The Inner Man

[Episkopos]

These passages describe the flesh (brain). Not the inner born again man (spirit) that has power over the flesh. Believers are victorious over sin or we wouldn't exist at all.

I guess I'm not surprised that we aren't on the same page on this. The inner man is not our spirits...although he has access to the spirit part of us. We communicate with God in our spirits...which is part of our hearts. The holiest place in the our hearts.

Our hearts are like the tabernacle in the wilderness. The greater part is the holy...or what we think is holy. And the smaller chamber is our spirit. When we are born again the heart is opened up so that the love of God can fill our whole hearts. We are no longer veiled to the truth and His presence.

But that still leaves our natural faculties intact...and with it the propensity to depend on our own understanding to move forward.

The born again person still has a war to wage...and this against the natural inclinations.

Romans 6, 7,and 8 trace the journey of a person who is growing from faith to Faith.

So the order is...

The old man (the unregenrate man) is put to death once and for all. We are a new creation now after regeneration by the Spirit.

the natural man seeks to continue to lead and must be dealt with by the cross. We mustn't lean on our own understanding or make provision for the flesh.

the inner man needs to put on Christ AFTER the natural man is broken (since the inner man's access to God is blocked by the self life). This is the part of us that God speaks to, and empowers to be as Christ in the world.

 

[Dave L]

I guess I'm not surprised that we aren't on the same page on this. The inner man is not our spirits...although he has access to the spirit part of us. We communicate with God in our spirits...which is part of our hearts. The holiest place in the our hearts.

Our hearts are like the tabernacle in the wilderness. The greater part is the holy...or what we think is holy. And the smaller camber is our spirit. When we are born again the heart is opened up so that the love of God can fill our whole hearts. We are no longer veiled to the truth and His presence.

But that still leaves our natural faculties intact...and with it the propensity to depend on our own understanding to move forward.

The born again person still has a war to wage...and this against the natural inclinations.

Romans 6, 7,and 8 trace the journey of a person who is growing from faith to Faith.

So the order is...

The old man (the unregenrate man) is put to death once and for all. We are a new creation now after regeneration by the Spirit.

the natural man seeks to continue to lead and must be dealt with by the cross. We mustn't lean on our own understanding or make provision for the flesh.

the inner man needs to put on Christ AFTER the natural man is broken (since the inner man's access to God is blocked by the self life). This is the part of us that God speaks to, and empowers to be as Christ in the world.

Paul says we are body, soul and spirit.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23) (KJV 1900)

Also Hebrews: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) (KJV 1900)

 

[Episkopos]

Paul says we are body, soul and spirit.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23) (KJV 1900)

Also Hebrews: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) (KJV 1900)

Exactly. But you must understand what needs to carry the death of Christ and which part to be strengthened by His life.

 

[Episkopos]

It is nothing I can relate to.

This, unfortunately is an all too common occurrence.

To know yourself means that you can separate yourself from your own ways...your own understanding.

To be ignorant of oneself means that you can't divide what is good from what is bad...in yourself.

 

[Dave L]

Exactly. But you must understand what needs to carry the death of Christ and which part to be strengthened by His life.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) (KJV 1900)

 

[Dave L]

This, unfortunately is an all too common occurrence.

To know yourself means that you can separate yourself from your own ways...your own understanding.

To be ignorant of oneself means that you can't divide what is good from what is bad...in yourself.

What if you are confused instead?

 

[Episkopos]

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) (KJV 1900)

One must understand with depth...

God has arranged things so that superficial religious posturing is far from the life giving truth.

Most people who are BORN again stay babies their whole lives...because they are never weaned from themselves.

2 Cor. 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

 

[Dave L]

One must understand with depth...

God has arranged things so that superficial religious posturing is far from the life giving truth.

Most people who are BORN again stay babies their whole lives...because they are never weaned from themselves.

I think most of the Christians I know have lots we can learn from.

 

[CoreIssue]

Saying inner and outer man implies there are two people living together in us, which is false.

Our flesh is not a person with a mind of its own. It is not a protective shell. It is the car that transports us in this world. It is a sensory net that allows us to see what's going on around us and interact in the physical world.

But it does not think. It reacts per its programming, sin nature and needs such as food and water.

Our spirits are that eternal part of us where we reside that will carry on through eternity.

Our spirits are connected to our brains and through our brain we receive input from our flesh.

The question is who is in control, our spirits or our flesh?

In our natural state it is our flesh, which our spirits must fight for control. As the bible says this is the war of our two natures, not bodies. And in a natural states our spirits have a sin nature and want to please the flesh.

When born again the holy spirit removes the sin nature from our spirits, but not our flesh. That will not change until glorification of our resurrected bodies in heaven.

So we struggle through life, never free from sinful flesh.

 

[Enoch111]

You said...
Once a person is born again the natural man is HISTORY.
This is a common error in thinking.

There is no point in this discussion since you are refusing to believe the Bible. I have given you 2 Cor 5:17 as the definitive statement made by the Holy Spirit, and you are calling that "a common error in thinking". I don't believe you really understand this subject.

 

[Episkopos]

There is no point in this discussion since you are refusing to believe the Bible. I have given you 2 Cor 5:17 as the definitive statement made by the Holy Spirit, and you are calling that "a common error in thinking". I don't believe you really understand this subject.

