When man is fleshly (carnal), the flesh is his master. When he is soulish, the soul (mind, thoughts and emotions) is his master. When he is spiritual, the Holy Spirit controls his entire being, inspires, gives true peace and joy, empowers and leads.
LIFE OF WATCHMAN NEE
Watchman Nee (1903 – 1972).
Chinese evangelist, author, and church planter born to Methodist parents.
Converted at 17 in 1920 through Dora Yu’s preaching.
Self-taught, he read over 3,000 books, and studied Scripture intensely, founding the Little Flock movement in 1922, which grew to 700 assemblies with 70,000 members by 1949.
Nee authored over 60 books, including The Normal Christian Life (1957), emphasizing a crucified and resurrected life for believers.
Married to Charity Chang in 1934, they had no children; she supported him through frequent illnesses.
Despite no formal theological training, he trained thousands of Chinese workers, rejecting denominationalism for simple, Spirit-led churches.
Arrested in 1952 under Communist rule, he spent 20 years in prison for his faith, enduring harsh conditions yet remaining steadfast.
His writings, translated into 50 languages, shaped global evangelicalism, particularly in Asia and the West.
Nee’s focus on spiritual depth over institutional religion continues to inspire millions.
UNDERSTANDING WATCHMAN NEE’S THREE-LEVEL FAST
Watchman Nee’s concept of fasting is rooted in the three-dimensional view of human nature. According to Nee, a human being is composed of three distinct parts as outlined in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. To fast effectively, one must engage all three layers:
- The Body: The “outward man” (World-consciousness).
- The Soul: The seat of personality—Mind, Will, and Emotions (Self-consciousness).
- The Spirit: The “inner man” (God-consciousness).
The Three Levels of Fasting
- The Physical Fast (The Body)
The physical fast is the baseline of the discipline. By abstaining from food and physical comforts, the believer denies the “flesh” its most basic lawful rights.
- The Goal: To demonstrate absolute dependency on God rather than physical sustenance.
- Simple Meaning: Breaking the influence of the physical senses.
- The Mental/Soul Fast
Nee emphasized that one can fast physically while remaining controlled by own mind and emotions and not Holy Spirit. A soul fast involves quietening the mind’s calculations, own plans, personal ambitions, and emotional fluctuations.
- The Goal: To break the dominance of the “self” and human intellect.
- Simple Meaning: Fasting from your own ideas and emotional impulses to hear God’s voice.
- The Spiritual Fast (The Spirit)
This is the highest level of the discipline. It occurs when the “outer man” (body and soul) is sufficiently broken to allow the “inner man” (the spirit) to commune directly with the Holy Spirit.
- The Goal: To reach a state of pure “intuition” and “fellowship” with God.
- Simple Meaning: The release of the spirit for direct spiritual warfare and revelation.
Comparative Table of Fasting Levels
| Level | Target | Focus | Action | Spiritual Result |
| Physical | Body | Senses | Abstaining from food | Subduing the body |
| Mental | Soul | Self | Quieting thoughts | Breaking Self-Will |
| Spiritual | Spirit | God | Communion with God/God-consciousness | Living by the Spirit |
Practical Application
For a fast to be “complete” in Nee’s theology, the physical hunger must serve as a trigger to quiet the mind (Soul), which in turn creates the silence necessary for the Spirit to receive divine direction.
“The reason many do not receive answers during a fast is that they have only fasted in the body, but their soul (mind) is still busy with its own plans.” — Watchman Nee
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDED READING
The Spiritual Man (Volumes 1-3): The definitive guide to the tripartite man.
THE THREE STAGES OF THE BELIEVERS’ LIFE
Watchman Nee discusses the three stages of a believer’s life following regeneration: the stage of the flesh, the stage of the soul, and the stage of the spirit.
He explains that after being regenerated, believers may still struggle with sin and doubt their salvation, not realizing they are still in the flesh. As they grow, they may feel joy and engage in spiritual practices, mistakenly believing they are spiritual, yet they remain governed by their emotions. True spirituality is achieved when the Holy Spirit takes control, allowing believers to live in accordance with the spirit rather than their flesh or soul. This progression emphasizes the importance of spiritual maturity in the Christian journey.
Romans 8:5 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Galatians 5:17 “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
When a man believes in Jesus Christ as the Savior who has died for him, he is regenerated. Regeneration is the initial step in the spiritual life. Those who are regenerated have received eternal salvation. After a believer has received the regenerated life, his Christian life can be broadly divided into three stages. The first is the stage of the flesh, the second is the stage of the soul, and the third is the stage of the spirit.
After his regeneration, and for a period of time, a believer may still lose his temper, become proud, become jealous, or commit other sins. Because of this, some may begin to doubt whether or not their regeneration was genuine. They do not realize that, although they have been regenerated, they are still of the flesh. When they advance further, they begin to develop an interest in reading the Bible and in praying and “feel” a new joy in their heart. At this point, the believer may think that he is already a spiritual Christian. However, he does not realize that he is still soulish, still living in the idealistic world of “feeling”! Later, when the Holy Spirit does a deeper work of the cross in him, he will be enabled not to walk according to himself or his feelings (being up or down all the time) but to live quietly in the spirit. Only then can he be considered as being spiritual.
When he is fleshly (carnal), the flesh is his master. When he is soulish, the soul (mind, thoughts and emotions) is his master. When he is spiritual, the Holy Spirit controls his entire being, inspires, gives true peace and joy, empowers and leads.
WHAT IS THE SPIRIT OF MAN?
