Who is the "ME"?
The Bible speaks to “me”. It admonishes “me”. It convicts “me”. Who is this “me”?
The Bible teaches that several changes take place when a person comes to God or is converted from being dead in trespasses and sins. It says that I am now a new creation. It says that I am saved. It says that I am born again. It says that I am a new man. It also says that sin still is with me. It says that in my flesh good does not dwell. It says that I should not walk in the flesh. The fleshly mind is enmity with God. The Bible seems to be identifying several different entities which all can be identified as “me”. How can I sort all this out? After all, if “I” have an idea or a desire or even an opinion, how can I know what part of the “I” is operating at the time? If my fleshly mind is enmity with God and if sin is still with me, how can I know if the idea I have has not been generated from that bad side that still exists? Moreover, if “I” still sin, “I” may think “I” may not be saved after all, since the new creation couldn’t sin, could it? Or could it? It seems like a crucial issue to be able to identify these different identities.
First of all, let’s get it straight as to “who” it is who is born again. The first thing that God does with us is to beget us again (anew). I was born in sin. In sin did my mother conceive me. As a natural man I am dead in trespasses and sins. It says that the natural man cannot understand the things of God, so I am unable to know that I am a sinner and need a saviour. This is taken care of by God. By the Word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit, my spirit, which was dead is born again. I do not have a part in this. God does it all. I am like Abraham who was walking around not knowing God, worshiping idols and God called him and chose him to be the patriarch of the Israelites. So, I am walking around as a sinner and God comes to me like he did to Paul, whom he struck with a bright light. God gives me new birth and I am suddenly aware that I am responsible to him. So, then, the part of “me” that is born again is my spirit.
The next thing that happens, and it may come immediately or I may take time to contemplate my next move. The next move is mine. I must choose Christ as my saviour. If I don’t I will go to perdition. But since the Bible says that whoever is born of God does not sin and that he who has begun a work in you will continue it, Christ brings me to God and I choose him and by doing so I am saved. The part of “me” that is saved is my soul.
Now, I am a member of the family of God. I am a member of the Body of Christ, a member of the church, and I am a servant of Jesus Christ. Who is this “I”? This is the soul. The soul is the person. When God made the first man he breathed his “ruach” (Hebrew for breath or wind”) into him and man became a living soul. The word “soul” can also be translated “life”. So man became a living life.
The Bible teaches that several changes take place when a person comes to God or is converted from being dead in trespasses and sins. It says that I am now a new creation. It says that I am saved. It says that I am born again. It says that I am a new man. It also says that sin still is with me. It says that in my flesh good does not dwell. It says that I should not walk in the flesh. The fleshly mind is enmity with God. The Bible seems to be identifying several different entities which all can be identified as “me”. How can I sort all this out? After all, if “I” have an idea or a desire or even an opinion, how can I know what part of the “I” is operating at the time? If my fleshly mind is enmity with God and if sin is still with me, how can I know if the idea I have has not been generated from that bad side that still exists? Moreover, if “I” still sin, “I” may think “I” may not be saved after all, since the new creation couldn’t sin, could it? Or could it? It seems like a crucial issue to be able to identify these different identities.
First of all, let’s get it straight as to “who” it is who is born again. The first thing that God does with us is to beget us again (anew). I was born in sin. In sin did my mother conceive me. As a natural man I am dead in trespasses and sins. It says that the natural man cannot understand the things of God, so I am unable to know that I am a sinner and need a saviour. This is taken care of by God. By the Word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit, my spirit, which was dead is born again. I do not have a part in this. God does it all. I am like Abraham who was walking around not knowing God, worshiping idols and God called him and chose him to be the patriarch of the Israelites. So, I am walking around as a sinner and God comes to me like he did to Paul, whom he struck with a bright light. God gives me new birth and I am suddenly aware that I am responsible to him. So, then, the part of “me” that is born again is my spirit.
The next thing that happens, and it may come immediately or I may take time to contemplate my next move. The next move is mine. I must choose Christ as my saviour. If I don’t I will go to perdition. But since the Bible says that whoever is born of God does not sin and that he who has begun a work in you will continue it, Christ brings me to God and I choose him and by doing so I am saved. The part of “me” that is saved is my soul.
Now, I am a member of the family of God. I am a member of the Body of Christ, a member of the church, and I am a servant of Jesus Christ. Who is this “I”? This is the soul. The soul is the person. When God made the first man he breathed his “ruach” (Hebrew for breath or wind”) into him and man became a living soul. The word “soul” can also be translated “life”. So man became a living life.
