The Spiritual Man

By Stanley D. Toussaint

[Stanley D. Toussaint, Assistant Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis, Dallas Theological Seminary.]

What is the spiritual life? This basic and fundamental question is not a simple one to answer. All too often well meaning teachers, preachers, and writers have erred in one of two directions. Either they have been guilty of oversimplification or they have presented a doctrine which is hardly more than mystical obscurantism. On one side the impression is sometimes given that spirituality is simply a matter of conforming one’s life to a few elemental rules. If a certain prescribed pattern is followed, a believer in Christ automatically becomes spiritual. The spiritual life then comes into danger of becoming a matter of mechanics without heart. At the other extreme there are those who portray the spiritual life as some mystical obscurity that defies either attainment or satisfaction. It is proffered as though it were some mysterious secret open to only a fortunate few.

The Bible rather presents the spiritual life as something profound, yet practical, that will work in the life of a business man, housewife, farmer, laborer, or executive. It is meant for every Christian, no matter what his station in life may be.

What then is the spiritual life? To answer this question properly it is necessary to examine the New Testament viewpoint of the spiritual man. In 1 Corinthians 2:14 to 3:4 Paul refers to four types of people—the natural man, the spiritual man, the infant Christian, and the carnal Christian. A brief study of this passage will lead to a better comprehension of the spiritual man and consequently will help to formulate a definition of the spiritual life.

The natural man: In 1 Corinthians 2:14 Paul writes: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The first question that needs to be answered is, Who is the natural man? By this term Paul is referring to an unregenerate soul, a man who needs Christ as his Savior. Two related passages, Romans 8:9 and Jude 19, confirm this conclusion. Romans 8:9 asserts: “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” This verse teaches the fact of the universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit; every Christian is indwelled by the Spirit. The second passage is Jude 19. In describing scoffers of the faith Jude writes: “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” The word translated sensual is the same as the one rendered natural in 1 Corinthians 2:14. Therefore, Jude is in effect saying the natural man does not possess the Spirit of God. If all of God’s children possess the Holy Spirit as Romans 8:9 asserts, and the natural man does not have His indwelling presence, it can only be deduced the natural man is not a born-again child of God and is therefore lost; that is, he is destined for eternal condemnation. All of this can be reduced to a very simple syllogism: major premise: a man without the Holy Spirit is a lost man; minor premise: the natural man is without the Holy Spirit; conclusion: the natural man is a lost man.

This conclusion is verified by the Apostle Paul’s assertions concerning the natural man. Paul says two things about him which could only be true of a lost or unsaved man. First, this one does not receive the things that come from and relate to the Spirit of God. The verb translated receive quite literally means welcome. The natural man not only fails to lay hold of spiritual truths; they are somewhat repugnant to him. Having made this assertion concerning an unsaved person, Paul goes on to explain why this is so. An unregenerate man considers spiritual things to be foolishness. Prayer, the study of God’s Word, Christian fellowship, faith, giving, witnessing, and all other things of the Spirit are nonsensical to him. These are counted as having little or no worth. The natural man does not welcome spiritual things for they are foolishness to him.

A second assertion is made in this passage concerning the unsaved man. Paul writes: “Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Here is a problem. An unsaved man certainly can know in the sense that he can understand spiritual truths. Many have been the atheists, agnostics, and unbelievers who have understood the Biblical doctrines of the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus Christ, the substitutionary atonement, the resurrection and return of Christ, and other such truths, only to reject and scoff at them. Some unbelievers have known and studied the Bible more intensively than many Christians. What then does Paul mean when he says a natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God? Paul is not discussing the matter of an unsaved man’s ability to understand spiritual things; rather he is portraying the lost person’s inability to interact with the things of the Holy Spirit. The word that Paul employs here does not simply mean to know about; it implies a sort of recognition and acknowledgment. The word is used in this sense several times in the New Testament (e.g., Matt 7:23; John 10:14–15; Rom 7:7; 1 Cor 8:3; Gal 4:9; 2 Tim 2:19). While an unsaved man may understand doctrine, he cannot interact with spiritual things. There is a definite reason for this. The apostle states: “Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The natural man does not possess the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot interact with spiritual realities. He is spiritually dead and insensitive.

