Salvation of the soul (part 2)

In Leviticus 17:11 and 14 God told his people that, “The life of a creature is its blood.” The word translated “life” in this passage is the same Hebrew word translated “soul” throughout the Old Testament. The very soul of a creature is inseparably connected to its blood. Once we see this, we begin to understand Jesus’ words in John 6:53-57:

“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

To eat the “flesh” of Jesus is to eat The Word of God that was “made flesh” (John 1:14). As we continue to eat the Living Word of God, it brings life and nourishment to our spirit and our soul, even as natural food does to our body. This is true at several levels. When we first put our faith in Jesus, he comes and makes his home in our hearts, and in a real sense we can say we have “eaten” the Word of God. Then, as we continue to partake of both the “sincere milk” and the “solid food” of the word of God, we continue to be nourished to maturity. (1^st Peter 2:2, Hebrews 5:12-14)

The Word of God is not, as many people suppose, just a compilation of wise words and thoughts designed to stimulate the intellect of man. God’s word is a powerful, living force that brings life to all who partake of it. (See Hebrews 4:12) In John 6:63 Jesus declared, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” He also made it clear in several places that the words he spoke were not his own words, but the words of God. We also read in John 17:17 where Jesus said that God’s word is truth, while 1^st John 5:6 tells us that, “The spirit is the truth.”

In light of these verses, we could rightfully say that living by the Spirit is the same thing as living according to the Word of God, because each of these phrases refers to allowing God’s truth to influence and transform our behavior from within. This is what David was referring to in Psalm 19:7 when he said, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.” But ultimately the only way we will be able to walk according to the Word of God is not merely through reading, memorizing and seeking to obey the written word of God (although this is still very beneficial to us), but rather through allowing Spirit of the Living Word Himself to live within us. (Galatians 2:20)

At the last supper, Jesus held up the Passover cup and declared, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you…” “Drink from it, all of you.” (Luke 22:20, Matthew 26:27) To “drink the blood” of Jesus refers to partaking of His very life or soul, which he poured out for us upon the cross. And the way we do this is through faith – specifically, by putting our faith Jesus – the one who poured out his life for us, so that we might be made righteous, and filled with his own Holy Spirit.

Once we do this, we are immediately born again – our spirit is literally regenerated, being born of the Spirit of God, and we become heirs to all the blessings of the new covenant. And, as we continue to place our faith in, and therefore “drink” the blood of Jesus, his very soul continues to replace our old, dysfunctional soul. In a real sense, we are losing our soul, and finding it again in the form of the soul of Jesus being reproduced in us. When we see this we can understand Paul’s words: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) We will look more at how this process of losing our soul is actually accomplished in the next article.