Understanding the Conflict Between Flesh and Spirit
Estimated Reading Time: 30–40 Minutes
In This Article
- Why man experiences inward conflict.
- How God originally designed man.
- What happened in the Fall.
- The conflict between flesh and spirit.
- Why understanding matters.
- How communion with God is restored.
- The renewing of the mind.
- Walking in the Spirit.
- The final choice that remains.
Key Truth
The divided man is the result of communion lost.
The restored man is the result of communion regained.
Introduction
Why does man know one thing and do another?
Why does a person determine in his heart to change, only to find himself repeating the same patterns?
Why do we often know what is right, yet struggle to walk in it?
Most people have experienced this conflict.
They have felt the tension between what they know and what they do.
Between what they desire and what they pursue.
Between what they believe and how they live.
For centuries, mankind has attempted to explain this struggle through education, psychology, philosophy, culture, and self-discipline.
Yet despite all of our knowledge, the conflict remains.
The reason is simple.
The problem is deeper than behavior.
The problem is deeper than information.
The problem is deeper than willpower.
The conflict originates within man himself.
The Bible reveals that man is far more than a physical being.
Beneath every thought, every decision, every desire, and every struggle lies an inward man that many never come to understand.
It is within this inward man that the greatest battle of life takes place.
Most people recognize the battle.
Few understand its source.
And the conflict itself is not the greatest danger.
The greatest danger is not understanding the conflict.
For what remains hidden often remains unchallenged.
And what remains unchallenged often remains in control.
Scripture says:
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
This lack of understanding has consequences.
A man who does not understand his own makeup cannot fully understand the conflict taking place within him.
A man who does not understand the nature of the battle cannot effectively recognize what is influencing him.
And a man who does not understand God’s design for his life will often mistake bondage for freedom and deception for truth.
This article is not an attempt to force doctrine or win an argument.
Its purpose is much simpler.
Its purpose is to provide a framework.
A framework through which we can better understand why man struggles, why conflict exists within us, how deception operates, why communion with God matters, and how God restores what was lost.
For if we do not understand the nature of the problem, we will never appreciate the beauty of God’s solution.
Reflection
Before we can understand the conflict within man, we must first understand how man was created.
Man’s Makeup
To understand the conflict within man, we must first understand how man was created.
The Bible teaches that man is more than a physical body.
Scripture says:
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless…”
According to scripture, man is composed of:
- Spirit
- Soul
- Body
These are distinct, but they were never intended to operate independently from one another.
The Spirit
The spirit is the deepest part of man.
It was created for communion with God.
The spirit was designed to receive from God.
For the purpose of this article, we will look at three primary functions of the spirit:
- Intuition
- Conscience
- Communion
Intuition is the inward capacity to perceive apart from natural reasoning.
Conscience is the inward witness that bears testimony concerning right and wrong.
Communion is the capacity to fellowship with and receive from God.
This is important because the spirit does not function the same way the soul functions.
The soul reasons toward understanding because it does not fully know.
The spirit does not reason as the soul reasons.
The spirit was designed to receive from God through communion.
When God reveals, the spirit knows before the soul understands.
The Soul
The soul is the seat of the mind, intellect, emotions, and will.
It is through the soul that man thinks, reasons, chooses, imagines, remembers, and experiences emotion.
The soul processes information.
The soul weighs options.
The soul forms conclusions.
The soul is necessary, but it was never designed to govern man independently from God.
The Body
The body connects man to the physical world.
Through the body we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.
The body allows us to interact with the world around us.
The body expresses outwardly what is taking place inwardly.
Man Can Become Misaligned
Here is where man’s condition becomes clearer.
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Three Persons.
Yet perfectly united.
There is no conflict within God.
No disagreement.
No division.
Everything that proceeds from God flows from perfect unity.
Man is different.
Man is spirit, soul, and body.
But unlike God, man can become divided within himself.
His spirit may bear witness while his mind argues.
His conscience may warn him while his emotions pull him in another direction.
His body may act against what he knows inwardly to be right.
This is why a person can know one thing, feel another, and do something entirely different.
The problem is not that man was created incorrectly.
The problem is that man has become misaligned.
God’s Original Order
This was never God’s design.
God created man to function in divine order.
The spirit, in communion with God, was to receive life, truth, and direction from Him.
