What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit? One might ask, “what is the spirit?” In most occasions, we use the words “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably. However, these words do not mean the same thing. So what is the difference between the soul and spirit of man? In answering this, we’ll start by saying that the soul and the spirit are the two primary immaterial parts that Scripture ascribes to humanity. Figuring out or discerning the precise difference between the two is more of a challenging process. That is, it can quite be confusing. Luckily enough, it is not impossible. Note that the word spirit refers only to the immaterial facet of humanity. That is, human beings have a spirit, but are not spirits themselves.

However, the Bible tells us that only believers are spiritually alive (1 Corinthians 2:11; Hebrews 4:12; James 2:26), while unbelievers on the other hand are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1–5; Colossians 2:13). Apostle Paul in his writing points to the fact that the spiritual is pivoted to the life of the believer (1 Corinthians 2:14; 3:1; Ephesians 1:3; 5:19; Colossians 1:9; 3:16). The element that gives humanity the ability to live an intimate relationship with God through Christ is the spirit. It is important to understand that each time the word spirit is mentioned in the Bible, it points to the immaterial part of humanity that “connects” with God, who Himself is Spirit (John 4:24).

What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

What does the Scriptures say about the human spirit and human soul?

The Scripture teaches us that the spirit is the immaterial part of humanity that connects with God. Also, the soul as with the spirit, is the center of many spiritual and emotional experiences (Job 30:25; Psalm 43:5; Jeremiah 13:17). According to Hebrews 4:12, the soul and the spirit are connected, but separable. Note that the word soul can refer to the entire person, whether alive on Earth on in the afterlife. We can as well say that the word soul can refer to both the material and immaterial aspects of humanity.

The word soul in its most basic sense means “life.” Beyond this basic sense, the Bible makes mention of the word soul in several contexts. For example, the Bible relates it to humanity’s eagerness to sin (Luke 12:26). Scriptures tell us that human beings have sinful natures reason why their souls are tainted with sin. We can portray the soul as the life essence of the body that is removed at the time of physical death (Genesis 35:18; Jeremiah 15:2).

What The Bible Says About The Spirit

Galatians 5:16 – “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

1 John 4:1 – “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

John 16:13 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

John 6:63 – “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

John 4:24 – “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Romans 7:15-24 – “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. …”

Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Group 1 – What The Bible Says About The Spirit

Acts 2:17 – “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;”

1 John 4:13 – “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”

Romans 8:26-27 – “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Genesis 1:2 – “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Romans 7:22 – “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,”

John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Romans 12:1-2 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Group 2 – What The Bible Says About The Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:14 – “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Ephesians 3:16 – “That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,“

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Proverbs 18:14 – “A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?“

Isaiah 1:1-31 – “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. …”

Group 3 – What The Bible Says About The Spirit

Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

James 2:26 – “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

2 Timothy 1:3 – “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.”

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

1 John 4:18 – “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

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Acts 2:38 – And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

John 15:26 – “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Romans 8:26 – “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.“

Group 4 – What The Bible Says About The Spirit

Ephesians 4:30 – “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Colossians 2:1-23 – “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. …”

Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”

Genesis 6:3-7 – Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, ...”

Group 5 – What The Bible Says About The Spirit

Romans 8:9 – “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

Ephesians 4:1-32 – “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ...”

1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,”

Acts 2:1-47 – “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. …”

Acts 1:21-22 – “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

Group 6 – What The Bible Says About The Spirit

Romans 8:14 – “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Isaiah 11:2 – “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”

Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Genesis 6:3 – Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

Acts 1:14-22 – “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. ...”

Numbers 14:24 – “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.”

Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

Psalm 104:30 – “When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.”

John 14:16-17 – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Genesis 1:1-2 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Acts 7:51 – “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.”

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Romans 5:5 – “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Galatians 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,“

Romans 8:15 – “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””

Nehemiah 9:20 – “You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.”

2 Corinthians 13:14 – “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

John 20:22 – “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

1 Timothy 1:1-20 – “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. …”

John 14:16 – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”

Genesis 2:1-25 – “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, …”

Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

1 Corinthians 12:13 – “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

John 14:15-17 – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Job 33:4 – “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Luke 11:13 – “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Acts 4:31 – “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

Acts 2:4 – “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

1 Corinthians 2:10 – “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

Galatians 4:6 – “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!””

Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

Isaiah 63:10 – “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”

Luke 10:1-42 – “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ …”

Matthew 10:20 – “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Psalm 139:7 – “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”

Psalm 51:11 – “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”

Isaiah 61:1 – “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”

Matthew 3:16-17 – “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

2 Timothy 1:14 – “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

Genesis 3:22-24 – “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Revelation 22:17 – “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

2 Samuel 23:2 – “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.”

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Romans 15:30– “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,”

1 Timothy 4:1 – “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,”

1 John 2:27 – “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.”

Group 12 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

Romans 8:6 – “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

1 Corinthians 2:11 – “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

Romans 8:11 – “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

1 Timothy 1:17 – “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.“

1 Thessalonians 1:6 – “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,”

John 16:13-15 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Group 13 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

John 16:7-11 – “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

2 Chronicles 24:20 – “Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’””

Revelation 1:1-20 – “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. …”

Group 14 – What Does The Bible Say About The Spirit?

Titus 1:8 – “But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.”

Hebrews 9:14 – “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

1 Peter 1:11 – “Inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”

Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19 – “Do not quench the Spirit.”

Colossians 1:15 – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

Hebrews 10:29 – “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?“

Titus 3:5 – “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”