The natural man then is unsaved and is characterized by two things—a failure to welcome the things of the Spirit of God, and an inability to interact with them.

The spiritual man. The second type of person to which Paul refers in 1 Corinthians 2 is the spiritual man. Because it is quite obvious the apostle sets this one forth as the Christian’s ideal, it is essential that a clear perception of Paul’s concept of the spiritual man be gained. This is necessary in order to arrive at a proper definition of the spiritual life. 1 Corinthians 2:15 declares: “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” In the main there are two views as to the person Paul is describing here. Many feel the spiritual man is any Christian who genuinely loves the Lord and is living the Spirit-filled life.[1] This interpretation is fundamentally based on the modern usage of the term spiritual. Today it is employed to describe a devoted Christian regardless of his spiritual immaturity. However, this is not the sense in which Paul employs the word. There are several reasons why it is incorrect to apply this verse to all who are Spirit-filled, including neophytes in the faith. First, Paul says this is a person who is characterized by profound perception and spiritual understanding (cf. 1 Cor 14:37). Christians young in the faith certainly cannot be described in such a manner. In Hebrews 5:13–14 the readers of that epistle are reminded: “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

Discernment is the result of the exercise and use of spiritual faculties and this can only come with time. Second, in 1 Corinthians 3:1 the babe in Christ is contrasted with the spiritual Christian: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” The sharp distinction made between the spiritual man and the new Christian prohibits their being equated. Third, Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:6 refers to those who are spiritually mature in stating, “We speak wisdom among them that are full grown” (literal translation). The wisdom which Paul preached was better comprehended by the mature Christians at Corinth than by the more immature. In both 1 Corinthians 2:6 and 2:15 Paul recognized there were Christians more fully developed than others who entered into the truths which he preached. The mature Christian of 1 Corinthians 2:6 appreciated God’s wisdom, and the spiritual man of 1 Corinthians 2:15 apprehended it. It becomes quite clear the two terms describe the same person.

Who then is the spiritual person? By this term the apostle is describing a mature Christian. Such a believer has developed and matured over a period of time into spiritual adulthood. It is this man that Paul sets forth as the ideal of every Christian.

Concerning the spiritual Christian Paul also makes two assertions. First, the spiritual Christian discerns all things. The verb which is employed here actually means to examine. It was used of a preliminary examination in preparation for a court trial. Only a Christian who is spiritually mature has the proper perspective to make a correct examination of spiritual matters. He has insight which others do not possess.

The second affirmation Paul makes pertaining to the spiritual man relates to the inability of the world of men to examine him. When Paul says, “Yet he himself is judged of no man,” it is quite evident he assumes the examiner of the spiritual man to be an unregenerate person. This certainly does not mean a spiritual man is always beyond reproach. Just as the natural man cannot know spiritual things because they are spiritually discerned, so he cannot pass judgment on the spiritual man because he does not as an unsaved man possess the Holy Spirit. The unregenerate person is unqualified to make inquiry into the life of a spiritually mature saint of God.

The infant Christian. The third type of person Paul describes in this passage is the Christian who is immature. He is portrayed in the first two verses of 1 Corinthians 3: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”

The word carnal which is found here implies weakness. It is a translation of the Greek word sarkinos and is more properly rendered fleshen. The particular weakness that Paul has in view is immaturity. The Corinthians are reminded in this passage of their beginnings in the Christian faith. When they first came to know the Lord Jesus, Paul carefully taught them as fleshen and weak Christians, as the babes in Christ they were. At that time they were nurtured on a very simple fare of basic Christian truths and not with more profound doctrines which they could not then assimilate. It should be noticed that Paul does not blame such a person for his immaturity; this is what is to be expected of new converts.

The carnal Christian. In 1 Corinthians 3:3–4 Paul writes: “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?”