The soul was to align with what the spirit received.
The body was to express it outwardly.
In simple terms:
God → Spirit → Soul → Body
This was God’s original order.
A man living in communion with God would not be forced to rely solely upon his own understanding.
Through his spirit he would receive life, truth, and direction from God.
His soul would align with what he received.
His body would express it.
The result would be harmony.
Key Truth
God → Spirit → Soul → Body
The spirit receives.
The soul aligns.
The body expresses.
Reflection
To understand the conflict within man, we must first understand that man was created for communion with God.
And it is the loss of that communion that explains much of the struggle that followed.
God’s Design
Before we can understand what was lost, we must first understand what God intended.
God did not create man merely to exist.
He did not create man merely to survive.
He did not create man merely to think, work, build, or pursue knowledge.
God created man for relationship.
From the beginning, man was designed for communion with God.
This is why man possesses a spirit.
The spirit was not given to man as an accessory to his existence.
It was given so that man could know God.
Just as the eye was designed for seeing and the ear was designed for hearing, the spirit was designed for communion.
God’s Desire
God’s desire was not simply to rule over man.
His desire was to walk with man.
Even after Adam sinned, scripture still gives us this picture of God’s presence in the garden:
“And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…”
Before sin entered the world, there was fellowship.
There was communion.
There was harmony.
Man was not created to live independently from God.
He was created to live in continual dependence upon Him.
This dependence was not weakness.
It was design.
A branch connected to a tree is not weak because it depends upon the tree.
Its dependence is the very thing that allows it to live, grow, and bear fruit.
Likewise, man was designed to receive life, truth, and direction from God.
God Himself was man’s source of life, truth, and direction.
Why Communion Was Necessary
God is infinite.
Man is finite.
God possesses complete knowledge.
Man does not.
God sees the beginning and the end.
Man sees only a small portion of what lies before him.
For this reason, man was never designed to be his own source of truth and direction.
He was designed to receive from God.
Communion allowed man to receive from the One whose knowledge has no limits.
Through communion, man could receive life, truth, and direction from God.
What God revealed to the spirit, the soul could then understand and express.
He was not forced to rely solely upon his own understanding.
He was not left to navigate life through limited knowledge alone.
Communion Required Choice
God desired communion, not compulsion.
Love cannot be forced.
For this reason, man was created with the freedom to accept or reject the relationship for which he was designed.
Without choice there can be outward compliance.
But there cannot be love.
Freedom Through Design
The modern mind often views independence as freedom.
Scripture presents a different picture.
A fish is most free in the water.
A bird is most free in the air.
And man is most free when living in communion with God.
This was God’s original design.
A life receiving from God.
A soul aligned with what was received.
A body expressing it.
Spirit, soul, and body functioning together in harmony under the influence of their Creator.
Key Truth
Man was not created for independence.
Man was created for communion.
The Fall
God created man for communion.
The spirit of man was designed to receive life, truth, and direction from God. Man was never intended to function independently from his Creator.
This is what makes the account of the Garden of Eden so significant.
God placed before Adam every tree of the garden and gave only one restriction:
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
The tree was not placed in the garden to make man fall.
The tree was placed there because love requires choice.
Without the possibility of choosing otherwise, communion would not be voluntary.
Man could trust God and remain in communion with Him, or man could choose another source.
The Knowledge Was Outside of Man
It is important to notice that God did not place the knowledge of good and evil inside of man.
He placed it outside of man, on a tree, and commanded man not to eat from it.
Why?
Because man is finite.
To rightly determine good and evil would require complete knowledge.
Only God possesses such knowledge.
Man was never created to be his own source of moral determination.
He was created to receive from God.
The tree offered man the opportunity to determine for himself what God had always determined for him.
Key Truth
God did not place the knowledge of good and evil inside of man.
He placed it outside of man and commanded man not to eat from it.
The Issue Was Independence
Many view this event only as an act of disobedience.
While it certainly was disobedience, something deeper was taking place.
The tree represented an alternative source.
God had designed man to receive from Him.
The tree presented the possibility of determining for himself.
The issue was not merely eating a piece of fruit.
The issue was independence.
Would man continue living through communion with God?
Or would he choose to become his own source of understanding?
Another Voice
The serpent’s temptation reveals this clearly:
“Yea, hath God said…?”
