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nature, or if the spirit is simply a part of the soul, with the soul being the whole immaterial part of the
human nature.

Dichotomy, or anthropological dualism, rests primarily upon the argument that the Scripture uses soul
and spirit interchangeably and synonymously. While there are Bible verses that use the terms soul and
spirit interchangeably (Matt. 10:28; Luke 1:46–47; 1 Cor. 5:3; 7:34). All Protestants, Lutheran and
Reformed, were, therefore, the more zealous in maintaining that the soul and spirit, ψυχή and πνεῦμα,
are one and the same substance and essence. And this, as before remarked, has been the common
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doctrine of the Church Both trichotomy and dichotomy understand that man consists of flesh and the
spirit.

Fall: God’s Image Is Distorted but Not Lost
We might wonder whether man could still be thought to be like God after he sinned. In what sense are
we in the image of God? Even though men are sinful, there is still enough likeness to God remaining in
them. Man is still in God’s image. The New Testament gives confirmation to this when James 3:9 says that
men generally, not just believers, “are made in the likeness of God.”

However, since man has sinned, he is certainly not as fully like God as he was before. His moral purity has
been lost and his sinful character certainly does not reflect God’s holiness. His intellect is corrupted by
falsehood and misunderstanding; his speech no longer continually glorifies God; his relationships are
often governed by selfishness rather than love, and so forth. Though man is still in the image of God, in
every aspect of life some parts of that image have been distorted or lost. In short, “God made man upright,
but they have sought out many devices” (Eccl. 7:29). After the fall, then, we are still in God’s image—we
are still like God and we still represent God—but the image of God in us is distorted; we are less fully like
God than we were before the entrance of sin.

Redemption in Christ: A Progressive Recovering of More of God’s Image
It is encouraging to turn to the New Testament and see that our redemption in Christ means that we can,
even in this life, progressively grow into more and more likeness to God. For example, Paul says that as
Christians we have a new nature that is “being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col.
3:10). As we gain in true understanding of God, his Word, and his world, we begin to think more and more
of the thoughts that God himself thinks. In this way we are “renewed in knowledge” and we become more
like God in our thinking. Jesus is the last Adam and the Mediator of the New Covenant. He brings his
people into conformity with his own image, the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:29).

Restoration in the image of Christ carries man beyond creation in the image of God, for the image of the
earthly is then exchanged for the image of the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49). Men are to be addressed as the
image-bearers of God. We are now invited to return to the Father by the blood of the New Covenant in
Jesus. Our redemption involves conformity to the image of Christ and therefore the restoration of the
image of God. We have communion with God through union with Christ.
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