Why does Paul tell us to be saved Spirit Soul and Body. What happens if we are not saved spirit soul and body, and just saved in spirit?!

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (New American Standard Bible)

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Aaron, interesting question!! I don't have an answer except that I have heard of soul salvation vs spirit salvation before at this site: http://www.ffruits.org/firstfruits02/soulvsspiritsalvation.html
Maybe someone else around here knows!!??

Blessings!

Aaron, I just found this post and thought your serious question deserved an answer.

If you notice in the verse you quoted that it says "sanctify you entirely". The Greek word for Sanctify means " to be set apart", and is in reference to being "saved" from the HABIT of sin, not the PENALTY of sin.

The penalty of sin was accomplished once and for all when God Justified you at the time you called upon the Name of Jesus and placed your faith in Him and His atonement for your sin. You received the Holy Spirit at that time as a guarantee of your acceptance into the body of Christ and family of God.

You can only 100% be born into a physical world. The same is true for a new birth into a Spiritual world. You were "saved" body, soul and spirit when you had a spiritual "new birth".

Please see my post Salvation 101 Did you know? for a more fully explained teaching.

Tom

I agree with the firstfruits site explanation too. Soul makes up your mind (or intellect), will and emotions so it is up to your to WILL yourself to obey and then the emotions will follow and get in sync with your spirit. The whole point is to get your soulish man to bow down to your spirit man allowing your spirit man to control your body (and NOT the soulish man controling the actions of your body). It is an act of the will.

Watchman Nee has a lot of books on the subject.....I think one good one is The Breaking of the Outer Man.

I believe there is a progression of the salvation process....we are justified when we accept Christ as our Savior (spirit salvation) and we then begin the sanctification process....the work that the Holy Spirit does in us to purify us and teaching us to lay down our body as a living sacrifice...an act of our will (aka the soul). Finally we will reach glorification where our body is finally 'purified' turning corruptible into incorruptible with the rapture.

So three steps: justification, sanctification and glorification. These also correspond to the three main feasts of the Lord:
Passover (Christ's sacrifice=justification=being accounted worthy through no sacrifice on our own=spirit salvation)...

followed by Pentecost (when we are baptized in the Spirit beginning the true work of the Holy Spirit in us=sanctification=soul salvation)

and finally Tabernacles...which is God dwelling IN us=glorification=body salvation.


Anyway...that is how I see it. :0).

Good post Dee.

Tom I like this-

Sanctify means " to be set apart",

Boy...I sure do want to be 'set apart'...LOL ...as in raptured from this earth!

Amen Dee. Me too.

Lord please set me apart and take me in your arc.

Give me oil in my lamp.
Give me what it takes to find me worthy.
Lead me and guide me in the everlasting way.
Plesae correct me when I wander and go astray.

I was wondering what you Tom (and others) think about the unfaithful servant and the Laodecian church. I do not think the unfaithful servant is a non-Christian because he was given something by God and is supposed to be serving Him, he just doesn't produce anything. When it says those wicked servants will be cast into outer darkness what does that then mean? I was thinking it might mean outside of New Jerusalem but I was wondering what you thought of that scripture, and scripture like it? It does not seem the outer darkness is the same as Hell or the Lake of Fire.

Yup, that's the 10 million dollar question alright - where or what is outer darkness.

Don't know. sorry bro.

You might get several different answers here, but I can almost guarantee you will still have the same question when all the answers are given.

bumping this