“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3 John 1:2 KJV)
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23 BSB)
“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21 NKJV)
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:14-16 NKJV)
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:4-10 NKJV)
Standing inside the house staring at the three doors I am once again noticing that each one is labeled. This time I see an inscription below each label that I didn’t see before.
On the first door, just below the word “spirit” is the inscription, “I have been saved.” Being written in the past tense must point to the fact that at some point prior to today my “spirit” was “saved.” I can remember that day like it was yesterday. My “spirit” was “born again” on a Sunday morning during a Worship Service at the Norvell Community Baptist Church when I was only 8 years old. That is when I accepted the Holy Spirit’s invitation to enter into the family of God and became a “new creation.” My past was gone and I became a brand new person on the inside.
On the second door below the word “soul” I can see the inscription, “I am being saved.” Knowing that my “soul” is my mind (including my intellect, will, and emotions) this must be referring to what Paul calls “renewing my mind” and Peter describes as “saving my soul.” This is an ongoing process in which the Spirit and the Word are changing the way I think. This is the follow up to my original repentance. I am progressively learning how to think like my Heavenly Father with the Mind of Christ. While my “spirit” was “saved” once and for all and was sealed for eternity, my “soul” is “being saved” moment by moment.
Finally, on the third door beneath the word “body” is the inscription, “I will be saved.” My body is the place in which a remnant of sin still resides.
“I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts.” (Romans 7:21-23 NASB)
I need to continually discipline my body as it is not yet “saved.” Much like my “soul,” my body is in a process of salvation that will not be completed until it is “glorified.” It is still a mortal (death bound) body that acts crazy most of the time. One day this mortality will be completely swallowed up by immortality. At that point there will be no more sin to deal with.
To wrap this up, salvation touches every part of me (spirit, soul, and body). It is a complete salvation even though in certain parts of me it is an ongoing process. I have been, am being, and will be saved.
Ponder that as you keep walking from…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 473: Pathway to Restoration – Part 13