The BIG Picture (Q&A)

What does the "spirit of your mind" mean in Ephesians 4:23? All humans are made up of spirit, soul, and body, 1Th 5:23. The 3 circles represent the default template of the 3 parts of a human being. Spirit is the breath of God that fills a person with life, Gen 2:7. Soul is the essence of the person, their persona (mind, will and emotions), and the body is the outer shell of flesh. Though you might be familiar with these 3 circles, these are NOT the parts that Paul is referring to when he speaks of the ‘inner man’ (or new man) and the ‘outer man’ (or old man) in Eph.4:17–24. If you look at the image below, the grey hexagonal is the ‘outer man’ (or old man) and the blue hexagonal is the ‘inner man’ (or new man). These are the two parts that Paul refers to in most of his writings. The grey outer man connects the soul (or persona) of a person to the flesh. In other words, the thick red oval is the part of a human that functions in the world, ie: the carnal man with his 5-...

In both the Old Testament and the New Testament the word "heart" is used to refer to the whole of the innermost part of the human . This inner aspect of a man is made of three parts, The mental process, which is the major part (where action & reaction take place), which is to lead a person in their life. The emotions (which only process as reaction), are as enhancement to enrich our lives. The will, (discretionary, volitional, decision-making) where decisions are made between the rational and the emotive. So, in biblical terms the heart can be used as a general identifier of things pertaining to the heart, the mind, and the soul . All three parts are unique, but they can also be used interchangeably. The easiest way to think of these parts are in a Venn diagram where the heart and mind are two circles that overlap. The part that overlaps can be seen as the entire character of the person, referred to as the soul. So, when speaking of the place where belief occurs, the New ...

The information in the shaded area below is the end portion of a more comprehensive study, written by Arthur Licursi, called, " The Real Meaning of 'The Rich Man and Lazarus' " on his website here . Of particular interest to me, at this time of writing this post, was the Q&A section where Arthur answers some interesting questions about the fate of the wicked at the end of God's final judgements.  The contextual answers that Arthur provides may surprise you when you weigh it up against traditional Christian teachings and understanding. I encourage you to read through the information and come to your own conclusions based on the interpretations and context of the scripture references that Arthur provides. The proper Bible hermeneutic (interpretive) rules tell us we should always interpret the words of the Bible literally, unless the context clearly makes it otherwise. That's how God intended His Word to be understood and interpret...