Tripartite Theory of Man

With the light of the New Testament we believe that mankind is made up of three parts, spirit, soul and body.

1 Thesalonians 5:23

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Spirit: If you are in Christ you are a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away behold all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are a spirit being who has a soul and lives in a body. But the real you is the spiritual person. In the spirit we are totally changed and made just like Jesus. When we pray in the spirit our spirit prays and it builds us up. Jesus said in John 6:63 that his words are spirit and life so when we pray in the spirit and meditate in God's word we build ourselves up.

Soul: The soul consists of the mind, will and emotions. This is the part of us that must be transformed after salvation if we are going to manifest God's Kingdom and do the will of God. The human spirit and soul can be separated by the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). We are urged to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Body: The body is the physical part of us consisting of our organs and tissues. It's interesting how the body overlaps into the soul and the soul can be influenced by the human spirit. All three parts make up who you are and all three need to be tended. There is no Biblical health care plan but the principles of lifestyle medicine backed up by science and the idea that God created man to live in a garden lead to optimal health for the body.