The spirit (Inward Man), Soul and Body

Many writers and preachers have already addressed this topic of the “inward man”. I don’t intend to add anything more but I hope to highlight just a few basic things.

Man is a spirit. In the beginning when man was created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore if God is spirit then man too is an eternal spirit. Man also possesses a soul. The soul of man is his reasoning faculties – his intelligence, his mind, will. The outside of a man is called the body. It is the flesh with the five senses. So to summarize, Man is a spirit who possesses a soul and is in a body (earth suit).

Before sin entered the world, man was in communion with God. His spirit was in fellowship with God. When sin entered the world it caused spiritual death. In other words, the human spirit/ man was disconnected from God who is life. Man was now in communion with the devil and thus was dead.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. When we accept Christ, we are “in Him”. Therefore if we are in Him, old things have passed away. What is this old thing? This old thing is the old sinful nature or the spirit in communion with the devil. When someone says that  a person has passed away, what does it mean? It means that he or she has died. So when the bible says that the old man ( or the spirit in communion with the devil) has passed away it means that the old nature was DEAD.

Well if the old man died, something new was recreated in its place. That was our new spirit. This new spirit is reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18). In 1Peter 3:4, Peter calls the spirit as the “hidden person of the heart” Why hidden? He calls the spirit hidden because it is not possible to for the flesh (5 senses) to access the spirit of man. We can neither ‘feel’ nor sense the spirit physically. The flesh or the ‘carnal/natural man’ cannot access the things of God nor does it have the ability to do so. God can only speak to our spirits and fellowship with our spirits. I Cor 5:7 help us understand this concept. Jesus said I have come to give life and life more abundantly. He was talking about our spirit being given the eternal and abundant LIFE.  Also Jesus said about the Holy Spirit to the disciples that He is with you and will be in you. So the Spirit of God comes and dwells in our spirits

This implies that the spirit of man has the nature of God. The spirit of man has a desire to obey God. Paul talks about the spirit of the man calling him the “inward man” in Romans 7:22. If you read the whole chapter of Romans 7 you will understand that the spirit man desires to do good. Paul even says that the evil tendencies that he face is not really him but the flesh that he has, implying that the real him is His spirit. (Note: I can already hear religious folks screaming “oh does that mean we don’t have a responsibility over the flesh? Does that mean you can do whatever we want and blame it on the flesh?” I never ever said we don’t have a responsibility for the actions of the flesh. Read Romans 12:1-2 I address that in another article). This was prophesied in the Old Testament by Ezekiel - Ezekiel 36:26-27 we read “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” So when God’s Spirit is in us He CAUSES us to walk in obedience to God’s ways. This desire to obey God is an inherent part of the new recreated spirit whether you choose to believe it or not. We may not even physically or even emotionally feel like obeying God. But the spirit does! In addition, the spirit has been united with Christ in his death and resurrection. When Christ died, our old man died. When Christ was resurrected, our new spirit was formed into his likeness / nature (Romans 6:5).

When we say we are “born again” surely it is not our flesh. Is our flesh born all over again? Let us go to John 3:5 When Nicodemus asks how can he go back into his mother’s womb in order to be born again , Jesus says that Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. Obviously Jesus was saying it is the ‘spirit’ that is born again / recreated.

Neither is it our reasoning faculty (soul). For example a person who doesn’t do so well in Math doesn’t all of a sudden become smart because “He is a new creation”. Our old way of thinking remains. The soul (reasoning faculties) is influenced easily by the flesh/body (five senses). For example if I have to study a subject, I have to read a book, I have to listen to a teacher etc.

While the body cannot influence the spirit (since it born of God), vice-versa is possible although not directly. This is how the spirit influences our body: Soul is influenced by the five senses inherently. It is safe to say that the spirit can directly influence the soul if we allow to do so. We must train our soul to respond to our spirit by the renewing of our minds (reasoning faculties).  Once the thoughts have been influenced the spirit, our external actions (body) get influenced by our thoughts (soul). Read Romans 12:1,2

All that we need for our walk on earth toward godliness and Christ-likeness has already been deposited by God in our spirits (2 Peter 1:3) This is something that will radically change your thinking when you understand and realize all the spiritual things that you have been seeking externally is already inside of us (the spirit).  The spirit man having the nature of God who is LOVE has the ability to love another person unconditionally.

