A thematic series "the Inner Man"

1. THE INNER MAN

Can you judge spiritual action by how you feel?
Can you judge spiritual action by what you see?

God's word says man is created as a "triune" being spirit soul & body-
There are some who believe in a "dualistic" nature.
A combination of spirit & flesh + inner man & body = whole of body & soul as the same + the spirit = whole.
Both approaches are in contradiction of God's word.
We were created as a triune being - each part separate & distinct in its functions & abilities.

1 Thess. 5:23 And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This verse shows precisely that the "whole man" is divided into three parts.

Genesis 2:7 And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
When God created Adam - he breathed the breath of life into his nostrils.
As soon as God's breath came into contact with man's body the soul was produced.
God's breath became man's spirit & the earths elements became man's body.

Question: why do you need a soul???

Ephesians 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, There must be a linking agent between the spirit world & the flesh - if there is none man could not exist.

The soul is the "bonding agent" the catalyst between the flesh & the spirit of man.
The soul is what holds man together.
This is the difference between the two worlds - physical & spiritual.

There is a warfare that is so great & intense between these two worlds.
The spirit of man would not & could not be retained in this physical world.
There must be a "bonding agent" or something that is used to hold man together.
Because the soul stands between the body & soul of man, it then becomes the connection between the physical and spiritual worlds within man.
By way of the soul there is produced a transmitting station (comparable to computer).
      It receives - it evaluates - it gets rid of or accepts messages between the spirit & body.
This causes the area of the soul to make the decisions that affect the whole man.
All communications from God to the physical man must come from the spirit through the soul - to the body.

Now, because of the transmitting properties of the soul, and because the soul and its position is intermediary between the spirit & the flesh, the soul becomes the place where the battle is fought between the forces of good & evil.
The soul is where the forces of Satan and God wage the "spiritual warfare" for the possession of the person.

The born-again spirit wants to serve God, and the body has its own worldly desires and pursuits (the soul is in the middle).

In Romans 7 Paul speaks of the law of the spirit in his inner most self, and in verse 25 he says that the flesh serves the law of sin.

Paul is saying here that he is being "buffeted" back & forth between the leading of the spirit & the desires of the body.
The outcome of the battle depends on what decision is made by the soul (mind).
In the bible the Greek word soul is; "psuche" (pso-khay)
Mind - "heart" - intellect - intelligence of man - or middle man.
Heart - referenced more times as soul (do a study on heart).
The heart is not referenced to as the spirit of man.

Therefore how are you praying??? -
Dan.2:30 - "...know the thoughts of my heart"
Acts 5:3 - "... Why has Satan filled your heart to lie?"
Rom. 10:9 - "...and you shall believe in your heart"

RELATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

Every man has:

1. a world consciousness
2. a self consciousness
3. a God consciousness

1. World consciousness

It is through the body that we come into contact with this physical world.
The body is that which gives us world consciousness.
With your body you can see - taste - touch - smell & hear this physical world.
Without these senses of the body - you would have no awareness of the world around you.
Your body is made up of the elements of this earth and relates only to this physical world.
The body cannot - by itself - sense the spirit world.
All body senses are designed to relate only to this world.
All information that relates to earth or this world is gathered together and processed, analyzed and measured by the mind or soul of man.
However - the soul - without the body - would not be aware of the physical.
Because the soul is a receiver - it records the information gathered by the body senses,

2. Self consciousness

The soul is the intellect or mind of man.
It gathers and evaluates the information fed it through the body senses.
But the soul does not depend on the body senses to exist.
The soul is immortal - it provides the ability of the person to be self conscious.
The soul reveals the persons personality.
The soul relates directly to the desires - emotions fears - achievements - well bring - loves and hates of the person.
The soul cannot comprehend God - without the spirit!
Fact - the average person thinks of himself at least every 90 seconds.

3. God consciousness

The spirit of the redeemed - born-again man - is that part through which you are able to commune with God.
It by the spirit alone that you are able to apprehend and worship God.
The spirit of man is the part of man that has "God consciousness".
The unregenerated man does not have this spiritual comprehension - because his spirit is in sins and trespasses
The unredeemed man is soulish only - and cannot comprehend the things of God.
Only through the born-again spirit - can any man become truly spirit conscious of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The soul is the meeting point between the body or flesh world - and the sprit or gods world.

It is here that there is a merging of both worlds takes place.
By your spirit man, you touch the spiritual world by your flesh, and you are aware of the physical world.
The soul stand between these two worlds.
The soul belongs to both worlds, for it acts as the catalyst to the two opposing forces.

The soul also has the power of free will.
Therefore it is able to choose which directives it will listen to. Either those of God or those of the world.
The spirit cannot act directly upon the body or tell the body what to do.
Therefore the spirit needs a medium, which is the soul!
Now because the soul is the medium or channel where all information is gathered, directed and acted upon, it becomes the place or battleground where eternal decisions are made.
This means all final decisions of all kinds concerning all matters.
Which means both natural and spiritual - are made by the soul or the mind of the man.
God has made the soul "responsible" for the eternal welfare of the person.

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are Mine. As the soul of the father, also the soul of the son, they are Mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.
b Because the soul is the governing agent, it is also the responsible agent.

Both the authority and the responsibility fall upon the soul of man.

The spirit can affect the body through the medium of the soul, but also the body can affect the spirit through the soul.

Jesus said in Matt. 26:41 to his disciples - "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".

The soul is the deciding agency that determines the outcome.
All and total judgment of the whole man rests upon the soul.
This is why the soul is the part of man that Satan tries to influence.
The soul is the decision-maker!

Before the fall of man the spirit controlled the whole man.
Both soul and body were completely under the dominion of the spirit life force in Adam.
Since the fall, the spirit does not function. There is no life force in it.
Therefore the soul has become dominant and yields to the pressures of the earth-related body and sin.
For the spirit to govern the soul, the soul must give its consent.
Unless the spirit has been born-again, renewed, or regenerated, there is no change for the spirit of man to influence the soul to serve God it is "dead" to God's will!

Therefore after the fall of Adam, man was lost or fallen from grace.

The body was cursed and was promised death. (Gen. 2:17)
The soul was doomed to eternal hell. (Rev.20)
The spirit was dead in sins and trespasses. (Eph.2:1)

Flesh

1) The law was given and only the flesh was affected by the commandments - (Gal.3:10-14)
2) No righteousness by the law - (Gal.3:21-25)
3) No born-again experience under the law.
4) The law had no affect on the soul or spirit of man.
5) The law left the inner man still unchanged - (Heb.9:11-14)

Soul

1) With the shedding of Christ's blood came the experience of repentance and salvation to the soul - (Heb.9:22)
This affected the emotions - will & intellect of man (soul).
2) Christ's blood is applied to the soul of man - (Heb.13:12)
Jesus shed his blood to purify our forgiveness
3) Repentance from the soul (mind - heart) causes the washing away of sins and the rebirth of the spirit (Rom. 10: 9-10)

Spirit

The newly born-again spirit had to be renewed, regenerated or re-powered.
1) The Holy Spirit was given to all believers.
2) The Holy Spirit dwells in your spirit.
3) Spiritual gifts and talents are now awakened.
4) The whole man is now affected.
5) The inner man now has predominance.
6) Man is now motivated by the "spirit" not by the law.
Now we worship not because we have to, but because we want to.


Question:

1) Is your life or your actions mainly influenced by your body, soul or spirit?
2) Which "part" of you maintains dominance in your daily lifestyle?
3) How do you view the world most of the time???
   (a) Externally - as it relates to your body???
   (b) Internally - as it relates to your personality???
   (c) Eternally - as it relates to God?