Zechariah 12:1 “The Lord … forms the human spirit within a person.” (NKJV) “The Lord … forms the spirit of man within him.” (NASB)
NOTE: The text does not refer to the Holy Spirit in believers but the “human spirit” created by God in us. It is this human spirit God created in us that makes us conscious. Otherwise, without this human spirit, we would be like animals. God created it in us so that His Holy Spirit could dwell in us through our spirit and in this way could have close communion with us, inspire us, and fill us with His agape love. When we have only our own spirit, and are deprived of God’s Spirit, then our spirit is spiritually dead! And this is exactly how we are born in this world. Only when we accept Christ by faith as our Savious we are born from the Spirit and the Holy Spirit starts dwelling in us making us spiritually alive. Unlike animals, man was given a spiritual aspect of life so that God’s Spirit could dwell in the human spirit. It means that the human body was made to be the temple of the Holy Spirit who was to constantly dwell in him inspiring his thoughts with holiness and providing God’s agape love. There is an interesting parallel between three components of human life and God’s temple: Our body refers to the courtyard of the sanctuary. The soul (the mind, will, and emotions) corresponds to the Holy Place of the sanctuary. The spirit (the human self-consciousness) refers to the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary. And, just as God dwelt in the sanctuary, the Holy Spirit lives in the converted believer’s spirit [1 Corinthians 3:16].
1 Corinthians 2:11 “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them?” (It is this human spirit God created in us that makes us conscious (see also Zechariah 12:1).
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children”.
“God is Spirit” [John 4:24], so when He said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” [Genesis 1:26], it was primarily this aspect of our being — our spirit — that He had in mind.
Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man (Heb. “Adam” = humankind) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
THE THREE ASPECTS OF FASTING
Watchman Nee taught that true fasting involves the discipline of the entire person—spirit, soul (mental), and body (physical)—to enable the spirit man to overcome the flesh. The ultimate goal is not merely to abstain from food but to align oneself absolutely with God’s will and purpose, thus strengthening one’s spiritual life.
Watchman Nee’s teachings on fasting are rooted in the tripartite view of humanity (spirit, soul, and body).
Physical (Body): This is the most common understanding of fasting—abstaining from food and drink. Nee viewed the body’s needs (nourishment, reproduction, defense) as the foundation for many sins after the Fall. Physical fasting is a way to deny the flesh’s demands and bring the body into subjection to the spirit.
Mental (Soul): The soul encompasses the mind, emotion, and will. Nee emphasized that many people fast to deal with the flesh but fail to fast enough to break the soul, which is often the seat of self-centered desires, feelings, and the “outward man”. Fasting from “soulish” activities means not relying on one’s own intellect, emotional satisfaction, or willpower, but surrendering them to God. He warned against seeking emotional experiences in prayer or worship, as these can stimulate the soul life rather than the spirit.
Spiritual: The true purpose of fasting is to allow the spirit, the part of man that communicates with God, to dominate the soul and body. Spiritual fasting involves a total commitment to God’s will, a “life-and-death” attitude towards a specific burden or commission from God, and a willingness to renounce one’s lawful rights and personal interests.
This process helps to:
– Sharpen spiritual intuition: Enabling one to hear God’s “still and quiet” voice within the spirit, rather than relying on outward sensations.
– Break the outer man: The outward, soulish man must be broken for the inward, spiritual man to be released and effective.
– Increase spiritual power: Fasting is a means of spiritual discipline that aids in overcoming sin, resisting temptation, and adding power to prayer for God’s kingdom purposes.
Key Principles
Spontaneous Expression: True fasting is often a spontaneous response to a heavy spiritual burden or responsibility, rather than a forced religious duty.
Absoluteness for God: Fasting is a sign of an absolute, 100% commitment to standing on God’s side in spiritual warfare.
Not a Diet: Fasting is for spiritual gain and deeper fellowship with God, not for physical benefits like weight loss or a mere display of self-discipline.
Test of Hunger: Nee suggested that if one feels hungry during a fast, it may indicate a wrong motive; a true burden should so occupy the person that they lose their natural appetite.
TRUE FAST (VIDEO TRANSCRIPT)
By Watchman Nee
The Transformative Power of True Fasting: Breaking the Soul’s Dominion
Have you ever wondered why some Christians seem to have such a deep connection with God while you struggle to feel His presence? What do those who experience constant spiritual victories know that you have yet to discover?
When I observe the lives of Christians today, I see a contradiction that breaks my heart. We seek spiritual power, yet we reject the path that leads to it. We desire intimacy with God, but we avoid the one door that leads us into His presence. The truth I share now can completely transform your spiritual life.
During my time in a Chinese prison, when I was deprived of everything—comfort, freedom, adequate food—I discovered something I would never have found amid abundance. True fasting is not merely abstaining from food. It goes much deeper. It is the key that 95% of Christians ignore, to their own spiritual detriment.
As Watchman Nee discovered through years of suffering, true fasting is the divine tool designed to break the soul’s dominion over the spirit. Our fundamental problem is not external but internal. Our soul—mind, emotions, and will—keeps our spirit in captivity. Fasting is the divinely ordained instrument to reverse this unnatural order.
In Matthew 4:4, Jesus declared, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” When we fast, we declare war against the tyranny of the body and soul (carnal mind). We say, “My spirit will be fed before my flesh.”
Most Christians understand only the first level of fasting: abstention from food. But that is just the surface. The fasting that God seeks operates on three distinct levels, as we learn in Isaiah 58.
The First Level: Physical Abstinence
This level involves physical abstinence. But that alone is useless if it does not lead us to deeper levels.
The Second Level: Denial of the Soul
This is the fast of our opinions, preferences, likes, and dislikes. It is when we say no to the desires of the soul that compete with the longings of the spirit. How many of us are willing to fast from our thoughts and emotions, from our preferences and desires? In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul says, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” Paul understood that the body and soul must be subdued so that the spirit can lead.
The Third Level: The Fast of the Self
The deepest and least understood is the fast of the self. It is when we die to our own identity, when we completely surrender our lives to Christ. It is when we can say as Paul did in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” The normal Christian life is not about living for Christ, but allowing Christ to live through us. This is the fundamental revelation that transforms an ordinary believer into a powerful vessel in the hands of God.
While I was confined in a cold cell, deprived of freedom and comfort, I realized that prison was, in fact, my liberation. My body was chained, but my spirit was being set free. God used that trial to break the dominion of my soul over my spirit.
Do you feel like there’s a glass ceiling over your spiritual life? That no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to surpass a certain level of intimacy with God? The answer is not in praying more, reading the Bible more, or participating in more church activities. Though all these things are good, the answer lies in breaking the dominion of the soul over the spirit through genuine fasting at all three levels.
