The Constitution of Man (The Doctrine of Man, part 2)
Genesis: The Foundation of Biblical Doctrines • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 12 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Text - Genesis 2.7
7 Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person.
Title - The Doctrine of Man, Part 2
Series - Genesis: The Foundation of Biblical Doctrines, Part 2
Background
Background
Key questions
Key questions
is man a dichotomy or a trichotomy?
dichotomy - composed of 2 parts: the material part (body) and the immaterial part
trichotomy - composed of 3 parts: body, soul, and spirit
how can we distinguish between the soul and the spirit
Key Words
Key Words
Body
Soul
Heb. nephesh - inner self; life; person; life (state)l breath; living thing;
Grk. psyche - life (state); soul; person; living thing;
Spirit
Heb. ruah - spirit; wind; spirit of GOd; breath; supernatural being; courage; will; disposition
Grk. pneuma - spirit; soul; supernatural being; demon; grace; spirit (substance); apparition; manifestion; spirit (character);wind;
References - trichotomy or dichotomy?
References - trichotomy or dichotomy?
These references weigh heavily on the concept that man is composed of a body (immaterial part) and spiritual or immaterial part.
Trichotomy - body, soul, spirit
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
only one reference gives the 3 components (body, soul and spirit)
Note - here, Paul was not teaching about the constitution of man, but was exhorting on the preservation of the person until the coming the Lord.
More Bible references point to the idea that man is composed of 2 parts -
Dichotomy - body and soul
9 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body too.
7 Does the Lord take pleasure in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Dichotomy - body and spirit
10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
Man is a two-fold being
Man is a two-fold being
Paul’s understanding
Paul’s understanding
inner man and outer man
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.
these are not 2 different persons
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self,
22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person,
23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts.
he describes both the inner person and the body
body and spirit
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
34 and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
the flesh and the spirit
1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Also, by James
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Peter’s understanding
Peter’s understanding
3 Your adornment must not be merely the external—braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or putting on apparel;
4 but it should be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
Peter explains there 2 ways to adron oneself, on the outside and on the hidden person
the hidden person is the heart
Jesus’ statement
Jesus’ statement
28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The soul and the spirit
The soul and the spirit
The words ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ both describe the inner man
The words ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ both describe the inner man
The bible interchanges the use of the word ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’
[ILLUSTRATION - THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
9 At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments, The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
The soul and the spirit can be distinguished but not separated
The soul and the spirit can be distinguished but not separated
12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
division - grk. meros, distinction
The SOUL is the spiritual part of man that gives life to the body, self-consciousness, and enables the person to interact with the physical world.
The soul is the “self-consciousness” -
reason - the ability to think, reason, imagine, meditate, etc.
will - the ability to make decision spirit
6 not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.
affection - the ability to feel
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people,
38 But My righteous one will live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
11 Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.
conscience - the basic conviction of right and wrong
22 Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart,
8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),
The SPIRIT is the spiritual part of man that gives the person an awareness and longing to connect with God and the spiritual world.
The spirit is man’s “God-consciousness”
connects with God
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,
communicates with God
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive.
15 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the mind also.
16 For otherwise, if you bless God in the spirit only, how will the one who occupies the place of the outsider know to say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you are saying?
receive understanding from God
11 For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.
13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
The Natural Man and the Spiritual Man
The Natural Man and the Spiritual Man
natural man - grk. psychikos
spiritual man - grk. pneumatikos
14 But a natural person 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 discerned.
15 But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one.
16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
The uncoverted person is a “psychikos”
psychikos - fleshly, of the flesh, natural
to be a psychikos is to be driven by the the flesh
The Christian person is a “pneumatikos”
pneumatikos - spiritual, of the spirit
to be a pneumatikos is to be driven by the spirit to the realm of the spirit.
4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
A true Christian, converted and born of the Spirit, will desire to walk in accordance with the spirit.
his/her spirit is has been set free from spiritual bondage and guilt
he/she has been introduced to the realities of the spirit realm
he/she is now longing to connect with God and be led by the Spirit of God
SONG - I’m a New Creation