Saving of the "soul."

About 30 years ago I read one of Mr. Kenneth E. Hagin's books entitled "You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God"

It really did bring a lot of insight into my life and what I'm sharing today is an excerpt from it.

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The Saving of the Soul

James 1:21
...receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls.

The spirit of man is the part of man that is born again. It is the part of man that received eternal life., which is the nature and life of God. It is the spirit of man that becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus. The soul is not the innermost being at all. It is not the soul that is born again. The saving of the soul is a process.

James 1:21 used to bother me when I was a denominational preacher before I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I didn't know what I know now. I used spirit as the soul, and interchangeably - referring to the spirit as the soul, and the soul as the spirit. I didn't divide them as the Bible does. But I did have enough sense to leave this verse alone until I grew so that I could understand what it is saying.

The Epistle of James was not written to sinners. James did not write a letter to the world; he wrote this letter to the Church. We know that because of James 5 where he says, "is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church..." (vs 14). In other words, if there is any sick among the Church, let him call for the elders of the Church. Also referring back now to the first chapter of James, let's pick up with verse 8:
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

James is talking to born-again believers. Of the Father's own will, he writes, we were begotten, or born again by the Word of Truth. He calls them "my beloved brethren." so they were in Christ. Yet he encourages these born-again Spirit-filled people to receive the engrafted Word with meekness, "...which is able to save your soul." Evidently, their souls were not saved.

You see, a man's spirit, the innermost man, the real man, receives eternal life and is born again. But his intellect and emotions -- which comprise his soul -- still have to be dealt with. They are not born again. They are to be renewed.

Paul speaks about the renewing of the mind, writing to the saints at Rome.

Romans 12:2
2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The Psalmist David spoke of restoring of the soul:

Psalm 23:3
3. He restoreth my soul....

The Hebrew word translated restore in the Old Testament, and the Greek word translated renew in the New Testament mean about the same thing. The should -- the mind -- is to be renewed or restored.

My mother left me a chair which she inherited from her mother. I don't know exactly how old that chair is, but it is quite old. I can remember when my grandmother had it restored. They put new upholstery on it. They revarnished it. It was still the same chair; it was just restored. It was renewed.

In the Word of God it is never written that God restores our spirits. Our spirits -new creatures in Christ Jesus. Our souls, however, must be renewed or restored.

How? We have these scriptures relative to the soul: receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls...be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God....He restoreth my soul (James 1:21; Romans 12:2; Psalm 23:3)

Man's soul is saved, or restored, when his mind becomes renewed with the Word of God. It is the Word of God that saves our souls, that renews our minds, that restores our souls.

When our minds become renewed with the Word of God, then we think in line with what God's Word says. We are able to know and prove the permissive and the perfect will of God -- because the Word of God is the will of God once we get our souls saved.

The greatest need in the Church today is to have minds renewed with the Word of God.

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Father, I ask You to HELP US to renew our minds/souls to your Word. Thank You for HELPING US to put your Word first place in our lives and to make it the final authority OF our lives. It helps us to see with Your eyes, believe what You say, and speak and agree with You. In Jesus' Name.