In 2 Corinthians 4:10-11, Paul writes, “Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Did you notice that Paul talks about being “delivered to death”? It’s not something we do, but something we allow God to do in us. This is the secret of fasting at the deepest level: complete surrender.
When I visited a church in Fujian Province, I met a young Christian who was struggling with a persistent addiction. He prayed, studied the scriptures, confessed his sin repeatedly, but kept falling. I shared with him this truth about fasting on three levels. “Brother,” I said to him, “your problem isn’t a lack of determination or knowledge. Your problem is that you are trying to overcome this sin with your own strength. You’re fighting on the soul level when the battle must be won on the spirit level.” I encouraged him to start with a physical fast of 24 hours, not as an end in itself, but as a doorway to deeper levels. During that time, he should recognize and renounce all the ways his soul was usurping the place of the spirit. Finally, he should completely surrender himself to Christ, acknowledging his utter inability and total dependence on God.
Two weeks later, he approached me with tears in his eyes. “For the first time,” he said, “I am experiencing real victory—not because I am trying harder, but because I am allowing Christ to live through me.” This is the transformation that true fasting produces. It is not simply abstaining from food to impress God or earn His favor. It is a divine process through which the dominance of the soul is broken and the spirit is released to lead.
In Romans 8:13, Paul warns us, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Fasting on the three levels is precisely how we “put to death the deeds of the body, by the Spirit.”
Remember, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert before starting His public ministry. It was not just a demonstration of spiritual discipline. It was a time when He was establishing divine order: spirit over soul, soul over body. When He faced the temptations of Satan, Jesus was not merely resisting physical food. He was resisting the temptation to let His soul—mind, emotions, and will—take control that rightfully belongs to the spirit. This is the pattern for our own lives.
Most Christians today live at the soul level. We seek emotional experiences in worship, intellectual satisfaction in Bible study, and the exercise of will in Christian activity. But we rarely allow our spirit to take its rightful place as the leader of our lives.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul prays, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice the order: spirit, soul, and body. This is the divine hierarchy that God has established. The problem is that we live in reverse order: body, soul, spirit. The body cries out its needs. The soul amplifies those cries, and the spirit is silenced. Fasting reverses this unnatural order.
A sister once approached me complaining that she couldn’t feel God’s presence. She was always searching for emotional experiences in worship, moments of spiritual ecstasy. I asked, “What if God is asking you to seek Him beyond your feelings? What if He wants to meet you in the place where your soul is silent and your spirit speaks?” I suggested that she practice fasting on three levels: starting with a physical fast, but quickly moving to a fast of the soul—abstaining from seeking emotional experiences—and finally a fast of the self—complete surrender. After a few weeks, she returned transformed. “I never knew I could know God in this way,” she said. “I’m no longer dependent on feelings or experiences. I have learned to have communion with God, spirit to spirit.”
In John 4:24, Jesus declares, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” True worship does not occur at the level of the body or the soul, but at the level of the spirit. And it is fasting that enables us to operate at this level.
I remember a time when I was severely persecuted because of my faith. My accusers spread lies about me, tarnished my reputation, and even threatened my life. My soul cried out for justice, for vindication. I wanted to defend myself, explain, prove my innocence. But during a period of fasting, God showed me that I was operating at the level of the soul. He called me to fast not just from food, but from my need to be understood and vindicated. Ultimately, He called me to fast from my own sense of identity, to find my identity completely in Him, not in what others thought of me. This three-level fast brought me a freedom I had never known before. I was no longer affected by what others thought or said. My life was hidden with Christ in God. As Paul writes in Colossians 3:3.
Many Christians today live defeated lives because they have never discovered the liberating power of true fasting. They try to grow spiritually while the soul still keeps the spirit in captivity. It’s like trying to make a plant grow while keeping it in a dark basement.
In Mark 2:22, Jesus says, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine is lost, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” The new wine of the Spirit’s power cannot be contained in the old wineskins of a life dominated by the soul. Fasting creates the new wineskins that can receive the new wine. It breaks down old structures—the patterns dominated by the soul—and creates space for a new spiritual reality.
When we fast at the physical level, we tell our body, “You are not in control.” When we fast at the soul level, we tell our mind, emotions, and will, “You are not in control.” And when we fast at the level of the self, we tell our ego, “You are not in control. Christ is in control.”
In Hebrews 4:12, we read, “For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit.” Note that the soul and spirit need to be divided. Naturally, they are intertwined, with the soul dominating the spirit. The word of God, combined with fasting, brings about this necessary division.
Allow me to share one last example. A pastor came to me frustrated with his lack of effectiveness in ministry. He was a dedicated scholar, an eloquent preacher, a charismatic leader, but he felt something was missing. “I teach about the power of the Holy Spirit,” he told me, “but I rarely experience it in my own life and ministry.” I asked him, “Brother, have you considered that you may be serving God with your soul, not with your spirit? That all your natural abilities—your intelligence, charisma, speaking skills—may actually be hindering the flow of the Spirit through you?” He was shocked by the suggestion. “But shouldn’t I use the gifts that God has given me?” he asked. “Certainly,” I replied, “but there is a difference between you using your gifts for God and God using your gifts through you. The former operates at the level of the soul. The latter operates at the level of the spirit.” I suggested that he practice fasting on three levels, starting with a physical fast, but quickly advancing to a fast of his natural abilities and talents. “Don’t trust in your eloquence, your charisma, your intelligence,” I advised. “Step into the pulpit in weakness, trembling, and complete dependence on the Holy Spirit.” Finally, I recommended that he fast from his own sense of identity as a pastor, to find his identity completely in Christ, not in his role or function.
A few months later, he wrote me a letter. “My ministry has been completely transformed,” he wrote. “Not because I’m doing more or trying harder, but because I’ve learned to operate from my spirit, not my soul. I’ve learned the true meaning of ‘it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.’”
In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul writes, “My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness… for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Fasting leads us to a place of weakness—physical weakness, soul weakness, self weakness—so that the power of Christ may rest upon us.
This is the revelation that transformed my life in prison when I was deprived of everything: freedom, comfort, proper food. I discovered true freedom. My body was in chains, but my spirit soared like never before.
