Healing of the Soul, (condensed)

"Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away,

behold, the new has come." 2 Cor. 5:17.

These words are God’s revelation concerning the spiritual reality of one who is born again. Many Christians are discouraged and often fall into deep despair because "the old has passed away" does not seem to be true in their lives. This frustration is possible because they fail to distinguish between soul and spirit. The spirit is the unconscious self and the reality of being. The soul is the conscious self and therefore it is the realm of feelings, emotions and conscious thoughts. It is in the soul that the contradiction with the above scripture is felt. The soul is not renewed — it is in process of being made new through faith. Paul exhorts that we are to be transformed by the renewal of our mind, Romans 12:2. Peter declares that the soul is to be purified through "obedience to the truth". I Peter 1:22. Jesus said, "the truth will set you free". John 8:32. The spirit is new but the soul must be made new. The battle is between the truth and the lie. At the root of every sin, emotional problem or aberration is a lie. No change in feelings or experience is possible without a change in attitude and mind towards the truth — especially as revealed in God’s word. Inside this folder you will find a chart which seeks to illustrate the process of the healing of the soul. Study it carefully, it may help you.

HEALING OF THE SOUL

FAITH...is to reckon, consider or depend upon what God says over against previous knowledge, experience or feelings. This is done by choice of will, therefore, everyone can believe. Faith is agreeing with God. Positive use of the will (relative to God's word) is faith...negative use is either upon the truth or the lie. God's promise is to work in you to do His will and fortify your positive choice.	THOUGHTS in your mind may originate from God, yourself or Satan. Thoughts you allow to remain are the thoughts you choose to think. The thoughts you reject are not yours even though they may persist in your mind.	The thoughts you allow become habits, that is, patterns of thought. . . or ATTITUDES In other words, the thoughts you think determine your character and personality.	EMOTIONS or feelings result from attitude. Emotions must be controlled at the source by choosing to think true thoughts. Feelings can be changed through faith.	BEHAVIOR or action follows emotion or feelings. Any person is capable of any act when emotions are developed and circumstances are just right for the act.	LIFE is all that which has to do with the well-being of body, soul and spirit. Love, joy, peace, goodness, patience, self control and physical health. A way of life based upon truth leads to LIFE! LIFE

UNBELIEF...is believing a lie, that is, depending upon, reckoning upon or counting upon a lie as though it were true. Whether done in ignorance, under deception or by choice, the results are destructive since this leads to thoughts and reasonings based upon false ideas, and wrong information.	After choosing to believe God in any specific conflict, guard your mind to permit only those thoughts compatible with your choice. Remember all the thoughts in your mind do not come from you. Learn to be selective. Your mind must be renewed.	ATTITUDE, like character, is not easily changed. Your attitude determines your emotional health. Since attitude is developed by thought, it can only be changed by changing thoughts. Whatever is true, just, honorable, pure, lovely, think on these things.	As an emotional being, man tends to be led by his feelings equating feelings with reality, but man is designed to be controlled by his will. What a man chooses to believe is what he really is. "you can't help how you feel" is not true!	It is impossible to change some bad behavior patterns without first correcting the "false truth" from which the behavior springs. Consequently, changed thoughts will lead to new attitudes and a correction of behavior.	DEATH DEATH is all that which destroys body, soul and spirit. All anxiety, fear, despair, nervousness and sickness is a form of death.

While the principles outlined above are helpful to any person who has emotional, physical or mental problems, it would be futile to speak of soul healing in depth unless the spirit of a person has first been made alive. The spirit of man is the essence of man and any true healing must take place from the inside out. Of course, there is only one way to			receive spiritual health and that is to through receiving Life Himself in the person of Jesus Christ as the Gift of God. Most of a person's serious emotional problems dissolve when the spirit receives life through Christ, however, of the problems that persist among Christians , an understanding of the principles outlined above will be most helpful.

GOD’S THREE PART REDEMPTION

God is at work in three distinct areas of our being as He works out our redemption and restoration. Each of the three areas requires a different working accomplished in three different periods of time — past, present and future. It is important to understand the time elements involved as well as the three parts of our personality. The spirit has been redeemed, (a past work, 2 Cor. 5:17, Col. 3:1-4). The body shall be redeemed (a future work, Rom. 8:23, I Cor. 15:51). The soul is being redeemed now (a present work, Rom. 12,2, Eph. 4:17-23) The redemption and restoration of the whole man is God’s declared purpose Let the faithfulness of God be firmly established first of all — when you receive Christ into your heart, He does come in (Rev. 3:20). He comes in to stay, for He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you". ( Heb. 13:5). He becomes your true life and your Resident Savior!

God always works from the inside out, from the root to the top, from the seed to the flower, from the hidden to the manifest, from the spirit to the body.

The present work of God, (the restoration of the soul) is the part of our redemption with which we are most concerned in this time How to release the Life which was placed in the unconscious realm of our being (our spirit), into the conscious daily life experience is the problem which leads us into the war between flesh and spirit we all know so well. The battlefield upon which this contest is fought is not the spirit, as is so commonly supposed, rather it is in the soul—the conscious mind with its feelings, emotions, passions, thoughts, ideas, decisions and choices of will. By what he believes, man determines whether the principle of life in Christ or the principle of death will operate in his soul.

THE POWER OF THE LIE!

In the first chapter of Romans, God briefly summarizes the sinful condition of man and how he came to that unhappy state. After turning away from God . . . "they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened." The beginning of a sinful life is a darkened mind. How the mind becomes dark is revealed in Romans 1:25, "... because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie . . .. As God is the source of His word which is truth so there is a personality behind the lie. The sad state of the human race began with a lie spoken by someone so long ago. Jesus said that someone was Satan, the father of lies. John 8:44. The most destructive lies are those spoken in direct contradiction to the word of God. "You will not die", said the serpent. God’s word was still fresh in Eve’s ear; "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree lest you die". She had two testimonies to count upon, one the opposite of the other, both could not be true. She chose the wrong one she believed a lie and acted upon it. This unfortunate choice produced its fruit in her life and all of her subsequent problems followed as a result of counting upon that lie. This strategy was perfect and Satan has never changed it. Every problem within you has its source in a lie from the father of lies, therefore, the only effective remedy is faith, that is, trust and God speaks dependence upon the truth as it. Works of righteousness or sacrifices will not bring deliverance so long as one holds to the lie. No amount of prayer or penance will bring victory so long as one continues to depend upon any testimony which is contrary to the word of God.

By Dr. Bert Bauman

For a more comprehensive treatment on this subject order the 64 page booklet HEALING OF THE SOUL

by Dr. Bert Bauman.