With those words, the enemy introduced another voice into the process.
The enemy did not begin by denying God.
He began by questioning God.
Deception often enters through doubt long before it enters through disobedience.
Instead of trusting God, man was tempted to evaluate God’s command through his own reasoning.
For the first time, man was presented with the opportunity to decide independently of God.
This is the essence of the Fall.
Man chose independence over communion.
He chose self-government over dependence.
He chose another source.
The Great Exchange
In choosing independence, man gained something.
He gained the ability to determine for himself.
He gained the illusion of self-government.
He gained the right to reason apart from God.
But what he gained was far less than what he lost.
He lost communion.
He lost harmony.
He lost the continual flow of life, truth, and direction that came from God.
In reaching for independence, man surrendered the very relationship for which he was created.
The Fall was not merely the breaking of a command.
It was the abandonment of communion.
Key Truth
The Fall was more than disobedience.
It was the abandonment of communion.
Death: A Demonstration
The result was immediate.
Not immediate physical death, but separation from the life of God.
Consider a branch connected to a tree.
As long as the branch remains connected, life flows into it.
It blossoms.
It grows.
It bears fruit.
But if the branch is cut from the tree, something changes immediately.
The branch may still appear alive for a season.
The leaves may still be green.
It may still look strong.
But the moment it is separated, life ceases to flow.
Decay has already begun.
Not eventually.
Immediately.
This is what happened to man.
Adam did not fall dead physically that day.
He continued to function outwardly.
He could still think.
He could still reason.
He could still feel.
He could still make decisions.
But something fundamental had changed.
Communion was broken.
The spirit no longer occupied its proper place under the government of God.
The order God established became disrupted.
From that moment forward, man began relying increasingly upon his own understanding.
And because man is finite, independent reasoning could never provide what communion with God once supplied.
The story of humanity is, in many ways, the story of what happens when man attempts to live apart from the One for whom he was created.
Reflection
If the Fall was the abandonment of communion, then the conflict within man cannot be understood merely as bad behavior.
It must be understood as the result of man living from a broken source.
The Two Natures
When communion with God was broken, man did not cease to function.
He could still think.
He could still reason.
He could still make decisions.
He could still pursue knowledge.
Yet something fundamental had changed.
The source from which he was designed to live had been disrupted.
From that moment forward, humanity began relying increasingly upon its own understanding.
This brings us to one of the greatest conflicts within man.
Scripture says:
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other.”
These two natures are opposed because they operate from entirely different sources.
The Nature of Flesh
In this article, the flesh is not merely referring to the physical body.
The flesh refers to man’s attempt to live independently from God.
It is the soul relying upon its own understanding rather than receiving through communion with God.
This is why the flesh can appear wise, educated, disciplined, and sincere, yet still be operating independently of God.
The deepest conflict within man is not between intelligence and ignorance.
It is not between education and lack of education.
It is not even between good and evil.
It is between communion and independence.
One receives from God.
The other relies upon itself.
The flesh operates through limitation.
It depends upon what it can see, hear, touch, experience, remember, and reason.
Because it is limited, it can arrive at conclusions that appear correct while still being wrong.
Scripture warns:
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Notice that scripture does not say there is a way that appears evil unto a man.
It says there is a way that seems right.
The danger of the flesh is not merely wickedness.
The danger of the flesh is limitation.
Because man is finite, he can arrive at conclusions that appear correct while still being wrong.
The flesh reasons from incomplete information and therefore can be deceived.
This does not mean reasoning is evil.
Reasoning is a necessary function of the soul.
The problem arises when reasoning becomes independent of God.
This is why scripture says:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
Scripture does not condemn understanding.
Scripture warns against leaning upon understanding as though it were complete.
Independent reasoning becomes dangerous when it replaces communion with God.
Key Truth
The flesh is not merely the body.
The flesh is man attempting to live independently from God.
The Nature of Spirit
The spirit was designed for something entirely different.
The spirit was created for communion with God.
Through communion, the spirit receives life, truth, and direction from God.
The soul reasons because it must arrive at a conclusion.
The spirit receives because it was designed for communion.
When God reveals something to the spirit, the spirit knows it immediately.
This knowing is not the result of analysis.
It is not the conclusion of reasoning.
It is received.
The soul asks:
“How do I know?”