Most Christians today fear weakness. We seek strength, power, control. We want to dominate our circumstances, solve our problems, overcome our challenges. But God’s way often leads us through weakness to true power. Fasting intentionally takes us to a place of weakness—physical weakness through abstaining from food, soul weakness through denying our desires and preferences, and self-weakness through complete surrender. And it is precisely in this place of weakness that the power of Christ is perfected.
Watchman Nee had a profound understanding of this paradoxical truth. During his years of imprisonment and persecution, he discovered that his physical weakness was actually the doorway to his spiritual strength. When he could not rely on his own strength, skills, or resources, he learned to depend entirely on Christ. In his book *The Spiritual Man*, Nee writes, “The problem with many Christians is that they are trying to be spiritual through their own natural strengths. They use their mental abilities to understand spiritual truths, their emotions to feel God’s presence, and their will to obey God’s commandments. But all of this remains at the level of the soul and never reaches the level of the spirit.”
Fasting is the divinely ordained tool to move us from the level of the soul to the level of the spirit. It begins with physical abstinence but quickly deepens into an abstention of the soul and eventually into a surrender of the self.
Consider the example of Jesus. During His 40-day fast in the wilderness, He was tempted by Satan on three distinct levels: the physical level (turning stones into bread), the soul level (throwing Himself from the pinnacle of the temple for a spectacular demonstration), and the self-level (gaining all the kingdoms of the world without going through the cross). In each case, Jesus resisted not only the physical temptation but also the deeper temptation to allow His soul or His self to take control. He remained firmly rooted in His spirit, in communion with the Father. This is the pattern for our own lives. Fasting empowers us to resist temptations at all levels—not only the physical temptation of indulgence, but also the deeper temptation to live from the soul or the self instead of the spirit.
I remember a brother who came to me troubled by a persistent feeling of spiritual emptiness. “I do everything they say I should do,” he explained. “I pray regularly, study the scriptures, attend services, serve in the church, but I still feel empty—a lack of spiritual reality.” I asked him, “Are these activities, while good, enough to break the dominion of the soul over the spirit, or are they merely religious activities that can be performed entirely at the soul level?” He thought for a moment and then admitted, “I suppose I can do all these things without ever really engaging my spirit.” “Exactly,” I replied. “And that’s why you feel empty. You’re trying to fill your spirit with soul activities. It’s like trying to quench your thirst by drinking salt water.” I recommended that he practice fasting on three levels, starting with a physical fast of 24 hours, but quickly moving to fasting from his religious activities, his preconceived notions about spirituality, and finally fasting from his own identity as a Christian. “Stop trying to be spiritual,” I advised. “Instead, completely surrender to Christ and allow Him to live His life through you.”
A month later, he returned with a sparkle in his eyes. “I finally understand,” he said. “It’s not about what I do for God, but what I allow God to do through me. It’s not about my religious activities, but my complete surrender.”
In Philippians 3:7-8, Paul declares, “But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Note that Paul was willing to consider *everything*—even his religious credentials, achievements, and privileges—as garbage in order to gain Christ. This is the third level of fasting, the fast of self, where we renounce even what we consider our spiritual identity to gain Christ.
Many Christians today are stuck in a self-centered spirituality. They ask, “What can God do for me? How can He bless me, heal me, prosper me?” Even our spiritual activities can become a form of self-fulfillment or self-gratification. Fasting at the three levels reverses this trend. At the first level, we renounce the desires of the body. At the second level, we renounce the desires of the soul. And at the third level, we renounce the self itself—our desires, ambitions, identity, even our spirituality.
In Luke 9:23-24, Jesus says, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” The denial of self that Jesus requires is not something we can achieve through our own effort or discipline. It’s something that occurs when we allow the process of fasting to work in us, when we allow God to break the soul’s control over the spirit.
In my years of ministry, I have observed that many Christians experience significant initial spiritual growth but then hit a plateau. Despite their best efforts, they cannot move beyond a certain point. It feels as if there is a glass ceiling over their spiritual lives. The problem is not a lack of knowledge, discipline, or commitment. The problem is that they are trying to grow spiritually while the soul still holds the spirit captive. It’s like trying to fly with your wings tied. Fasting at the three levels liberates the spirit from the soul’s dominance. It removes the glass ceiling and allows for unlimited spiritual growth.
During a spiritual retreat I led in Shanghai, a sister shared her frustration with her prayer life. “I know all the techniques, formulas, and methods,” she explained. “But my prayers seem to hit the ceiling. I don’t feel God’s presence the way I would like.” I asked her, “Have you considered that you might be praying with your soul, not with your spirit? That you are using your mental, emotional, and volitional skills to pray, instead of allowing your spirit to commune directly with God?” She frowned, confused. “I don’t understand the difference,” she admitted. I explained to her the three levels of fasting and how they can free the spirit from the dominion of the soul. I suggested that she practice fasting not only from food but also from her techniques, formulas, and methods of prayer. “Enter into God’s presence without an agenda, without a list, without technique,” I advised. “Simply present yourself before Him in silence and surrender. Allow your spirit to commune with the Spirit of God.”
She tried, initially with difficulty. So many years of praying at the soul level had created patterns that were hard to break. But gradually, as she persisted in fasting at the three levels, she began to experience a new kind of communion with God—spirit to spirit. “It feels like I’m praying in a completely different dimension,” she reported later. “It’s not my words, thoughts, or emotions. It’s something deeper, more real. It’s my spirit connecting directly with God.”
In Romans 8:26-27, Paul writes, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray according to the will of God. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that cannot be expressed. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Note that Paul speaks of the Spirit interceding through us “with groans that cannot be expressed.” This is prayer at the spirit level—not words formulated by the mind, not emotions generated by the heart, but the direct expression of the spirit. Fasting at the three levels empowers us to pray in this manner—not from the soul, but from the spirit. It releases the Spirit of God to pray through us according to God’s perfect will.
Many Christians today are familiar with the concept of spiritual warfare. They recognize that they are engaged in a battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. What many do not realize is that the first and most fundamental battle occurs within ourselves: the battle for the spirit’s liberation from the soul’s control. All other battles are secondary to this.
