Soul, Spirit, Mind and Heart

Man is fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image! (Ps 139:14; Gen 1:27) God has a soul, spirit, mind and heart, just like we do! While there are many, many scriptures about each of these facets of God and man, we’re going to look at just a few to confirm this beautiful truth. For the sake of scriptural consistency, I will be quoting from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

By looking at the definitions used in the New Testament Greek, we will see that the soul, spirit, mind and heart are all intertwined. Only our Creator can powerfully minister to each separately and yet bring wholeness within us because of Jesus Christ. Satan attacks us at every angle, but the Lord renews us unto His perfect image; praise God!

Soul: psuche (psoo-khay) breath, spirit, rational and immortal soul:-heart, life, mind, soul, + us, + you.

Spirit: pneuma (pnyoo-mah’) a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by anal. Or fig. a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul (by impl.) vital principle, mental disposition, etc.

Mind: dianoia (dee-an-oy-ah) deep thought, the faculty (mind or its disposition), by impl. Its exercise:-imagination, mind, understanding

Heart: kardia (kar-dee’-ah) the heart, the thoughts or feelings (mind)

God has a soul

Mt 12:18 from Is 42:1 “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.”

Heb 10:38 from Hab 2:4 “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

Acts 2:27 “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [Sheol/Hades], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

Acts 2:31 “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”

Man has a soul

Gen 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Heb 10:39 “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

James 1:21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

1 Pet 1:9 “Receiving the end [outcome] of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

1 Pet 2:25 “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”

Rev 6:9 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

Through these passages we can agree that man’s soul is saved and lives after the death of the body.

God is [a] Spirit

Luke 10:21 “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in [the] Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.”

Luke 23:46 “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

John 4:24 “God is [a] Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Man has a spirit

Let’s start with Ecc 3:20-21 “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”

Acts 7:59 “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

1 Cor 5:5 “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

Jas 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Through these passages, we see that man’s spirit returns to God upon the death of the body and the spirit is also saved, as the soul.

God has a mind

Gen 8:1 “And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;”

Is 43:25 “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

Ro 8:27 “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

1 Cor 2:16 “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (Keep in mind, this is after the resurrection of Jesus, our Lord).

Man has a mind

Ro 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

2 Cor 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

Col 1:21-22 “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:"

1 Pet 1:13-16 “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

Through these passages, we see the mind can be influenced by the enemy or renewed to the mind of Christ in us!

God has a heart

Eze 28:2 “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:”

Ez 28:6 “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;”

Man has a heart

Ma 6:21/Lu 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Ma 15:19-20 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

1 John 3:20 “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”

Through these passages, we see that our heart is naturally wicked and sinful. When we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, God is greater than our sin and because we are no longer condemned we have confidence in Him!

Rom 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

It’s fascinating to see how the soul, spirit, mind and heart work together to make up who we are. God saves our soul, our spirit, redeems our heart and renews our minds through His word. Remember, it’s not just the written Word, but the living Word that makes us whole!

John 1:1 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” AMEN.