For those that say the spirit and soul of a man are the same thing please read  1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12. You will notice “the division of soul and spirit”. I hope I was able to briefly help you understand on the topic of the spirit, soul, and body. Hopefully I will talk more about the inward man or the spirit. Obviously this is not an exhaustive article but a brief summary of my understanding on the topic. In addition to reading the bible, I suggest reading books by Watchman Nee especially The Spiritual Man for a detailed study this topic.

Read more...

Escaping the Performance Trap by Charles Stanley

A treadmill is one of the most effective tools for burning calories, despite the fact that the person exercising stays in the same place. Similarly, many workers worry and grope through each day, without actually making headway. Isn’t it ironic that in both pursuits, people must give great effort without really going anywhere?

So it is with people who try to work their way to righteousness. Many Christians grow stagnant in their faith because they expend tremendous energy trying to attain some lofty ideal of the “Christian experience.” They usually understand that grace is what saved them but believe they must pay God back with good works in order to remain saved.

Have you become a modern-day Pharisee? Do you maintain a mental or psychological checklist to ensure that you do what you should and resist what you should not? Are you closer to living under the law than under God’s grace?

When you act outside of God’s will, your life runs on finite “fumes”: your own strength. The result can be exhaustion, withdrawal, and bitterness. The real Christian experience requires only that we have faith in Jesus Christ and abide in Him, the true Vine (John 15:5).

You can’t do anything to make God love you more. Nor can you do anything to make Him love you less. This is a liberating truth! Your heavenly Father isn’t keeping score—we can’t pay Him back for His grace. In fact, no amount of good works can pay the debt of love we owe. The apostle Paul wrote, “The Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Gal. 3:24-25). He explained that there is no way we can keep God’s moral code perfectly. We need a Savior.

Even after we become Christians, God doesn’t want us to add law to His grace. He wants obedience, of course. But obedience is the overflow of a heart full of love, not legalism.

When Jesus tells us to keep His commandments, He emphasizes that obedience shows others we love Him (John 14:31). The moral law shows us our need of a Savior. But we cannot obey the Lord Jesus without His help. We are children wanting to please the Father because we love Him. This delivers us from legalism and keeps us grounded in grace, not only for salvation, but also for living the Christian life.

Living by Grace
The Scriptures compare our relationship with God to a race. Paul calls us to run so that we may win (1 Cor. 9:24)—and the author of Hebrews adds that we are to do so with endurance (Heb. 12:1).

Only by running on the wings of grace can believers triumphantly finish the course God has assigned for each one of His children. The legs of performance eventually grow weak. The muscles of legalism and religion weigh us down and become rigid hindrances. Our main problem is that we can understand the need for grace in salvation, but we tend to rely on other means for process of sanctification.

How can you cease striving, get off the performance treadmill, and learn to walk in grace? Here is the key: the more you humble yourself before God, the more you will receive the fullness of His grace.

God “gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Not to the strong, but to the weak. Not to the self-sufficient, but to the dependent. Grace belongs to the poor in spirit—in other words, those who humble themselves by recognizing God’s majesty and worshipping Him. The more you adore and praise the Savior, the more highly you’ll think of Him.

Humbling yourself won’t reduce your self-esteem or diminish your worth to God. Rather, it positions you to receive your sustenance from the source of all good things, Jesus Christ. As a humble believer, cast yourself on the grace of God, leaning on Him with your full weight. Draw all your strength, peace, joy, and security from the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit living within you.

Be strong in grace. Throw off the chains of works and “religion,” and receive the remarkable power of God’s merciful lovingkindness.

Adapted from Charles F. Stanley’s “Into His Presence” (2000), “Seeking His Face” (2002), and “Handbook for Christian Living” (1996)

http://www.intouch.org/site/c.cnKBIPNuEoG/b.5307575/k.46BC/Escaping_the_Performance_Trap.htm

Read more...

