ntroduction

The purpose of this Web site* is to unveil the nature of man as a being composed
of three parts and to explain how vital each of these three parts is to the ful
fillment of God s purpose. We describe this man as the tripartite man. Throughout
history, seeking believers have discovered in their study of the Bible that man
is indeed a trichotomous being created with three parts spirit, soul, and body in
order to enable him to contact and live within the spiritual, psychological and
physical realms, respectively. An understanding of these three parts and of thei
r particular functions is therefore essential in any attempt to explain either o
ur human experience or our Christian experience. Furthermore, though all three p
arts of man were damaged by the fall of man, God has come in with His salvation
in life to restore their proper function and to saturate them with His life. Thu
s, recovered mankind in his tripartite being may fulfill the lofty purpose of Go
d to build up the Body of Christ.
Biblical Support for the Tripartite Man
Genesis 2:7
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Hebrews 4:12
Throughout both the Old and New Testament, the Scriptures reveal that man has be
en created with three basic parts: the body, the soul, and the spirit.
This trichotomous view of man is apparent even from the moment of man s creation.
In Genesis 2:7 Jehovah God formed man with the dust of the ground. With this act,
God created man s body. The verse continues, And breathed into his nostrils the bre
ath of life. Breath is derived from the Hebrew word neshamah which, significantly,
is translated spirit in Proverbs 20:27: The spirit [neshamah] of man is the lamp of
Jehovah. We can thus infer, that God s breathing into man the breath of life produ
ced man s spirit. Zechariah 12:1 corroborates the creation of man s spirit by tellin
g us that just as Jehovah stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundation of
the earth, He also formed the spirit of man within him. Genesis 2:7 concludes An
d man became a living soul. The soul (man s intrinsic person) was the issue of the
breath of God entering into the nostrils of the body of dust. The biblical recor
d of the three-step creation of man clearly reveals him to be tripartite.
This trichotomous view of man is apparent even from the moment of man s creation

The New Testament continues and expands on this revelation. First Thessalonians
5:23 says, And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit
and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lor
d Jesus Christ. Here Paul enumerates man s three distinct parts: spirit and soul and
body, the repetition of the conjunction and serving to reinforce their distinctnes
s. Furthermore, Hebrews 4:12 specifies The word of God is living and operative an
d sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul an
d spirit and of joints and marrow. All three parts are once again articulated in
this verse: the joints and marrow pertain to the body, and the soul is explicitl
y separate from the spirit. These Old and New Testament references exemplify the
Bible s consistent presentation of the tripartite man.HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
WATCHMAN NEE (1903-1972)
In Watchman Nee s book The Christian Life and Warfare originally published in 1927
, he clearly demonstrates from 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that man has three parts.

The Word of God does not divide man into two parts, the soul and the body. R
ather, it divides man into three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body. Firs
t Thessalonians 5:23 says, Sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and
body be preserved complete. This verse clearly shows a distinction between the sp
irit and the soul. Otherwise, it would not have said, Your spirit and soul, but ra
ther, Your spirit-soul. Since God has said this, we can see that there is a distin
ction between man s spirit and his soul. From this we can conclude that man is div
ided into three parts the spirit, the soul, and the body. (7)
The Tripartite Man
A complete person has a spirit, a soul, and a body
The Tripartite Man
The first chapter of Watchman Nee s book The Spiritual Man is entitled The Spirit,
The Soul, and The Body. Here, Nee further emphasizes and elaborates on the fact t
hat man is composed of three parts.
First Thessalonians 5:23 says, The God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly,
and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete. This verse clearly d
ivides a person into three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body. Here the a
postle mentioned the believers being sanctified wholly. This means that the whole
being of the believers is to be sanctified. What did he mean when he said that a
person is to be sanctified wholly? He meant that a person s spirit, soul, and bod
y are to be preserved complete. This is very clear; a complete person has a spir
it, a soul, and a body. (3)

ANDREW MURRAY (1828-1917)

In his masterpiece The Spirit of Christ, Andrew Murray refers several times to t
he fact that man is tripartite. In chapter 24 entitled The Temple of the Holy Spi
rit Murray states,