The spirit simply knows.
Not because the spirit possesses perfect knowledge, but because it was designed to receive from the One who does.
The soul may spend minutes, days, or even years trying to understand what the spirit already knows.
This is why scripture says:
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit…”
Notice the language.
The Spirit bears witness.
The spirit receives.
The soul may not yet understand.
The spirit may know before the mind can explain.
This is not irrationality.
It is the difference between discovering and receiving.
The flesh reasons from incompleteness.
The spirit receives through communion.
Key Truth
The soul reasons toward understanding.
The spirit receives through communion.
A Simple Demonstration
I remember one day walking home in the cold. Instead of following the road, I decided to take a shortcut across a field.
As I started across the field, I heard within my spirit one simple word:
“Run.”
There was no explanation.
No reasoning.
No argument.
Just the inward instruction:
“Run.”
But immediately my soul began to reason.
“It’s too cold to run.”
So I kept walking.
The inward witness did not repeat itself.
It did not explain itself.
It did not argue with my reasoning.
But midway across the field, I looked toward the road and saw a car passing by in the distance.
It was my stepfather.
Had I run when that inward instruction first came, I would have reached the place where he could have seen me and received a ride home.
That moment taught me something.
The spirit may receive direction before the soul understands the reason.
But if the soul insists on reasoning first, it may miss what the spirit already knew.
The Enemy’s Advantage
Understanding this reveals the enemy’s strategy.
Because the enemy operates through deception, his greatest influence is directed toward the soul.
He cannot create truth.
He cannot impart divine life.
Truth belongs to God.
Therefore he works through appearances, suggestions, fears, doubts, imaginations, and reasoning.
His objective is to keep the soul occupied with itself so that it never learns to yield to the spirit.
If the enemy can keep man living independently of God, he can keep him vulnerable to deception.
The enemy’s objective is not merely to make man do wrong.
His objective is to keep man living independently from God.
For a man living independently of God can be influenced without ever realizing it.
Jesus said of the devil:
“He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him… for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
Notice what Jesus did not say.
He did not say the enemy possesses distorted truth.
He did not say the enemy possesses partial truth.
He said:
“There is no truth in him.”
Therefore deception becomes his primary weapon.
But deception can only survive where there is limitation.
This is why the enemy continually attempts to draw man away from communion and into independence.
The enemy’s greatest deception is convincing man that independence is freedom.
That was the temptation in the garden.
And it remains the temptation today.
The enemy does not need to overpower man if he can simply convince him to live independently of God.
Once man begins relying solely upon his own understanding, he enters the realm of appearances, assumptions, fear, pride, and incomplete knowledge.
This is the environment where deception thrives.
Key Truth
The enemy’s objective is not merely to make man do wrong.
His objective is to keep man living independently from God.
The Great Conflict
The battle within man is deeper than good versus evil.
It is deeper than behavior.
It is a question of government.
What is governing the man?
Will he live from communion with God?
Or will he live from independent reasoning?
Every day these two natures compete for influence.
One operates from limitation.
The other was designed for communion.
One reasons because it does not fully know.
The other receives from the One who fully knows.
Understanding this conflict helps explain the struggle every person experiences.
A man may know one thing inwardly while thinking another.
His spirit may bear witness while his mind argues.
His conscience may convict while his emotions resist.
The conflict is not evidence that man was created incorrectly.
It is evidence that man is living in a condition of misalignment.
And until divine order is restored, that conflict remains.
The divided man is the result of communion lost.
The restored man is the result of communion regained.
Reflection
The deepest battle is not merely over behavior.
It is over source.
From where will man live?
Why Man Perishes for Lack of Understanding
The greatest advantage the enemy possesses is not power.
It is ignorance.
A man can defend himself against an enemy he can see.
He can prepare for a danger he understands.
But how does a man protect himself from something he does not recognize?
This is why understanding is so important.
Scripture says:
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”
What makes this warning so sobering is that God was not speaking about strangers.
He was speaking about His own people.
The danger of ignorance is not limited to those who do not know God.
Even God’s people can suffer loss when they fail to understand what God has revealed.
Notice what God did not say.
He did not say His people were destroyed because they lacked intelligence.
He did not say they were destroyed because they lacked talent, education, money, or ability.
He said they were destroyed for lack of knowledge.