In 1 Peter 2:11, the Apostle urges, “Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul.” Note that Peter acknowledges an internal war: the desires of the flesh warring against the soul. But there is another war occurring simultaneously: the war of the soul against the spirit. The soul, with its mind, emotions, and will, constantly usurps the place that belongs to the spirit. Fasting at the three levels is God’s divine strategy to win this internal war. When we fast at the physical level, we declare war against the body’s dominion. When we fast at the soul level, we declare war against the soul’s dominion. And when we fast at the level of self, we declare war against the self’s dominion.
A brother who served as a missionary in Africa shared with me his experience with this internal war. “I went to the mission field full of vision, passion, and determination,” he explained. “I was determined to sacrifice everything for Christ and the gospel. But after a few years, I found myself exhausted, frustrated, and discouraged. Despite all my efforts, I was seeing little fruit. I began to question my calling, my faith, even my God.” I suggested that his problem was not a lack of commitment or effort, but a failure to recognize the difference between working for God and allowing God to work through him. “You have been serving God with your soul,” I explained, “with your mind, emotions, and will. But God is calling you to serve Him with your spirit—to allow His Spirit to flow through your spirit.” I recommended that he practice fasting at three levels, starting with a physical fast for 3 days, but quickly advancing to a fast from his methods, strategies, and missionary approaches, and finally a fast from his identity as a missionary. “Stop trying to be a great missionary for God,” I advised. “Instead, completely surrender to Him and let Him be a great God through you.”
A few months later, I received a letter from him. “Everything has changed,” he wrote. “Not because I am doing something different externally, but because I am operating from a different place internally. I am no longer trying to conquer Africa for Christ. I am allowing Christ to conquer Africa through me.”
In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.” Note that Jesus does not say, “Without My help, you can do little,” or “Without My blessing, you will have difficulty bearing fruit.” He states categorically, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” This is a radical statement. It means that all our activities, even our religious activities, are useless unless they flow from the life of Christ in us. And that life flows through the spirit, not the soul. Fasting at the three levels aligns our lives with this reality. It frees us from the illusion that we can do something for God and introduces us to the reality of God doing everything through us.
This is the normal Christian life that Watchman Nee described in his classic book. It is not a life of constant effort, struggle, and tension. It is a life of rest, surrender, and availability to God.
In Hebrews 4:10-11, we read, “For whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.” Notice the paradox: we must strive to enter rest. Fasting at the three levels is exactly how we strive to enter that rest. It is an effort to stop striving, an activity to enter into inactivity, a work to enter into rest.
Are you ready to discover this secret for yourself? Are you willing to practice fasting at the three levels—not just abstaining from food, but also from the realms of the soul and the self? This is the path to spiritual freedom that so few Christians discover.
In Isaiah 58:6, God declares, “Is this not the fast that I chose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” Note that the purpose of fasting is liberation—liberation from the bonds that bind us, liberation from the yokes that oppress us. The greatest yoke we face is not external but internal: the yoke of the soul dominating the spirit. And fasting is the divinely ordained tool to break that yoke.
As you practice fasting at the three levels, you will discover a new dimension of Christian life. You will no longer struggle and strive in your own strength.
If this message touched your heart today, please leave a comment saying, “Fasting is liberation.” Subscribe to this channel to receive more reflections based on the profound teachings of Watchman Nee. If this message was meaningful to you, give it a thumbs up, and let’s continue this conversation.
SPIRIT, SOUL, & BODY (Jack Sequeira)
From Beyond Belief (Chapter 15 – Spirit, Soul, and Body)
In the previous chapter, we saw that spiritually we are made up of three components — spirit, soul, and body. Each of these has a specific work in the spiritual well-being of the whole, but each is also closely related to the others. In this chapter, we will look at each of these components and their relationship to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. Then we will examine the Spirit’s work in the life of the church.
The [Human] Spirit
The following texts clearly teach that each of us, as created by God, possesses a spirit:
“The Lord … who forms the human spirit within a person…” [Zechariah 12:1].
“11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them?” [1 Corinthians 2:11a].
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” [Romans 8:16].
God is spirit [see John 4:24], so when He said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” [Genesis 1:26], it was primarily this aspect of our being — our spirit — that He had in mind. This spirit is not our breath, our soul, or the Holy Spirit. It is the component in us that, above all else, distinguishes us from the animals and makes us spiritual beings accountable to God. It is because human beings have a spirit that we find even the most primitive people worshiping in some form. The human spirit wants to commune with the spiritual world just as our bodies interact with the physical world and our minds (soul) interact with other minds. We are spiritual, physical, and social beings because we are made up of spirit, body, and soul.
God formed in us this spiritual component in order that it might be His point of contact with us — His dwelling place in us. Through our spirits, He would direct our minds (our souls), which in turn would control our bodies [see Colossians 2:19]. Thus, the entire person, living in total dependence on God, would reflect His character of selfless love [see 1 John 4:7-8]. This was God’s original plan for us when He created our first parents.
Sad to say, sin marred God’s plan. When Adam and Eve sinned, the Holy Spirit left them, leaving their spirits vacant for Satan to occupy. Selfishness replaced unselfish love, and their lives were darkened spiritually [see 2 Peter 2:19]. This is the nature with which all their children have been born; we come into the world without the indwelling Spirit of God, slaves to the devil and sin. Everyone is born into this world uninhabited by God’s Spirit, and can, therefore, walk only “follow[ing] the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” [Ephesians 2:2].
But we have not been left without hope. The plan of redemption, formulated in God’s mind “before the creation of the world” [Ephesians 1:4], was designed to recover us fully from our fallen state and restore in us the image of God. In His humanity, Christ prepared this restoration for each of us, and the work of the Holy Spirit now makes it available to us.
Before conversion, our spirit is not indwelt by God’s Spirit. Except for the conviction the Holy Spirit brings to us from without, we can hardly feel our spirit’s function in the life. Therefore, prior to the new birth, we are dominated by the soul, or mind, and its preoccupation with self — or by the body with its lusts. At conversion, our spirit is made alive because the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us. Our spirit becomes God’s dwelling place and the seat of His will in our lives. This is the new-birth experience that is absolutely essential to justification and that is the prerequisite to sanctification, the process by which God’s character is reproduced in us.