Here the fourth type of man is discussed, the carnal Christian. The term carnal which Paul uses in these two verses is a translation of the Greek word sarkikos and literally means fleshly. In contemporary Christian circles carnal is a word that describes a Christian who is not maintaining a good testimony. He is one who is living for the material world and for prestige in the eyes of men. In part this is the sense in which Paul employs the word here. Basically it implies willfulness in living in sin. The Corinthians should have developed and matured in the Christian faith, but instead they stubbornly pursued their own selfish course and became carnal Christians.[2] No newborn Christian is blamable for his immaturity; however, every carnal or fleshly Christian is culpable for willfully living in sin and not developing in the spiritual life.

The carnal Christian of 1 Corinthians 3:3–4 has two characteristics. First, he cannot perceive and appreciate the more profound truths of Christ when he is old enough in the faith to be able to do so. To the Corinthians Paul says; “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal.” The tragedy of these words is found in their application to today’s Christians. The complaint against the church at Corinth could be leveled at believer after believer in contemporary Christianity. These have been in the faith for years but still cannot go beyond the ABC’s of doctrine.

The second characteristic of the carnal Christian is selfishness and pride. It is betrayed by envy, strife, and divisions. Blinded by conceit, these Christians live only for themselves and consequently cannot get along with others. This is a basic spiritual principle: a man’s relationship with God is seen in his relationships with men, in particular with God’s people. If he cannot get along well with others, it is a fair indication he is not getting along with God either.

The fourth type of a person Paul refers to here is a Christian who has failed to mature because he has been willfully living like the natural man.

A conclusion. Because the spiritual man is presented by Paul as the ideal and he is to be defined as a mature believer, one must conclude the spiritual life is the life that produces the mature Christian. It is the kind of life that will lead to spiritual adulthood.

The implications of this simple definition are varied and far-reaching. For one thing, this indicates the spiritual life is a gradual development. No young Christian can be designated as being spiritual in the Pauline sense of that term. It is reserved for those who have sufficiently developed to be called mature. At the same time, this should be a reminder to young Christians not to become discouraged. A first-grader who is learning the simplest things of arithmetic does not give up because he cannot carry out a problem involving calculus. Bit by bit he learns his mathematics and advances from one step to another. The spiritual life is like that. It is a gradual development that calls for one’s best efforts where he is right now. By the same token, an immature Christian is not suddenly transformed into spiritual adulthood by some emotional or ecstatic experience. This does not produce perception, the hallmark of maturity. It is a gradual process, just as physical maturation is the result of progressive development.

There is a second implication that needs to be noted. Perception results from the exercise and use of spiritual senses (Heb 5:13–14). It is necessary, therefore, to have a balanced spiritual life in order to attain maturity. The spiritual life that produces the fully developed Christian must contain every possible ingredient of the Christian life. Bible study, prayer, witnessing, sharing, Christian fellowship, and the recognition of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit are a few of these. The development of Christian maturity as in natural maturity involves every possible area of the spiritual life.

Even though a Christian is mature, there is always room for further development. This is a third implication. Spiritual maturity does not mean there is a cessation of spiritual growth. Full grown people develop in physical prowess; emotionally mature individuals grow emotionally; and the mentally mature expand intellectually. So it is in the spiritual life. Because of his discernment, a Christian may be considered to be spiritual, but he is never to cease his spiritual development. As Paul said: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:12–14).

By way of conclusion it may be said the spiritual life is not simply a matter of conforming one’s life to a few prescribed rules. Nor is it a mystical obscurantism which is beyond definition or attainment. It is the kind of life that produces spiritual maturity. For this reason the spiritual man referred to in 1 Corinthians 2:15 is the ideal who is also to be the normal Christian. The spiritual man is an ideal because he is so far beyond the average Christian’s experience, but at the same time the spiritual man ought to be the normal outgrowth of the kind of life every believer is living. Tragically this is not what is seen in too many cases today. Only as Christians en masse commit themselves to a well rounded spiritual life will this ideal become realized as the normal experience of believers.

Notes

1. The term Spirit-filled means Spirit-directed, controlled, and influenced.
2. There is some variation in the Greek manuscripts in these verses. Some have the same word for carnal in all four verses. This, however, does not change the interpretation. In verses one and two Paul looks at the Corinthians in their spiritual infancy, and in verses three to four Paul reprimands them for their failure to mature. This interpretaton stands regardless of the textual variations.