Chapter 9: The Thinking Man

Paul said, "and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, 'The first man Adam was made a living soul'" (1 Cor. 15:44c & 45a). The soul is a person, and is the spiritual body which the spirit resides within. The soul and spirit together form the human ghost. "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost" (Matt 27:50). Watchman Nee says, "The soul makes it possible for the spirit and the body to communicate and to cooperate. The work of the soul is to keep these two in their proper order so that they may not lose their right relationship - namely, that the lowest, the body, may be subjected to the spirit, and that the highest, the spirit, may govern the body through the soul" [12].

He further points out that there are three Greek words translated into the word, "life." The first, bios $4@l, refers to one's means of living as when the woman cast her whole living [bios] into the temple treasury. It is note worthy that this is the choice of science to describe physical life as in "biology." The second word, zoe .T0, refers to the life of the spirit, and is the root in "zoology". This is the word used in reference to eternal life. The third word, psuche yuch, refers to the animated life of man, or the soul life, and is the root in "psychology". In Hebrew the word for soul, nephesh :51 , is also used for life. Consider these verses:

As a spiritual body, the soul resides in the blood. When we are to lay down our lives to gain our lives, we forsake the right of our fleshly soul for Christ's spiritual soul. Nee says, "The soul actually is the very life of man" [13]. It is noteworthy that the word, "psuche," is the root for the word, "psychology," which is why the soul is so often considered the source of the mind. This is not true in the strict sense because the spirit thinks, and body thinks (autonomous nervous system). Since it is the mediator between body and spirit, then the soul becomes the decisive part in thought.

SELF AWARENESS

It is within the soul that man has self awareness, or self consciousness. Perhaps this is another aspect that makes man more like the image of God than animals. In order for God to make man in His own image, then He must be totally aware of Himself, or possess a self consciousness. It is probable that animals do not possess self awareness. In fact, according to C.S. Lewis, animals are not cognizant of time as humans are. C. S. Lewis in his book, "The Problem of Pain," addresses this issue in his chapter on Animal Pain. It is agreed that the soul is the element of self awareness. He further suggests that the soul is the element that is aware of the passage of time (which suggests that the spirit is the element that resides in eternity, or the "now" only). He proposes that an animal hit twice doesn't experience the pain as a passing of time, but rather is simply in pain. He states it as thus:

Suppose that three sensations follow one another - first A, then B, then C. When this happens to you, you have the experience of passing through the process ABC. But note what this implies. It implies that there is something in you which stands sufficiently outside A to notice A passing away, and sufficiently outside B to notice B now beginning and coming to fill the place which A has vacated... Now this something is what I call Consciousness or Soul... The simplest experience of ABC as a succession demands a soul which is not itself a mere succession of states, but rather a permanent bed along which these different portions of the stream of sensation roll... This would mean that if you give such a creature [an animal] two blows with a whip, there are, indeed two pains: but there is no coordinating self which can recognize that "I have two pains." Even in the single pain, there is no self to say "I am in pain" - for if it could distinguish itself from the sensation - the bed from the stream - sufficiently to say "I am in pain," it would also be able to connect the two sensations as its experience. The correct description would be, "Pain is taking place in this animal"; not, as we commonly say, "This animal feels pain," for the words "this" and "feels" really smuggle in the assumption that it is a "self" or "soul" or "consciousness" standing above the sensations and organizing them into an "experience" as we do [14].

While I don't completely agree with Lewis (I think animals have a limited self awareness, and that they have limited souls), I do believe he is close to the truth regarding an animal's sense of time. An animal's personality comes from it's spirit, and as Lewis states in the same chapter, from an animal's relationship to man [15]. A man's personality is a combination of the God given innate gifts within his spirit and the effect of experiences in time upon his soul.

