This is how the word of God moves from the Body (the way) to the Soul (becoming truth) to the spirit becoming life which transforms and changes a person.
The Old Testament temple had 3 parts;
- the Outer Court,
- the Holy Place and
- the Holy of Holies
The Jews called;
- the Outer Court – the Way
- the Holy Place – the Truth
- the Holy of Holies – the Life
God dwelt in the Holy of Holies and His glory and presence radiated from the Holy of Holies to the Holy Place and to the outer court.
The Holy of Holies was covered by a veil, and no one was allowed to enter except the High Priest, and even he could only enter once a year with a rope tied on his feet so that when he dies inside there, his body is pulled out.
A High Priest could die in the Holy of Holies if his sins are not atoned. Why? Because life and death do not mix – sin is death.
People today sin and go face God without repentance. Thank God for His grace and mercy, for hiding Himself from such people, for if He appears, He will kill them instantly.
When Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6), He was speaking to a Jew, Thomas, who understood what the way is, the truth is and the life is.
What was Jesus saying? Jesus was saying;
- ‘I Am the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies’ – ‘I AM the temple’
- And because He is the Outer Court and the Holy Place, it meant no one can go to the Father except through Him (John 14:6)
- He was also revealing His divinity. In the Holy of Holies is life and Jesus was saying He is the Life; He is God who dwells in the Holy of Holies
When Jesus was in the Jewish temple He said, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’, they did not understand that Jesus was the temple; the Outer court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. For that reason they later used these words against Him.
The Jews, especially the Pharisees, scribes and elders esteemed the temple highly and these blinded them from knowing that One greater than the temple was in Israel (Mt 12:6).
The Jewish temple become a ‘god’ to many which shut their eyes from seeing the Living God, in the name of Jesus, walking in the streets of Israel with signs miracles and wonders. In the temple, there were no signs miracles and wonders.
And so it is today with Pharisees and religion; their so-called-churches (buildings – empires) have become a god to them shutting their eyes from seeing the Living God, Jesus Christ with signs miracles and wonders, and that which of Christ Jesus they persecute
The New Covenant temple is our bodies – my body is the temple of God.
1Cor 6:19 Do you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit …?
We are the building of God
… you are God’s building (1Cor 3:9)
If my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and I am the God’s building, only a person without understanding will ask me, ‘which church do you go to?’
The Jewish temple had 3 parts so it is with the New Covenant temple, our bodies;
- The body
- The Soul
- The Spirit
In accordance to the Jewish temple;
- The body is the Outer Court – the way
- The soul is the Holy Place – the truth
- The spirit is the Holy of Holies – the life
Let’s study how the word of God moves from the body to the soul and becomes life transforming a person.
How the word of God Moves from the Body to the Soul to the Spirit becoming Life
The body is the way, the Soul the Truth, and the Spirit life
1. The Body is the Way
Salvation is only by Grace through Faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of God
Rom 10:17: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God
The first step to salvation is hearing – hearing the word of God. It is written;
Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts (Heb 3:7)
Apostle Paul asks,
How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? (Rom 10:14)
We hear with our ears. Ears are of the body, a way into a person, to the soul reason the body is the way.
There are several ways in which God speaks, which I will write of later, which are the several ways we hear
Having ears does not mean you hear, reason Bible states,
They have eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but they cannot hear (Psalms 115: 5-6)
A human being can hear but what s/he has heard not get through his/her ears to the soul.
2. Soul is the Truth
When what has passed through the body (the way) comes to the soul, it becomes truth or false (a lie)
It is in the soul where a human being has conscience, can think and make decisions whether what s/he has heard is truth or false
A person can hear and say what s/he has heard is the truth but that truth not change him/her.
Majority of people accept Word of God, words of God and the scripture (Bible) as the Truth but that truth has not and cannot change them.
Why? Because there are 2 types of truths;
-
- Truth without life and
- Truth with life
3. The Spirit is the Holy of Holies – the Life
God is a spirit and He dwells in the spirit of a human being. Life is in the spirit – Life was in the Holy of Holies in the Jewish temple
A human being has his/her own spirit but that spirit cannot exist in a vacuum – it is either subjected to Holy Spirit or evil spirit; under God or Satan.
When a person has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him/her, that person has Life. When a person has no Holy Spirit dwelling in him/her, has the evil spirit thus death not life.
The Holy Spirit dwells in a person in the Baptism with the Holy Spirit
When a person hears the word of God and the word comes to the soul, the word becomes truth or false (a lie). When the truth meets with the Holy Spirit dwelling in the person, the Truth becomes life and that life changes/transforms the person.
When a person hears the word of God and the word comes to the soul, the word becomes either truth or false (a lie). If the person has no Holy Spirit (Life) dwelling in him/her, s/he has evil spirit (Satan) thus the truth meets evil spirit and becomes dead. A dead truth cannot change a person.
Remember Satan is a spirit dwelling in people
When God is dwelling in the spirit of a human being, the Life radiates to the soul giving the truth life, life that changes the soul and radiating to the body (outer court) – making a new creature (2Cor 5:17).
Reason the temple in whom Jesus Christ is dwelling is holy inside and outside
Do you know why there was merchandising in the Jewish temple?
Because God was not in the Holy of Holies but in a ‘Person’ by the name of Jesus walking in the streets if Israel – God in flesh.
Life is not in the scripture but in God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Reason Jesus said,
You search the Scripture, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me, but you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life (John 5:39-40)
It is for reason though Bible (scripture) has the truth, it cannot heal the sick, raise the crippled, cast out demons, deliver and set people free – only Jesus Christ does all these.
Many people today have accepted the truth but denied the Life, the Life which gives that truth Life for it to change them, therefore they end up with religion, Bible verses only in their minds which cannot change them and a form of godliness with no power.
When a person has no Holy Spirit, no matter how you search the scripture, that word will never change you.
He (Jesus) who is Life is the only One who gives life. The dead cannot give life. Where there is life Satan flees – curses disappear
From these we get the 3 major categories of Bible readers.
Jesus is Coming
Repent Repent Repent
Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
 to the Soul (becoming truth) to the spirit becoming life changing or transforming a person. Jesus){kind=link}