QUESTION:
What is the relationship between body, soul and spirit?
ANSWER:
“Now, the soul of man is not the body of man, it's the soul. See? And the soul is something that's the--the nature of the spirit. And then when the nature of a man... When he said, "We are dead," the Scripture plainly tells us that, "we are dead, and our lives are hid in God through Christ, sealed there by the Holy Spirit." Now, it wasn't that your body died; it wasn't your spirit died. It was the nature of your spirit died; see, the nature, which is the soul. The nature of your soul is--is God, if you're born again. If it's not, it's of the world. Anything that begin has to end, so therefore the only way that you can have Eternal Life is to have a Life that never did begin. And then your life did begin when you were born, when God breathed the breath of life into your nostrils and you became a living soul, then you begin then. But when you...” [Souls That Are In Prison Now, Jeff. IN V-2 N-22 63-1110M]
“That nature that was in you, by nature you was of the world, alienated from God, you were actually an animal. That's exactly right. Anyone knows that we are mammal. How many knows that? We, we are mammal, we are warm-blooded animal, but that is what we are by our earthly creation. But, you see, what made us different from other mammals, that--that God put a soul upon us. See? Now, the other mammals don't have to wear clothes. No other animal has to wear clothes to hide his shame, but us. We're the only ones that does, because we have a soul. But, see, God, in the beginning, knew what a man would be like. And He created the earth, and brought up all kinds of animals, from the very lowest to the highest; and the highest animal come forth, was man.” [Souls That Are In Prison Now, Jeff. IN V-2 N-22 63-1110M]
“And then, first, man was made, he was a spirit man, in the image of God. Which, "God is a Spirit," Saint John 4. Now, "He is a--a Spirit. And they that worship Him, worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. And Thy Word is the Truth." Now, we worship Him in Spirit and Truth. He is a--a Spirit Being. Then there was no man to till the soil, and then God formed man out of the dust of the earth. Then He taken from his side, a by-product, a rib; and, from that, separated this man which had a dual nature, which was both feminish and masculine. And He taken the feminish out, 'cause it was love, and He placed it into a person called Eve, that Adam called Eve, which was his wife. That's where his love, natural, phileo love, held to his wife. That's the way a man should be today, and her back to her husband. The man, the masculine; the woman, the feminish.” [Souls That Are In Prison Now, Jeff. IN V-2 N-22 63-1110M]
“Now, now that, the Church, that His very whole purpose was the Church. Now how do we get into this Church? "By one Spirit we're all baptized into one Body," the Church, the Body of Christ. It cannot fail. Now, here is what happens. Now watch this, just a little figurative picture here. [Brother Branham again shows his drawing of three rings--Ed.] [And Knoweth It Not, Jeff. IN V-2 N-10 65-0815]
“Now, this outside man is the flesh. That's what we look at; what we see. And it has five inlets to that body. And any grammar school child, as myself, would know there is five senses control the body; see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. Without that, you can't touch the body. That's the only way you have to the body; see, taste, feel, smell, hear; you see it, taste it, feel it... Now, that is the evil one, on the outside.” [And Knoweth It Not, Jeff. IN V-2 N-10 65-0815]
“Now, inside of that is a spirit, which you become when you're born in the earth and the breath of life is breathed into him. That spirit is of a worldly nature because it was not given from God, but it was (given) permitted by God. Now you got that? For, every child that's born in the world, "is born in sin, shaped in iniquity; come to the world speaking lies." That right? So, that person, inside there, is a sinner, to begin with. Now, but...” [And Knoweth It Not, Jeff. IN 65-0815]
“Now, it's got five inlets. And them five inlets... I don't know whether I can call them right off now. When the... First, I know, is thought, conscience, and love, choice... No. Conscience, love, reason... There is five inlets to the spirit. You can't think with your body; you have to think with your spirit. You can't have conscience in your body. It has no mental faculties at all; your body doesn't, so you have to think with your spirit. You have to reason. You can't reason with your physical being, 'cause reason doesn't see, taste, feel, smell, or hear. Reason is what you can make in your mind. If you're asleep or you're out, your body is lying there dead, but your spirit can still reason. There is five senses that controls that inside man. And that.. .Now, to the last man, which is the soul, there is only one sense that controls that, and that is free... moral agency's free will to choose or to reject.” [And Knoweth It Not, Jeff. IN 65-0815]
“And last Sunday when we was going into those cycles, about how that the five senses on the outer realm. That's the inlet, five senses to the body. There's only one way you can get into the body, that's by those five senses: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. There's no other way to contact the--the body. On the inside of that man is a man called spirit, and he has five senses: think, thought... and thought, and love, and conscience, and so forth. All right.” [Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word Jeff. IN 65-0822M]
“Now, you can't think with your body. You think with your mind. And in there is where too many, of Christians, only stop. And they can, just like the corn in the field and the weed in the field, they can be anointed with the same Holy Spirit that the real believer is anointed with. But down on the inside of that, next realm, the third realm, is the soul; and that's predestinated by God. There is where the real seed-germ lays, is in there. And, remember, if I'd take a cocklebur and cut it open, draft into it the heart of a--of a wheat and put it there, bury it, it would bring forth a wheat out of the cocklebur; no matter what the outside is, what the emotions.” [Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word Jeff. IN 65-0822M]
“That Laodicean Church Age, "naked, blind, miserable; don't even know it." See, it's out... It's that anointed, anointed with the real Spirit. See, that Holy Spirit can fall upon a man, in his spirit. But his soul is his germ; that germ is the Word. See? And how... I don't care how much you can preach, how well you do this, and how much you love; that's one of the inlets to spirit. You can't love with your body; you love with your spirit. That's one of the inlets. And you can love, and even love God, and still not be right. You can cast out devils, and preach, and do these things; still not be right. Jesus said so, said many would come in that day. That Word settles it! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us...” [Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word Jeff. IN 65-0822M]
“Now, remember, you're in a cycle of three, but you're one person. Like Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, cycle of three, but one Person. Three attributes of the same God: fatherhood... Three offices like: fatherhood, sonship, and Holy Ghost. And you are: body, spirit, and soul. Now, the outside body has five inlets to it, to contact your earthly home: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. The inside, which is a spirit, it has five senses: conscience, and love, and so forth. But the inside of that, the soul, has one thing. That's where you live.” [Works Is Faith Expressed Shreveport, LA 65-1126]
“Look here, you are a outside person. You have five senses that contacts that outside body. God gave you five senses; not to contact Him, your earthly home: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. Then you have a spirit on the inside of that, and it has five outlets: conscience, and love, and so forth. Five outlets that you contact the spirit world with that, but with your spirit. Your physical contacts the physical. Your spiritual contacts the spiritual. But inside of that you've got a soul, and that soul is that gene that come from God.” [Leadership, Covina, CA 65-1207
[Answers provided by Bro. Donny Reagan, Johnson City, TN]