This capacity of the human soul for self awareness is what makes it the object of salvation. Since Christ is "the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:4) and we are predestined "to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom. 8:29), then it is a fair analogy to say that the Word is the soul of God. After Adam fell, all mankind became lost "souls." Indeed, it is because of the soul's ability for self awareness that makes man accountable to God's moral law. Animals cannot sin because they lack the capacity of self awareness to make the judgment, "I have erred." Isaiah said of the Messiah, "Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul [nephesh] an offering for sin ...he shall see of the travail of his soul... shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.. .because he hath poured out his soul unto death" (Isaiah 53:l0a, lla & c, & 12b). We know that Leviticus 17:11 says, "The life [nephesh; soul] of the flesh is in the blood" and that Jesus sanctified "the people with his own blood" (Heb. 13:12), therefore when Jesus poured out his blood for our sins, he poured out his soul. This shows how important souls are to God.

THE MIND OF ADAM

Adam was a perfect man at first. It is said by secular authorities that we only use 10% of our brain today. Adam had 100% usage. (Incidentally, if we only use 10% now, then that is another argument against evolution and for creation!) Carl Baugh lists 56 superior traits that Adam possessed over modern man today in his book, "Panorama of Creation." In brief, some are:

Adam had a brain like a computer. But more than that he had every function of thought operating. His spirit gave a complete contribution to his thinking as well as the Holy Spirit's communication was completely unhindered. His body provided information through his senses in a pristine world. The job of his mind was to understand the input of the spirit and the body to make decisions for action. This is why the soul is given the role of the mind, since it creates understanding of the spirit and body inputs.

The mind is the conscious thinking element of man. It is not the brain. It is a spiritual entity. The Bible says, "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Eph 4:23). It embraces intelligence, memory, and articulation of thought for self expression.

Intelligence is the ability to understand and is the capacity of the mind for logical reasoning with deduction and induction. Or, in other words, it is the capacity of understanding for the sake of communication. The expression, "have intelligence" means to collect information for sharing. The prophet Daniel in relating future events says, "he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant" (Dan. 11:30b). It is connected to memory, sense perception, and the heart. It is not knowledge gained, although knowledge aids intelligence. It is the ability to take facts and group them together into systems that can be understood. Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge correlate to the spirit, soul, and body. The body gathers the facts, which is knowledge. The soul understands the significance of the facts, which is intelligence or understanding. And the spirit guides the best course of action, which is wisdom. Knowledge is retained in memory as received by sense perception and the voice of the spirit which comes through the heart. Intelligence can be strengthened through critical thinking, but is not limited by age. Small children are gifted with intelligence, but lack knowledge. The lack of knowledge is often confused as a lack of intelligence. That is an error in thinking.

Memory is a part of the mind, but also inputs the spirit. When facts of the world are on file in the memory, the mind already knows the facts. When the spirit speaks intuitively, it is the apprehending of knowledge without words in a "knowing." Information gathered in the mind gets stored in both short term and long term memory. Short term memory is a part of consciousness, whereas long term memory is a part of subconscious storage, which is in the heart. Proverbs says:

My son, forget not [or remember] my law; but let thine heart [subconscious thought] keep my commandments: for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck [an idiom for close to mind]; write them upon the table of thine heart [or imprint upon your spirit]: so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man (Prov.3:1-4).

In other words, if one will put the memory of God's commands into one's spirit, then long life and favor from God and man will result. This shows the link between conscious memory in the short term and subconscious memory in the heart for the long term. When senility affects old people, they often lose short term memory and is replaced with long term memory. These elements of the spirit's memory flood the conscious level in senility. This connection of memory to conscious and sub consciousness impacts the spirit both positively and negatively depending on the content of the memory. The human soul grows through the memory, and it shapes our character and personality.

Articulation is the response of the mind working with the body to interact with the world. Thought processes of the heart, that is, the voices of the spirit and the body, are evaluated by the soul and brought to the conscious level by the mind for speech. Jesus said, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. 12:34b). As stated earlier, the spirit speaks through body language directly without the use of the mind while the mind uses the vocal equipment to speak the soul's thoughts. This is why mixed messages can be sent in communication by words saying one thing and the body positions saying another.