The question is:
Knowledge of what?
I believe one of the greatest areas of ignorance is that many people do not understand their own makeup.
Many people spend their lives trying to manage the conflict without first understanding the man in whom the conflict exists.
Yet until a man understands his own makeup, he cannot fully understand what is influencing him.
Most people know they have thoughts.
Few understand where those thoughts originate.
Most people know they have desires.
Few understand what influences those desires.
Most people know they experience conflict.
Few understand why that conflict exists.
As a result, many live their entire lives reacting to inward impulses without ever examining what is governing them.
A thought enters the mind and is accepted.
A desire arises and is followed.
An emotion is felt and is treated as truth.
Yet scripture teaches that there is an ongoing conflict within man.
Without understanding this conflict, a person can spend an entire lifetime being governed by forces they do not recognize.
The enemy benefits greatly from this ignorance.
A man who does not understand the difference between spirit and flesh cannot easily discern which one is influencing him.
A man who does not understand communion with God may mistake independent reasoning for wisdom.
A man who does not understand deception may mistake bondage for freedom.
This is why the enemy’s greatest deception is often hidden beneath what appears normal.
The most effective deception is not the one that appears evil.
It is the one that appears right.
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Until light comes, deception can feel normal.
Until light comes, bondage can feel like freedom.
Until light comes, independence can feel like wisdom.
Understanding Is Light
Understanding is not merely information.
Understanding is light.
Scripture says:
“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
God’s Word brings light.
And light does more than inform.
Light exposes.
It reveals what was hidden.
It makes visible what darkness concealed.
Man does not need understanding merely so he can gather more information.
He needs understanding so light can expose what has been governing him.
Understanding reveals what is influencing the man.
Understanding reveals what is shaping his thoughts, desires, emotions, and decisions.
Understanding allows a person to recognize the difference between the voice of the flesh and the witness of the spirit.
Light causes what is hidden to be seen.
And once something is seen clearly, it can no longer operate in darkness.
This is why the enemy works so diligently to keep man distracted, confused, and occupied with everything except understanding.
Because understanding is often the first step toward freedom.
Key Truth
Understanding is not merely information.
Understanding is light.
The greatest danger is not that a man is weak.
The greatest danger is that a man is unaware.
For what remains hidden often remains unchallenged.
And what remains unchallenged often remains in control.
Understanding does not create freedom.
But it often reveals the path to it.
Looking Ahead
If communion was lost, then the question becomes:
Can communion be restored?
And if man became divided through separation from God, what does restoration look like?
Restoration: The Quickening of the Spirit
If communion was lost through the Fall, then the question becomes:
Can communion be restored?
The answer of scripture is yes.
The entire message of redemption is built upon this reality.
God did not abandon man after the Fall.
Though man had separated himself from the source of life, God made a way for communion to be restored.
This restoration is what Jesus referred to when He spoke of being “born again.”
The Problem Was Deeper Than Behavior
Many people view salvation primarily as the forgiveness of sins.
Forgiveness is certainly part of salvation.
But salvation addresses something much deeper than behavior.
The problem was not merely what man did.
The problem was what man became.
Man became separated from the source of life.
The spirit that was designed for communion with God no longer functioned in the place God intended.
The issue was not simply outward actions.
The issue was inward separation.
For this reason, God’s solution was not merely improved behavior.
God’s solution was new life.
The Spirit Made Alive
Scripture says:
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
The word quickened means “made alive.”
This is important because regeneration does not begin with the body.
It does not begin with the emotions.
It does not even begin with the mind.
It begins in the spirit.
The spirit that had been separated from the life of God is made alive through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The source of life is restored.
Communion becomes possible once again.
Key Truth
Regeneration does not begin with the soul.
It begins with the spirit.
What Did Not Change
When a man is born again, several things remain unchanged.
His body does not immediately change.
His memories remain.
His personality remains.
His habits often remain.
His emotions remain.
And his soul still contains many of the same patterns of thinking it possessed before regeneration.
This is why many new believers become confused.
They expect everything to feel different immediately.
Yet they discover many of the same struggles are still present.
The reason is simple.
Regeneration does not instantly transform every part of man.
It restores the source from which man was designed to live.
The transformation of the soul becomes a continuing process.
A New Source
The greatest miracle of regeneration is not merely that sins are forgiven.
