Apart from the possession of spirit which enables us to commune with God, we also possess a soul, our self-consciousness. We are made conscious of our existence by the work of the soul. The soul is the seat of our personality. The elements which make us human belong to the soul. Intellect, thought, ideals, love, emotion, discernment, choice, decision, etc., are but various experiences of the soul. According to common understanding the soul is our personality. When the spirit and the body were joined, man became a living soul. The characteristic of the angels is spirit and that of the lower animals such as beasts is flesh. We humans have both spirit and body; but our characteristic is neither spirit nor body but soul. Hence the Bible calls man soul (Gen. 12:5, 46.27, Acts 2.41). There are numerous instances in the original language of the Bible where "soul" is used instead of "Man." This is due to the fact that the seat and essence of the personality is the soul. To comprehend a man's personality is to comprehend his person.