THE WILL OF ADAM

When believers speak of the mind, will, and emotions of the soul, they often do not realize that these are functions attributed to the soul, but are not confined to the soul. The body has a will of it's own (Peter implored, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" 1 Pet. 2:11). It needs to eat, sleep, exercise and have sexual procreation. Before Adam sinned, this will was submitted to his spirit through his soul. The spirit has a will, too. Jesus said of the disciples at Gethsemane, "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mat. 26:41b). But it is in the soul that the decision of the will is made. It receives input from both the body's senses and the spirit's leading. Adam obeyed the spirit's will above the body's will before the Fall. After the Fall he believed his senses and the desires of his flesh.

When God created life, He gave all living creatures a free will. All animals have a fee will in their spirits. However, their will cannot rebel against God, since they haven't the moral capacity. They will come to a person or run away according to their free will. But they cannot sin since they have no understanding of morals. The Psalmist says:

which shows by context the inability of animals to sin, which is an act of the will. Only angels have been given a free moral will since Satan was able to rebel against God. It is because of this free moral will in Adam that enabled him to choose disobedience.

THE EMOTIONS OF ADAM

The function of emotions before the Fall were to express the feelings of the spirit. It also expressed feelings derived from the body in terms of pleasure and experiential sensations. But the spirit was to rule the emotions. After the Fall, emotions were more readily influenced by experiences of the body than by the spirit. Because our emotions are so easily affected by what we see, we are encouraged in the Scriptures to "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: . .for we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 4:18a & 5:7). Therefore we control our emotions by disregarding the things seen and remembering the truth of God's Word. Isaiah said, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isa. 26:3). Again, because the soul is in-between the spirit and body, it is given the function of emotions.

HEALTHY SOULS

First, it is shaped as the human body in that it is our spiritual body. "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44).

Second, it needs to be fed just like the physical body. The soul's food is communication. Elihu said to Job, "For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat" (Job 34:3). Since the soul resides between the physical world and the spiritual world, it needs communication from both inputs. This is the picture of the cross. The horizontal cross bar is our relationships with people, hence the physical input. The vertical cross bar is our relationship with God through Christ, hence the spiritual input. Like physical food, there is junk food and wholesome food. Junk foods are negative inputs: criticism, false judgments, accusations, prejudices, gossip, lies, and the like. Wholesome foods are edification, exhortation, rebukes, encouragement, true knowledge and so forth. The proverb says, "When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant to thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, and understanding shall keep thee" (Prov. 2:10 & 11). Soul food from the physical comes in different forms: conversation, film and television, magazines, and books. Likewise, demonic spirits can feed our souls with lies and corrupt communication that becomes junk food to our souls through the spirit. With so much junk food exposed to our souls, the need to read the Bible regularly and to hear the spoken rhema of the Lord is great. The psalmist said, "My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word... How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:25, 28, & 103).

Third, it needs rest. Peace and quiet. Meditation is the soul's digestion of information that works best in rest. The psalmist says again, "Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word" (Psalm 119:148). He may physically be awake, but his soul is resting in the Word of God. Weariness in soul is such a problem that Jesus cried out:

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30).

For weariness of the soul is the consequence of the curse, of which Adam at first knew nothing. Isaiah said, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isa. 26:3). And the writer of Hebrews concludes:

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief (Heb. 4:9-11).

Fourth, it needs exercise. Critical thinking is the exercise of the mind. Memory repetition and comparative thinking are all forms of mental exercise. The best exercise comes when a true account of the Word of God is used for comparison and judgment of input from the spirit or the body's senses. As it is written, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.. .Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors" (Psalm 119:105 & 24). And again, "they [the Bereans] received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11b).

Finally, the soul needs to be cleansed for good health. "That he [Christ] might sanctify and cleanse it [the church] with the washing of the water by the word" (Eph. 5:26). "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:2b). "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5).

THE SOUL'S POWER

Watchman Nee says, "Before man committed sin the power of the soul was completely under the dominion of the spirit. Its strength was therefore the spirit's strength" [17]. There is a power in the soul that is little understood. In another book of his, "The Latent Power of the Soul," Nee addresses this issue.

