I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless... 1 Thes. 5:23 " spirit " here is a metaphor for conscience...

" 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 Thes. 5:23 KJV

*******************************************************************************************************************

it has long perplexed Bible students what relationship the " spirit " has with the
" soul " and the " body " of the elect as we read in this passage. some say man is a
three fold being which only adds to the confusion since such an idea comes from ancient
Greek philosopher's. yet other's conclude the word " spirit " refer's to the life entity
in man.

confusion arises again by this last conclusion since God uses such words as " soul " to
say that the breath of life He put in Adam caused him to became a living soul. imposing
the Bible word " spirit " to mean the life element in man ( which the Atheist /
Evolutionist's can not find in the Periodic Table ) and the word " soul " to mean the life
element in man, Gen. 2:7 would have to read...

" And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a " spirit soul. "

agai we read in Heb. 4:12 the words soul and spirit in the same passage... " For the
word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged 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. "

the Bible word " spirit " as found in 1 Thes. 5:23, because of it's use here and
especially found right next the word " blameless " in that passage, the word " spirit "
here is a metaphor for " conscience. "

conscience is spoken of in the Bible as that which perceives right and wrong; a witness
in self which accuses self of moral and spiritual right and wrong toward God and man as in
Acts 24:16.

the word " conscience " in the KJV is found only in the NT; conscience stands as a direct
witness in accusing or approving the deeds of man as he relates to the Law of God as we
read in Ro. 2:15 where it is used as a synonym for the word ' heart ' and the word
' thought. ' after Judas betrayed Jesus his conscience so vehemently accused him he could
no longer live with himself and so committed suicide.

for the Law of God to be " written on their hearts " it is plain to see that it is the
conscience of man that accuses or condones his actions. ( Ro. 2:14-16 ) conscience is
" by nature "... that is to say, natural to man... an integral part of his being which
relates him to the Law of God as either one who keeps from trespassing His Law or one who
is violating His Law, whether they have a Bible or not.

since the 'spirit ' can not possibly mean ' soul ' and ' soul ' can not possibly mean
' spirit ' in 1 thes. 5:23, neither can possibly mean ' body' in that verse. but when we
see ' spirit ' as a metaphor in this verse for ' conscience ' everything comes to a clear
understanding of what God is saying.

it is a pure conscience which is spoken of again and again in the Epistles written by the
various Apostles in the NT but never a pure spirit. the association of conscience with
spirit as an expression in the language of the Bible is such by reason of both elements
being otherwise something intangible... as a breath is intangible; as the air around us is
intangible. conscience is peculiar to man only; animals have no conscience but are
a-moral.