When we experience the new birth, we receive the life of Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit. Scripture describes such a person as an infant in Christ [see 1 Corinthians 3:1]. We are saved from the guilt and punishment of sin; we are accounted righteous, but we still have to learn to “walk by the Spirit” [Galatians 5:16] just as a newborn baby has to learn to walk on its feet.
Two things will be manifested as the Holy Spirit increases in strength in our lives. First, our characters will begin to reflect more and more the character of Christ. Second, we will begin to be able to distinguish between that which proceeds from our spirit and that which comes from the self-life of the soul. Hebrews 4:12 speaks of this as the separation between soul and spirit that the Word produces.
God regenerates us, teaches us, and leads us into His rest through our spirits. But, sad to say, because of long years of bondage to the self-life of the soul, many of us know very little of the “Spirit who gives life” that dwells in us and is able to make us “free from the law of sin and death” [Romans 8:2]. We need to earnestly ask God daily to teach us what is spiritual and what proceeds merely from the emotions of the soul. Even in our Bible study, we tend to rely more on our mental ability than on letting the Spirit guide us into all truth [see 1 Corinthians 2:12-14; John 16:13].
The Soul
The soul is the component that makes us human. It includes the ability to think and learn and choose, our ideals, love, hate, feelings, discernment, etc. The seat and essence of our personality is found in the soul; here is where we find the faculties of the mind [see Job 7:15], the will [see Proverbs 2:10, 19], knowledge [see 2 Samuel 5:8; Job 10:1; John 12:27], and the emotions. For this reason, we often find both the Old and New Testaments using the word soul to refer simply to a human being, a person [see Genesis 14:21; Exodus 1:5; Deuteronomy 10:22; Acts 2:41; 7:14; Romans 13:1].
Since the soul is the seat of our personalities, it is the seat of the real “I.” That is why Scripture often uses the word soul as a personal pronoun, i.e., I, you, me [see Genesis 12:13; Deuteronomy 23:24; Mark 14:34]. Our soul, then, is simply our self [see Leviticus 11:43; Esther 9:31]. Thus, everything that originates from the soul is polluted with self, which the Bible equates with iniquity. That is why the judgment condemns self-righteousness acts as works of iniquity [Matthew 7:21-23].
The soul, with its life of self, is our natural life. The Bible also calls this “the flesh” [see Galatians 3:3; Romans 8:4]. We inherit this life at birth; it is the only life the unconverted person can live. Nothing we can do of ourselves can change this life — not even education or culture. This is also the life of the carnal believer — the one who professes Christ, but who lives in contradiction to Christ and the life of the Holy Spirit.
In the one who is sanctified, however, the self-life of the soul is crucified through the cross of Christ [see Galatians 5:24]. That which proceeds from the soul (the mind) and also the behavior of the body is now under the direction of the Holy Spirit as He dwells in the believer’s spirit. Such a life is actually the life of Christ reproduced in the believer.
This brings us to the main point — the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of the believer. The Holy Spirit dwells in the believer’s spirit, but it is in the soul, or mind, that He operates. In the Old Testament sanctuary, God dwelt in the Most Holy Place (representing our spirits) but directed His people through the ministry of the Holy Place (representing our soul or mind). The same parallel exists in the human temple. God’s Spirit dwells in our spirits, but He operates through our souls or minds. Philippians 2:5 calls this having the “same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
Our bodies and, therefore, our behavior, are never directly controlled by the Holy Spirit. He controls our bodies through our souls, or minds. Again, the parallel exists in the Old Testament sanctuary. It was impossible for God to communicate from the Most Holy Place (our spirits) to the courtyard (our bodies) except through the Holy Place (our souls).
To see how this actually works, we need to look at the life of Christ, for He is our prototype and example. His humanity was identical in every point to ours [see Hebrews 2:17] so the body He received through Mary was a body of sin [see Galatians 4:4; Romans 1:3], dominated by the law of sin [see Romans 8:2-3]. This is how He could be (and was) tempted in all points as we are [see Hebrews 4:15].
However, Christ was also born of the Spirit from His very conception [see Luke 1:35]. So from the very beginning of His life on earth, Christ’s mind, or soul, was under the full control of the Holy Spirit, who dwelt in His human spirit. “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him” [Luke 2:40; cf. Luke 4:1].
Christ’s temptations came to Him the same way ours come to us — through the sinful (selfish) desires of the flesh. It was through bodily wants that Satan tempted Him in the wilderness to use His divine power to satisfy self, independently of His Father’s will [see Luke 4:2-4]. It was His natural fear of death (self-love of the flesh) that led Jesus three times to plead with His Father to remove the bitter cup of the cross [see Mark 14:34-41].
But the self-centered desires of the flesh cannot be satisfied without the consent of the mind. Temptation, in and of itself, does not become sin until the mind consents to the temptation. “Then, after desire has conceived [in the mind], it gives birth to sin” [James 1:15]. Since Christ’s mind was under the full control of the Holy Spirit, His response to every temptation was “No!” “Not my will [self], but yours [God’s] be done” [Luke 22:42]. Therefore, sin had no part in His life [see John 6:38]. Instead, He condemned sin (the law of sin) in the flesh [see Romans 8:2-3].
Christ’s flesh, being our corporate sinful flesh, lusted after sin. But His mind, being spiritual, never yielded to sin, and, thus, He conquered sin in the flesh through the power of the Spirit [see Luke 4:13-14]. Likewise, if we have the mind of Christ, if we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will “not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh” [Romans 13:14].
Hebrews 2:18 reads, “Because He [Christ] Himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Every time Christ was tempted, He suffered. We know that Christ was tempted as we are; otherwise, His being able “to help those who are being tempted” would be meaningless. But the question we must ask is: Where did Christ suffer being tempted? The answer is found in 1 Peter 4:1. “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin” (emphasis supplied). Please note that the suffering Peter is talking about here has to do with Christ’s victory over sin; it is not limited to His suffering on the cross. Being tempted in the flesh, Christ suffered in the flesh [see Hebrews 2:10], but His victory was in the mind. So also, says Peter, if we arm ourselves with the mind of Christ (the mind of the Spirit), sin will cease in our lives, but the flesh will suffer. This, as we will see later in this chapter, is because the nature of the flesh cannot change; it will always desire to sin and must, therefore, suffer if not satisfied.
