Saved is a word used by Christians to mean the salvation of ones soul.
Your soul is what is eternal (it goes on living after you die).
Every person is composed of 3 elements, body, soul and spirit.
Your body is your outer shell, kind of like a “skin” in the the sims game. However, in your case, your body includes your bones, skin, blood, internal organs, etc.
Your soul is like the real you. It is what psycologists refer to as your inner child. It is the part of you that makes you different/unique from any other person or being in this world. This is the part of you that makes the decisions, like whether you want to be good or bad. Your soul is sometimes referred to as your heart, although it isn’t because your heart is an organ in your body. Paul (in the New Testament, of the Bible) refers to the soul as your fleshly or carnal desires. When someone says that they know something in their heart, they really mean they know in their soul.
Your spirit is the part of you that can relate to God’s Spirit.
Your body = Outer shell
Your soul = The real you (sometimes called the heart)
Your spirit = can relate to God’s Spirit
So, why does all this matter? Because, it is your soul that needs to be saved. When a person is born, they are not saved. In fact they cannot be saved, because in order to be saved you have to be able to make a choice. We all know that babies cannot choose anything. They don’t even get to choose if they want to be born. The first of the circles below, represents a person when he is born, physically as a baby. He esentially, does not have a spirit. Therefore, he cannot even relate to God on a personal level. Note (in first circle) how the yellow=soul dominates.
But your soul can’t be saved without the presence of the Spirit of God in your life.
The second circle represents a person after they are “born again”. Actually, it would be more correct to say that these people have been “conceived”. These people have had an encounter with God and have made a one time decision to accept Jesus as their savior. These people are like a baby inside their mother’s womb. They are completely dependent on their mother (the church, or someone who desciples them). They cannot fend for themselves. Once your spirit is “alive” inside of you, then the Spirit of God can begin the work of salvation. Because “like can only communicate with like”. God can now begin communicating and communioning with you on a personal spiritual level. Note (in second circle) how he now has a spirit, but is still dominated by the yellow=soul. When a person is controlled by his soul, as in the 2 circle examples, he is said in the Bible to be controlled by his flesh.
red = body, yellow = soul, blue = spirit
(If you don't see four circles, reload this page)
The third circle represents a person who has been baptized with the Holy Spirit, (I’m not talking about speaking in tongues here, that is only one of the evidences, one that may at times be falsified by a wrong spirit) This circle is like a teen ager or a young adult. They are able to eat the meat of the Word of God, but they are still susceptible to doing their own thing. There are times, when they still want to be God in their lives. If this circle were an animated graphic, I would have the blue=spirit continously getting bigger, smaller, bigger, and smaller, etc. Note (in third circle) that no matter how big the blue=spirit gets the Spirit of God is still contained by the person’s soul=yellow.
The fouth circle represents a person who is living in Galation 2:20.
Galations 2:20. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.The person who has completely “died” to his own way. I have not seen very many people in this category, in fact maybe I have seen none. But that doesn’t mean it is not possible. Many people will tell you that you can only attain this when we no longer live in these “fleshly” bodies. In other words, only after we are dead. I believe that this is not true. I believe this is the state that we should all be seeking to attain. Right here in this life, in these fleshly bodies. Revelation 22:11 says when refering to the time after Jesus comes back.
Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.If before Jesus comes we are unholy or filthy or unrighteous then we will also be that way after he comes. Note (in fourth circle) how the person’s soul is now completely controlled by the blue=spirit, which is in turn controlled by the Spirit of God.
We must determine what part of you dies. Not all of you dies. The real you is someone that God created for His glory and companionship. If that part of you were to die, He would have defeated His whole purpose of creating you and me and the whole world. What must die is the flesh, which although represented by our body is much more than that. It is the wrong place that our soul occupies in our life. We must die to our own way and doing our own thing. We must die to wanting to be a god unto ourselves, and let God be the God of our lives. Please read my next article "Saved from what?" that explains this further.
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