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In the past chapters we have covered many crucial aspects of the wonderful, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. But one deeper aspect remains to be touched, an aspect hidden in the New Testament revelation.
In Ephesians 3:16 Paul prayed that the Father would grant us to be strengthened into our inner man. In this verse Paul unexpectedly uses a strange but particular term: the inner man. This term is very significant. Here Paul does not speak of the spirit or of any other organ; he says that we need to be strengthened into our inner man so that Christ may make His home in our heart. We need to read Ephesians 3:16 and 17 very attentively, noticing the matter of the inner man and then the matter of Christ’s making His home in our heart. Within us we have an inner man, which we did not have before we were regenerated.
Human beings have their being, or their man, in their soul, not in their body or in their spirit. For this reason, the Bible often refers to man as a soul. For example, Exodus 1:5 says that “all the souls who came forth from the loins of Jacob were seventy souls” (lit.), and Acts 2:41, speaking of those baptized on the day of Pentecost, says that “there were added on that day about three thousand souls.” According to the Bible, a person is a soul because his being, his man, is in his soul. The Bible reveals that man is a tripartite being, composed of the spirit within, the body without, and the soul between the spirit and the body. The soul is the being, for a person’s personality is in his soul. In other words, human life is in the soul. The body is an organ to contact the physical world, and the spirit is an organ to contact the spiritual world. Therefore, a human being, a person, with his personality in his soul, has both a body and a spirit as organs. Neither the body nor the spirit is his personality. This means that the personality of a human being is neither in the body nor in the spirit but in the soul. Hence, the soul, not the body or the spirit, is the person. Before we were regenerated, our body was our outward organ, and our spirit was our inward organ. Being an inward organ, the spirit had no personality in it.
When we believed in the Lord Jesus and were regenerated, Christ as life entered into our spirit. Prior to this, there was no life in our spirit, for the spirit was merely an organ without life. Our human life was not in our spirit; it was in our soul. A human being is in the soul; that is, the soul is the human being. But when we were regenerated, Christ came into our spirit to be life there. This caused our spirit to no longer be an organ. The coming of Christ into our spirit makes our spirit a new being, which the apostle Paul calls the inner man. Formerly, our spirit was merely an organ, and there was no man, no personality, in it because there was no life in it. But by coming into our spirit, Christ has made it a being with life. Now in our spirit we have another being, the new being, the inner man.
Because our spirit is now our inner man, every Christian is two beings: the old being in the soul and the new being in the spirit. Our old man is in our soul, and our new man is in our spirit. The Bible says that our old man, the being in our soul, has been crucified (Rom. 6:6). God would never tolerate our having two men. One of the two must go. Hence, the old man was crucified on the cross. When I read Romans 6 fifty years ago, I was troubled by the verse that says that our old man has been crucified. I said to myself, “If this man is dead, how can I live?” At that time I did not see the fact that, although the Lord had crucified my old man on the cross, in regeneration Christ had come into my spirit to make my spirit a new man. Formerly, our soul was the man, and our spirit was the organ. But now that we have been regenerated, the opposite is true. Our spirit has become the man, and now our soul is merely an organ, no longer the being or the personality.
Often we Christians are not very clear about the little revelation we have received. For example, we often say that we live by the spirit. But if the spirit is still an organ and not a man with life in it, how can we live by this organ? When we say that we live by our spirit, we need to see that this means our spirit now has become a being with life in it. Our spirit has life in it, and this life is Christ. This is why Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” This verse does not say, “Not my life, but the life of Christ lives in me.” This verse does not refer to a life but to a person. The “I” used to be the person, but now Christ, a new person, lives in me. I used to be the person in my soul, but now Christ is the new person in my spirit.
Now that Christ is in our spirit, we still have two organs: the body and the soul. Formerly, the two organs were the body and the spirit; now the second organ is no longer the spirit but the soul. Our soul used to be our personality, and our spirit was an organ. But now our spirit is our personality, and our soul has become an organ. This is the reason we can live and walk by our spirit. In our spirit we have not merely an organ; we have the life that is Christ Himself. Christ as the life in our spirit makes our spirit a new being with a new personality. This new being is called the inner man. This inner man needs to be strengthened, empowered. Oh, we all must see this! This is crucial! I was a Christian for more than forty years before I saw this matter. Only during the past ten years have I seen that our human spirit used to be an organ, but now it is a man. One day the Lord pointed this out to me and said, “Look, now your personality is not in the soul but in the spirit. The personality in your soul has been crucified, put to death.” When we say that our soul has been crucified and that we must deny it, we do not mean that the functions of the organ of the soul have been crucified or must be denied. The functions of the soul are still present, for today the soul is an organ. It is the being, the personality, in the soul that has been crucified and dealt with. Therefore, now there is a new being, a new personality, in our spirit. This new personality is Christ Himself. Because the divine life is in our spirit, our spirit has become the new man, the inner man. How wonderful this is! We can live and walk by this new man. If this one matter is made clear to you, you will be changed.
Let us now consider, as examples, some of those who lived and walked in the spirit. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, was such a one. A number of times the book of Acts says that Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit (6:3, 5; 7:55). He was one who acted, walked, behaved, and worked in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit mingled with his spirit. In him the divine Spirit and the human spirit were mingled together as one. It was the same with Philip, who also was full of the Holy Spirit. According to Acts 6 and 7, Stephen and Philip were people who lived, behaved, and walked in such a wonderful Spirit. This was not a doctrine to them; it was their daily walk. They lived no longer in the soul, in the old being with the old personality. They lived in the new being, in the new personality. This new being, this new personality, was constituted by the Holy Spirit indwelling their human spirit. If we saw this, there would be no need for so many kinds of teachings.