The Blessing of His Presence

Scriptures to meditate on:
Psalms 27:4,8 
Philippians 4:7 
Romans 12:1-2 
Luke 10:41-42

There is something about the presence of God that if we are so sensitive to, victory comes in easily. Jesus asks us to be vitally dependent on Him (John 15:4-5). Often times while we go on in our busy lives we forget to put God first. The thing is if its not God in the first place in our lives it would be something else. The first place in our lives is never left vacant. And sadly if it is not Jesus, then there is no order and confusion creep into our lives.

In his presence we find direction.  Where His presence is, there is overwhelming peace. We find His Will in His presence. There is nothing more beautiful than to know that we are walking in the will of God. There is the rest and peace that we enjoy. When we offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice there is no chance we can miss his will.  I like what a preacher once said about this kind of living . He said that if a car goes at 100 miles per hour, there is no way it can do a u-turn. So when we are busy offering ourselves completely to God by spending time in the Word, praying and having this constant desire to know Him more all of which is a response of His love toward us, it is impossible for us to not walk in His will. 

So today let us cut distractions and focus on Jesus and His love. The moment we do that, all other love starts disappearing from our lives and prefect peace sets in. The love of sin, the love of things that are distracting us from God starts to leave when we focus on Jesus solely. If God were to ask you today to seek His face (Psalm 27:8), what would be your response? 

Read more...

It is always ALL of Grace -- by Mike Quarles

When we learn about grace we learn what life is all about. We learn about who we are. But more importantly we learn about who God is, what the gospel is and our relationship with Him. We enter into a dimension of life we never dreamed possible. Nothing is changed and yet everything is changed. Grace is not just getting what you don’t deserve. Grace is getting the opposite of what you deserve. Grace is not just another doctrine. Grace is the way God relates to us. Grace is the gospel as the bible says (Acts 20:24). What is grace?

Grace is knowing that…

1.      there is no more guilt, condemnation and punishment (Rom 8:2)

2.      God loves me and accepts me just the way I am not because of what I do, because of the cross (Roma 5:5-8)

3.      Satan was defeated at the cross and has no power over me and the only weapon he has is the lie (Col 2:15)

4.      because I died to the law and have been released from it (Rom 7:4,6), I don’t have to live up to anyone’s standards.

5.      I am not under law but under grace (Rom 6:14) and that Christ is the end of the law (Rom 10:14), it is not up to me to live the Christian life, but to trust Christ in me to do it (Gal 2:20)

6.      there is nothing I can do to make God love me more and nothing I could do to make him love me less (Rom 8:39)

7.      Jesus said that all who come to Him will find that the Christian life is easy and heir burden is light (Mt 11:28-30)

8.      it is not up to me to do or die or strive and strain, but to believe that He will do it all for me (1 Thess. 5:24)

9.      my sin and failure cannot overcome grace of God (contrary to the popular belief)
(Rom 5:20,21)

10.  no matter what I do or how I mess up, God is going to love m through all eternity
(Rom 11:6; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 4:6)

11.  I have all I need because Christ is in me and I am in Him and He is in the Father
(John 14:20)

12.   freedom is my birthright as a child and not something that I have to attain
(Gal 5:1; John 8:32,36)

13.  I am dead to sin and alive to God because of what God has done and nothing that I do
(Rom 6:4-7)

14.  I am righteous because God has place me in Christ and not because of anything that I do
(1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:21)

15.  I have died to the world, its customs, ways, values and people’s demands and expectations of me. (Gal 6:13)

16.  the important thing is not what I do or don’t do, but faith in what God has done and who I am in Christ ( Gal 6:5,14)

17.  I am secure in Christ, that I donot have to fear any person and that He will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb 13:5,6)

18.  Christ is my life; that my life is hidden in Him and I have everything I need for life and godliness (Col 3:3,4; 2 Pet 1:3)

19.  victory is not something we work for, but it has already been given to me.
(1 Cor 15:56; Eph 2:6; Eph 1:19-21)

Read more...