As a consequence of the fall man's spirit was deadened, becoming insulated from God and losing its function toward God (vv. 8, 10). Although the spirit was deadened, neither sin nor Satan himself entered the spirit of man. We thank God for this. Nevertheless, man's spirit within him was deadened. Ephesians 2 tells us that before we were saved we were dead (vv. 1, 5). In what part of our being were we dead? We were not dead in our body or in our soul, but in our spirit. What does it mean to be dead? To be dead simply means to be without function or sensation. If my hand is without function, it is a dead hand. By God's creation we all have a human spirit (Zech. 12:1) by which we may sense God and contact Him. However, as a result of the fall man's spirit was deadened; it became functionless and senseless, no longer possessing the ability to contact God. The God-contacting function of the human spirit was deadened. When we repented and applied the redeeming blood to cleanse our conscience, our deadened spirit was quickened. Then our spirit began to sense God and contact Him. Now the more we say, "O Lord, I love You," the more alive our spirit becomes. The more we say, "Lord, cleanse me, wash me, and cover me with Your prevailing blood," and the more we confess our sins and praise the Lord, the more living our spirit will be.
Due to the fall man's soul was corrupted, his body changed in nature, and his spirit was deadened, losing its function toward God. We must realize that this was not merely a matter of outward transgression; it was an inward damage to man's being. Each of the three parts of man—the body, soul, and spirit—was affected by the fall. The body was changed in nature, the soul was contaminated, and the spirit was deadened. We all were such persons. If you are not saved, you are still like this. Your body is indwelt by sin, your mind is corrupted, your soul is contaminated, and your spirit is deadened. How we thank God that we have been redeemed by and washed in the blood of Christ, that our spirit has been made alive, that our soul is under the process of renewing and transformation, and that our body will be brought under the direction of our spirit.
The fallen man was constituted a sinner (Rom. 5:19). There is a certain constitution within the being of fallen man, and the main element of this constitution is the satanic nature. The very satanic nature has entered into man's being, becoming the element to constitute him into a sinner. Do not think that you are a sinner simply because you are wrong or sinful in your outward doings, in your behavior. Before we do anything sinful we are sinners already. If a tree is not a corrupt tree, it cannot bring forth evil fruit (Matt. 7:17-18). Likewise, if you are not a sinner, you cannot sin. A tree is not corrupt because it brings forth evil fruit; it brings forth evil fruit because it is corrupt. In like manner, we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners, because we have been constituted sinners. Because we are sinners we have the sinning function.
As constituted sinners we have the evil life of Satan inwardly. This is what Paul describes as the "sin that dwells in me" and "the evil present with me" (Rom. 7:17, 20, 21). Paul discovered that there was an evil element within him and he termed it the "sin that dwells in me." Paul learned that whenever he tried to do good the evil was present with him. The Greek word translated "the evil" in Romans 7:21 is kakos, a word denoting that which is evil in character. This must refer to the evil character of Satan himself. Whenever we try to do good, "the evil" is present with us. We have a life of sin within us and, as a result, we have been constituted sinners.