One of these realities for Divine Truth is exceeding rich and full and has man
y and very diverse applications one of these realities shadowed forth by the Templ
e, is man s three fold nature. Man is God s temple. In him, too, there are the three p
arts. In the body you have the outercourt. Then there is the soul, with its inner
life, its power of mind and feeling and will. In regenerate man this is the holy
place. Man has not only body and soul, but also spirit. Deeper down than where th
e soul with its consciousness can enter, there is a spirit-nature linking him wi
th God. (159-160)

Deeper down than where the soul with its consciousness can enter, there is a spi
rit-nature linking him with God
In chapter 29, entitled The Spirit of Love, Murray continues, We must here again re
fer to what has been said of man s three-fold nature, body, soul, and spirit, as c
onstituted in creation and disorganized by the fall (193).
Finally, in a note on The Place of the Indwelling (Chaps. 6 and 29) Murray says, In
the constitution of these three parts of man s nature, the spirit, as linking him
with the Divine, was the highest; the body, connecting him with the sensible an
d animal, the lowest; intermediate stood the soul, partaker of the nature of the
others, the bond that united them, and through which they could act on each oth
er.

The Definition
The Definition of the
Three Parts of Man:
In order to accurately and adequately define the spirit, soul, and body we must
first identify the sphere in which each part functions. First and most crucial i
s the spirit, the faculty that enables man to communicate with God. With his hum
an spirit, man can worship God, serve God, and know God intuitively. Second, the
soul is that part which forms the personality of man and enables him to contact
and function within the psychological realm. Finally, the physical body with it
s five senses enables man to relate to and communicate with the physical world.
We will now examine each of these three parts in detail to see how they are defi
ned throughout Scripture (Watchman Nee, Christian 9-10).
The Human Spirit
The Soul
The Body
The Heart

The Definition of the

Three Parts of Man:
The Human Spirit
Our human spirit is also composed of three parts: the conscience, fellowship, an
d intuition. The conscience is that part which enables us to perceive right from
wrong and which, accordingly, either condemns or justifies us. Through the fell
owship, we are able to contact God and commune with Him. Finally, through the in
tuition God imparts to us a direct, particular sense or knowledge which is indep
endent of reason, circumstance, situation, or precedent. These three faculties o
f the spirit: conscience, fellowship, and intuition are clearly described in Scr
ipture.

First
and most crucial is the spirit
The primary, leading part of the spirit is the conscience. In Romans 9:1 Paul te
stified, My conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit. When this passa
ge is compared to Romans 8:16, The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit, it be
comes apparent that the conscience is located within the human spirit. The Spiri
t of God witnesses with our human spirit, yet at the same time our conscience wi
tnesses with the Holy Spirit. By association, then, the conscience must be part
of the human spirit.
The Parts of the Spirit
The Scriptures likewise reveal that the fellowship pertains to the spirit. Chris
t Himself told us that God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in s
pirit and truthfulness (John 4:24). Worshipping God is altogether a matter of con
tacting God in fellowship. Furthermore, Ephesians 6:18 mentions praying at every
time in spirit, another form of fellowship with God. Based on these verses we can
conclude that fellowship is a component of the human spirit.
Worshipping God is altogether a matter of contacting God in fellowship

Finally, we must see in the Scriptures that the intuition is also a part of the
spirit. First Corinthians 2:11 says, For who among men knows the things of man, e
xcept the spirit of man which is in him? This verse shows us that there are thing
s which only the spirit of man knows, and which the soul is unable to know. This
 function of our intuition has the capacity to know and discern apart from human
reason or circumstantial experience. For example, in the gospel of Mark the scr
ibes were silently reasoning within their hearts about the Lord s statement, Child,
your sins are forgiven. In response to their reasoning, immediately Jesus, knowin
g fully in His spirit that they were reasoning this way within themselves, said
to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts (2:8). This vers
e further illustrates that the spirit can have an inner sense and knowledge inde
pendent of the reason or outward circumstances upon which the soul s discernment r
elies so heavily. This spiritual sense, or intuition, is an essential faculty of
the human spirit (Witness Lee, Economy 56-59).

