The Need for Deliverance of the Soul
For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete.
2 Corinthians 10:3–6 (AMPC)
Man was created a threefold being: a spirit, with a soul, living in a body. He needs his soul and body to function properly on this plane, and his soul and body need his spirit to be alive. This makes spirit, soul and body equally important for living life on earth.
Kenneth Hagin put it this way: with his spirit man contacts the spiritual realm, with his soul the realm of the soul, and with his body the physical world. Man is not only capable of contacting all these dimensions of existence; he was designed for that purpose. The spiritual realm, with its resources and the possibilities it offers, is as available to him as his ability to interact with the physical world, and the reverse is also true.
The soul, however, is probably the most important tool God has ever given man, in the sense that it can interface with the spiritual and physical realms in ways the spirit and the body cannot without its aid. The soul gives expression to the personality of the spirit, and also provides the programming for how the body should function. Every part of man affects the others, but the soul seems to be the area of both advantage and disadvantage for him.
The soul can indeed be brought to operate at a level where the spirit fully expresses its latent power in the physical world. The answer is a resounding yes, through the process of renewal, anakainōsis. The soul is the part of man in which his mind, both logic and imagination, is seated, along with his will, emotions, intellect, consciousness, creative power and sensory perception. God created every part of man so that he might serve God's purposes well here on earth.
The soul is the primary target of spirits. The potential of the spirit and of the body cannot be accessed or unlocked without the soul, because the soul holds the key, and this makes it the most important asset in the eyes of spirits. Jesus asked what it would profit a man to lose his own soul. Nothing gained or possessed is worth the value of the soul; it is your most prized possession in life.
This means that learning to use and leverage the soul is one of the greatest skills you can have, and it will give you an unparalleled advantage in this world. Thank God, the Scriptures give us the tools and the solutions to achieve it. I mentioned earlier the need for the soul to be renewed if it is to function as God intended. The spirit man is, and should be, king over the soul, but the Fall and sin displaced it, and without the government of the spirit, soul and body are rebels, capable of doing whatever they want. The renewal of the soul is therefore important for optimal, well-calibrated functioning in life. Romans 12 tells us exactly how to deal with the body and the soul: the body is to be presented to God continually as a sacrifice, and the soul is to be transformed, metamorphosed, by renewal. All this is done by the spirit, which needs to be strong and to have ascendancy over the body and soul to do it.
Because these two areas are so precious to the existence and function of man on earth, they are areas of great spiritual warfare. Even before you were born, war was launched against your soul, and your body was sought after. But thank God for salvation in Jesus: now spirit, soul and body are owned by Him. That does not mean you have no responsibility. On the contrary, He has given you a great responsibility to steward your spirit, soul and body according to His will.
When you read the opening scripture, you realise that part of transforming and renewing the soul will require you to engage in aggressive spiritual warfare against your own soul. There are strongholds, theories, arguments and reasonings, patterns of thought, which, if they are not overthrown, will handicap you in the spirit and in the world, damage your relationship with God and your destiny, and make you a victim and slave of your own lusts and of Satan's. These, with many other effects, are the experience of many around the world, especially of Christians who do not understand why their lives are so contrary to, and so opposed by, God's promises for those in Christ. The fact that they do not understand is proof enough that their soul has been captured.
Be careful when your worldview, your outlook and your perception of life and things are opposed to God and to His Word, because these are among the signs of a captured soul. Observe how you think, how you reason and how you use your imagination. Are you succeeding spiritually? Is your soul healthy and prosperous, and your body healthy? Are your relationships succeeding? Is your life organised and progressing? Are you full of joy and fulfilled? Are you diligent and hardworking? Can your mind hold, and meditate on, whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and of good report, anything of virtue and anything praiseworthy? Is your mind set on things spiritual, on things above? These are some of the signs of a healthy, renewed mind.
Your answers to these questions will determine the intensity and aggressiveness with which you need to use the spiritual weapons of God to overthrow these invaders of your soul. Otherwise you will live a very difficult and inconsistent life, spiritually and here on earth, and that is not God's desire for you.
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
3 John 1:2 (NKJV)