It is rather amazing how many brothers who preach a lot mention the matter of meetings to me. They assert that if they go to a church hall and find the lights dim, attendance low, and empty chairs abundant, they seem to lose their power upon standing up to preach. But should the lights be burning bright and the audience full and enthusiastic, they appear to grow in power. But what kind of power is this?

May I frankly say that this is none other than the power of your own soul force. The power which comes from the Holy Spirit is never affected by outside environment [18].

It is a force that exists apart from God and regeneration. There are many charismatic leaders that have arisen throughout history that have swayed the masses into performing all kinds of folly. In Waco, Texas, for example, cult leader David Koresh kept his followers in a fiery death. Jim Jones brought about a mass suicide in Guyana. Hitler swayed an entire nation into anti-semitism and its holocaust. This is a power that the devil covets and pursues.

Since man is made in the image of God, and God is all powerful, then God gave man a created version of His power. This soul power is a perversion of God's intention. Hebrews says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.. -Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by he word of God" (Heb. 11:1a & 3a). Faith is the material of creation, and His word shapes that creation. "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, 'I believed, and therefore have I spoken;' we also believe, and therefore speak" (2 Cor. 4:13). The power of the soul is faith in oneself, or anything else apart from God. This power is limited and will always fail, but is frequently exerted over other people. God has given us a part in his Almighty power when we die to self and pursue only His will. When we put our faith only in Him and confess His word, then we partake in His power.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26.

When Adam was first created, he had a perfect heart. After the Fall, hardness of heart came through sin. The heart is the core of our being. That is why the greatest commandment is: "Thou shalt love Yahweh thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:5). It is the subconscious thinking and communication of spirit, soul, and body. That is why Jesus said, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things... For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, formications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man" (Matt. 12:34b, 35 & 15:19, 20a).

HEART AND SPIRIT

The heart is closely linked to the soul and spirit. There are two Hebrew words used for heart: leb "- , which refers to the feelings, will, intellect, and center of anything; and lebab ""- which refers to the interior organ that pumps blood but is also used like leb in referring to courage, understanding, and so forth. In Greek the word, kardia kardia, is used for the thoughts and feelings. When David came to Saul sleeping in the caves of Engedi, he cut off the skirt of Saul's robe quietly. The Scriptures say, "And it came to pass afterward that David's heart [leb] smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt" (1 Sam. 24:5). This is an example of the heart being used as the voice of David's conscience, which is an activity of the spirit. Nehemiah said, "And my God put into my heart [leb] to gather together the nobles" (Neh. 7:5), which is an example of intuition operating by the spirit. The Lord spoke through Isaiah and said, "Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart [leb] far from me" (Isa. 29:13) and again through Jeremiah saying, "And I will give them an heart [leb] to know me" (Jer. 24:7), which are examples of communion with God which comes through the spirit.

HEART AND SOUL

Because of the thinking capacity of the heart ("The word of God is.. .a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" Heb. 4:12) there is a close association of the heart and soul with the mind. The Hebrew for soul is nephesh :51, while the Greek is psuche yuch. There are times when these words are translated as "heart." For example, "For as a man thinketh in his heart [nephesh; i.e, soul], so is he" (Prov. 23:7). Also, "as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart [psuche; i.e, soul]" (Eph. 6:6b). The functions of the soul are also demonstrated in the heart. God said to Solomon, "Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart [leb]" (1 Kings 3:12) which shows the mind in the heart. Moses said to Israel, "whosoever is of a willing heart [leb]" (Ex. 35:5) which shows the will in the heart. And it was said, "Nabal's heart [leb] was merry within him" (1 Sam. 25:36) which shows emotions in the heart.

