The Wisdom of Grace

By Tammy Lacock

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

In the final episode of Out of Law into Grace, Warren Litzman emphasizes the Apostle Paul’s precise distinction between soul and spirit as a fundamental step into the fullness of God’s grace. In fact, everything Paul writes about is based on the wisdom of God’s grace, by revelation from Christ Himself, that the human being is made up of three parts: body, soul, and spirit.

In the Old Testament, soul and spirit were used interchangeably. However, Apostle Paul tells us now in the New Testament that soul and spirit must be rightly divided (Hebrews 4:12), and we do this by rightly dividing the Word of God.

Warren gives us a few areas in Paul’s epistles that help us rightly divide the scriptures and move out of law by a clear understanding of the wisdom of God’s grace.

He starts off by explaining body, soul, and spirit through 2 Corinthians 1:10, “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in who we trust that he will yet deliver us.”

Here Paul tells us about our deliverance in three parts: spirit, soul, and body. We are already delivered (saved) in our spirits by Christ’s death and resurrection. We now stand perfect before God because Christ is joined to us by His Spirit, making us one spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17) with Him.

God sees only Christ in us now. The person of Christ joined to us in spirit is our salvation.

He then tells us we are being delivered in our souls, where our minds, wills, emotions, and intellects reside. We are always being delivered in our souls; it is ongoing as we learn Christ and the Holy Spirit turns our hearts toward Christ, away from self. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Our love affair with Christ takes place in our souls — getting to know and love the Christ who now lives in us.

Lastly, Paul says our bodies will be delivered upon Christ’s return, when we will get new, heavenly bodies.

Coming into grace, we need to understand that our minds and bodies will never be perfected while we are on earth, but through these parts we can allow Christ in us — living in our spirits — to come through. We must rightly divide our understanding of soul and spirit if we are to ever understand our salvation.

His second point is that when we move out of law into grace, our understanding of the Cross becomes clear. There are two foundational truths we need understand about the Cross. The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:19-20) and, because of His death, God could now birth His own children through and in Him (Ephesians 1:4). Nobody is placed in Christ until the finished work on the Cross. Our old sin-natures could not be uprooted and replaced with Christ’s nature until His death.

This is our spirit salvation. This is why in His last words on the cross, Christ said, “It is finished.” God’s plan is finished by Christ’s death and resurrection and God placing His Son in us. Christ is our new life, making us now bona fide children of God.

Warren’s third point emphasizes our need to understand Hebrews 4:12 or we will never step fully into pure grace:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Here Paul tells us again that we must rightly divide our souls and spirits; on earth, our souls will never match our spirits. Our spirit is Christ, a person, and our souls are what we do, think, and feel, where we make decisions. God will never take our decision-making ability away from us. Our decisions plan our life and cultivate our relationship with Christ, who now lives in us. It’s in our souls where the Holy Spirit works to help us grow in our love affair with Him.

And lastly, Warren highlights our need to rightly divide the Word of God in, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Warren explains that we are not to divide the scriptures according to our own understanding, but that God’s Word speaks for itself. We must study the scriptures to understand that, since the Cross, we have moved out of law and into grace. Paul tells us Old Testament and New Testament, soul and spirit, and law and grace must be rightly divided. By studying God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will help us see these distinctions so we can live accordingly. Moving into pure grace means moving entirely out of law (Old Testament, soulish thinking) and into Christ, living Him now by letting His Spirit come through us.

In Galatians 2:20 (KJV), Paul states our new life in Christ so beautifully, without confusion:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

This is the wisdom of God’s grace.

Perfect in Spirit, by Christ, verses:

• 1 Corinthians 2:6
• Philippians 3:15
• Colossians 1:28
• Colossians 4:12
• Hebrews 13:21
• 2 Timothy 3:17
• 1 Peter 5:10