The Soul
The soul, the person of man, is likewise composed of three parts: the mind, the wi
ll and the emotion. God s Word proves this clearly and definitively.
First, the Scriptures consistently identify the mind as part of the soul. For ex
ample, the Psalmist exults, I will praise You, for I am awesomely and wonderfully
made; Your works are wonderful, and my soul knows it well (Ps.139:14, italics ad
ded).
My soul remembers them well
Knowledge, no doubt, pertains to the mind. In addition, Lamentations 3:20 says, M
y soul remembers them well and is bowed down within me. To remember is another fu
nction of the mind. These verses clearly indicate that there is a part of the so
ul that knows and remembers; this part is the mind.
The Parts of the Soul
The will is also part of the soul. Job had much to say about the will, for examp
le, So that my soul would choose strangulation and death rather than my bones (Job
7:15). He also said, My soul refuses to touch them (6:7). Both choosing and refusi
ng are functions of the will, a part of the soul.
Tell me, you whom my soul loves

Finally, we can see from the Word that the emotion is part of the soul. In Song
of Songs 1:7, the Shulamite speaks to her beloved, Tell me, you whom my soul love
s. Second Samuel 5:8 records the opposite feeling: And David said on that day, Who
ever would strike the Jebusites, let him go up to the watercourse and strike the
lame and the blind, who are hated by David s soul . And in Psalm 86:4, David experie
nced a change in feeling: Cause the soul of Your servant to rejoice Since love, hat
e and rejoicing are clearly expressions of the emotions, it is obvious that the
emotion is the third faculty of the soul (Witness Lee, Economy 55-56).
The Body
The body of man with its five senses is that part which contacts the physical wo
rld. This physical body as man s outward frame is God s provision for his existence;
without it man would be unable to exist in the material realm. Originally, man
was created with a pure, undefiled body. But due to man s fall his body was change
d in nature, transmuted, thus becoming the fallen flesh full of lust. Hence, man s
body is a corrupted body as Paul observed in Romans 7:18, For I know that in me,
that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells (Witness Lee, Basic 41).
The Heart A Composition of the Soul and the Conscience (The Leading Part of the Sp
irit)
Man s heart, as revealed throughout Scripture, is a composition of all the parts o
f the soul as well as of the primary part of the spirit, namely the conscience.
It may strike the reader as odd to hear that the heart is not a separate and dis
tinct component of man, but rather a composition of several other parts. Neverth
eless, the Bible clearly indicates, as outlined below, that all three components
of the soul the mind, will, and emotion also comprise the heart, together with the
leading part of the spirit the conscience.
In order to see that the mind is a part of the heart, we must read Genesis 6:5: A
nd Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Furthermore,
as Matthew 9:4 reports, Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Why are you thinkin
g evil things in your hearts? Both thoughts and thinking relate to the mind, evidence
that the mind, as a part of the soul, is simultaneously a part of the heart.
The Parts of the Heart
To identify the will as pertaining to the heart, we must consult Acts 11:23: Who,
when he arrived and saw the grace of God, rejoiced and encouraged them all to r
emain with the Lord with purpose of heart.
In addition, the second half of Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the Word s ability to disce
rn, the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Both purpose and intentions are functio
s of the will, indicating that the will, likewise, is part of the heart.
Several other portions of the Word prove that the emotion is part of the heart.
In John 16:6, the Lord tells His disciples, But because I have spoken these thing
s to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Later in that same chapter, the Lord cont
inues, Therefore you also now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your hear
t will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you. Since sorrow and rejoici
ng, human emotions, are so evidently linked here to the heart, we can say that m
an s emotional faculty is also part of the heart. The scriptural references cited
in the above three paragraphs clearly demonstrate that the soul with its three p
arts (mind, will, and emotion) is a key component of the heart.
Finally, the Word makes it clear that the leading part of the spirit (the consci
ence) is also integrally related to the heart. Hebrews 10:22 strongly links thes
e two: Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Additionally, 1 John 3
:20 warns, Because if our heart blames us, it is because God is greater than our
heart and knows all things. Blame and condemnation are the primary functions of t
he conscience, further proof that our conscience is part of our heart. In summar
y, it is the conscience, along with the three parts of the soul, that compose ma
n s heart (Witness Lee, Economy 59-61).