So it is in the mind, or the soul, that Christ gives us victory over sin through His indwelling Spirit. As Paul said, “I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” [Romans 7:25]. Also, he tells us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will” [Romans 12:2].
In the unbeliever, perfect harmony exists between the soul (the mind) and the body; both are equally under the dominion of sin. Paul reminded the Ephesian Christians of their life before conversion, which was “gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts” [Ephesians 2:3]. In the unconverted person, the life of the soul is also the life of the body. Both are contaminated through and through with self.
In the carnal believer, who is born of the Spirit but is still walking after the flesh (the life of self), the mind may desire to do God’s will but the body remains subject to the law of sin [see Romans 7:22-23]. Unaided by the Holy Spirit, the mind cannot overcome the law of sin in our members. Such a life is, therefore, also marred by sin, although the sins may not be as grievous as those in the life of the unbeliever.
But the spiritual Christian is not only born of the Spirit, he or she is also, by faith, absolutely surrendered to the Spirit. Such a person has the mind of Christ, so that “the old man” no longer lives in him; Christ lives in him through His Spirit. Thus, “the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” [Romans 8:4].
The Body
As created by God, the body was to be the servant of the soul. The soul, in turn, was to be under the direction of God’s Spirit dwelling in man’s spirit. Thus the desires of the body, such as sex, hunger, love, etc., would be controlled by God through man’s soul; man’s behavior would reflect God’s character.
When man sinned, he separated himself from God’s authority and became independent. The natural desires of the body, now polluted with self, became lust; their purpose became self-satisfaction rather than pleasing God. Man’s nature was perverted so that the lust of the flesh became the controlling factor in his life. The life of fallen man came into harmony with the principle of self originated by Satan.
Scripture refers to our bodies in their sinful conditions as “the body ruled by sin” [Romans 6:6]. This is not because the body is sinful in and of itself, but because the principle of sin has permeated its every member [see Romans 7:23]. The self-life that motivates the body is sinful and makes our flesh sinful. And this life of sin is beyond repair. That is why we look forward to the second coming, when our sinful bodies will be redeemed [see Romans 8:23; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54]. Until then, the principle of the cross, the principle of self-denial, must daily be applied to our sinful lives through the Holy Spirit [see Luke 9:23].
Sinful human beings are under the power of self, both body and soul, so that even at their very best they are totally self-seeking without God. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way” [Isaiah 53:6; cf. Philippians 2:21; 2 Timothy 3:1-2]. The natural life of mankind is the life of the flesh, made up of the self-life of the soul and body. It is the life we receive at birth [see John 3:6], and we cannot live any other apart from God. We may educate ourselves and become highly cultured, but without the Holy Spirit, we will still live the life of the flesh. Selfishness, in one way or another, will be the controlling factor of our lives. The unconverted person is powerless to fulfill any of God’s will because he is “weakened by the flesh” [Romans 8:3].
In fact, the flesh is hostile to God, and will not, cannot, truly submit to His law [see Galatians 5:17; Romans 8:7]. We need to realize that the corruption of the flesh is beyond repair [see 1 Corinthians 15:50-53]. Even God Himself, great as His power is, will not transform the flesh into something that is pleasing to Him. The flesh belongs to the realm of Satan, and God has condemned all that belongs to that realm to destruction. This is why Christ crucified the flesh at the cross [see Hebrews 10:19-20].
Unbelievers, and also many Christians who do not understand God’s Word, are always trying to reform or improve the flesh. The flesh can appear good on the surface (it is deceitful, after all, because it is sinful), but within it is “full of hypocrisy and wickedness” [Matthew 23:28]. All attempts to improve the flesh, either by punishing the body or by making promises and resolutions, are bound to fail.
“Flesh gives birth to flesh,” Jesus said [John 3:6], and it will always remain so. God Himself recognizes the impossibility of changing the flesh because its originator, the devil, cannot change. So in saving us, God doesn’t try to change the flesh. Instead, He has put it to death through the cross and gives us a new life, the life of His Spirit. The flesh must be crucified in order to realize the salvation from the power of sin [Galatians 5:24]!
The behavior of the flesh can be manifested in two different ways. The first is sinful acts, which proceed from the desires of the body; you will find a list of these in Galatians 5:19-21 referred to as “the acts of the flesh.” The second is self-righteous acts, which proceed from the soul. Outwardly, these appear quite different from the works of the flesh; they are commendable, often religious, acts. The self-righteous acts of Paul before his conversion are a good example [see Philippians 3:4-6].
From our human point of view, we highly value self-righteous acts. But God condemns both of these manifestations of the flesh as evil [see Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 7:22-23]. The desires of the body make self the center and elevate self-will above God’s will. The soul may serve God, but only according to its will — not God’s. It may even try with all its might to keep God’s law, yet self never fails to be at the heart of every activity. In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, the apostle Paul divides all believers into two classes: (1) spiritual Christians in whom the indwelling Spirit of God controls the whole person — spirit, soul, and body; and (2) carnal Christians who have experienced the new birth [see verse 16], but who are still dominated by the life of flesh.
The major problem facing the Christian church today is the problem of carnality. Churches are filled with babies in Christ, even though the believers are “old” Christians. This was the problem in the Corinthian and Galatian churches of New Testament times, and it is still the problem of the church today. Every believer needs to learn that there can be no partnership between the flesh and the Spirit, that the only formula for the Christian life is “Not I, but Christ.”
Victory over the flesh should be our deep longing in these last days. And this victory is gained through the deeper work of the cross as the Holy Spirit daily brings it to bear upon us. Once we have reckoned ourselves crucified with Christ [see Romans 6:11], we must allow God’s Spirit to put this crucifixion into effect, putting to death daily the self of the flesh. Each time self raises its ugly head, the Spirit will bring conviction. Our reaction must be — not to defend or excuse self — but to surrender self to the cross of Christ. When self is completely crucified in us, then the splendor of God’s glory will shine forth through our mortal bodies [see Romans 8:11-14]. We will then be ready to meet the Lord without dying.
