Sanctification Of Spirit Soul Body (1 Thessalonians 5:23) Reflection & Meditation

To understand this scripture it is necessary to clearly understand the difference between spirit, soul and body. The basic understanding of soul and body is known to most. The English dictionary offers numerous meanings of the word spirit. The focus here is to understand some of the meanings of the word spirit related to christian teaching.

To understand spirit we need to first understand what is matter. Everything that we can see and physically touch is called matter. Matter is found in 3 states i.e. solid, liquid and gas. Matter can be converted from one state to another. All matter is subject to the laws of science (laws of nature). 

Examples of matter - stone, water, air etc.

However spirit cannot be seen or physically touched. It is not subject to laws of science or nature. It can be further categorized into spirit persons and spirit things. 

Examples of spirit persons - God, angels (good spirits) and devil (evil spirits).

Examples of spirit things - thoughts, words, desires, love, joy, peace, pride, envy etc.

Here we need to understand the difference between Holy Spirit and holy spirit. The Holy Spirit is God and the third person of the Trinity. On the other hand holy spirit means spirit that is good. It can be either person (angel) or thing (thoughts, emotions, desires).

The human being is a combination or unity of matter and spirit. The body is matter and the soul is spirit. 

All that the body contains is also matter. Examples - brain, heart, lungs etc.

Similarly all that the soul contains is also spirit. Examples - thoughts, emotions, desires etc.

What is contained in a human soul is called human spirit. The human spirit is a mixture of good and evil. Examples - good thoughts/evil thoughts, love/hatred, joy/sadness, good desires/evil desires etc. Therefore the human spirit is imperfect. The human nature is defined by the human spirit.

What is contained in the soul of Jesus is only good. It is perfect. It is called divine spirit and defines the divine nature. It is holy spirit.

When the spirit is contaminated with evil or negative things the soul gets contaminated and consequently the body. So it is essential to clean the spirit to get clean soul and body.

In John 15:3 Jesus says: You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.

When the word of God (truth) enters a person he/she is able to reject all that is false or evil. Therefore the human spirit is cleansed.

However the contamination of the soul caused by sin can only be removed by the blood of Jesus. The word of God moves a person to repentance and thus complete cleansing by the blood of Jesus.

The effects of a clean spirit and a clean soul flow into the body.

Therefore understanding the sequence of cleansing spirit, soul and body is very important.

For better understanding the human spirit is further sub-divided into mind and heart. Mind is the area of thoughts, imagination, information, memory etc. Heart is the area of emotions, desires and decisions. Heart is also the meeting place with God as he dwells here. One of the meaning of heart given in dictionary is 'the most important place'. This is also the place of making decisions. Our decisions are influenced by the information in the mind and the condition of our emotions and desires. Therefore both areas have to be in tune with God.

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus says: Whenever you pray go into your room and shut the door...

We have to go into our heart to have a personal encounter with God.

Love and Power are important aspects of God. Love enables to build good relationships. Power enables to perform difficult actions. Both love and power are spirit.

When we sing the song 'pour out your spirit' we pray to be filled with the love and power of God. The same also applies when we sing the song 'more love more power'.

Jesus says in Matthew 22:37 - You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Also refer Deut. 6:4-5)

We are called to love God in all our thoughts and all our emotions and all are decisions.

Finally the word 'sanctify' is  not just a request to clean and purify but to also add all that is lacking in our spirit that is present in the spirit of Jesus.


This post provides detailed explanation of the meanings of spirit soul body and the process of sanctification through the blood of Jesus.