Connected to the mind in the heart are imagination and dreams which spring up from the heart through the thinking apparatus of the spirit. Imagination is the creative ability of man that fits the image of God as Creator. "And they [false prophets] say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, 'No evil shall come upon you'" (Jeremiah 23:17). Therefore as the creative capacity of the spirit, it visualizes desires of the heart, which is demonstrated in this passage of Jeremiah. Paul warns Timothy about believers that will not "endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears," (1 Tim. 4:3) who like the Jews of Jeremiah walk after the imagination of their own hearts. We need to beware: for like the evil men addressed in Romans, "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened" (Rom. 1:21). This creative element of imagination is linked to the soul to visualize self awareness to the spirit. False information about one's self can be fed to the spirit through the imagination and create deception and delusion. God is fully aware of the thoughts and imaginations of men. King David warned his son, "And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for Yahweh searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever" (1 Chron. 28:9). The imagination is used by our will to either plan and create work according to God's will, or as the source of evil machinations of the heart in pursuing lustful desires. Likewise, the devil wants to use our imaginations to create fears and anxieties based upon his diabolic lies.

Dreams are an activity of the spirit which in the heart that use the imagination to create communications to the soul at the borderline of consciousness. The conscious mind is partly aware of these imaginations, and the dreams can be stored in conscious memory. Since dreams emanate from the spirit, then dreams can have three sources. The human spirit in reacting to the activity of the body and soul: God's spirit which can impart messages through the human spirit to the soul. And demonic spirits which can bring lies and nightmares to frighten a person. Therefore, dreams can be a gateway of communication from the spirit world. Concerning demonic contact in dreams, Eliphaz the Temanite said to Job, "In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up" (Job 4:13-15). At the end of Job, Elihu the son of Barachel says to Job, "For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his [man's] purpose, and hide pride from man" (Job 33:14-17).

HEART AND BODY

The heart is not so readily associated with the body as it is with the soul and spirit. It is significant, however, that the Bible says that the "life [nephesh; or soul] of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17:11) and that the central organ that pumps the blood is called the heart. The body's influence on the heart is inferred rather than clearly stated. The Lord said unto Solomon concerning the Temple, "Mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually" (1 Kings 9:3c) which shows the world awareness of the body to the heart. That which our eyes perceive goes into our hearts. The Lord said to Israel, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust" (Psalm 81:l0b-12a). Lust is a drive to satisfy an appetite. So our physical cravings enter our hearts as well. The proverb says, "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance" (Prov. 15:13) which shows the heart's connection to the body's expression.

FAITH, LOVE, and HOPE in the HEART

Salvation comes when you confess with your mouth and "believe in thine heart" (Rom. 10:9) that Jesus is Lord. Faith resides in the heart. You are to "love the Lord thy God with all thine heart" (Deut. 6:5) which shows that love resides in the heart. And "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12a) show that hope is connected to the heart.

It is evident in Scriptures that these three elements are central to the function of the heart. Love is the motivation for our lives. Hope is the goal of love to be manifested in the future. And faith is the means for love's hope today. All three are interconnected. Paul said,

which in Ephesians 6 is called the "breastplate of righteousness" and the "helmet of salvation" (Eph. 6:14 & 17). Faith in Christ that works by love is our righteousness. And our keeping our mind (helmets cover the head) on Christ in us is our "hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).

It seems that love comes from the spirit through our hearts as the apostle John states, "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and Jesus said, "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). Faith moves through the body from the heart in that it is activated by action. Jesus's half brother James said, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (James 2:17). And hope comes from the heart to the mind, or soul, and is a perceiver of the future. "Christ in us our hope of glory" (Col. 1:27) is hope focused on eternity ahead. For "we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18). All three work in our hearts interdependently in one unified whole.

The apostle Paul concludes the famous love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 with this statement: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" (1 Cor. 13:13). He made a special emphasis on these three and singled out charity. They are significant because all three emanate from the will of the spirit which moves through the heart. Love is a choice; faith is a choice; and hope is a choice. But they are not life giving choices from the conscious mind, but from the heart. The first step is for the soul's will to consciously choose agape (Greek for unconditional) love, to believe the Word of the Lord, and to hope in Christ's salvation. But it is in the heart, by the will of the spirit, when these choices bring forth fruit and life.

Chapter 9

THE SPIRITUAL BODY