The Functions of the Three Parts of Man:

God created man in His own image and likeness in order to be expressed and repre
sented through him (Genesis 1:26). Each part of this man was therefore created w
ith a specific function in relation to God s purpose and plan.

The Functions of the Three Parts of Man:

The Function of the Spirit
To Contact God
Worship literally signifies
to come forward
and kiss
The Lord Jesus explained in John 4:24, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him m
ust worship in spirit and truthfulness. To worship God is actually to contact Him
, based on the etymology of the Greek word here rendered worship, proskuneo. This
term derives from pros, meaning toward, and kuneo, meaning to kiss. Thus, worship lit
rally signifies to come forward and kiss. To kiss is to make intimate contact with
another person. Similarly, we make contact with God in the most personal, intim
ate way when we touch Him as the divine Spirit in our human spirit (Vine 1247).
To Receive God
To receive God it is crucial that we exercise our spirit

We receive initially God when we are born anew. This new birth takes place in ou
r spirit, for according to John 3:6, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. No
t only does our spirit function to receive God initially; it continues to functi
on to receive God as the Spirit for the rest of our Christian life. The Lord pro
phesied of this New Testament experience in Ezekiel 36:26: I will also give you a
new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. God wisely gives His believer
s both a new heart to love Him and a new spirit to receive Him. As a physical il
lustration, our heart may love many things, but without the exercise of the appr
opriate faculty in order to receive those things, they can never be substantiate
d and enjoyed by us. For example, to apprehend and appreciate sound, we must exe
rcise our ears, just as color is substantiated by the exercise of our eyes. Neit
her can we receive food without exercising our mouth. Likewise, to receive God i
t is crucial that we exercise our spirit.
To Contain God
Finally, our spirit functions to contain God. Second Timothy 4:22 says precisely
, The Lord be with your spirit. This word clearly designates our human spirit as t
he place where God makes His abode in us. Since the Lord lives within our spirit
, we can accurately describe our spirit as a container of God.

The Function of the Soul

To Express and Reflect the Lord
The primary function of the soul of man is to express and reflect the Lord. The
soul s expression of God is clearly portrayed in the first chapter of the Gospel o
f Luke. In response to Elizabeth s blessing, Mary exclaimed, My soul magnifies the
Lord, and my spirit has exulted in God my Savior (46-47). Mary s spirit had exulted
in God and was filled with joy, yet the joy in her spirit could not be adequate
ly expressed apart from the function of her soul. Second Corinthians 3:18 provid
es a detailed description of the soul s function of reflecting God: But we all with
unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, ar
e being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lo
rd Spirit.
Our soul is like a mirror designed to behold and reflect Christ
Our soul is like a mirror designed to behold and reflect Christ. Yet in order fo
r our soul to reflect Christ in the clearest, most unobstructed way, its fallen
source must first be denied (Matthew 16:24-26; Luke 9:23-25). This means that we
must learn to deny our natural mind, will and emotion. Secondly, for our soul t
o reflect Christ alone, it must be not only denied but also purified by receivin
g the Word (1 Peter 1:22). Finally, our soul needs to be thoroughly transformed
into the image of Christ by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians
3:18). Thus, when our soul is denied, purified, and transformed it is able to f
ulfill its intended function, the glorious, true reflection of Christ (Witness L
ee, Economy 70-71).
The Function of the Body
The Organ for Man s Existence
Man s physical body, the least mysterious of his three parts, is simply God s provis
ion for his existence. Without this body, man is not able to exist within the ph
ysical realm. When a man s body dies, the man himself ceases to exist. Thus, man s e
xistence altogether depends on the functioning of his physical body (Witness Lee
, Basic 10-11).

