Note 2 at Mt 22:37: The English word "soul" comes from the Greek word "PSUCHE," and it has been translated "heart," "life," "mind," and "soul." The Scripture tells us the soul needs knowledge (Pr 2:10, 19:2, and 24:14), it knows (Ps 139:14), it considers and counsels (Ps 13:2), remembers (La 3:20), chooses (Job 7:15), refuses (Job 6:7), it seeks (1Ch 22:19), it binds or makes a decision (Nu 30), it loves (1Sa 18:1, Ps 42:1, and Song 1:7), hates (2Sa 5:8 and Ps 107:18), has joy (Ps 86:4 and Isa 61:10), grieves (Jdg 10:16), and desires (De 14:26 and 1Sa 20:4).

These scriptures best reveal the mind to be the principal and leading part of the soul, followed by the will and emotions. The soul could also be described as being the hidden part of all existing beings, or what most people would call the personality. The soul is the center of the feelings and emotions, appetites and desires, as well as sense perception and consciousness (1Sa 30:6; 2Sa 13:39; 2Ki 4:27, 23:3; Ps 107:5, 9, 18, 26; Mt 26:38; Mr 12:33; Joh 12:27; Heb 4:12, and 10:38).

The soul may also speak of the totality of a person; i.e., the total being or self (Lu 12:19; Ac 2:43, 3:23; and 1Pe 3:20). The New Testament usage of the Greek word may be analyzed as follows: the natural life of a person's body (Lu 12:22 and Ac 20:10), the invisible or immaterial part of a person (Mt 10:28 and Ac 2:27), the disembodied portion of a person (Re 6:9), the seat of personality that perceives, reflects, desires, and feels (Mt 11:29; Lu 1:46, 2:35; and Ac 14:22), the center of the will and purpose (Mt 22:37 and Ac 4:32), the center of appetite and desire (Re 18:14), the totality of a person (Ac 2:41, 43; Ro 2:9; Jas 5:20; 1Pe 3:20; and 2Pe 2:14), and the hidden or inward person (Lu 21:19, 1Pe 2:11, and 3Jo 2).

The soul and the body do not become born again (see note 2 at Joh 3:3). It is the spirit of a person that becomes totally new at salvation (2Co 5:17). So although every believer receives the same miraculous spiritual rebirth, the visible results of that inward change will vary from person to person according to how much they renew their minds (Ro 12:1-2).