Because the spirit of man has lost its sense and function and therefore has become dead, and because man does not sense that he has a spirit, man lives according to the soul and the flesh. The spirit of a fallen man is dead, but his soul and his flesh are still living. Furthermore, because his spirit has been deadened, his soul has gained a greater position. Formerly his spirit was taking the lead within, but now since his spirit is dead, his soul has assumed the leading position. His spirit could be connected with God, could contact God, and could be under God’s ruling. But now it is different with his soul. His soul cannot be connected with God but can only be connected with itself. It cannot contact God but can only remain in itself; it does not like to be under God’s ruling but likes to act according to its own will. Since his soul has assumed the leading position to rule over him and to control him, which was previously occupied by his spirit, this makes him unable to contact God and causes him to dislike being under God’s ruling. Thus, he can only remain in himself and walk according to his own will. Consequently, this gives his flesh the opportunity to indulge in lust. Therefore, a person who is deadened in his spirit is dead in offenses and sins and conducts himself in the lusts of the flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, which are the result of the operation of the mind in the soul (Eph. 2:3).
The spirit of man is the core and the center of man. Man ought to let the spirit take the lead and walk according to the spirit. Under normal circumstances, man ought to live in the spirit and be controlled by the spirit. After contacting God and receiving His commands, the spirit directs the soul. The soul in turn directs the body, and the body takes action. In this way whatever man does is according to the will of God and is pleasing to Him.
But man fell and man’s spirit became deadened. Man’s core became “deflated” and man’s center lost its function. Now man’s soul rises up to replace the spirit. Because the spirit is deadened, the soul rises up. When the soul rises up, it causes man to act according to whatever he likes.
Due to the fall, Satan’s life, that is, the satanic nature, entered into man’s body. This satanic nature becomes the lust in man’s body that causes man to sin, and this lust is referred to in Romans 7 as “the law of sin which is in my members” (v. 23). Since the lust for sinning is present in man’s body, man’s body becomes the flesh. This flesh of man is very cooperative with man’s soul. Since the soul, after rising up to take the place of the spirit, causes man to do according to whatever he likes, the flesh comes to help the soul to do evil. Man’s soul represents man’s self, while man’s flesh represents sin. The union of man’s soul with man’s flesh is thus a marriage between man and sin. The result is that man does many different things to offend and oppose God. All the evil things done by man are the issue of the union of these two. Since man walks according to these two, the soul and the flesh, instead of allowing the spirit to take the lead and walking according to the spirit, man becomes “soulish” (1 Cor. 2:14) and “fleshly” (3:3).
All the things that the soulish and fleshly man does according to the soul and the flesh are against God and are not pleasing to God, yet they may not appear sinful or bad outwardly. In fact, some of them may seem to be quite good. Nevertheless, they are carried out by the body under the direction of the soul; hence, they are not of the spirit. Therefore, they are also not of God and they are not pleasing to God.
Although the spirit of man has been deadened, his soul and his flesh still have their desires and works, and although these desires and works are not of his spirit, outwardly they are not necessarily bad. Even though they come out of the preferences of his soul and his flesh, some of them are good on the surface.
Some people are cruel by nature and delight in hating others. Thus, their living and their behavior exhibit their hatred for others mostly according to the desire of their inborn nature of hate. But others are kind by nature and readily love people. Thus, their living and their behavior show their love toward others mostly under the direction of the desire of their inborn nature of love. According to these two things—love and hate—loving others is better than hating others; loving others is right and hating others is wrong. But from the spiritual viewpoint, just as hate comes from man’s self, love also comes from man’s self. One who hates others surely has not touched or contacted God. Likewise, one who loves others may also have not touched or contacted God. In others words, both the one who hates and the one who loves do not hate or love out of their contact with God in their human spirit. Just as the hatred of that one is not the issue of his contact with God in spirit, so the love of this one is also not the issue of his contact with God in spirit. That one’s hating others is his behavior; it is not his service to God. Likewise, this one’s loving others is his behavior and is not his service to God.