God s Salvation and the Three Parts of Man

The Three Parts of Man Spoiled by the Fall of Man
Created with a spirit to receive God, a soul to express God, and a body to maint
ain his existence, the first man, Adam possessed a tremendous potential to expre
ss and represent God. Before this potential could be realized, however, Satan ca
me in to damage and ultimately annul the proper function of each of man s three pa
rts. The fall of man thus was not merely an act of disobedience and transgressio
n; rather, it had the effect of corrupting all three parts of his being, thereby
preventing man from fulfilling God s purpose.
The Human Soul Contaminated by Receiving Satan s Thought, Feeling and Will
Adam possessed a tremendous potential to express and represent God
All three parts of man were spoiled by the fall: First, his soul was contaminate
d; second, his body was transmuted into the sinful flesh; and third, his spirit
was deadened. It is crucial that we see the tactics employed by God s enemy to cor
rupt man s soul (his mind, emotion, and will). This awareness will equip us to dis
cern the strategies he continues to employ to keep man from receiving and enjoyi
ng God and thereby expressing and representing Him.
The serpent began his assault on the human mind by injecting it with doubt

Satan began to contaminate man s soul by touching the mind, thus causing the human
mind to begin to doubt God s Word. In Genesis 3:1 the serpent began his assault o
n the human mind by injecting it with doubt: Did God really say, You shall not ea
t of any tree of the garden? By responding to the serpent in verses 2 and 3, Eve
opened the door of her soul to the serpent, allowing him to take another step to
further contaminate the human mind. In verse 4 the serpent went on to assure Ev
e, You shall not surely die! By this time the serpentine venom had infiltrated her
mind, causing her to doubt God s Word.
The serpent sowed a seed of resentment into Eve by lying to her about God s motive
The second stage of the contamination of man s soul was mounted against his emotio
n, causing man to begin to dislike God. In this stage, the serpent sowed a seed
of resentment into Eve by lying to her about God s motive: God knows that in the da
y you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing
good and evil (Genesis 3:5). This word incited Eve s emotions, causing her to feel
that God was withholding something good from her. Thus, the human emotion that w
as created to love God was spoiled, poisoned instead with an actual dislike for
God.
The third stage of the contamination of man s soul took place in his will, enticin
g man to choose the satanic tree of knowledge rather than the divine tree of lif
e. Genesis 3:6 records, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food an
d that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make
oneself wise, she took of its fruit and ate. This consummated the contamination
of the human soul, by means of the seduction of the human will to choose the for
bidden fruit of the tree of knowledge (Witness Lee, Basic 35-37).
The Human Body Transmuted into the Flesh

We should never have any confidence in our flesh

The body as originally created by God was a pure vessel containing only one crea
ted essence, the human nature created in God s image and likeness. But this pure b
ody was changed in nature, that is, transmuted into the fallen flesh when a fore
ign element was introduced through the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This fore
ign element, called indwelling sin, now resides in man s flesh. This is why Paul s
ays in Romans 7:17, Now then it is no longer I that work it out, but sin that dwe
lls in me. Because this evil substance has fully occupied and saturated our body
we should never have any confidence in our flesh (Witness Lee, Life-Study 238).
The Spirit Deadened
The ultimate consequence of man s fall was that his spirit was deadened, thus beco
ming insulated from God and losing its function toward God.
God has preserved the human spirit inviolate for Himself
Ephesians 2:1 therefore says, And you, though dead in your offenses and sins, refe
rring to our fallen, deadened, state before we were saved. But in what part were
we dead? Since our body and soul were very much alive, this verse must refer to
our human spirit. We must make it clear at this point, however, that neither si
n nor Satan have ever had any entrance or access into man s spirit at any time bef
ore, during, or after the fall of man. God has preserved the human spirit inviol
ate for Himself. Rather, it was only the God-contacting function of our spirit t
hat was deadened.
Thus, each of the three parts of man was damaged by the fall. The entire soul (m
ind, emotion, and will) was contaminated, the body was changed in nature, and th
e spirit was deadened. Nevertheless, this hopeless state of man s sets the stage f
or God s salvation, which we will examine in the next section (Witness Lee, Life-S
tudy 239).