The greatest miracle is that the source of life is restored.
Before regeneration, man lived independently from God.
After regeneration, the spirit once again becomes capable of communion with God.
Life now flows from a new source.
This is why scripture speaks of becoming a new creation.
The body may look the same.
The soul may still require renewal.
But something fundamental has changed.
The source has changed.
The spirit that was separated from God has been made alive unto God.
Key Truth
Regeneration gives man a new source.
The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Man
At this point an important distinction must be made.
The Holy Spirit does not replace the spirit of man.
The Holy Spirit communes with the spirit of man.
These are not the same.
God did not eliminate man’s spirit and substitute His own.
Rather, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within the believer and restore the communion that was lost.
Scripture says:
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit…”
Notice the distinction.
His Spirit.
Our spirit.
Two spirits in communion.
The Holy Spirit guides.
The spirit of man receives.
The soul learns to align with what is received.
This restores the divine order that was disrupted by the Fall.
The Hidden Place
The tabernacle provides a beautiful illustration of this reality.
In the Old Testament, the Holy of Holies was the innermost place of the tabernacle.
It was hidden from public view.
The activities of the outer court could be seen by many.
The Holy of Holies could not.
Likewise, the deepest part of man is not the body.
Nor is it the soul.
It is the spirit.
The spirit is the hidden place of man’s being.
It is here that communion occurs.
It is here that God speaks.
It is here that life is received.
Though unseen by the natural eye, it is the most important part of man.
The body lives outwardly.
The soul lives consciously.
The spirit lives before God.
Key Truth
The spirit is the hidden place where communion with God occurs.
Restoration of Divine Order
The purpose of regeneration is not merely to prepare man for heaven.
It is the beginning of restoring God’s original order.
Before the Fall:
God → Spirit → Soul → Body
After the Fall:
Soul → Body
Spirit neglected
After regeneration:
God → Spirit → Soul → Body
The order begins to be restored.
The spirit once again becomes connected to the source of life.
The soul is no longer left to govern independently.
The body is no longer intended to dominate the man.
God’s original design begins to re-emerge.
The divided man begins the journey toward wholeness.
Reflection
Regeneration does not instantly remove every struggle.
But it changes the source from which life flows.
The spirit has been made alive.
Communion has been restored.
The journey of renewal can now begin.
The Renewing of the Mind
If regeneration restores communion, renewal restores alignment.
The spirit may be made alive immediately.
But the soul must learn to align with the new source.
This is why scripture says:
“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Notice that scripture does not say:
“Be informed.”
It says:
“Be transformed.”
Information and transformation are not the same thing.
More Than Information
Many people possess information about God.
They can quote scripture.
They understand doctrine.
They know religious terminology.
Yet information alone does not transform a life.
A man may know truth intellectually and still continue living from old patterns of thinking.
Renewal is not merely the accumulation of information.
Renewal is the gradual alignment of the soul with what the spirit is receiving from God.
The goal is not simply to know truth.
The goal is to become governed by truth.
Key Truth
Information informs.
Renewal transforms.
The Soul Was Never Designed to Lead
One of the greatest consequences of the Fall was that the soul assumed a role it was never designed to occupy.
The soul was designed to align.
It was never designed to lead independently.
Yet after the Fall, the soul increasingly relied upon its own understanding.
This produced confusion, conflict, and vulnerability to deception.
Renewal begins restoring proper order.
The soul learns to submit to what God reveals through the spirit.
The mind learns to think differently.
The will learns to choose differently.
The emotions gradually come into alignment.
The soul begins functioning as God originally intended.
A Continual Process
Regeneration is instantaneous.
Renewal is continual.
A person is born again in a moment.
The renewing of the mind continues throughout life.
Old patterns of thinking must be replaced.
Old assumptions must be challenged.
Old ways of viewing God, self, and the world must be brought into the light of truth.
This process requires humility.
It requires yielding.
It requires a willingness to exchange personal conclusions for divine revelation.
Renewal is not a one-time event.
It is a lifelong process.
Transformation Through Alignment
As the soul aligns with what the spirit receives, transformation begins to occur.
The mind becomes renewed.
The will becomes strengthened.
The emotions become stabilized.
The influence of the flesh begins to diminish.
The influence of the spirit begins to increase.
This is not self-improvement.
