Reference: Spirit
American
A word employed in various senses in Scripture.
1. For THE HOLY SPIRIT, the third person of the Holy Trinity, who inspired the prophets, animates good men, pours his unction into our hearts, imparts to us life and comfort; and in whose name we are baptized and blessed, as well as in that of the Father and the Son. When the adjective Holy is applied to the term Spirit, we should always understand it as here explained; but there are many places whether it must be taken in this sense, although the term Holy is omitted. See HOLY SPIRIT.
2. BREATH, respiration; or the principle of animal life, common to men and animal: this God has given, and this he recalls when he takes away life, Ec 3:21. See SOUL.
3. The RATIONAL SOUL which animates us, and preserves its being after the death of the body. That spiritual, reasoning, and choosing substance, which is capable of eternal happiness. See SOUL.
The "spirits in prison," 1Pe 3:19, it is generally thought, are the souls of antediluvian sinners now reserved unto the judgment-day, but unto whom the Spirit preached by the agency of Noah, etc., 2Pe 2:5, when they were in the flesh. Thus Christ "preached" to the Ephesians, whom he never visited in person, Eph 2:17.
4. An ANGEL, good or bad; a soul separate from the body, Mr 14:26. It is said, Ac 23:8, that the Sadducees denied the existence of angels and spirits. Christ, appearing to his disciples, said to them, Lu 24:39, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
5. The DISPOSITION of the mind or intellect. Thus we read of a spirit of jealously, a spirit of fornication, a spirit of prayer, a spirit of infirmity, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of fear of the Lord, Ho 4:12; Zec 12:10; Lu 13:11; Isa 11:2.
6. The RENEWED NATURE of true believers, which is produced by the Holy Spirit, and conforms the soul to his likeness. Spirit is thus the opposite of flesh, Joh 3:6. This spirit is virally united with, an in some passages can hardly be distinguished from the "Spirit of Christ," which animates true Christians, the children of God, and distinguishes them from the children of darkness, who are animated by the spirit of the world, Ro 8:1-16. This indwelling Spirit is the gift of grace, of adoption-the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts-which emboldens us to call God "Abba, my Father." Those who are influenced by this Spirit "have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts," Ga 5:16-25.
Distinguishing or discerning of spirits consisted in discerning whether a man were really inspired by the Spirit of God, or was a false prophet, an impostor, who only followed the impulse of his own spirit or of Satan. Paul speaks, 1Co 12:10 of the discerning of spirits as being among the miraculous gifts granted by God to the faithful at the first settlement of Christianity.
To "quench the Spirit," 1Th 5:19, is a metaphorical expression easily understood. The Spirit may be quenched by forcing, as it were, that divine Agent to withdraw from us, by irregularity of life, frivolity, avarice, negligence, or other sins contrary to charity, truth, peace, and his other gifts and qualifications.
We "grieve" the Spirit of God by withstanding his holy inspirations, the impulses of his grace; or by living in a lukewarm and incautious manner; by despising his gifts, or neglecting them; by abusing his favors, either out of vanity, curiosity, or indifference. In a contrary sense, 2Ti 1:6, we "stir up" the Spirit of God which is in us, by the practice of virtue, by compliance with his inspirations, by fervor in his service, by renewing our gratitude, and by diligently serving Christ and doing the works of the Spirit.
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Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declares to them, for the spirit of whoredom has caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, [departing] from under their God.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look to me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him, as [a man] mourns for his only
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. And she was bent over, and not being able to straighten up completely.
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as ye see me having.
That which is begotten from the flesh is flesh, and that which is begotten from the Spirit is spirit.
For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all.
Consequently nothing is condemnation now to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to flesh but according to Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and of death. read more. For the impotence of the law, in that it was weak because of the flesh, God, having sent his own Son in a form of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that the justice of the law might be fulfilled in us, those who walk not according to flesh, but according to Spirit. For those who are according to flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those according to Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mentality of the flesh is death, but the mentality of the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mentality of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not submissive to the law of God, for neither is it able. And those who are in flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, this man is not of him. And if Christ is in you, the body is indeed dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up the Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to flesh. For if ye live according to flesh, ye are going to die, but if in spirit ye kill the deeds of the body, ye will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye did not receive a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself testifies with our spirit, that we are children of God.
and to another, workings of miracles, and to another, prophecy, and to another, discerning of spirits, and to a different man, kinds of tongues, and to another, the interpretation of tongues.
But I say, walk in Spirit and ye will, no, not fulfill a lust of flesh. For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit is against the flesh. For these are hostile to each other, so that whatever these things are ye may want, ye may not do. read more. But if ye are led by Spirit ye are not under law. Now the works of the flesh are apparent, which are, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strifes, jealousies, wraths, selfish ambitions, dissentions, factions, envyings, murders, intoxications, revelings, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, as I also did forewarn, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those of the Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and the lusts. If we live in Spirit, we should also march in Spirit.
And after coming he preached good-news, peace to you, to those far off and to those near,
Do not quench the Spirit.