The Three Parts of Man Spoiled by the Fall of Man

Created with a spirit to receive God, a soul to express God, and a body to maint
ain his existence, the first man, Adam possessed a tremendous potential to expre
ss and represent God. Before this potential could be realized, however, Satan ca
me in to damage and ultimately annul the proper function of each of man s three pa
rts. The fall of man thus was not merely an act of disobedience and transgressio
n; rather, it had the effect of corrupting all three parts of his being, thereby
preventing man from fulfilling God s purpose.
The Human Soul Contaminated by Receiving Satan s Thought, Feeling and Will
Adam possessed a tremendous potential to express and represent God
All three parts of man were spoiled by the fall: First, his soul was contaminate
d; second, his body was transmuted into the sinful flesh; and third, his spirit
was deadened. It is crucial that we see the tactics employed by God s enemy to cor
rupt man s soul (his mind, emotion, and will). This awareness will equip us to dis
cern the strategies he continues to employ to keep man from receiving and enjoyi
ng God and thereby expressing and representing Him.
The serpent began his assault on the human mind by injecting it with doubt

Satan began to contaminate man s soul by touching the mind, thus causing the human
 mind to begin to doubt God s Word. In Genesis 3:1 the serpent began his assault o
n the human mind by injecting it with doubt: Did God really say, You shall not ea
t of any tree of the garden? By responding to the serpent in verses 2 and 3, Eve
opened the door of her soul to the serpent, allowing him to take another step to
further contaminate the human mind. In verse 4 the serpent went on to assure Ev
e, You shall not surely die! By this time the serpentine venom had infiltrated her
mind, causing her to doubt God s Word.
The serpent sowed a seed of resentment into Eve by lying to her about God s motive
The second stage of the contamination of man s soul was mounted against his emotio
n, causing man to begin to dislike God. In this stage, the serpent sowed a seed
of resentment into Eve by lying to her about God s motive: God knows that in the da
y you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing
good and evil (Genesis 3:5). This word incited Eve s emotions, causing her to feel
that God was withholding something good from her. Thus, the human emotion that w
as created to love God was spoiled, poisoned instead with an actual dislike for
God.
The third stage of the contamination of man s soul took place in his will, enticin
g man to choose the satanic tree of knowledge rather than the divine tree of lif
e. Genesis 3:6 records, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food an
d that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make
oneself wise, she took of its fruit and ate. This consummated the contamination
of the human soul, by means of the seduction of the human will to choose the for
bidden fruit of the tree of knowledge (Witness Lee, Basic 35-37).
The Human Body Transmuted into the Flesh

We should never have any confidence in our flesh

The body as originally created by God was a pure vessel containing only one crea
ted essence, the human nature created in God s image and likeness. But this pure b
ody was changed in nature, that is, transmuted into the fallen flesh when a fore
ign element was introduced through the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This fore
ign element, called indwelling sin, now resides in man s flesh. This is why Paul s
ays in Romans 7:17, Now then it is no longer I that work it out, but sin that dwe
lls in me. Because this evil substance has fully occupied and saturated our body
we should never have any confidence in our flesh (Witness Lee, Life-Study 238).
The Spirit Deadened
The ultimate consequence of man s fall was that his spirit was deadened, thus beco
ming insulated from God and losing its function toward God.
God has preserved the human spirit inviolate for Himself
Ephesians 2:1 therefore says, And you, though dead in your offenses and sins, refe
rring to our fallen, deadened, state before we were saved. But in what part were
we dead? Since our body and soul were very much alive, this verse must refer to
our human spirit. We must make it clear at this point, however, that neither si
n nor Satan have ever had any entrance or access into man s spirit at any time bef
ore, during, or after the fall of man. God has preserved the human spirit inviol
ate for Himself. Rather, it was only the God-contacting function of our spirit t
hat was deadened.
Thus, each of the three parts of man was damaged by the fall. The entire soul (m
ind, emotion, and will) was contaminated, the body was changed in nature, and th
e spirit was deadened. Nevertheless, this hopeless state of man s sets the stage f
or God s salvation, which we will examine in the next section (Witness Lee, Life-S
tudy 239).
God s Salvation for the Three Parts of Man
God s complete salvation encompasses man s entire being. It not only restores the th
ree parts of man to their proper function, but also dispenses Himself as life in
to each of them for the fulfillment of His plan. He starts at man s innermost part
(the human spirit) and spreads outward through the soul to the body until every
effect of the fall of man has been reversed, every trace of the fall has been e
rased, and man has been thoroughly saturated with the life of God in each of his
three parts.
Regeneration in our Spirit

