In this final piece on the series, Spirit, Soul and Body, I will expound on the body of man.Paul in his missive to the church at Thessalonica, informs us that man is a spirit, has a soul, and lives in a body, saying, I Pray God your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of our lord Jesus Christ.
The spirit (inward man) is the real man; the body (outward man) houses the inward man.
We contact the physical realm with our body; and the body is the house in which the spirit (the real man) lives. Just like we take care of the physical house we live in, we must take good care of your body by eating the right food, by exercising and, if possible, by sun tanning.
You see, exposure of the epidermis to sunlight produces melanin; and melanin dissipates most of the absorbed UV radiation as heat. This prevents the UVB radiation damage that is responsible for the formation of malignant melanoma and other skin cancers.
However, some of us are very spiritually minded and despise bodily exercise, they aver, For bodily exercise profiteth little (1Timothy 4:8) and prefer to spend their time in spiritual exercises, such as studying the word and praying because… Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come (1Timothy 4:8).
When scriptures say, For bodily exercise profiteth little, it simply means that physical exercise does not last long; that is why we have to keep exercising in order to get results
Failure to take care of our body may cause us to get sick and cause the spirit to be evicted from the body. When we say someone has expired or died, it simply means his spirit has left the body… For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26).
In a bid to adorn their bodies, some have resulted to bleaching their skin, which is the practice of using chemical substances to lighten skin tone by lessening the concentration of melanin. I do not subscribe to this and I advise against it unless for medical reason and prescribed by a licensed physician, due to reasons enumerated earlier.
When we become born again, it is our spirit that lost contact with God, because of Adam’s transgression that is recreated. Our body is not saved.
That is why Paul, in his letter to the Church in Rome, urges us to do something with our bodies, saying, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1). New International Rendering says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.
You see, we — not God — are to do something about our bodies, because we, not God, are the caretakers of that outward man, the body. We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God — which is our true and proper worship. Otherwise stated, “…which is our spiritual worship.”
Some are of the opinion that it doesn’t make any difference what the body does, since the body is not going to heaven; but it matters to God what we do with our bodies — He wants us to present our bodies … a living sacrifice… which is our true and proper worship.
God expects us to have control over our bodies and not allow them dominate or rule us. A believer who allows his body to rule him is called a carnal Christian or a “body-ruled Christian.”
We are expected to do, as Paul said in his missive to the church at Corinth: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (1Corinthian 9:27).
Note Paul said, I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection. But who is “I”?
“I” refers to the inward man, hidden man of the heart, real man (the spirit).
You see, your body is not the real you; it is simply the house you (spirit) live. Picture this: If the body were the real you, then Paul would have affirmed, “I keep myself under…I bring myself under subjection.” But he didn’t say that. He said, I keep under my body, and bring it(body) into subjection; thus showing that we are to bring the body in subjection to the inner man. We must allow our spirit dominate or rule our body and not the reverse.
As stated earlier, a Christian who is ruled by the body is a carnal Christian or baby Christian. Remember, Paul reproved the Church at Corinth of being body-ruled or baby Christians, saying … And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ…Ye are yet Carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1, 3).
We must take good care of our body, but must not allow our body dominate or rule us. We must keep our body in subjection to our spirit. This happens as we feed our spirit and renew our mind with God`s word.
Our recreated human spirit must dominate our body. Hallelujah!!!
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe
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