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 breath of man that goes upward, and the breath of the animal that goes downward to the earth?
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declares to them; for the spirit of adultery caused them to go astray. They have played the harlot, departing from their God.
I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of kindness and of supplication. They will look to the one whom they pierced; and they will mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son. There will be a bitter lamentation for him, like one who grieves for his first-born.
After a song of praise to God they went to the Mount of Olives.
A woman had an evil spirit that kept her sick for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not stand straight.
See my hands and my feet that it is I. Touch me and see. A spirit does not have flesh and bones like I have.
That which is born from the flesh is flesh and that which is born from the Spirit is spirit.
The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit. The Pharisees believe both.
Those who live through (in union with) (because of) Jesus Christ have no condemnation. [They do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.] The law of the Spirit gives us life through (with) (because of) Christ Jesus. It has set me free from the law of sin and death. read more. God did what the Law could not do, because human nature was weak. He sent his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering and do away with sin. So he condemned sin in sinful human nature. God did this so that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully satisfied in us who live according to the Spirit, and not according to human nature. They who live according to flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. They who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The mind of sinful flesh (fleshly thought) means death; but the mind influenced by the Spirit gives life and peace. This is because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God. It is not subject to the law of God for it cannot be. Those influenced by the sinful flesh cannot please God. But you are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwells in you. If any one does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to him. If Christ is with you, the body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit is life on account of righteousness. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from among the dead dwells with you, he who raised Christ from among the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive. This is on account of his Spirit that dwells with you. So then, brothers we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to flesh (human nature), for if you live according to flesh, you are about to die. If by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of bondage again causing fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father! (Chaldee: Abba, meaning father). The Spirit itself (Greek:autos ho pneuma) (itself the Spirit) bears witness with our spirit (mind and heart), that we are children of God.
To another the workings of miracles and to another prophesy. To another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.
I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These are in opposition to one another that you may not do the things that you would. read more. But if the Spirit leads you, you are not under the Law. Now the works of the flesh (sinful human nature) are apparent. They are: fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, wrath, contentions, divisions, sects, envies, drunkenness, revelries, and things like these. I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that those who practice such things would not inherit the kingdom of God. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness (mildness), self-control; against such there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have impaled the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near.
Do not quench the Spirit.
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God that is in you because of the laying on of my hands.
He preached to the people in prison.
He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly!
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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A spirit passed in front of me. It made my hair stand on end.
No man has the power to restrain the wind, to retain the breath of life. Neither does he have power in the day of death. There is no discharge from that war. Neither will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.
I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of kindness and of supplication. They will look to the one whom they pierced; and they will mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son. There will be a bitter lamentation for him, like one who grieves for his first-born.
All were amazed and spoke to one another. What is he telling us? For he speaks with authority and with power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out.
Do not rejoice about this that the spirits are subject to you. Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.
A woman had an evil spirit that kept her sick for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not stand straight.
See my hands and my feet that it is I. Touch me and see. A spirit does not have flesh and bones like I have.
They stoned Stephen. He called out: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!
He was declared to be the Son of God with power through the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through him.
Then the evil (lawless) one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will put him to death with the breath of his mouth, and destroy him by the manifestation (brightness) (advent) (revelation) of his coming. (Greek: parousia: presence, return, being near)
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for those who will be heirs of salvation?
to the general assembly and congregation of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just (righteous) (holy) men made perfect (mature) (having all needed qualities).
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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This is because life of every living thing is in the blood. I have given this blood to you to pay compensation for wrongdoing and make peace with me on the altar. Blood is needed to pay compensation for wrongdoing and make peace with me.'
Jehovah was with Judah. He drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
That which is born from the flesh is flesh and that which is born from the Spirit is spirit.
If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from among the dead dwells with you, he who raised Christ from among the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive. This is on account of his Spirit that dwells with you.
The first man is from the earth, earthy: the second man is from heaven.
He blotted out the bond written in ordinances. It was against us and was contrary to us. He has taken it out of the way. He nailed it to the stake.
May the very God of peace completely sanctify you (make you holy). I pray to God that your entire spiritual being, your mind and body, is preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This wisdom is not a wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish.
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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Jehovah God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The man became a living being.
Jehovah God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The man became a living being.
God created the heavens and stretched them out. He fashioned the earth and all that lives there. He gave life and breath to all its people. And now Jehovah God says to his servant:
He called his twelve disciples. He gave them power to cast out unclean spirits and to heal all kinds of disease and sickness.
