The living of the soulish believers cannot be the same for everyone, due to individual differences. Each man in the world has his own personality. When one believes in the Lord and is regenerated (unto eternity), his personality is not annihilated. Otherwise, eternity future would not be interesting at all! Therefore, the soulish living of the believers differs with individuals. For this reason, we can speak only in general terms, mentioning those matters which are more prominent in the soulish living and describing briefly the experiences of different aspects in order that the children of God may compare their own experiences with these.
Soulish believers have a characteristic of being curious. They study biblical prophecies to know the things of the future that they may have the ideal information to satisfy their curious mind. Their apparel, speech, and conduct indicate that they have an attitude of being different and superior. They seek to achieve startling, instant success with many of their activities. Even before they believe in the Lord, they already have such an inclination, and afterwards it is still hard for them to overcome their natural life. They are not like spiritual believers who do not seek to understand any matter inquisitively. Soulish believers do not seek to reconcile their experiences with God's teaching, but pay attention mostly to the understanding in their mind; that is, they like to reason. What saddens them the most is not that their experience fails to catch up with their ideals, but rather that they cannot understand with their ideals and their mind the spiritual experience they lack. Having the error of some kind of self-deception, they think that whatever they understand mentally is what they have experienced. Actually, this is a great error.
Soulish believers often have an attitude of self-righteousness, though sometimes it cannot be detected easily from the outside. They are very stubborn with their trivial opinions. We should hold fast to the major truths recorded in the Bible, but we certainly can let others have the liberty concerning minor points. Although we think our understanding is very clear and that what we believe is without any mistake, to strain out a gnat and swallow a camel displeases the Lord. We should lay aside differences on small points and pursue the oneness on major points.
The mind of soulish believers is often disturbed by evil spirits so that their thoughts become confused, mixed up, and sometimes defiled. In their conversation they answer what is not questioned, and their mind travels at high speed, changing topics every so often and proving how scattered their thoughts are. Even when they pray and read the Bible, their body is present, but their mind is far away. In their deeds, either dealing with men or matters, they do not think—they act without forethought. Yet when others speak to them about their conduct and how one should conduct himself, they can select similar incidents from their deeds to illustrate how carefully they consider and act according to principle. Occasionally, they indeed think before they act. The conduct of the soulish believers is often very fickle.