What is a life? It can be explained this way. Let’s use some common expressions. “Many lives were lost.” This does not merely refer to the ability to breathe and have blood circulating. It indicates the great loss of people’s experience, value to others, enjoyment of the environment they live in, even their sorrows and tragedies. Those are the “lives” referred to. Another one: “All my life I have wanted to have someone like you in my life.” Here a person is referring to the whole of his experience in this world in which he wanted to add another person who also is a life and will bring it into connection with his and enrich it. How about: “It is his life’s work.” This refers to the totality of the person being dedicated to some quest for a result. His life is a series of experiences, learnings, sharings, realizations, interactions with others.
I think you get the idea. When God says that man became a living soul, he was referring to the beginning of that kind of a life. When we are born in sin, our souls are separate from God by that original sin. We have a life without God, in effect, a death, rather than a life. We need to have our life/soul saved. Then we can begin to really live and live abundantly. So. The part of “me” that is saved is my soul.
Who is it, then, that prays? Who is disciplined? Who has a choice of walking in the spirit or in the flesh? Who is this part of the “I”? It is the soul. My soul is saved. Righteousness is imputed to it, but it needs to be developed. This life of mine can do works for God but it can also produce wood hay and stubble. I can be spiritual or I can be carnal. I can do all this as a Christian. I am saved and I am righteous in my standing before God, but I now for the first time have a free will and I am able to choose to obey God’s word or leave it gathering dust. I can take my place in the Body of Christ and minister my gift or become an overseer. Or I can cut myself loose, and sleep on Sunday morning, play golf in the afternoon and work late every evening. I can do this with my life. I, as a living soul, now, will go on either in the works that were ordained that I should walk in them or I can refuse to redeem the time and refuse to yield my body up with all the other bodies of the saints in that one great living sacrifice of Romans 12:1.
If I am admonished to be holy because God is holy, but I ignore that admonition, I can be sure that God, my Father, will discipline me. I will suffer some trial that will focus my attention on the life-style I have been living and its effect on my soul and I will be convicted to change my ways. This is not punishment for sin. Christ paid all that on the cross. This is a “spanking” that has the goal of improving my behaviour. If I respond correctly and do not rebel even more, then I will choose to walk again in the spirit. I will choose to be holy. I can only be holy by yielding to Him. My proper place is in humility at His feet. I have this choice.
Which part of the “I” has this choice? The soul. The spirit is always Godward. Once it is born again it only connects with God. In I John it says that the wicked one cannot touch him. The wicked one is our spiritual enemy; Satan. God is saying that our spirit is protected now from being possessed by Satan. My body, of course is under my own control. I can use it as I please; for God or for sin. So the “I” who chooses to do all this is the soul. If my soul becomes developed to the point where I choose more and more to yield my body to Christ I am doing what God intended for me when he made me.
I used to smoke. I (my soul) loved the smell and taste of tobacco smoke. God approached me and told me to stop. I didn’t. My soul loved it too much. God spoke louder to me through my Bible reading, through messages at church and in my conscience. (Conscience is a part of the soul) I still went on smoking. Finally, he brought a severe problem into my life and convicted me in my conscience the same way he convicted me of my need to be saved many years earlier. I was still saved now, but this smoking was an issue that needed to be submitted to God. I was desperate. I wanted relief from the problem that God had brought into my life as discipline. By the time the problem had run its course in my soul, I was convinced that I did not want to ever smoke again. I did not like the idea of smoking, I was not tempted by the smell when others lit up. I was changed. Who is the “I” that was changed? It is the soul. My soul made progress that day to come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The mind in my soul was convinced that smoking is in the past. I do not want to do it anymore.
I think you get the idea. When God says that man became a living soul, he was referring to the beginning of that kind of a life. When we are born in sin, our souls are separate from God by that original sin. We have a life without God, in effect, a death, rather than a life. We need to have our life/soul saved. Then we can begin to really live and live abundantly. So. The part of “me” that is saved is my soul.
Who is it, then, that prays? Who is disciplined? Who has a choice of walking in the spirit or in the flesh? Who is this part of the “I”? It is the soul. My soul is saved. Righteousness is imputed to it, but it needs to be developed. This life of mine can do works for God but it can also produce wood hay and stubble. I can be spiritual or I can be carnal. I can do all this as a Christian. I am saved and I am righteous in my standing before God, but I now for the first time have a free will and I am able to choose to obey God’s word or leave it gathering dust. I can take my place in the Body of Christ and minister my gift or become an overseer. Or I can cut myself loose, and sleep on Sunday morning, play golf in the afternoon and work late every evening. I can do this with my life. I, as a living soul, now, will go on either in the works that were ordained that I should walk in them or I can refuse to redeem the time and refuse to yield my body up with all the other bodies of the saints in that one great living sacrifice of Romans 12:1.
