Spirit, soul, and body: what is the difference?
灵、魂、体: 有什么区别？
There are a few places in the Bible where spirit, soul and body are all three mentioned:
圣经中有几个地方提到了灵spirit、魂soul 、体三者：
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:23 和合本
23 愿赐平安的 神亲自使你们全然成圣！又愿你们的灵与魂与身子得蒙保守，在我们主耶稣基督降临的时候，完全无可指摘！
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
希伯来书 4:12 和合本
12 神的道是活泼的，是有功效的，比一切两刃的剑更快，甚至魂与灵，骨节与骨髓，都能刺入、剖开，连心中的思念和主意都能辨明。
But what exactly is meant by body, soul and spirit?
但身体、魂和灵究竟是什么意思呢?
It seems not too difficult to distinguish the body from the soul and spirit.
把身体从魂和灵中区分开来似乎并不太难。
The body is physical and with the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch) it connects and interacts with the outer world.
身体是物质的，有五种感觉（视觉、听觉、味觉、嗅觉和触觉），它与外部世界相连并相互作用。
The soul and spirit are much more difficult to separate from each other. Many Christians hold to the opinion that the soul is the part of us that covers our will, affections and thoughts.
魂（soul ）和灵更难彼此分离。许多基督徒坚持认为魂（soul ）是我们的一部分，包括我们的意志、情感和思想。
The soul is the part of us that connects with our fellow human beings.
魂是我们与人类同胞相联系的一部分。
The spirit is the part that connects to God and covers matters like faith, trust, worship and so on.
灵是与神相连的部分，涵盖了信心、信靠、敬拜等事务。
The spirit is seen as the innermost part of our being.
灵被视为我们最深处的部分。
It is enveloped by our soul, which in turn is enveloped by our body.
它被我们的魂所包围，而魂又被我们的身体所包围。
The spirit then is the part that needs regeneration in the person who does not know God.
因此，灵就是那不认识神的人需要重生的部分。
However, a closer look to the way in which the words soul and spirit are used in the Scriptures, reveals that it is not easy to pinpoint their exact meaning.
然而，仔细观察《圣经》中“魂”和“灵”这两个词的用法，就会发现，要确定它们的确切含义并不容易。
Sometimes the word ‘soul’ refers to the part of the human being that will live on in eternity as in Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And in the Great Commandment, we are taught to love God with all of our soul”(Matthew 22:37).
有时，“魂soul”一词指的是人将永生的部分，如马太福音10章28节所说:那杀身体、不能杀灵魂soul的，不要怕他们；惟有能把身体和灵魂soul都灭在地狱里的，正要怕他。”
Matthew 22:37 KJV
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
马太福音 22:37 和合本
37 耶稣对他说：“你要尽心、尽性、尽意，爱主你的 神。
The word spirit is not mentioned in these verses; yet they address our relationship to God, not to fellow men.
这些经文中没有提到“灵spirit ”一词，但它们论述的是我们与神的关系，而不是我们与人的关系。
It seems that God did not find it important to give us a clear definition of the two words.
Even though a distinction is made between spirit in soul in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12, it does not become exactly clear what the distinction implies.
上帝似乎并不认为给我们两个词一个明确的定义很重要。
虽然《帖撒罗尼迦前书》5:23和《希伯来书》4:12对魂中的灵进行了区分，但这一区别的含义并不是很清楚。
1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV
23 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.
帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:23 和合本
23 愿赐平安的 神亲自使你们全然成圣！又愿你们的灵与魂与身子得蒙保守，在我们主耶稣基督降临的时候，完全无可指摘！
Hebrews 4:12 KJV
12 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.
希伯来书 4:12 和合本
12 神的道是活泼的，是有功效的，比一切两刃的剑更快，甚至魂与灵，骨节与骨髓，都能刺入、剖开，连心中的思念和主意都能辨明。
Anything that contains the spirit is called a soul. A souls could also refer to this body that we are in now, or it could refer to another type of body that can contain our spirit in heaven.
任何含灵的东西都被称为魂。魂也可以指我们现在所处的身体，或者指另一种可以在天堂容纳我们的灵魂的身体。
They are separate. The spirit comes from God. The soul is formed.
他们是分离的。灵来自上帝。魂是形成的。
The spirit exist within a soul. But the soul can exist apart from the human body.
灵存在于魂之中，但魂可以脱离人类身体而存在。
The soul contains the spirit. The body can envelopes the soul, which can contain the spirit.
魂包含着灵，肉体可以包裹含着魂，魂容纳着灵。
The body is also a soul.
肉体也是一个灵魂。
The most important thing we need to remember is that the part of us which is referred to as soul or spirit, needs regeneration by God’s Spirit.
我们需要记住的最重要的一点是，我们身体中被称为魂或灵的那部分，需要上帝的灵再生。
Without the Spirit’s work in us, we are dead and unable to know God and unable to understand his word.
没有圣灵在我们里面的工作，我们就死了，不能认识神，也不能明白他的话。
