"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his soul shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his doing." (Matt 16:24-27).

Jesus explains clearly that our soul is developed through surrender of our lives and will to His will. To pursue our own course according to our own will leads to ultimate destruction of our soul; that is, destroys the potential of what Jesus intended. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who creates-life¹²⁶; the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63). In Matthew 16:24-27, Jesus is also telling us that if we will not compromise in our walk with him when man shuts the door in our face through natural means, that He will Himself make sure that our soul is developed as He intended. He will make the way (Prov 29:25; 1 Pet 2:23, 4:19).

The Apostle John said, "Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers." (3 John 2). As we allow Jesus to develop our talents and abilities according to His purpose and plans for our lives, which is our soul development, there will be a market for what we have and thus financially and materially we will prosper. (Deut 30:9-10). I believe this involves the maturity of our character as well.

Man’s Heart is the essence of his soul, it is the part of man which decides how he will respond to what he has learned through his spirit, soul and body; through his mind; through gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit; through the promptings of his conscience; and through his emotions. It is the volitional part of man.¹¹⁶

Man’s Heart is the reality of man’s soul. It is man himself who listens to his spirit: conscience, gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit and God’s revelation through communion; which searches out its library: memory, knowledge and past experience in the mind; and to the information gained through the five senses of his body and then decides independently of this information gained through all these avenues what it will follow or do. The Bible defines the heart as the volition of man.

The writer of Proverbs states, "The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking heart; he who would destroy his soul does it." (Prov 6:32). The prophet Hosea states in the book of Hosea, "Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away the heart." (Hos 4:11). The implication here is that to have control over one’s lusts and emotions in line with the will of God is to have a strong will; or as the writer of Proverbs states it, to have heart, self-control. To surrender to one’s lusts and emotions or to have a weak will is to lack heart or will power. Jesus put it this way,

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." (Matt 15:19-20).

Having evil thoughts or information in our minds does not make us evil. When in our hearts, we decide to act upon that information it then becomes sin. Acting upon the information does not have to be lived out physically to make it sin either. Jesus said in Matthew,

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you, that every one who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matt 5:27-28).

This is why the writer of Proverbs tells us,

"Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23)

There are four functions of man’s soul which are manifested through man’s heart because they are all centered in man’s volition: conscious reasoning, subconscious holdings, the soul-expression, and God-implanted giftedness.

"And immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning¹⁵² that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?" (Mark 2:8)

The subconscious part of man’s being is where basic presuppositions, decisions made, and talents are stored or implanted as a result of volitional decisions made through conscious reasoning and God implanted giftedness. It is also the root of soul-expression (1 Cor 14:25, Prov 27:19).

"I, Yehovah, search the heart, I test the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds." (Jer 17:10)

". . . and all the churches will know that I am He [Jesus] who searches the reins and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds." (Rev 2:23)

David Cairns in his book, The Image of God in Man, defines this word as meaning ". . . where motive, or that which is known to God but hidden to man."^131/34 Lawrence J. Crabb in his book, Effective Biblical Counseling, defining what he calls the unconscious mind states that it is ". . . the reservoir of basic assumptions which people firmly and emotionally hold about how to meet their needs of significance and security."^132/91

When God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle he told him he would implant in the heart of certain individuals abilities and skills required to do the work of art necessary: "And in the hearts of all who are wise of heart I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you" (Exodus 31:6). Why is it that we can intellectually have an understanding of something in theory but cannot perfect it in physical practice where as someone else can? Because the ability to exercise our heart in that skill has not been given to us by God.

If, however, God chooses, He can enlarge the capacity of our heart to be able to exercise skills we have not been able to do before. In a dream, in 1 Kings 3:5, God said to Solomon, "Ask what you wish me to give you." Solomon said to God in reply,

"Give Your servant a hearing heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (1 Kings 3:9)

God states in reply,

"Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you." (1 Kings 3:12)

Later the writer of 1 Kings tells us,

"Now Elohim gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and largeness of heart, like the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt." (1 Kings 4:29-30)

When, in obedience to God, I finished my two year degree in Electronic Technology the Lord gave me three more talents of Evangelism, Overseeing, and Teaching, He expanded my heart, of which this textbook work is an expression. (Matt 25:14-30). David wrote in Psalm 119:32, "I will run the way of Your commands, for You shall enlarge my heart."

Man’s Soul is his unique personality having its roots in his subconscious, manifested through heart volition. Every time we make a decision about anything we learn or experience in life, that decision is permanently planted into our subconscious and our will becomes bound to it. The end result is that whether we are conscious of it or not, it affects everything we do. Our decisions make us who we are. When we think of someone, we think of the things they say and their physical mannerisms. We think about the facial expressions they make when talking or reacting to something they see or hear. All these things are our unique soul expressing itself through the will through our body. Without realizing it, these things control our will and the expression of our soul through our body. This is what Paul was talking about in a negative sense in Romans 7:14-24,

"For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man. But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"

The human soul is like a sculpture. Every decision and choice we make is a chisel working away at our soul and forming, so to speak, a work of art. Unfortunately, once the chisel has done its work, if left to ourselves, the work cannot be undone. This is why Jesus said that with men salvation is not possible. It is also why Jesus said we must be born from above. Once the damage is done, the soul cannot be changed or repaired. Whatever decisions and choices we make become a permanent part of our souls and a permanent expression of our souls through our volition. This is what Paul is expressing in frustration in Romans Chapter 7. Jesus tells us it cannot be repaired, that the only solution is to be born from above, recreated inside and out. This is developed fully in Chapter 8 of this Section titled, "Jesus’ Full Salvation For Man."