Verse 16 of chapter four says, “Wherefore we do not lose heart, but if indeed our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day.” The inward man is our regenerated spirit as the life and person with our renewed soul as its organ. The outward man is our body as the organ with our soul as its life and person. The outward man is perishing, decaying, or being weakened, reduced, and consumed. But the inward man is being renewed, refreshed, encouraged, and strengthened by being nourished with the fresh supply of the resurrection life. As our mortal body, our outward man, is being consumed by the killing work of death, our inward man, that is, our regenerated spirit with the inward parts of our being (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 7:22, 25), is being metabolically renewed day by day with the supply of the resurrection life.
The outward man has to be consumed. It is decaying and being reduced. The inward man has to be encouraged, refreshed. To understand the full meaning of what Paul says here, we have to put the first four chapters together. In the first chapter he told us that he was pressed out of measure (v. 8). Then in the fourth chapter he showed us how he was pressed on every side or afflicted in every way (v. 8). Verses 7 through 18 of chapter four show that the apostles lived a crucified life in resurrection, or the resurrection life under the killing of the cross, for the carrying out of their ministry. Paul was much afflicted and perplexed, but he realized that these afflictions and perplexities were doing a good job to reduce the outward man. But while the outward man was being reduced, the inward man was being refreshed and encouraged day by day. This means that we have to be kept away from our soul, the wilderness, the Holy Place. We must be kept fully and solely in the Holy of Holies. We have to live and act in the Holy of Holies.
To argue with people is to nourish or feed your soulish life. The more you argue, the stronger the outward man is. Sometimes a wife and a husband are tempted to quarrel or debate. Suppose that the wife is angry, but the brother would not say a word to his wife to argue with her. The brother may say that he did not say a word because he has learned to suffer. This way of acting, however, is not the Christian way, but it may be the way of the followers of Confucius or Buddha. If you would ask me why I do not argue with my wife, I would say that I do not like to feed or to nourish my soul. The more I argue with my wife, the more I feed my soul. We have to learn the lesson to starve the soul, to reduce the soul. The outward man should be reduced. We must realize that everything that happens to us has a purpose. God’s purpose is for our outward man to be reduced so that the inward man can be strengthened, refreshed, encouraged, nourished, and renewed day by day.
When our outward man is reduced and our inward man is renewed, we are kept in the Holy of Holies. It is here in the Holy of Holies, in our spirit, that we enjoy and experience Christ. It is here that you experience all the divine things with God and in God. Gradually we ourselves will become a ministry. We will not merely be a minister but a minister with a ministry. Then we will minister life, God, and the riches of Christ to others. We will not just pass on certain teachings, doctrines, and knowledge to others. Whatever we do will be a ministering of Christ, of God, into others. This is the need today.
In 2 Corinthians 12:18 Paul said that he and Titus walked in the same spirit. This verse and the other verses we have fellowshipped show us what kind of person the Apostle Paul was. He was a person fully, absolutely, and thoroughly living in the spirit. He would never be kept away from the spirit.
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