It is the result of divine order being restored.
The soul is learning once again to live from the source for which it was created.
Key Truth
Renewal is the process of aligning the soul with the life restored in the spirit.
Looking Ahead
If communion has been restored and the mind is being renewed, one question remains:
How does the believer learn to live from this new source every day?
The answer is found in what scripture calls walking in the Spirit.
Walking in the Spirit: Living From the New Source
Regeneration restores communion.
Renewal restores alignment.
But a question still remains:
How does the believer learn to live from this restored relationship every day?
Scripture answers this question with a simple phrase:
“Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
Walking in the Spirit is not a single event.
It is a way of life.
It is learning to live from the source that has been restored.
Walking Is Learned
One of the greatest misconceptions among believers is the assumption that spiritual maturity automatically accompanies spiritual birth.
Birth is instantaneous.
Growth is not.
A child may be fully alive on the day he is born, yet still have much to learn.
The same is true spiritually.
The spirit may be made alive in a moment.
But learning to walk in the Spirit is a process.
It is learned through relationship.
It is learned through experience.
It is learned through obedience.
It is learned through continual communion with God.
The believer gradually learns to recognize the witness of the spirit.
He learns to distinguish between the voice of the flesh and the leading of God.
He learns to trust what God reveals even when the soul does not yet fully understand.
Yielding to the Spirit
Walking in the Spirit requires yielding.
God does not force His will upon man.
The Holy Spirit guides.
He does not control.
The enemy seeks control.
God seeks communion.
This distinction is important.
The Holy Spirit may prompt.
He may convict.
He may illuminate.
He may guide.
But man retains the responsibility to respond.
Every day the believer is presented with choices.
Will he yield to the witness of the spirit?
Or will he return to independent reasoning?
Will he trust what God reveals?
Or will he lean upon his own understanding?
Walking in the Spirit is not the absence of choice.
It is the continual choice to yield to the source of life.
Key Truth
The Holy Spirit guides.
He does not control.
Walking in the Spirit is the continual choice to yield to the source of life.
Obedience and Understanding
One of the challenges of spiritual growth is that understanding does not always come first.
Sometimes obedience precedes understanding.
The spirit may receive something before the soul fully comprehends it.
This is often where believers struggle.
The mind wants explanation.
The spirit has already received.
The soul wants certainty.
The spirit has already borne witness.
Many opportunities are missed because the soul insists upon understanding everything before responding.
Yet some things become clear only after obedience.
This does not mean believers abandon wisdom or reason.
It means reason is no longer the highest authority.
The believer learns to trust the One who knows completely.
Guidance Versus Control
The world often associates freedom with self-government.
Scripture presents a different picture.
Freedom is not the absence of guidance.
Freedom is being rightly connected to the source for which we were created.
A branch connected to a tree is not in bondage because it receives life from the tree.
Its connection is the very thing that allows it to flourish.
Likewise, walking in the Spirit is not bondage.
It is life functioning according to its design.
The believer is not losing freedom.
He is discovering it.
The Fruit of Communion
When the soul aligns with what the spirit receives, something begins to happen.
Fruit appears.
Scripture describes this fruit:
“Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”
Notice that scripture calls it fruit.
Fruit is not manufactured.
Fruit is produced.
The branch does not strain to produce fruit.
The branch remains connected to the source of life.
The fruit is the natural result.
Likewise, spiritual fruit is not primarily the result of human effort.
It is the result of communion.
As the believer walks in the Spirit, the life received inwardly begins to express itself outwardly.
The spirit receives.
The soul aligns.
The body expresses.
The divine order that was disrupted in the Fall increasingly becomes visible once again.
Key Truth
Fruit is not the result of striving.
Fruit is the result of communion.
Reflection
Walking in the Spirit is not perfection.
It is learning to live from the source restored through Christ.
The question is no longer:
“Can communion be restored?”
The question becomes:
“Will I live from it?”
The Final Warning
Throughout this article we have examined the makeup of man.
We have seen God’s original design.
We have seen the Fall.
We have seen the conflict between flesh and spirit.
We have seen the enemy’s strategy.
We have seen the restoration made possible through Jesus Christ.
And we have seen how the renewed mind learns to walk in the Spirit.
Yet one truth remains.
Knowledge alone changes nothing.
