Angelic Conflict part 165: Human history (soul and spirit) – Heb 4:9-12; 1Co 2:9-16; Rom 8:12-17; Eph 5:1-21; 1Th 5:5-8; 1Jo 4:1-6.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 165: Human history (soul and spirit) - HEB 4:9-12; 1CO 2:9-16; ROM 8:12-17; EPH 5:1-21; 1TH 5:5-8; 1JO 4:1-6.  

 

1CO 2:1And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.

 

1CO 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

 

1CO 2:3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

 

1CO 2:4 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

 

1CO 2:5 that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

 

1CO 2:6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature [excluding unbelievers and infant believers]; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;

 

1CO 2:7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

 

1CO 2:8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

 

1CO 2:9 but just as it is written [combination of ISA 64:4; 52:15; 65:17],

"Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,

And which have not entered the heart of man,

All that God has prepared for those who love Him."

 

1CO 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

 

1CO 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

 

Unbelievers know the thoughts of man since they are men and have been created in God's image having an intellect, sensibility, and will. This verse would seem to state that all men possess a spirit and in the next verse that spirit is described as the spirit of the world.

 

1CO 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God,

 

A contrast is made between the spirit of the world and God the Holy Spirit both of which influence the soul to a certain knowledge.

 

1CO 2:13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

 

Combining spiritual with spiritual - God the Holy Spirit and the new spirit given at salvation.

 

It could be translated as well to mean the combination of God the Holy Spirit and the word of God, yet in Rom 8 we have insight into this better interpretation.

 

1CO 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

 

"appraised" - avnakri,nw[anakrino] = to distinguish, or to separate out so as to investigate by looking throughout objects or particulars; to examine, scrutinize, or question.

 

The human mind or soul that is minus spirituality, which is new spirit and Holy Spirit influence, does not possess the tools necessary for proper examination of the deep things of God.

 

1CO 2:15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.

 

1CO 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

 

No one, angelic or human, has had the mind of the Lord and so no one can instruct Him. The believer who has come to know all the scripture, though this is impossible to completely know, still would not be able to instruct Him. We have been given the mind of Christ with the completed canon of scripture now including the hidden wisdom or the mystery doctrine. This not everything in the mind of Christ, but exactly the portion of it that we need to be overcomers in this life.

 

 "natural man" - yuciko,j[psuchikos] = belonging to the soul, natural as opposed to divine.

 

 "spiritual" - pneumatikwj[pneumatikos] = things that have their origin with God, and which, therefore, are in harmony with His character.

 

This word is not found in the Septuagint nor in the gospels. It is only found after Pentecost and is therefore a NT phenomena in that it is a partnership or fellowship of the new spirit and the Holy Spirit.

 

The Holy Spirit identifies with the new spirit and not the old spirit of slavery, jealousy, fear, error, or slumber.

 

ROM 8:12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 

 

ROM 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die [temporal death and eventually the sin unto death]; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

 

ROM 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

 

ROM 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again [old spirit], but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

 

2TI 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity [fear - old spirit], but of power and love and discipline.

 

The spirit of power, love, and discipline is exactly what an adopted adult son who is ready to take on the family business needs to be successful.

 

At salvation each believer receives a spirit in accord with adult adoption into the RFOG and the dignity that comes with such a lofty position.

 

The adult son was adopted at age 14 into a position as one who was ready to be trained as an heir of the family assets. Therefore, this adoption as sons of God comes with an inheritance that demands capacity from virtue and honor and so God gives us a brand new spirit that influences us in that way. As a diving guide the Holy Spirit identifies with the new spirit to lead us to truth and power.

 

This new spirit is the neshamah of the new creature in Christ:

 

GEN 2:7

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

 

Therefore it is not a restoration of what died in Adam when he sinned, but a spirit given from the last Adam which is a regeneration into union with Him, much greater than what Adam lost, called a life giving spirit.

 

1CO 15:44-45

it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.