The deeper work of the cross is to crucify self so that the Spirit may reproduce in us the character of Christ. The Bible often speaks of this process as fiery ordeals and discipline [see Hebrews 12:5-11; 1 Peter 4:12-13]. Though painful to the flesh at the time, “later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). Even for Christ, it was only through suffering in the flesh that He was able to produce righteousness in sinful flesh [see Hebrews 2:10, 18; 5:8-9]. “Whoever suffers in the body is done with sin” [1 Peter 4:1].
In examining the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, it is clear that no aspect of the Christian life in independent of the Spirit’s influence. God intends our total lives to be guided and controlled by His Spirit [see Proverbs 3:5-6]. The Holy Spirit is the One who liberates us from the self-life of sin [see 2 Corinthians 3:17, 19]; is the means of our sanctification [see 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2]; guides us into all truth [see John 16:13]; makes our prayers meaningful [see Romans 8:26; Jude 20]; and gives us the power to witness to the gospel [see Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8]. This is His work in the life of every believer.
The Spirit’s Work in the Life of the Church
The Holy Spirit’s work doesn’t stop with the individual believer; it also involves the life of the whole church. The indwelling Spirit becomes the link that unites all believers together to form the body of Christ — the church. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body — whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” [1 Corinthians 12:13]. The new birth not only puts us into Christ, it also identifies us with His body so that “in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” [Romans 12:5; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:17; 12:12].
According to the New Testament, the church is a closely knit body of believers with no distinctions whatsoever of race, color, sex, or status [see Galatians 3:26-28]. It is a fellowship of men and women who are all one in Christ, by faith, and who are to be perfected united for the purpose of manifesting the life of God in the same way that Christ manifested it in His human body when He was on earth [see John 14:9; 1 Timothy 3:16].
Sad to say, the Christian church has miserably failed to do this; the world has not really had an opportunity to see, in the church, what God is like. We must realize that salvation in Christ is more than just a personal way to escape eternal damnation. Every person saved in Christ is saved “to do good works” [Ephesians 2:10; cf. Matthew 5:16; Colossians 1:10; 1 Peter 2:12]. And these good works are to be carried out in the framework of the church, which is to be as salt and light in the world. Until we who call ourselves Christians are willing to be instruments in the hands of God’s Spirit, the world that is more than 75 percent non-Christian will never really witness the power of the gospel.
The apostle Paul makes it clear that every member of the church has a specific function in relationship to the body, as allotted by the Holy Spirit [see Romans 12:5-8; 1 Corinthians 12:14-26; Ephesians 4:11-15]. These texts indicate that every believer has been endowed with one or more gifts of the Spirit. These gifts are to be used to minister to the church itself, and they are also the means by which the church, as Christ’s representative, is to witness of Him to the world. The church, as Christ’s body, is to manifest God in the flesh.
No individual member can fully display Christ completely for the simple reason that no individual member is the total body of Christ. Only through the church as a whole, living in perfect coordination and conformity to the direction of the Holy Spirit, can the life of Christ be fully displayed. This will take place before Christ comes. The Bible calls this “the mystery of God” that will be accomplished “just as he announced to his servants the prophets” [Revelation 10:7; cf. Colossians 1:25-27].
Obviously, then, the Holy Spirit has an important work to do in the church as well as in the life of the individual believer. First, the Holy Spirit bestows gifts on the church for the purpose of developing the body of Christ until it grows “to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” [Ephesians 4:13]. Second, the Spirit bestows gifts on the church in order that it may demonstrate and witness to the power of God to a lost world.
Sadly, after almost two thousand years, the church has neither grown into the fullness of Christ, nor has it fully displayed the life of God in the flesh. Should we not, here in the twentieth century, come to God in humility and repentance for our failure? After all, the fault does not lie with God, but with us. It is we who have distorted the truth of the gospel and have put self above the cause of Christ.
Speaking of the last days, Joel proclaimed, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people” [Joel 2:28]. He goes on to say,
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God…. Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people. [Joel 2:12-13, 17-18]
This is the deep, heartfelt repentance that God is patiently waiting to hear from His people. “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” [Revelation 3:19]. When the church realizes this, then God will pour out His Spirit, and the earth will be “illuminated by his splendor” [Revelation 18:1].
Key Points
God intended for the spiritual component in mankind — our spirits — to be His points of contact with us, His indwelling place in us. Through our spirits, He intended to direct our souls (our minds), which in turn would control our bodies.
Because of Adam’s sin, we are all born without the Holy Spirit dwelling in us — slaves to Satan and sin. This is our nature before conversion. When we experience the new birth, we receive the life of Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.
The soul (the mind) is the component in our makeup that enables us to think, learn, choose; it is the area that includes our ideals, love, hate, feelings, and emotions. The Bible often uses the term soul to refer simply to a human being [see Genesis 14:21; Exodus 1:5; Acts 2:41; Romans 13:1].
The soul, with its life of self, is our natural life. The Bible calls it “the flesh,” meaning the human sinful nature.
Temptation comes to us (and came to Christ) through the sinful desires of the flesh. But the self-centered desires of the flesh cannot be satisfied without the consent of the mind.
Christ’s mind, or soul, being spiritual, never yielded to sin; thus He conquered sin in the flesh through the power of the Spirit [see Luke 4:13-14]. Likewise, if we have the mind of Christ, we will “not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh” [Romans 13:14]. It is in the mind, or soul, that Christ gives us victory over sin through His indwelling Spirit.
The Bible refers to the third component of our humanity — the body — as “the body ruled by sin” [Romans 6:6]. This is not because the body is sinful in and of itself, but because the principle of sin has permeated its members.
In saving us, God doesn’t try to change the flesh. Instead, He has put it to death through the cross and has given us a new life — the life of His Spirit.
The flesh manifests itself in two ways: sinful acts and self-righteous acts. God condemns both as evil.