By this new birth a new element has been added to our spirit that was not origin
ally there according to our first birth: God s own life
As the first step of God s marvelous salvation, He regenerates man s spirit. When we
first repent of our sins and apply Christ s redeeming blood to cleanse our consci
ence, our deadened spirit is made alive. Ephesians 2:5 explains, Even when we wer
e dead in offenses, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have
been saved). Our enlivened spirit then begins to sense God and to contact God. Th
rough this contact, not only is our spirit s function restored, but the divine and
uncreated life of God is also added to it (Romans 8:10),
Regeneration
which life is Christ Himself (John 14:6). This is the new birth, the regeneratio
n alluded to in John 3:6: that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. By this new
birth a new element has been added to our spirit that was not originally there a
ccording to our first birth: God s own life. This is also the fulfillment of the L
ord s promise in Ezekiel 36:26: a new spirit I will put within you (Witness Lee, Eco
nomy 66-68).
Transformation in our Soul
As a result of regeneration, a change in life began to take place at the center
of our being. God s life with its divine nature was added to our human spirit. Fol
lowing our regeneration, God desires that this change of life would continue by
gradually spreading into our mind, emotion, and will. We may have Christ in our
spirit, yet it ispossible that our mind, emotion, and will may remain the same.

We begin to think as God thinks, love as He loves, and choose as He chooses

For this reason, we need Christ to grow and expand continually from our spirit i
nto our soul, a process the Bible calls transformation. Christ carries out this
transforming work through the indwelling Holy Spirit, beginning with the renewin
g of our mind mentioned in Romans 12:2: be transformed by the renewing of the min
d. As this renewing progresses on from day to day, we begin to think as God think
s, love as He loves, and choose as He chooses. Eventually we will resemble God i
n full; that is, we will be absolutely conformed to the image of God. This is wh
y 2 Corinthians 3:18 explains, we all with unveiled face,
Transformation
beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transfor
med into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit. Thus,
in God s salvation of our soul, not only is the contamination of Satan negated, bu
t even the more, we come to bear the glorious image of Christ in full (Witness L
ee, Conclusion 1601-1602, 1609-1610).
Transfiguration of our Body
Following the lifelong process of transformation in our soul, God will culminate
His salvation process by transfiguring our mortal body, as described in 1 Corin
thians 15:52-53: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye we will be changed. For t
his corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortalit
y. Philippians 3:21 also speaks of our transfiguration: Who will transfigure the b
ody of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption
Footnote 211 for this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version sums up God s sa
lvation of the three parts of man: The transfiguration of our body is the ultimat
e consummation of God s salvation. In His salvation God first regenerated our spir
it (John 3:6), now is transforming our soul (Rom. 12:2), and consummately will t
ransfigure our body, making us the same as Christ in all three parts of our bein
g. Thus, in God s full salvation not only is our body freed from the foreign elemen
ts of sin and death, but even the more, it is saturated with the divine glory an
d conformed to the body of His glory (Witness Lee, Footnotes 914).
The Divine Life Dispensed into the Tripartite Man
This section is very similar to the preceding section (The Salvation of God for
the Three Parts of Man), but the emphasis here shifts to the dispensing of the d
ivine life and how this life saturates the believers throughout their tripartite
being.
Dispensed into our Spirit