The apostle Paul and his co-workers were also such people. Paul and Barnabas lived and walked by the spirit. Their soul, their old man with their old being and personality, had been crucified on the cross and buried with Christ. Therefore, they had a new being, the inner man—Christ dwelling in their spirit and making His home in every part of their inner being.
According to Acts 15:28, the apostles made a decision with the Spirit, saying, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” This means that they were one with the Holy Spirit and that their action was the action of the Spirit. Their walk, their daily life, and their work were altogether that of the Holy Spirit.
This is not simply a matter of power. Many Christians today consider the Holy Spirit either merely as a power or as an instrument. But the Holy Spirit is the constituent of our new being, not simply a power or an instrument. The Spirit is not only a matter of power but also a matter of constitution, a matter of our makeup. All the apostles lived according to this new being. Acts 16:6 and 7 reveal that as Paul moved in his ministry, he moved not by his old man but by the Spirit.
Acts 17:16 says that Paul was provoked in his spirit. If you were not regenerated, you could never be provoked in your spirit. You could only be provoked in your soul, because your spirit would only be an organ. Furthermore, one could never say that he is provoked in his body, because one’s person is not the body. Paul could be provoked in his spirit because his personality was in his spirit. Thus, this verse is another indication that after regeneration our being, our personality, is in our spirit. However, because many Christians do not have this light or this vision, they are still provoked in the soul. They may be provoked in the soul by their husbands or wives. How we need to see that our new personality is no longer in our soul! It is in our spirit, which is constituted with Christ as our new man. Whatever we do, we must do it here in this new man.
Acts 19:21 says that Paul even purposed in his spirit. If his being was not in the spirit, how could he have purposed in his spirit? If his spirit had still simply been an organ, how could he have purposed in this organ? To purpose means to do something with your being, not with an organ. Acts 19:21 proves that, at that time, Paul’s spirit had become his personality, his being, his man. Therefore, he purposed in his spirit.
In Romans 1:9 Paul tells us that he served God in his spirit. His spirit was the man, the being, the personality, in which he served God.
First Corinthians 5:3 and 4 reveal that Paul could attend a meeting of the church in Corinth in his spirit, even when he was not physically present. Paul was “absent in the body but present in the spirit” (v. 3). Verse 4 says, “In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you and my spirit have been assembled, with the power of our Lord Jesus.” This means that when the believers in Corinth and Paul’s spirit were gathered together, his spirit was meeting with them. In this portion of the Word Paul seemed to be saying, “When you met in that meeting and my spirit was with you, I delivered that sinful person to Satan.” How strong Paul was!
First Corinthians 4:21 says, “What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod or in love and a spirit of meekness?” This verse also shows that Paul was one absolutely walking, moving, and working in his new being, in his new personality.
First Corinthians 16:18 says, “They refreshed my spirit and yours.” We need to learn to say, “My spirit was refreshed.” Sometimes we say, “My heart has been hurt,” or “My emotion has been touched.” Now we must learn to say that our spirit has been hurt or touched or refreshed. That part of your being that is touched proves in what part of your being you are living. If you say that your heart has been hurt, then you are a person in the heart. This indicates that you are still the old person in the old soul. If you say that your emotion has been stirred, it indicates that you are still a soulish person, living in the old being in the soul. Now we must learn to say, “Brothers, my spirit has been hurt.” This may not sound very pleasant; but it is accurate. Say, “Brother, you have touched my spirit.” This may not seem sweet, but it is precise. If we can say that our spirit has been refreshed by others, it proves that we are living in our new being.
Some verses in 2 Corinthians also prove that Paul was a man who lived in his new being. Second Corinthians 2:13 says that Paul had no rest in his spirit; 7:13, that Titus’s spirit was refreshed; and 12:18, that Paul and Titus walked in the same spirit. Paul was bold to declare that he and his co-workers were those living in their new being, in their new personality.
The New Testament is the story of those who lived, walked, and worked in spirit. When I was young, I read books on the life of Paul and the life of Peter. But those books did not tell me that Peter and Paul were living, walking, and moving in their new being. Instead, the books said that Peter and Paul were full of power or full of the Holy Spirit. According to the concept of these books, power suddenly was poured upon Peter, a fisherman, and Paul, a learned man, and they were enabled to speak. But if we see the light on the matter of the spirit as our real person, we shall see the book of Acts in a new way. The apostles were people living in their new being, in their regenerated spirit indwelt by Christ, the all-inclusive Spirit.
The New Testament ends with the case of the aged apostle John on the island of Patmos. Although John was elderly, he was still living in his spirit. In Revelation 1:10 John says, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Because he was in spirit, he saw the local churches. Then in spirit he saw the judgment of God exercised upon the world (4:2, ff.), he saw Babylon the Great (17:3, ff.), and he saw the New Jerusalem (21:10). In his spirit, in his new being, his new personality and person, John saw the churches, the world, Babylon, and the New Jerusalem. As one who is growing old, I hope to be one day like John. I long to be able to say that I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day, that I heard a voice, that I turned to see it, and that I saw all the local churches. How good that would be! I would also like to testify that in spirit I saw the world under God’s judgment, the fall of Babylon the Great, and the coming of the New Jerusalem. This is not a dream; it is a realization in spirit. How much we need to be in spirit! We need to live, walk, and work in spirit.
Our spirit is no longer an organ, and our soul is no longer our person; today our spirit is our person, and our soul is just an organ. We need to say, “Soul, simply be an organ. Don’t talk to me, because you are no longer the person. You are my organ. Don’t make any proposals to me, for I don’t want to live by you anymore. Instead, I will use you as an organ. Soul, don’t you know that today my person is the regenerated spirit indwelt by my dear Lord Jesus Christ? If you know it, then you must go to the grave and rest there.” I hope that we all shall see this crucial matter.
