What is the difference between the soul and spirit?

In general the words "soul and spirit" are used without making any distinction between them, for the soul of man was formed very differently from that of animals, in that God breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life, and so man became a living soul. So it is enough to say soul when speaking of man, and the other is assumed. Or, in saying spirit, the elevated character of his soul is expressed. The animal also has its natural affections, has a living soul, attaches itself, knows the people who are good to it, devotes itself to its master, loves him, will even give its life for him; but it does not have that which can be in relationship with God.

When both words are used, the spirit is the higher part, soul being used for that which is joined to the body and causes it to live; spirit, for the part in which man is in relation with God, since God had breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. If there were nothing but soul, he would be no better than the beasts; but because God, when the body was already formed, breathed into his nostrils so that he should become alive, he is in relation with God Himself.

Man's soul gives him feelings, emotions, desires and even intuition, similar to what is seen in animals. But his spirit gives him intellect, understanding, reasoning power that can lift him above the level of his feelings and desires. Also, now that sin has entered creation, his spirit gives him a conscience to discern between good and evil, and which warns him against evil.

The faculties proper to man, the mental and moral judgment, are ascribed to the spirit; the sensitive, instinctive, emotional nature is ascribed to the soul. Yet there is a knowledge that can be ascribed to the soul, as there is a joy of the spirit; and if "heart" is substituted for "soul," and "mind" for "spirit," we can understand this without finding any confusion or inconsistency in the matter.

We might render it freely as "soul-governed"; that is at any rate the force of it: the spirit of man (as that which truly makes him man, and by which he is naturally constituted in the image of God) is of necessity that which should govern him. The spirit is the seat of the mind proper — of the mental and moral faculties; the soul is that of the emotions and instincts, which should be under their guidance and control. It is the sign of a fallen condition that the spirit has given way to the soul: the senses, passions, bodily appetites rule over the judgment and darken it.

Have we not all at times been aware of a contest between our spirit and our soul? The soul has drawn us in certain directions, and the spirit has stepped in, and, with conscience at work and by the light of Scripture, forbidden the soulish desire. Wherever the soul governs, there is disaster and a low level of conduct. Wherever the spirit controls, the soul is kept within bounds.

Spirit, soul and body are during life only one "personality," and death certainly does not make more than one. At death the body drops, for the time being, out of this tri-unity. Spirit and soul, on the other hand, are never sundered. In life or in death the mysterious links of connection are preserved… The knowledge of the spirit becomes the portion of the soul; the affections of the soul the possession of the spirit.

While spirit, soul and body continue in the harmonious relations that constitute the man, he is in LIFE, as that word is ordinarily used. When the tri-unity breaks up — when the soul and spirit leave the body — the condition is reached which is called DEATH. None of the three parts becomes extinct, but their disruption breaks up the man — the man dies. The body returns to dust; the spirit to God who gave it… Death is separation: never extinction.