I’d like to take the liberty to express what I’m about to say, being beholden and biased to none, so I pray that what's written won't be derogatory or offensive to anyone for the aim of my writing is to serve as a platform for thoughts and kindred spirits to jell.

I fear that my writing will be seen as an audacious act. The only way I can justify is to ask that this be read in the spirit it is offered: as a conversation, hopefully lively, interesting, and thought-provoking. This is about the existence of God and how He can help us out of our predicaments, not a theological discussion on who He is, or how you should relate to God, how He relates to us.

What I’m about to write isn’t meant to segregate or assail people of different beliefs or determined atheists. I believe and do affirm this: that perfect love casts out fear for the more we know about each other, the more there is to love and the less there is to fear. As Francis Bacon aptly puts it: a little science estranges a man from God, but a lot of science brings him back.

This isn’t some discourse on the measure, neither is it diatribe on dogma. I’m not out to prove that there is omnipotence. Isn’t good science supposed to objectively weigh the evidence first then come to the conclusion? As it is with good science, so too with good judgement. There needs to be a suspension of scepticism and one must enter the realm of truthful pursuit.

A searching open mind leads to illumination: determined ignorance leads to mistrust, mistrust to enmity. A rational mind will objectively weigh all things in light of the truth and it is the posture of the heart in its arduous search that will ultimately be unveiled when it takes the stance either for or against the holistic truth, hence freewill exists. Conclusions for data are something none of us should accept blindly or without question, bearing in mind that how we first ask our questions dictates our answers. Data and conclusions are vastly dissimilar creatures. That is why there are often so many disputes; the interpretation of data generates volumes of argument – we need to realise that inarguable data can lead to arguable conclusions. Faith is not a matter of knowledge and applied intellectual reason, yet knowledge and reason need not be obstacles to faith.

I’m still young, but from the august and wealth of what I’ve had the privilege to go through, my thoughts are congealing into what follows:

Human beings, like a three cylinder motor, are spirit, soul, and body, and every part of us requires life in order to function. The Bible speaks of three kinds of life that we live simultaneously: bios, the physical life, psyché, the soul life, and zoé, the divine, spiritual life. Bios, the physical, biological life is the lowest of the three.

Everybody has Bios life in them for it is a prerequisite for the functioning of the body.

Psyché is the next form of life. Psyché means “soul,” and refers to the mind, will and emotions. Thanks to our soul, we have a personal consciousness. Animals, like humans, have physical life but they do not have a personal consciousness. Man was created with a tremendously developed soul. Scientists today tell us we only use about ten percent of our intellectual and mental capacities and emotions. If our soul life were not so limited, we would be able to invent, plan, dream, and be boundlessly creative because God, the Creator, formed us in His image.

Yet soul life is not the real, true life. Zoé life, God’s life, is most important. According to the Bible, zoé is the highest form of life, clearly superior to bios and psyche. This is life from God- spiritual life.

He who has become a Christian, who has accepted Jesus Christ into his life has zoé. This word depicts the highest and best the saints in God possess.

Even if you’re not born again you still have a spirit, or inward man. The big difference is that the unsaved person’s inward man does not possess God’s life. It is not created in the image of God and has not the capabilities to harness God’s endless resources with which one can emerge victorious from any circumstance.

One does not need the Son of God to have physical life, though He created everything and maintains it by the word of His power. Nor do you need Him to have a soul, though He created that too. But for zoé, the highest form of life, you need the Son of God. When you profess Him as Lord and Saviour, life enters your spirit. Then you have bios, physical life; psyche, soul life, and zoé, spiritual life.

One’s spiritual life is paramount. It ought to guide and rule, but we need to allow it to do so. If one isn’t led by his spirit, the other forms of life will take over and a battle between one’s spirit and flesh will ensue.

We can choose a life constantly limited by circumstances and dictated by the body and soul, but we were never created for that. We were created to live an abundant life. God has us constantly in His thoughts and He loves us. He crowned us with glory and honour and put everything under our feet. This is the starting point of all spiritual life.

There is a way of living free from carnal limitations. It is to live by one’s spirit, to draw from the inward man.

God restores our soul. In Psalms 23 David says, “…He restores my soul.” God restores our thinking, our emotions and our will so we begin to think right, feel right, and do the right things. Some people believe that if we are to follow God we must put everything to death: mind, feelings and will. But this is not true. When we are saved, our old, inward man died, a new man was created and now in our spirit, we crucify the flesh. This does not mean that we must put everything that has to do with our mind to death. No, we must bring our mind to the obedience of Christ.

God does not want a dead intellect, but a sound and developed one, which shares His thoughts. A life void of emotions is of little use to God, but He can use a wholesome life that shares his feelings and does not react according to circumstances. God cannot use a dead will; He desires a strong will that is submitted to His stronger will. It is true that we must die to certain things, but this has been so colossally misconstrued that people have hardly dared to do anything. Remember, the Bible does not talk primarily about dying to things but about living with God so that His life can flow through us. When we walk with God, we must constantly opt to follow the spirit rather than the flesh. The soul promotes hate but the spirit promotes love.
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