🎥 Baptist Bold: Ask a Pastor
📅 Episode 11 – Thursday: Doctrine Day
Question: “What Is the Difference Between the Soul and the Spirit?”
🎬 Intro Script:
Welcome to Baptist Bold: Ask a Pastor—where truth isn’t filtered, and the Bible has the final word. I’m Pastor Joshua Tapp from True Words Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Let’s get into today’s question…
📖 Answer:
Most Christians use “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably. But the Bible divides them.
Let’s explore the real difference—because it matters doctrinally, spiritually, and eternally.
1. The Bible Clearly Divides Soul and Spirit
📖 Hebrews 4:12 — “…dividing asunder of soul and spirit…”
They’re not the same thing. God divides them—so should we.
2. The Soul Is Who You Are
📖 Genesis 2:7 — “Man became a living soul.”
Your soul is the real you—your identity, personality, emotions, and consciousness. Your soul can think, feel, desire, love, mourn, and worship.
📖 Psalm 42:11 — “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?”
3. The Spirit Is How You Connect to God
📖 John 4:24 — “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Your spirit is the part of you that can be made alive by God—your capacity for communion, conscience, and connection with the spiritual realm.
4. The Spirit Dies at the Fall—The Soul Lives On
📖 Ephesians 2:1 — “…who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
Before salvation, your spirit is dead. Your body’s alive. Your soul is alive. But your spirit is dead to God.
That’s why you must be born again—not in the soul, but in the spirit.
5. At Salvation, the Spirit Is Quickened—Not the Soul
📖 John 3:6 — “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
📖 Romans 8:16 — “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit…”
At the moment of belief, the Holy Spirit makes your spirit alive—your soul is saved, but your spirit is regenerated.
🎯 Bottom Line:
- Your soul is who you are
- Your spirit is how you interact with God
- Before salvation: the soul is alive, the spirit is dead
- After salvation: the soul is secure, the spirit is quickened
Knowing the difference helps you rightly divide Scripture and understand the miracle of salvation more clearly.
📖 1 Thessalonians 5:23 — “Your whole spirit and soul and body…”
God made all three—and He saves all three.
🎬 Outro Script:
Got more questions? Drop them below and hit subscribe for daily bold Bible answers. I’m Pastor Joshua Tapp—see you next time on Baptist Bold: Ask a Pastor.
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