Because of which reason I remind thee to rekindle the gift of God that is in thee through the laying on of my hands.
in which also, having gone, he preached to the spirits in prison
and he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, the eighth, a herald of righteousness, when he brought on a flood upon the world of the irreverent,
Easton
(Heb ruah; Gr. pneuma), properly wind or breath. In 2Th 2:8 it means "breath," and in Ec 8:8 the vital principle in man. It also denotes the rational, immortal soul by which man is distinguished (Ac 7:59; 1Co 5:5; 6:20; 7:34), and the soul in its separate state (Heb 12:23), and hence also an apparition (Job 4:15; Lu 24:37,39), an angel (Heb 1:14), and a demon (Lu 4:36; 10:20). This word is used also metaphorically as denoting a tendency (Zec 12:10; Lu 13:11).
In Ro 1:4; 1Ti 3:16; 2Co 3:17; 1Pe 3:18, it designates the divine nature.
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There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, nor has he power over the day of death. And there is no discharge in war. Neither shall wickedness deliver him who is given to it.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look to me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him, as [a man] mourns for his only
And amazement developed in all, and they spoke among each other, saying, What is this word? Because with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are made subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in the heavens.
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. And she was bent over, and not being able to straighten up completely.
But having seen startled, and having become frightened, they presumed to see a spirit.
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as ye see me having.
And they stoned Stephen, who was calling and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
He who was designated Son of God in power, according to a spirit of holiness, from a resurrection of the dead--Jesus Christ our Lord--
And all things, anything whatever ye may do in word or in deed, do all in the name of Lord Jesus, expressing thanks to the God and Father through him.
And then the lawless will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and will neutralize at the appearance of his coming.
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth for service for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?
to a festal gathering and assembly of firstborn sons who were enrolled in the heavens, and to God, a Judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men who were made fully perfect,
Fausets
Hebrew ruach, Greek pneuma. Man in his normal integrity ("whole," holokleeron, complete in all its parts, 1Th 5:23) consists of "spirit, soul, and body." The spirit links man with higher intelligences, and is that highest part receptive of the quickening Holy Spirit (1Co 15:47). The soul (Hebrew nephesh, Greek psuchee) is intermediate between body and spirit; it is the sphere of the will and affections.
In the unspiritual, the spirit is so sunk under the animal soul (which it ought to keep under) that such are "animal" ("seasonal," having merely the body of organized matter and the soul, the immaterial animating essence), "having not the spirit" (Jg 1:19; Jas 3:15; 1Co 2:14; 15:44-48; Joh 3:6). The unbeliever shall rise with an animal (soul-animated) body, but not, like the believer, with a spiritual (spirit-endued) body like Christ's (Ro 8:11).
The soul is the seat of the appetites, the desires, the will; hunger, thirst, sorrow, joy; love, hope, fear, etc.; so that nephesh is the man himself, and is used for person, self, creature, any: a virtual contradiction of materialism, implying that the unseen soul rather than the seen body is the man. "Man was made" not a living body but "a living soul." "The blood, the life," links together body and soul (Le 17:11).
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For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.
And LORD was with Judah, and drove out [those of] the hill-country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had chariots of iron.
That which is begotten from the flesh is flesh, and that which is begotten from the Spirit is spirit.
But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up the Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you.
The first man was of the earth, earthly. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
having erased the handwriting against us in the regulations that were hostile to us, and he has taken it up from the midst, having nailed it to the cross.
And may the God of peace himself sanctify you thoroughly. And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This wisdom is not descending from above, but is earthly, world-soul, demonic.
Hastings
The term is applied to God as defining His nature generally (Joh 4:24), and also as describing one element in that nature, His self-consciousness (1Co 2:11). It expresses not only God's immateriality, but also His transcendence of limitations of time and space. In the phrases 'Spirit of God,' the 'Spirit of the Lord,' the 'Spirit of Jesus Christ,' the 'Holy Spirit,' the 'Spirit of Truth,' the third Person in the Godhead is described (see Holy Spirit). The term is applied to personal powers of evil other than man (Mt 10:1; 12:45; Lu 4:33; 7:21; 1Ti 4:1; cf. Eph 6:12), as well as personal powers of good (Heb 1:14), and to human beings after death, either damned (1Pe 3:19) or blessed (Heb 12:23). It is used also as personifying an influence (1Jo 4:6; Eph 2:2; Ro 8:15). Its most distinctive use is in the psychology of the Christian life. The contrast between 'soul' and 'spirit,' and between 'flesh' and 'spirit,' has already been noted in the articles on these terms. While soul and spirit are not to be regarded as separate faculties, yet 'spirit' expresses the direct dependence of the life in man on God, first in creation (Ge 2:7), but especially, according to the Pauline doctrine, in regeneration. The life in man, isolating itself from, and opposing itself to, God, is soul; that life, cleansed and renewed by the Spirit of God, is spirit; intimate as is the relation of God and man in the new life, the Spirit of God is distinguished from the spirit of man (Ro 8:16), although it is not always possible to make the distinction. In Acts the phrase 'holy spirit' sometimes means the subjective human state produced ('holy enthusiasm'), and sometimes the objective Divine cause producing (see 'Acts' in the Century Bible, p. 386). As the Spirit is the source of this new life, whatever belongs to it is 'spiritual' (pneumatikon), as house, sacrifices (1Pe 2:5), understanding (Col 1:9), songs (Col 3:16), food, drink, rock (1Co 10:3-4); and the 'spiritual' and 'soulish' (rendered 'carnal' or 'natural') are contrasted (1Co 2:14; 15:44,46). Spirit as an ecstatic state is also distinguished from mind (1Co 14:14,16), as inwardness from letter (Ro 2:29; 7:6; 2Co 3:6). The old creation
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And LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
And LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Thus says God, LORD, he who created the heavens, and stretched them forth, he who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk in it,
And having called in his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to heal every sickness and every disease.
