Adam lived by the breath of
life becoming spirit in him. By the spirit he sensed God, knew God’s voice, and
communed with God. He had a very keen awareness of God. But after his fall his
spirit died.
When God spoke to Adam at the
first He said, “in the day that you eat of it (the fruit of the tree of good
and evil) you shall die” (Gen. 2.17). Adam and Eve nevertheless continued on
for hundreds of years after eating the forbidden fruit. This obviously
indicates that the death God foretold was not physical. Adam’s death began in
his spirit.
1.What really is death: - According to its scientific definition, death
is “the cessation of communication with environment.” Death of the spirit is
the cessation of its communication with God. Death of the body is the cutting
off of communication between spirit and body. So when we say the spirit is dead
it does not imply there is no more spirit; we simply mean the spirit has lost
its sensitivity towards God and thus is dead to Him. The exact situation is
that the spirit is incapacitated, unable to commune with God. To illustrate. A
dumb person has a mouth and lungs but something is wrong with his vocal cords
and he is powerless to speak. So far as human language is concerned his mouth
may be considered dead. Similarly Adam’s spirit died because of his disobedience
to God. He still had his spirit, yet it was dead to God for it had lost its
spiritual instinct. It is still so; sin has destroyed the spirit’s keen
intuitive knowledge of God and rendered man spiritually dead. He may be
religious, moral, learned, capable, strong and wise, but he is dead to God. He
may even talk about God, reason about God and preach God, but he is still dead
to Him. Man is not able to hear or to sense the voice of God’s Spirit.
Consequently in the New Testament God often refers to those who are living in
the flesh as dead.
2.Death began in our
forefathers spirits spread unto the Body:- The
death which began in our forefather’s spirit gradually spread until it reached
his body. Though he lived on for many years after his spirit was dead, death
nevertheless worked incessantly in him until his spirit, soul and body were all
dead. His body, which could have been transformed and glorified, was instead
returned to dust. Because his inward man had fallen into chaos, his outward
body must die and be destroyed.
3. Spirit of all Adam’s
descendants fell under the oppression of the soul until it gradually merged
with the soul and the two parts became closely united:- Henceforth Adam’s spirit (as well as the
spirit of all his descendants) fell under the oppression of the soul until it
gradually merged with the soul and the two parts became closely united.
4. God shall pierce and divide
soul, spirit and body: - The writer of Hebrews declares in 4.12
that the Word of God shall pierce and divide soul and spirit. The dividing is
necessary because spirit and soul have become one. While they are intimately knit,
they plunge man into a psychic world. Everything is done according to the
dictates of intellect or feeling. The spirit has lost its power and sensation,
as though dead asleep. What instinct it has in knowing and serving God is
entirely paralyzed. It remains in a coma as if non-existent. This is what is
meant in Jude 19 by “natural, not having spirit” (literal). This certainly does
not mean the human spirit ceases to exist, for Numbers 16.22 distinctly states
that God is “the God of the spirits of all flesh.” Every human being still has
in his possession a spirit, although it is darkened by sin and impotent to hold
communion with God.
5.Accounted dead to God but is
still very active in other respects: - However dead this spirit may
be towards God it may remain as active as the mind or the body. It is accounted
dead to God but is still very active in other respects.
5.Sometimes the spirit of a
fallen man can even be stronger than his soul or body. Sometimes the spirit of a fallen man can even
be stronger than his soul or body and gain dominion over the whole being. Such
persons are “spiritual” ot spiritual active just as most people are. The spirit
here does not point to the Holy Spirit but to the human spirit, for it is
preceded by the word “natural,” which literally is, “soulish.” As “soulish”
pertains to man, so “spirit” also pertains to man largely soulical or physical,
because their spirits are much bigger than that of ordinary individuals. These
are the sorceresses and the witches who are connected to fallen spiritual world.
They indeed maintain contacts with the spiritual realm; but these do so through
the evil spirit, not by the Holy Spirit. The spirit of the fallen man thus is
allied with Satan and his evil spirits. It is dead to God yet very much alive
to Satan and follows the evil spirit which is now at work in him (Ephesians
2:2).
6. Flesh is the composite of
the unregenerated soul and the physical life. As in yielding to the
demand of its passions and lusts the soul has become a slave to the body so
that the Holy Spirit finds it useless to strive for God’s place in such a one.
Hence the Scripture declares, “My Spirit shall not always plead with Man; for
he indeed is flesh” (Gen. 6.3). The Bible refers to the flesh as the composite
of the unregenerated soul and the physical life, though more often than not it
points to sin which is in the body.
