Christians: Do You Act Out Of Your Soul Or Your Spirit?

     That's a big question, and I ask it because I'm not sure that Christians understand what it means to know who we are in the Spirit. In fact, I would suggest that most Christians live their lives from their soul, rather than their spirit. Even though we all quote the Scriptures, 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 (Hebrews 4:12), and [God] has raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6), do we really understand the full implications of those verses? After our salvation, what part of us is seated in Christ in Heaven? Certainly it is not our flesh; we still remain on this earth.
     That leads to another question -- do you know that we are a three-part being -- body, soul, and spirit? And do you understand that our soul and spirit are meant to be separate entities, as Ephesians 2:6 suggests? We all know what our body is -- our flesh, the physical tent that houses our soul and spirit. Our soul is our mind, our [free] will, and our emotions. Our spirit is what identifies us with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are made in their image ... he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. 
     But here's the thing; too often a person's soul refuses to submit to the spirit, and can easily overrun or smother the spirit. And just as common is the scenario that a Christian thinks they are hearing in the spirit, when in reality it is their soul who is running the show. They respond to what they are thinking [in their physical mind] or what they are feeling [in their emotions], and both of those are elements of the soul, NOT the spirit -- and then they proclaim they are living by God's directive to their spirit. But is there fruit in their life that is evidence of this claim?
     Sadly, as the human race has increased in knowledge over the last 2000 years, and as we have experienced new technology and gained new skills, it has resulted in us living from our flesh and our souls, rather than our spirits. In our arrogance, we have come to rely less on our spiritual connection with Christ, and more on our own accomplishments and abilities. We may have grown in our knowledge of things of the world, but we are also more ignorant of the spiritual realm in which our spirits have citizenship -- our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). This has also resulted in the fact that we don't know how to engage our spirit because we credit what we think or what we feel as a word from our spirit, when in reality it originates in our souls and flesh.
     Here's a concept I'd like to propose to you: God designed our souls to interact with our spirits and our flesh. In other words, consider this: Our souls are designed to receive divine inspiration from our spirit and then birth it into the natural through our flesh -- a heavenly download if you will from Heaven to our spirit. Our soul received the revelation from our spirit, and then we follow through in our flesh. But if we don't know who we are in our spirit, then it's likely that we will be more influenced by own mind and emotions than we are by God's opinions. 
     Remember, Jesus is our model. He said He did nothing that He had not heard or seen from the Father (John 5:19 and 12:49). Can we say the same? When we tell people, "I heard the Lord say" ... or "The Holy Spirit showed me"... is that the real truth? Are we sure? Did those revelations originate in the mind of God, or do they coincide with our own desires? 
     How many of you truly believe you became "a new creation" when you received Christ as your Savior? And what does that look like? I mean, your body stayed the same right? And your soul only begins to change when you use your free will to renew those parts of it called your mind and emotions. That's a growth process. BUT your spirit is reborn immediately as exemplified in Ephesians 4:24: "[the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation]." We are spirit from Spirit, and it is true that we are born with a sin nature; a nature that is unlike the Lord's and separates us from Him. But again, I remind you of 1 Corinthians 6:17, But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. At the moment of your salvation, your spirit becomes one with His; you are a new creation, with a new spirit and a new nature. But do you recognize that truth and receive it?
     And do you understand the bigger truth that your spirit can be in heaven and also interface with your soul and flesh here on earth? Again, Jesus modeled that for us as a human man on earth whose spirit interacted with God in heaven. Like Jesus, we can receive counsel, resources, knowledge and breakthrough in our lives IF we actively engage our spirits to receive God's downloads, spend time in our spirits to understand them, then translate these revelations to our souls [through our renewed minds] and finally walk them out in the flesh. 
     But we need to have a relationship with our own spirit, knowing who we are in Christ, and where we are seated.We must come to the knowledge that we are designed to be spirit beings, having access to the spirit realm in Heaven and the Presence of God and Jesus. We have been made a spirit being, yet having a soul and living in a physical body. As Christians, we must begin to experience the spiritual realm and cooperate with Heaven to see God's Kingdom come and His will be done. We must begin to think like God and act like Jesus and hear/see with the help of the Holy Spirit. Then we can collaborate with Them and bring heaven and earth into agreement through our thoughts and actions. 
     All of Heaven’s resources are available to us through our spirit, which in proper alignment with our soul, prompts our minds to think and act righteously. I know I'm being repetitive, but it is so important that we get this ... Our human spirit will get a download from God [through the Holy Spirit] and then impart the divine thought or concept to our soul [which includes our mind]. The soul has to come together with the spirit in order to be implanted with the seeds of revelation, breakthrough, and those things that have been written upon our scroll in heaven. If our mind has been renewed to think from heaven’s perspective, rather than this world’s, then we will be able to receive the heavenly concept, plan according to God’s ruling principles, act on what has been revealed, and produce fruit for the Kingdom. Our mind/soul and the spirit must work together to give birth to the designs of God in the earth, and our spirit has to take precedence over our soul! 
     So, it is my earnest prayer that the Body of Christ come into a fuller knowledge and relationship with our spirits; that we begin to encounter Jesus through true and authentic spiritual experiences ... spirit to Spirit. Only then will we learn to walk in the path Jesus modeled.

Ecclesiastes 12:7     then the dust [out of which God made man’s body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.