From these verses we see that the spirit includes at least three parts—the conscience, the intuition, and the fellowship. Although an unregenerated person has not received life, he still has his conscience, intuition, and fellowship. Of course, under such circumstances he worships only the evil spirits. With some, the manifestation of the spirit is more, while with others, the manifestation of the spirit is less. But this does not mean that a person is not dead in his trespasses and sins before he is regenerated. The Bible does not consider a person saved just because his conscience is active, his intuition is sharp, and he has a spiritual inclination and interest. These things alone only demonstrate that man has a spirit and that this spirit is something different from the intellect, emotion, and will in his soul. Before a man is regenerated, his spirit is isolated from the life of God. It is only after he is regenerated that God's life and the Holy Spirit begin to live in his spirit and enliven it to become the instrument of the Holy Spirit.

The reason we study the main features of the spirit is to show that man has a spirit which is independent of his other parts. This spirit is not man's mind, will, or emotion. It includes the function of the conscience, the intuition, and the fellowship. Here, God regenerates us and instructs us and leads us into His rest. Because the believers have long been controlled by the soul, they have become very weak in their knowledge of the spirit. We should come before God in fear and trembling and should ask Him to show us in our experience what is of the spirit and what is of the soul.

Before a person is regenerated, his spirit is deeply submerged within his soul. It is surrounded by his soul and is knit together with his soul. In this way, the functions and the consciousness of the spirit are mingled with the soul, and the person cannot distinguish what comes from the soul and what comes from the spirit. In addition, because the main functions of the spirit towards God are lost and dead, they have become accessories to the soul. When the functions of the mind, emotion, and will in the soul become strong, the functions of the spirit become obliterated. Hence, even after a believer is regenerated, there is still the need for the work of dividing the soul from the spirit. If we search the Scripture (which we will do shortly), we will find out that the spirit of an unregenerated person seems to do the same work as that of his soul. The following verses prove this:

"And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled" (Gen. 41:8).
"Then their anger [lit., spirit] was abated toward him" (Judg. 8:3).
"He that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly" (Prov. 14:29).
"A broken spirit drieth the bones" (Prov. 17:22).
"A fool uttereth all his mind [lit., spirit]" (Prov. 29:11).
"Those who have erred in spirit will come to understand" (Isa. 29:24).
"And because of a broken spirit you shall wail" (Isa. 65:14).
"For I know the things that come into your mind [lit., spirit]" (Ezek. 11:5).
"And that which cometh into your mind [lit., spirit] shall not be at all" (Ezek. 20:32).
"But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so arrogant" (Dan. 5:20).

The above few verses show us the function of the spirit of an unregenerated person. We can see how close these functions are to the functions of the soul. The purpose of these verses in saying that the spirit behaves in this way, instead of saying that the soul behaves this way, is to highlight the condition of these ones in the deepest part of their being. The spirits of these people are controlled and affected by their mind. This is why the spirit performs the functions of the soul. Nevertheless, the spirits of these ones are still there, and these functions are still from their spirits. A man does not lose the organ of the spirit and does not cause the spirit to disappear just because his soul has taken control.