the ability to avoid certain sins, and an area of weakness
which makes us vulnerable to other types of sins. The strength, in this case, is human righteousness, the highest
form of good of which man is capable, but far short of Divine righteousness.
Edification of The Soul
God's plan for the lives of each saved human being begins at the moment we accept Christ as our Savior. At
that point we are elect, possessing God's righteousness and eternal life, but completely ignorant of any
details concerning the spectacular transformation that has occurred.
We might call this (salvation) Phase One of God's plan.
A "baby" believer is identical, in analogy, to a newborn infant. In the spiritual sense we are helpless, without
even the most fundamental tools we need to function as a Christian. Just as a baby gradually grows, cuts teeth,
learns to crawl, learns to talk, and so on....so the baby believer gradually acquires the skills and knowledge to
grow spiritually and begin having an impact in this dark kingdom.
Let me rephrase that....It is God's will that we begin the growth process. Millions of believers never
get beyond babyhood because the become immersed in a dead-end religion or just blow the whole matter of a spiritual
life off altogether.
Phase Two is the edification of the soul, a process which involves the assimilation of God's Word. As we are exposed
to the teaching of a prepared pastor-teacher on a daily basis another, much more gradual, transformation takes place.
Our norms and standards are renovated, and doctrinal principles replace the cosmic ones which we drag into the
spiritual life with us. We develop a frame of reference for doctrinal applications to the circumstances of life. Our
conscience is overhauled and begins alerting us to the intrusion of non-doctrinal influences or events.
Each day we hear good bible teaching and the volition approves the deposit of God's truth in our right lobe, the
heart, our status as a believer slowly improves. Doctrine that is resident in the heart is called "epignosis",
or "resident doctrine", and eventually erects what we can call an "edification complex". a fortress constructed
by the power of God to sustain us in this life.
The ultimate objective of Phase Two is to take dumb butt creatures, extremely inferior in every way to angelic
life, and transform us into skilled practitioners of the spiritual life, even though the only connection we
have is The Holy Spirit and The Word of God. This is the substance of the victorious Christian life and Satan
is defeated in our advance. God is glorified forever, and when His plan comes to a close those of us who "fight
the good fight", or "run the good race", as Paul phrased it, will receive one or more crowns in eternity, rewards
which represent unspeakable wonders and unimaginable wealth.
Which brings us to Phase Three, the believer in eternity. When our soul is liberated from this humble abode God
has waiting for us a body of glory, pure and unsullied, without sin. Our soul in transported to His kingdom and we
are given a temporary body while we await the resurrection, at which time we receive our new resurrection body. At
that time the soul, body and human spirit are co mingled, joined together in one entity forever, and so shall we
launch into the unending future.