A man may understand every principle in this article and still remain unchanged.
Information alone does not transform.
Truth must be received.
Truth must be believed.
Truth must be obeyed.
The danger has never been merely ignorance.
The danger is what a man does with the light he receives.
Understanding Creates Responsibility
There is a difference between a man who walks in darkness because he has never seen the light and a man who turns away after the light has been shown.
Understanding brings responsibility.
Once truth has been revealed, a man must decide what he will do with it.
Light is not given so that man may admire it.
Light is given so that man may walk in it.
The Choice Remains
God created man with the ability to choose.
The Fall involved a choice.
And restoration still involves a choice.
Even after regeneration, the believer retains the ability to live independently of God.
The spirit may receive.
The soul may understand.
The Word may reveal.
Yet the choice to yield remains.
Every day man must decide what will govern him.
Will he live from communion?
Or will he return to independence?
Will he trust God’s witness?
Or will he lean upon his own understanding?
The Seriousness of the Matter
These truths are not merely matters of theology.
They concern life itself.
From the beginning, God warned man that separation from the source of life would lead to death.
The issue has never changed.
Life is found in communion with God.
Separation from Him remains the great tragedy of man.
For God alone is the source of life.
The greatest tragedy is not that man is weak.
The greatest tragedy is that man remains separated from the source of life while believing he is whole.
Key Truth
The greatest deception is believing man can live apart from the source of life and still remain whole.
The Greatest Deception
The greatest deception is not that man sins.
The greatest deception is that man believes he can live apart from the source of life and still remain whole.
The greatest deception is not merely believing there is no God.
It is believing a man can safely live without dependence upon Him.
This deception reaches both the unbeliever and the religious man.
A man can reject God openly.
Or he can acknowledge God with his mouth while still governing himself from within.
In both cases, the danger is independence.
The Cost of Independence
Independence always promises freedom.
But it ultimately produces separation.
Separation produces confusion.
Confusion produces deception.
Deception produces bondage.
And bondage eventually produces death.
This was the path of the Fall.
And it remains the path of every life that attempts to live apart from God.
The Danger of Self-Deception
The most dangerous deception is often the one a man tells himself.
A man may convince himself he is walking in wisdom while actually leaning upon his own understanding.
He may convince himself he is free while remaining governed by bondage.
He may convince himself he is spiritual while still living independently of God.
For if a man can convince himself that independence is wisdom, he may never seek the communion for which he was created.
A Personal Appeal
If you recognize yourself in these pages, do not ignore what has been revealed.
If the Spirit of God has used these words to reveal something within you, do not harden your heart.
Respond while the light is present.
The purpose of light is not condemnation.
The purpose of light is restoration.
God reveals so that He may heal.
God exposes so that He may restore.
He does not show man his condition to destroy him.
He shows man his condition so that he may return to the source of life.
Reflection
Every man must ultimately decide from which source he will live.
The question is not whether he receives.
The question is from whom he receives.
Closing
In the beginning, God created man for communion.
Man was never designed to live independently of his Creator.
He was created to receive life, truth, and direction from God.
The Fall was more than the breaking of a command.
It was the abandonment of communion.
From that moment, man began living from himself.
The result was division.
The spirit no longer occupied its intended place.
The soul attempted to govern independently.
And man became separated from the source of life.
Yet God did not abandon His creation.
Through Jesus Christ, a way was made for communion to be restored.
The spirit can be made alive.
The Holy Spirit can once again commune with the spirit of man.
The mind can be renewed.
Divine order can be restored.
And the divided man can become whole.
The purpose of this article has not been merely to provide information.
Its purpose has been to reveal a reality.
To show man as he is.
To expose the conflict that exists within him.
And to point him back to the source for which he was created.
For the greatest need of man is not greater intelligence.
It is not greater effort.
It is not greater religion.
The greatest need of man is restored communion with God.
Every man will live from a source.
The question is not whether he receives.
The question is from whom he receives.
One source leads to independence.
The other leads to communion.
One produces division.
The other produces life.
What was lost can be restored.
What was divided can be made whole.
What was separated can be reunited through communion with God.
The divided man is the result of communion lost.
The restored man is the result of communion regained.
Therefore, if you hear His voice, do not turn away.
The invitation that existed in the beginning remains today.
Return to the source of life.
“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
“And let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”
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