Guy Duininck: I am a Born Again Human Being
I am a Born Again Human Being
I have a spirit. I have a soul. I have a body. I have a will.
My spirit has been recreated in Christ Jesus and is alive unto God. My spirit has a brand new nature. My heart of stone has been removed and God has given me a heart of flesh. In my spirit, I am a new creation. My spirit lives in my body, as does the Holy Spirit. My body is the temple of my spirit and the temple of the Holy Spirit.
My soul — my mind, my emotions, my personality — is who I am as an individual with all my unique traits. There is an intersection of soul and body that makes me who I am in my soul. Much of "who I am" until I am a long way along the path of transformation into the character of God is a product of my DNA and my upbringing. I am both "wired" and "conditioned" to be a certain person. My mind, fortunately, can be and is being renewed daily by the Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and by my own efforts to change and to grow. My thoughts and ways are being transformed daily so that my thinking, my speaking, my acting, and my personal character is more and more like my Father God and like my Lord Jesus.
My body has been purchased by Jesus, but in this earth life, it is doomed. It cannot be saved; it will not be renewed. It has "the law of sin" in it and has it's own agenda. My body, then, as Paul revealed, must be continually brought into subjection and dominated and kept in order so that it does not drag me into things that are not the will of God. Because my body is the house I live in, I must keep it healthy and strong and in good order because my right to stay here on the earth depends upon me having my body. My body is mine, but my body is also the Lords; He bought it. Healing is presently available for my body to keep it fit and strong for my "earth life." Although my body will expire, one day what Jesus accomplished for my body in His death, burial, and resurrection will be Fully Implemented, and I will have a resurrection body - Immortal, Strong, and Incorruptible. If I don't have a body, I'm not really a human in the way God designed us to be.
With my will, I choose which part of "me" I am going to yield to, give attention to, follow, and give deference to. I can choose to live by the impulses of my new spirit inspired by the Holy Spirit. I can choose to express my emotions and my "yet in transformation process" soul. I can choose to yield to the appetites and desires of my flesh. Whichever "part" of me I give place to will determine how I live, what I pursue, which paths I take, what I say, and how I act. My will must be very strong so that I choose to live out of my new nature, continue to renew my mind, and be transformed into the image of Jesus, and dominate my body, refusing to let it have the lead in any area of my life. I must have a Strong Will like Jesus Who, when under extreme pressure to yeild to His body and to His own wishes, said to the Father by the force of His own will, "Not my will, but Thine be done!" I have a spirit. I have a soul. I have a body. I have a will.
I am a Born Again Human Being