If I am admonished to be holy because God is holy, but I ignore that admonition, I can be sure that God, my Father, will discipline me. I will suffer some trial that will focus my attention on the life-style I have been living and its effect on my soul and I will be convicted to change my ways. This is not punishment for sin. Christ paid all that on the cross. This is a “spanking” that has the goal of improving my behaviour. If I respond correctly and do not rebel even more, then I will choose to walk again in the spirit. I will choose to be holy. I can only be holy by yielding to Him. My proper place is in humility at His feet. I have this choice.
Which part of the “I” has this choice? The soul. The spirit is always Godward. Once it is born again it only connects with God. In I John it says that the wicked one cannot touch him. The wicked one is our spiritual enemy; Satan. God is saying that our spirit is protected now from being possessed by Satan. My body, of course is under my own control. I can use it as I please; for God or for sin. So the “I” who chooses to do all this is the soul. If my soul becomes developed to the point where I choose more and more to yield my body to Christ I am doing what God intended for me when he made me.
I used to smoke. I (my soul) loved the smell and taste of tobacco smoke. God approached me and told me to stop. I didn’t. My soul loved it too much. God spoke louder to me through my Bible reading, through messages at church and in my conscience. (Conscience is a part of the soul) I still went on smoking. Finally, he brought a severe problem into my life and convicted me in my conscience the same way he convicted me of my need to be saved many years earlier. I was still saved now, but this smoking was an issue that needed to be submitted to God. I was desperate. I wanted relief from the problem that God had brought into my life as discipline. By the time the problem had run its course in my soul, I was convinced that I did not want to ever smoke again. I did not like the idea of smoking, I was not tempted by the smell when others lit up. I was changed. Who is the “I” that was changed? It is the soul. My soul made progress that day to come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The mind in my soul was convinced that smoking is in the past. I do not want to do it anymore.
Since then, I have had other changes. In my mind I loved many other things that the Bible says God does not love. I knew I should have the same mind as He does, but I resisted. Finally, He came in and brought discipline again and I changed my mind. I have also learned to change my mind as soon as God brings something to my attention that He wants changed. If I change my mind immediately maybe God will not need to send discipline. This is good. I don’t suffer as much now. I am learning.
Our bodies are sinful. By that I don’t mean that normal body functions are sinful. But the Bible says that sin dwells in my mortal body. The Bible teaches that my soul is saved but it is a babe in Christ and needs to grow. Paul speaks of feeding his converts milk because they were not yet ready for meat. In Romans 7 Paul says that the good that he wants to do he does not do and the evil that he doesn’t want to do he does. He says IT IS NOT "I" (quote marks mine) THAT DO IT BUT SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME. The “I” here is the soul. The soul is saved but gives in to sin that dwells in the flesh. I think that until we get our changed bodies, as in 1 Corinthians 15, we will be in the school of God constantly learning in our souls and being transformed by the renewing or our minds.
I know that I do not know everything. This paper follows scripture quite well, but since I am a soul that does not know all things, I may have made some errors. If you see any, I would appreciate having them pointed out. Always look for errors. Always, no matter who wrote the essay or book. Always question. Only the Bible is error-free.
Our bodies are sinful. By that I don’t mean that normal body functions are sinful. But the Bible says that sin dwells in my mortal body. The Bible teaches that my soul is saved but it is a babe in Christ and needs to grow. Paul speaks of feeding his converts milk because they were not yet ready for meat. In Romans 7 Paul says that the good that he wants to do he does not do and the evil that he doesn’t want to do he does. He says IT IS NOT "I" (quote marks mine) THAT DO IT BUT SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME. The “I” here is the soul. The soul is saved but gives in to sin that dwells in the flesh. I think that until we get our changed bodies, as in 1 Corinthians 15, we will be in the school of God constantly learning in our souls and being transformed by the renewing or our minds.
I know that I do not know everything. This paper follows scripture quite well, but since I am a soul that does not know all things, I may have made some errors. If you see any, I would appreciate having them pointed out. Always look for errors. Always, no matter who wrote the essay or book. Always question. Only the Bible is error-free.
Thank you.
posted by Biblical Christianity at 4:39 AM
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