What Is Self?

“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.” (John 5:30-31 NKJV)

What is “self?” Can “self” be the essence of who we are as a person; the identifying characteristics that mark us as an individual? Jesus said: “I can of Myself do nothing.” We know that Jesus had limitless abilities: He could turn water into wine, cause trees to instantly wither, walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead, and Himself rise from the dead. Yet, He said of Himself He had no power to do anything.

What does that say about us? Obviously, the Lord Jesus was speaking of His intimate Oneness with His heavenly Father, the same Heavenly Father to whom He introduced us and gives us the privilege of knowing, loving, and serving. Could that relationship hold the key to a proper understanding of “self?” The “self” is powerless, limited, frail, feeble, unimpressive, yet the “self” empowered by the Spirit of the living God has unlimited resources to live as we cannot apart from Him.

Perhaps Eugene H. Peterson says it best when he writes: “Self is the soul minus God.” So, the logical question then becomes: what is the soul? Strong’s Concordance defines soul as: “The breath of life: the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing. Life: a living being, a living soul. The seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.); the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life; the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body).”

Essentially the soul and the body are two distinct and separate entities within a human being. We think, feel and function as a human being because of how God has designed and engineered the body. What does that mean? It means we can live our whole lives devoid of any understanding that we even have a soul. “Self is the soul minus God.” Much of the world today is clueless that God exists, but even if He did, what does that have to do with ME, with my SELF?

Why does any of this even matter? Because the mind, the ability to reason, to think, are human functions, which of course, can be aided by the presence of the Holy Spirit, but can also function without Him. Many over the centuries have concluded that God isn’t necessary and some have written volumes to support their view, but all they’re doing in essence is proving their narrowness and ignorance of the presence of a Creator who gives us choice.

One, who by grace – free, unmerited favor, gives us an opportunity to put our “self” on steroids; to maximize our abilities and capabilities as a human being. Jesus is the perfect example. Who without the empowerment of God has ever returned from the dead? Who without the Spirit’s enabling can live above sin, have power to say “no” to wrong and “yes” to what’s right, wholesome, and pleasing to our Father.

We’ll wrestle with “self” to the grave, but thankfully, we can have victory over sin, death, and the grave through the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit. Something that cannot be accomplished in the energy of the flesh.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