The natural man and the spiritual man

Chapter 17

THE NATURAL MAN AND
THE SPIRITUAL MAN

The difference between the natural man and the spiritual man follows from the difference that we considered earlier between the soul and spirit. The words natural and spiritual are effectively adjectives derived from the nouns, soul and spirit. This is a vital link that is often misunderstood.

The natural man is man animated merely by his created soul. This is man without eternal life, man without the Holy Spirit. The word natural is variously translated as unspiritual, physical, worldly etc., but should strictly be translated as psychical, or soulical if its significance is to be appreciated. In contrast, the spiritual man is man animated and controlled by the Holy Spirit who is resident in his human spirit. The spiritual man is fully manifested in the Man Christ Jesus.

The cross not only deals with our self-centered human nature but it also touches all that we are by nature - that is, our opinion about our God-given gifts, our talents and our so-called good points as well. The old man must give place to the new man, or to put it another way, the natural man must give place to the spiritual man.

When thinking of the natural man, it is helpful to think initially of man without reference to sin - that is, Adam as he was created, before he fell, man as a living soul, man by nature, man as flesh and blood, man as of the earth, man as created and without eternal life.

Let me put it this way. If Adam had taken of the Tree of Life, as God intended, he would have been changed progressively into a spiritual man, capable of being in fellowship with the spiritual realm, no longer limited to the natural world alone. However, because he took of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he became a fallen man, the father of a fallen and rejected race.

If he had eaten of neither tree, he would have remained as he was created, of the earth, a living soul, a natural man", with a constitution suited only to life on earth. He had the potential for eternal life and glory at his creation, but he was not in possession of it.

We can only live in a world for which we have the right constitution. Man by nature, by creation, and as now fallen, cannot live in in the presence of God.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:50)

So, in our salvation, our re-creation, the Lord not only deals with our sin, but also gives us spiritual life, which is the gift of eternal life. We have seen something of what this means in the Lord Jesus, the perfect Man.

In the Tree of Life, Adam was offered a boundless destiny, a unique relationship to God, but to enter into it he had to surrender to God his independence, his self-hood, and his natural gifts received in creation. He did not do this but sought the self-sufficiency that belongs to God alone.

We not only need deliverance from sin, but we also need spiritual life if we are to enter into that relationship with God which Adam forfeited, so that we actually begin to live on earth as citizens of heaven. We must learn to live in the kind of obedient dependence on the Father that we see in the Lord Jesus.

All this we have potentially in the gift of eternal life, but we need to lay hold of it. This involves for us, as it did for unfallen Adam, voluntary self-surrender to the Lord and total dependence on Him. The cross of Jesus reveals the meaning of this complete self-surrender to the Father.

Let me try to illustrate what this means in practice. We tend to think that we can and should carry over our natural gifts and abilities from our unregenerate lives and use them for the Lord. Young people, in particular, are frequently urged to do this. But the Scriptures show that unless these natural abilities are taken to the cross, so to speak, and are placed into, and remain in, the safe hands of the Spirit, they will prove a hindrance, even a menace, both to the individual and to the church.

There is a tendency among Christians to bypass this aspect of the cross and because of this they lose their way. The cross is an offence to proud human nature, as much to Christians as it is to the world, but we avoid the cross at our peril. We can carry nothing of self over into spiritual life. It is not that God-given natural gifts are wrong in themselves, but only that they cannot serve spiritual ends except in the safe hands of the Lord.

We think, for example, that a person with a good brain is thereby able to study and explain spiritual things. No such a person must first confess his bankruptcy, his inability by nature to do this. He must surrender his mind to God and seek its renewal, learning to think and study in real dependence on the Lord.

We think that a good speaker is thereby able to preach and teach the things of God. No he must first confess his inability to be an ambassador for Christ, forsaking his natural ability to speak, and genuinely trust the Lord. Only the Holy Spirit can speak to people's hearts effectively.

We think that a born leader is thereby equipped to lead the people of God, but spiritual leadership is very different from natural leadership. Consider the Lord Jesus. There are many people who can stir the emotions, bow the wills, or bend the minds of others, often with very attractive personalities, but this is not spiritual leadership.

We think that a gifted organizer is thereby well suited to rule and run the church or a work of God. No he must first confess his inability and learn to live in complete dependence on the Lord. Remember, the first qualification of those chosen to look after an administrative and financial matter in Acts 6 was that they should be filled with the Spirit.

We must recognize and accept that whatever we have or are by nature can contribute nothing to His kingdom. Natural gifts only become spiritually useful in the Lord's hands when we live in real dependence on Him. Only the Lord knows how to use what we have and what we are. He will, of course, but in His own way and in His own time.

We are constantly in danger of confusing the natural and the spiritual. We may have inherited from birth an attractive personality, strength of character, a righteous disposition, a calm temperament and various talents. But we must not confuse these with the fruit and gifts of the Spirit, what we are and have through grace and the new birth. For example, natural drive and enthusiasm is not the same as spiritual energy and zeal. One will fade, the other will endure. Natural charm must not be confused with real Christ likeness.

What we become through grace will often stand in sharp contrast to what we are by nature. All this is most clearly set forth in the way the Lord dealt with outstandingly gifted men like Moses and Paul. Both were thoroughly emptied of self-reliance and brought to full self-surrender and dependence on the Lord before they and their God-given natural gifts could be used.

Such is the essential, profound, transforming work of grace through the cross available for us all. The Lord is working to secure our willing cooperation as His sons, living in true dependence on Him.

John 3:6. Acts 6:3. Romans 12:2. Galatians 6:1. Ephesians 4:23. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, 13-15, 15:45-50. Hebrews 9:14. See also References in Chart 16.