Then it takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself. They enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. It will also be like this with this evil generation.
A man in the synagogue had a spirit of an unclean demon. He cried out with a loud voice:
In that hour he cured many diseases, plagues and evil spirits. Sight was restored to the blind.
God is a Spirit. They who worship him must worship him with spirit and truth.
But he is a Jew who is so on the inside with circumcision of the heart, in spirit, not in letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
We have been discharged (released) from the law. We have died to that by which we were held. So we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
Those who live through (in union with) (because of) Jesus Christ have no condemnation. [They do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.] The law of the Spirit gives us life through (with) (because of) Christ Jesus. It has set me free from the law of sin and death. read more. God did what the Law could not do, because human nature was weak. He sent his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering and do away with sin. So he condemned sin in sinful human nature. God did this so that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully satisfied in us who live according to the Spirit, and not according to human nature. They who live according to flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. They who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The mind of sinful flesh (fleshly thought) means death; but the mind influenced by the Spirit gives life and peace. This is because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God. It is not subject to the law of God for it cannot be. Those influenced by the sinful flesh cannot please God. But you are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwells in you. If any one does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to him. If Christ is with you, the body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit is life on account of righteousness. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from among the dead dwells with you, he who raised Christ from among the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive. This is on account of his Spirit that dwells with you. So then, brothers we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to flesh (human nature), for if you live according to flesh, you are about to die. If by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of bondage again causing fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father! (Chaldee: Abba, meaning father).
For you have not received a spirit of bondage again causing fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father! (Chaldee: Abba, meaning father). The Spirit itself (Greek:autos ho pneuma) (itself the Spirit) bears witness with our spirit (mind and heart), that we are children of God.
The Spirit itself (Greek:autos ho pneuma) (itself the Spirit) bears witness with our spirit (mind and heart), that we are children of God. If children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him we may also be glorified with him.
For what man knows the things of a man, except the mental disposition that is in man? Even so no one knows the things of God, but the Spirit of God.
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him! He cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
They all ate the same spiritual meal. They all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them. That Rock was (represented) (symbolic of) Christ! (Exodus 7:6) (Numbers 20:11)
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding (mind) is unfruitful.
When you bless with the spirit, how will the audience of the unlearned say Amen at your giving of thanks, seeing he does not understand what you said?
It is sown a natural body and it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.
How is it the first is not spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power (authority and jurisdiction) of the air, the spirit that is now active in the sons of disobedience.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places.
Since the day we heard about you, we have not ceased to pray and make request for you. We pray for you to be filled with the [intimate accurate] knowledge (discernment) (recognition) of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (Philippians 1:9) (John 17:3)
You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ. You have been buried with him in baptism. You were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Because of such things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom. Teach and admonish one another with psalms, praises to God, and spiritual songs. Sing with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for those who will be heirs of salvation?
to the general assembly and congregation of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just (righteous) (holy) men made perfect (mature) (having all needed qualities).
You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
He preached to the people in prison.
We are from God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the vital principle (spirit) of truth, and the principle (spirit) of deception (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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A husband may have a fit of jealousy and suspect his wife, whether she was actually unfaithful or not.
Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground and said: O God, you are the God who gives the breath of life to everyone! If one man sins, will you be angry with the entire congregation?
All the people finished crossing the Jordan River. Then Jehovah spoke to Joshua:
Jehovah's Spirit left Saul, and a distressing spirit sent by Jehovah tormented him.
The next day Jehovah let a distressing spirit take control of Saul. He began acting like a crazy man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual. This time Saul had a spear in his hand.
One night, David was in Saul's home, playing the harp for him. Saul sat there with a spear in his hand. The distressing spirit from Jehovah took control of him.
The Spirit of Jehovah will rest on him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and respect for Jehovah will be his.
I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of kindness and of supplication. They will look to the one whom they pierced; and they will mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son. There will be a bitter lamentation for him, like one who grieves for his first-born.
A woman had an evil spirit that kept her sick for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not stand straight.
See my hands and my feet that it is I. Touch me and see. A spirit does not have flesh and bones like I have.
They stoned Stephen. He called out: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!
The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit. The Pharisees believe both.
To another the workings of miracles and to another prophesy. To another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for those who will be heirs of salvation?