Then it goes, and takes with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having enter in, they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So it will also be to this evil generation.
And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean deity. And it cried out in a great voice, saying,
And in the same hour he healed many from diseases and plagues and evil spirits. And he granted sight to many blind men.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
but he is a Jew in what is hidden, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit not a document, whose praise is not from men but from God.
But now we have been released from the law, having died to what we were held, so as for us to serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of a document.
Consequently nothing is condemnation now to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to flesh but according to Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and of death. read more. For the impotence of the law, in that it was weak because of the flesh, God, having sent his own Son in a form of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that the justice of the law might be fulfilled in us, those who walk not according to flesh, but according to Spirit. For those who are according to flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those according to Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mentality of the flesh is death, but the mentality of the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mentality of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not submissive to the law of God, for neither is it able. And those who are in flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, this man is not of him. And if Christ is in you, the body is indeed dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up the Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to flesh. For if ye live according to flesh, ye are going to die, but if in spirit ye kill the deeds of the body, ye will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye did not receive a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
For ye did not receive a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself testifies with our spirit, that we are children of God.
The Spirit itself testifies with our spirit, that we are children of God. And if children, also heirs, heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer jointly, so that we may also be glorified jointly.
For what man knows the things of the man, except the spirit of the man in him? And so nobody knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
Now the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is unable to understand because they are evaluated spiritually.
And they all ate the same spiritual food, and they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them. And the rock was the Christ.
Otherwise if thou would bless with the spirit, how will the man who fills the place of the unlearned, say the Truly at thy thanksgiving, since he knows not what thou say?
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
Nevertheless the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.
in which ye once walked according to the era of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.
Because our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principal offices, against the positions of authority, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual things of wickedness in the he
Because of this we also, from the day that we heard, cease not praying for you and making request that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
In whom also ye were circumcised a circumcision not made with hands, in the removal of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of the Christ. Having been buried with him in immersion, in which also ye were raised together through faith of the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Because of which the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience,
Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing by grace in your hearts to God.
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth for service for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?
to a festal gathering and assembly of firstborn sons who were enrolled in the heavens, and to God, a Judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men who were made fully perfect,
ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
in which also, having gone, he preached to the spirits in prison
We are of God. He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Morish
See SOUL.
Watsons
SPIRIT, in Hebrew, ??? in Greek, ??????, and in Latin, spiritus, is in the Scriptures sometimes taken for the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Holy Trinity. The word signifies also the reasonable soul which animates us, and continues in existence even after the death of the body; that spiritual, thinking and reasoning substance, which is capable of eternal happiness, Nu 16:22; Ac 7:59. The term spirit is also often used for an angel, a demon, and a ghost, or soul separate from the body. It is said, in Ac 23:8, that the Sadducees denied the existence of angels and spirits. Jesus Christ appearing to his disciples, said to them, Lu 24:39, "Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." And St. Paul calls the good angels "ministering spirits," Heb 1:14. In 1Sa 16:14; 18:10; 19:9, it is said that an evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul: and we have also the expression unclean spirits. Add to this, spirit is sometimes put for the disposition of the heart or mind: see Nu 5:14; Zec 12:10; Lu 13:11; Isa 11:2. Discerning of spirits, or the secret character and thoughts of men, was a gift of God, and placed among the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, 1Co 12:10; 1Jo 4:1.
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and the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled, or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she is not defiled,
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will thou be angry with all the congregation?
And it came to pass, when all the nation were clean passed over the Jordan, that LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
Now the Spirit of LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from LORD troubled him.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David played with his hand, as he did day by day, and Saul had his spear in his hand.
And an evil spirit from LORD was upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing with his hand.
And the Spirit of LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of LORD.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look to me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him, as [a man] mourns for his only
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. And she was bent over, and not being able to straighten up completely.
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as ye see me having.
And they stoned Stephen, who was calling and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all.
and to another, workings of miracles, and to another, prophecy, and to another, discerning of spirits, and to a different man, kinds of tongues, and to another, the interpretation of tongues.
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth for service for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?