Christians ought to love, but there are at least two kinds of Christian love. One kind of love is of God and is by the spirit; another kind of love is of the Christian himself and is by the soul and the flesh. The former is spiritual; the latter is natural. While the former requires the Christian to contact and touch God, the latter does not. The Christian with the second kind of love was born with a love for others; his natural disposition is to love others. Whomever he meets, he has to show at least some amount of love; otherwise, he does not feel good. If he can show some love and render a little help, then he feels contented and happy. Many Christians have this kind of love. They love not because of their contact and touch with God but because of their natural disposition. They have this kind of love without having to contact or touch God, and even without having to confess the existence of God. Even before they were saved, before they knew God, and before they confessed that there is a God, they already had such a love. They were born with this kind of love. Then after they were saved, they brought this love into the church. The brothers and sisters who do not know the spiritual matters adequately would say that this kind of love is spiritual and that the Christians who love in this way are also spiritual. However, brothers and sisters, if this is being spiritual, then these ones were already spiritual before they were saved. Someone may have been saved for only two years, yet before he was saved, he was already like a sheep and he liked to love others, sympathize with others, and help others. If we say that this is being spiritual, then this person would have become spiritual without the need to be saved and made alive in the spirit. Therefore, this kind of love is not spiritual. Rather, it is what one possesses naturally. One does not need to contact or depend on God in order to have this kind of love. One can have it by birth.
This kind of love and, in the same principle, this kind of goodness and virtue are right, proper, and good, as far as human behavior is concerned. But brothers and sisters, the Lord’s salvation is not merely for us to behave well and be an outstanding, respectable person. Rather, it is for us to serve God and to contact God in all things in our daily life that we may live and express Him. Therefore, in the church there is another kind of Christian whose love and virtue come from his contact with God and trust in God. Some of these believers might have been cruel and wicked previously, but now they love God, draw near to God, and contact God with their spirit. God is love, and God is rich in virtues. Therefore, when they contact God and touch God from within, they contact love and touch virtue. They allow God to fill them up in their spirit so that their spirit is strengthened to overcome their soul and their flesh. Therefore, God’s love and virtue are lived out through them spontaneously. This kind of love and virtue is not of themselves but of God and yet through them. They are not the source; the source is God. This kind of love and virtue is not only their deeds toward others but also their service to God. Although this is their living, it is even the more their service to God. Because they draw near to God, contact God, and have fellowship with God, they are able to live in their spirit and allow God to pass through them and be manifested in them. This kind of living allows God to obtain their service and worship. Actually, this kind of living is their service and worship to God. Apparently, this is merely their conduct or behavior, but tracing back to the origin, this is their contact with God which allows Him to pass through them and be manifested in them so that He may receive their service and worship.
Some of the brothers and sisters live this way in the spirit so that God may receive their service and worship. However, most Christians do not live like this. The Christians who are defeated and who indulge in their lusts surely do not live like this. However, even many Christians who live cautiously and who are full of love and virtue do not live this way. Their love and virtue are what they naturally delight in. They can live out love and virtue by themselves without contacting God or allowing God to pass through them. Therefore, this love and virtue, which are natural and not spiritual, are the good living that comes out of the Christians themselves, not the spiritual service that comes out of God.
Therefore, a person who is deadened in spirit does not and cannot live by the spirit. Rather, he lives by the soul and according to the flesh. Nevertheless, all that he lives out and all that he does may not appear to be bad. In fact, some of it may even appear to be quite good. However, even though it is good, it is not by or of the spirit. Instead, it is by the soul and according to the flesh. No matter what is being expressed in his outward living, inwardly he is always living by and according to the soul and the flesh.
Man is already fallen, and man’s spirit is already deadened. Now man lives in the soul and in the flesh; he lives by the soul and according to the flesh. Originally, man should have lived by and according to the spirit. But since the spirit of man is deadened, man lives by the soul and according to the flesh. Although sometimes the things he lives out appear to be good and nice, they are still lived out of the soul and the flesh and not out of the spirit. What is lived out by a fallen man, regardless of whether it is good or bad, is lived out by his “doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts” (Eph. 2:3). He has fallen into the soul and the flesh, and he also lives in his soul and his flesh. Therefore, he cannot contact God or serve God.