Paul did not say that our spirit is living, but that our spirit is life
The divine life is initially dispensed into our spirit. As Romans 8:10 says, If C
hrist is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life beca
use of righteousness. After being regenerated with Christ, not only is our spiri
t living and not only does it possess life; our spirit is life itself. Paul did
not say that our spirit is living, but that our spirit is life. As believers, a
part of our being is now life itself. Paul could make this bold claim based on t
wo divine facts: first, Christ is life (John 11:25; 14:6), and second, our spiri
t has been made one with this Christ. First Corinthians 6:17 asserts, He who is j
oined to the Lord is one spirit. This one spirit, which is the joining of Christ
with our human spirit, is life (Witness Lee, Basic 103-105).
Dispensed into our Mind
According to Romans 8:6, the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Like the sp
irit, the mind, which is the leading faculty of the soul, can also become life.
Just as the husband and wife become one couple, so the mind and the spirit becom
e an inseparable unit
Nevertheless, this mind must be set on the spirit so that it can be flooded, sat
urated, and infused with the Spirit. To be set on the spirit, the mind must be j
oined to the spirit, continually relying on the spirit, very much like a wife jo
ined to her husband and relying on her husband. Just as the husband and wife bec
ome one couple, so the mind and the spirit become an inseparable unit. In such a
condition, the divine life spreads from our spirit to saturate our mind; hence,
our mind becomes life. At this point our enlivened mind has an ability that is
foreign to the natural mind: the ability to function to minister the divine life
to others (105-107).
Dispensed into our Body

The Triune God dispenses His life until we become men of life throughout our tri
partite being
Thus far, we have seen the divine life dispensed into our spirit (Romans 8:10) a
nd spreading into our mind (Romans 8:6). Ultimately, the divine life is also dis
pensed into our mortal body, as explained in Romans 8:11: And if the Spirit of th
e One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus f
rom the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who in
dwells you. Our weak and dying body can be given life. By exercising our human sp
irit, we allow the indwelling divine Spirit to move in us and to thereby impart
life to our mortal body. Thus, from the center of our being (our spirit) to the
circumference of our being (our body), the Triune God dispenses His life until w
e become men of life throughout our tripartite being (107-109).
Spoiled by the Fall | For the Three Parts of Man | The Divine Life Dispensed
Our Body Presented for the Church Life
At this juncture we must point out that all of the above experiences of God s salv
ation and dispensing in our tripartite being are not for own individual spiritua
lity, but for the building up of the Body of Christ. All three parts of our bein
g are needed to realize and participate in the Body life.
Present your bodies a living sacrifice

As we begin to rely on the Lord and are increasingly released from the enemy s usu
rping hand, we are compelled to present our physical bodies to the Lord for His
Body. Romans 12:1 says, I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions
of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, w
hich is your reasonable service. For us to realize the Body life requires the pre
sentation of our physical bodies to the Lord in the church life. We may have the
desire to build up the Body of Christ, but if our body does not come to the mee
tings of the church, the Body life cannot be realized.
Our Mind Renewed for the Church Life

With such a renewed mind the Body life becomes possible

After our body is presented to the Lord for the church life, our mind must be re
newed. This is why Romans 12:2 says, And do not be fashioned according to this ag
e, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the wi
ll of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect. Our minds must be
purged, renewed, and re-educated from our old thoughts, our natural ideas, and
our traditional considerations. With such a renewed mind the Body life becomes p
ossible. Without a renewed mind, we bring in many worldly thoughts and natural o
pinions that actually become a great source of trouble to the church life and a
hindrance to the realization of the Body life.
Our Spirit Fervent for the Church Life
Finally, in order to realize the Body life we must be burning in spirit. Romans
12:11 exhorts the believers, Do not be slothful in zeal,
When our body is presented, our mind is renewed, and our spirit is burning, the
body life becomes a vibrant, vital reality
but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord. Therefore, even if our body is presen
ted to the Lord and our mind is renewed, if our spirit is cold or even just luke
warm, we forfeit our spiritual function and become a burden to others. This lack
of the exercise of the spirit greatly frustrates the realization of the Body li
fe. Instead, our spirit should be both burned by the Lord and burning for the Lo
rd, making us living, functioning members of Christ s Body. When our body is prese
nted, our mind is renewed, and our spirit is burning, the body life becomes a vi
brant, vital reality. Every part of our tripartite being is, therefore, absolute
ly critical to the realization of the Body life (Witness Lee, Economy 172-176).