7.Once man is completely
under the dominion of the flesh, he has no possibility of liberating himself. Soul
has replaced the spirit’s authority. Everything is done independently and
according to the dictates of his mind. Even in religious matters, in the
hottest pursuit of God, all is carried on by the strength and will of man’s
soul, void of the Holy Spirit’s revelation. The soul is not merely independent
of the spirit; it is additionally under the body’s control. It is now asked to
obey, to execute and to fulfill the lusts, passions and demands of the body.
Every son of Adam is therefore not only dead in his spirit but he is also “from
the earth, a man of dust” (1 Cor. 15.47).
8.Fallen men are governed
completely by the flesh, walking in response to the desires of their soulish
life and physical passions. Such ones are unable to commune with God.
Sometimes they display their intellect, at others times their passion, but more
often both their intellect and passion. Unimpeded, the flesh is in firm control
over the total man. This is what is unfolded in Jude 18 and 19— “mockers,
walking after their own lusts of ungodlinesses. These are they who set
themselves apart, natural men, not having spirit”.
9.Being soulish is
antagonistic to being spiritual. The spirit, that noblest part
of us, the part which may be united to God and ought to regulate the soul and
body, is now under the dominion of the soul, that part of us which is earthly
in both its motive and aim. The spirit has been stripped of its original
position. Man’s present condition is abnormal. Wherefore he is pictured as not
having spirit. The result of being soulish is that he becomes a mocker,
pursuing ungodly passions and creating divisions.1 Corinthians 2.14 speaks of
such unregenerated persons in this fashion: “The natural (soulish) man does not
receive the gifts of the spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is
not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Such men
as are under the control of their souls with their spirits suppressed are in
direct contrast to spiritual people.
10.They may be exceedingly
intelligent, able to present masterful ideas or theories, yet they do not
consent to the things of the Spirit of God. They are unfit to
receive revelation from the Holy Spirit. Such revelation is vastly different
from human ideas. Man may think human intellect and reasoning are almighty,
that the brain is able to comprehend11. truths of the world; but the verdict of
God’s Word is, “vanity of vanities” Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8.
11. While man is in his
soulish state he frequently senses the insecurity of this age and so he too
seeks the eternal life of the coming age. But even if he does,
he is still powerless to uncover the Word of life by his much thinking and
theorizing. How untrustworthy are human reasonings! We often observe how very
clever persons clash in their different opinions. Theories easily lead man into
error. They are castles in the air, tumbling him into eternal darkness.
How true it is that without
the guidance of the Holy Spirit intellect not only is undependable but also
extremely dangerous, because it often confuses the issue of right and wrong. A
slight carelessness may cause not merely temporary loss but even everlasting
harm. The darkened mind of man frequently leads him to eternal death. If only
unregenerated souls could see this, how good it would be!
12.While man is fleshly, he
may be controlled by more than just the soul:- While man is fleshly, he may
be controlled by more than just the soul he may be under the direction of the
body as well; for soul and body are closely entwined. Because the body of sin
is abounding in desires and passions, man may commit the most hideous of sins.
As the body is formed of the dust, so its natural tendency is towards the
earth. The introduction of the serpent’s poison into man’s body turns all its
legitimate desires into lusts. Having once yielded to the body in disobeying
God, the soul finds itself bound to yield every time. The base desires of the
body may therefore often be expressed through the soul. The power of the body
becomes so overwhelming that the soul cannot but become the obedient slave.
God’s thought is for the
spirit to have the pre-eminence, ruling our soul. But once man turns fleshly
his spirit sinks into servitude to the soul. Further degradation follows when
man becomes “bodily” (of the body), for the basest body rises to be sovereign.
Man has then descended from “spirit-control” to “soul-control,” and from
“soul-control” to “body-control.” Deeper and deeper he sinks. How pitiful it
must be when the flesh gains dominion.
13.Sin has slain the spirit: -
spiritual
death hence becomes the portion of all, for all are dead in sins and
trespasses. Sin has rendered the soul independent: the soulish life is
therefore but a selfish and self-willed one. Sin has finally empowered the
body: sinful nature accordingly reigns through the body.
Hene
saved by grace through faith" is a core Christian doctrine (Ephesians
2:8-9) stating that salvation
is a free gift from God based on His unmerited love (grace), not human works or
merit. Humans receive this gift by trusting in Jesus
Christ's sacrifice (faith), ensuring salvation is not earned and eliminating
boasting. God is committed to restore our Spirit Soul and Body in
the same order (1 Thessalonian 5:23) He create in the Eden Garden. Let us
preach Gospel.