LOL You mean your interpretation of the bible. The fact is that people who don't know themselves will not be able to relate to any difference between what is on the surface and what is deeper.

Very few in our time have experienced being crucified with Christ....I mean apart from indoctrination and parroting verse. I mean in experience.

So which part of us carries the dying of Jesus and which part is empowered by grace to walk in the power of Christ's resurrection?

Can you answer that?

 

[Enoch111]

Saying inner and outer man implies there are two people living together in us, which is false.

Correct. Episkopos does not have a clue about his matter, but continues to post all kinds of false ideas. He is trying to paint born-again Christians as unsaved sinners, which is extremely dangerous, especially for babes in Christ.

"The flesh" is the sin nature ("our old man") within the soul, while "the spirit" is the "inner man" or the "new nature" indwelt by the Holy Spirit (and separate from the soul). The flesh died with Christ on the Cross, and we are to *reckon* or count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God and righteousness. Therefore "Sin shall NOT have dominion over you".

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Rom 6:6)

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:11)

When Christians begin to contradict what God has said in His Word, they will go into error and false doctrine.

 

[Enoch111]

So which part of us carries the dying of Jesus...

There is no "dying Jesus" unless you are a Catholic and your priests sacrifice Him daily! It is the RESURRECTED CHRIST who is within Christians (in Spirit), therefore the Bible says "Christ in you, the hope of glory".

...and which part is empowered by grace to walk in the power of Christ's resurrection?

The spirit of every born again Christians has been SUPERNATURALLY *quickened* or made alive by the regenerating power and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Therefore "If any man be in Christ he is a NEW CREATURE". And it is the indwelling Holy Spirit which enables believes to "walk in the Spirit" which means walking in the power of Christ's resurrection.

 

[CoreIssue]

LOL You mean your interpretation of the bible. The fact is that people who don't know themselves will not be able to relate to any difference between what is on the surface and what is deeper.

Very few in our time have experienced being crucified with Christ....I mean apart from indoctrination and parroting verse. I mean in experience.

So which part of us carries the dying of Jesus and which part is empowered by grace to walk in the power of Christ's resurrection?

Can you answer that?

There is no carrying the dying Jesus. That sounds catholic.

The holy spirit unites us in his death and washes us in his blood. Then our spirits rise from death to life with him in his resurrection.

No carrying death. We carry life from Christ the of the holy spirit for eternity. The death part is over.

 

[Episkopos]

Correct. Episkopos does not have a clue about his matter, but continues to post all kinds of false ideas. He is trying to paint born-again Christians as unsaved sinners, which is extremely dangerous, especially for babes in Christ.

fear mongering. What you say is far from the truth...as usual.

I am saying that babes in Christ still depend on the natural man and his faculties...until being weaned from these to walk according to the Spirit. But you don't understand this so you make stuff up and try slander instead of understanding.

You think salvation is a one step thing whereby being born again is the end of the race.

It very well may be the end of yours...but there is more to the Christian life than you have imagined.

What this thread is good for is to inform real seekers, be they babes or not, to seek for more.

What the enemy wants is to shut down any possible growth. Keep people in the dark and so on...that is the agenda. But you can't see that because you don't understand the deeper things of the Lord.

 

[Episkopos]

Here come the vultures.

This is obviously a very important topic...and one whereby the enemy would want to drown out the truth. The enemy uses people who are uncrucified and don't know themselves. They are easily captured to stand against the truth.

This is why it is dangerous to remain as babes in understanding for too long. The natural man will rise up as if he was spiritual and try to convince others of this.
When you cater to the carnal man for too long...he gets over-confident that his secret will stay secret.

But there is a way out...the cross of Jesus Christ.

 

[Episkopos]

I can tell the importance of a subject by the carnal reaction of they who adhere to the doctrines of men...AND by the warm reception of they who have resisted lies to hold on to the truth in humility.

 

[Episkopos]

There is no carrying the dying Jesus. That sounds catholic.

The holy spirit unites us in his death and washes us in his blood. Then our spirits rise from death to life with him in his resurrection.

No carrying death. We carry life from Christ the of the holy spirit for eternity. The death part is over.

No truth here at all.

2 Cor. 4;10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Those who are disrespectful to the OP have NO understanding of the above verse.

Unless there is a part that is crucified no resurrection life is possible. How many realize that?

 

[Episkopos]

Paul in the natural had many things to boast of. But he counted all these things as loss that he might win Christ.

That means he allowed the breaking of the outer natural man so as to grow in faith in the inner man.

Think about it...when a person applies for a pastor position in a church, does he show them his inner life? Or does he show people his education, letters of commendation and all things pertaining to the natural?

So then it is no wonder that many modern believers have no understanding of what it means to be crucified with Christ.

 

[GodsGrace]

No truth here at all.

2 Cor. 4;10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Those who are disrespectful to the OP have NO understanding of the above verse.

Unless there is a part that is crucified no resurrection life is possible. How many realize that?

Romans 12:1
Present yourselves a living sacrifice...

And, if we've died with Christ we will also live with Him.
Romans 6:8

If we want to live in Christ, we must die to ourselves.
Death = Life