THE TRIPARTITE MAN
Spirit, Soul, and Body
According to Watchman Nee
I Thessalonians 5:23 "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The whole person comprises these three parts. Is it a matter of consequence to divide spirit and soul? How can a believer understand spiritual life if he does not know what is the extend of the realm of the spirit? Without such understanding how can he grow spiritually? To fail to distinguish between spirit and soul is fatal to spiritual maturity. Christians often account what is soulical as spiritual, and thus they remain in a soulish state and seek not what is really spiritual. How can we escape loss if we confuse what God has divided? pg 22 Watchman Nee
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 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." "the joints and marrow" -- organs of motion and sensation
When the priest uses the sword to cut and completely dissect the sacrifice, nothing inside can be hidden.
Hebrews 4:13 "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
Even joint and marrow are separated. In like manner the Lord Jesus uses the Word of God on His people to separate thoroughly, to pierce even to the division of the spiritual, the soulical, and the physical.
And from this it follows since soul and spirit can be divided, they must be different in nature. It is thus evident here that man is a composite of three parts. W. N.
I. BODY
A. Formed of the dust
Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
Eccl. 3:20 "All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again."
1. Fleshly, soft part of body
2. Bone, blood and flesh
3. Physical
4. Sensing the environment
B. Gives World-Consciousness
1. Comes into contact with the material world. pg 26
2. The body is where the senses dwell. pg 26
II. SPIRIT
A. From God -- "breathed into man"
1. Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Zec. 12:1 "the Lord . . . formed the spirit of man within him."
2. When the inbreathing of God entered man's body it became the spirit of man;
3. We must recognize, though, that this spirit is not God's Own life, for "the
breath of the Almighty hath given me life" (Job 33:4). It is not the
entrance of the uncreated life of God into man, neither is it that life of God
which we receive at regeneration. What we receive at new birth is God's
Own life as typified by the tree of life. But our human spirit, though
permanently existing, is void of "eternal life." Nee pg 24
B. Gives God-Consciousness
1. The spirit is that part by which we commune with God and which alone we are
able to apprehend and worship Him. pg 26
2. It is the spirit that tells us of our relationship with God. pg 26
3. God dwells in the spirit. pg 26
C. The ability of the spirit of man
1. The spirit cannot act directly on the body. It needs a medium -- the soul.
2. The spirit can subdue the body through the medium of the soul, so that it will
obey God. pg 26
3. The body through the soul can draw the spirit into loving the world. pg 26
III. SOUL
A. "man became a living soul"
1. Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
2. As soon as the breath of life, which became man's spirit, came into contact
with man's body, the soul was produced. Hence the soul is the
combination of man's body and spirit. pg 23 Nee
3. When the spirit reacted with the body, the soul was produced. pg 24 Nee
The spirit of man touching the dead body produced the soul. pg 24
"For as the body without the spirit is dead," James 2:26
4. Spirit and body were completely merged in this soul. Soul and body were
combined with the spirit, and the spirit and body were merged in the soul.
B. Gives Self-Consciousness
1. When the body was quickened by the spirit it brought into being a living and
self-conscious man. pg 24 Nee
2. The soul comprised the intellect which aids us in the present state of existence
and the emotions which proceed from the senses. pg 26
3. Self dwells in the soul. pg 26
4. Our self is the soul. It is the "real I." pg 40
C. Man's soul
1. What the man is depends on how his soul is. pg 25
2. His soul represents him and expresses his individuality. pg 25
3. It is the organ of man's free will, the organ in which spirit and body are
completely merged. pg 25
4. If man's soul wills to obey God, it will allow the spirit to rule over the man as
ordered by God. pg 25
5. If the soul chooses, it can suppress the spirit and take some other delight as
lord of the man. pg 25
D. The Light Bulb Analogy -- The bulb is the total man. pg 25
1. The wire [filament] is the body.
2. The electricity is the spirit.
3. The light is the soul produced when the electricity contacts the wire.
IV. OF THESE THREE
A. The spirit
1. The noblest for it joins with God. pg 27
2. Occupies the innermost area of man's being.
B. The body
1. The lowest for it contacts with matter.
2. Occupies the outermost area of man's being. pg 27
3. The outer shelter of the soul. pg 27
C. The soul
1. Lying between them joins the two together and also takes their character
to be its own. The soul makes it possible for the spirit and the body to
communicate and cooperate.
2. The outer sheath of the spirit. pg 27
3. The site of personality. The will, intellect, and emotions of man are here. pg 28
4. In order for the spirit to govern, the soul must give its consent. pg 28
5. The Bible calls man "a living soul." pg 28
V. TEMPLE ANALOGY
I Corinthians 3:16 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you?"
Old Testament -- God's presence dwelled in the temple.
New Testament -- God dwells in the temple of man.
A. Body -- Outer Court pg 29
1. Seen and visited by all.
2. External worship is offered here.
3. The outer court stands under the broad daylight.
B. Soul -- Holy Place
1. Only priests enter.
2. Here they present oil, incense and bread to God.
3. Light is supplied here by the lampstand of seven branches.
4. They are near to God--yet not the nearest, for they are still outside the veil.
5. Here man ought to obey every commandment of God.
6. Here God's Son serves as a substitute and dies for mankind.
7. This is the Holy place of a regenerated person, for his love, will and thought
are fully enlightened that he may serve God even as the priest of old did.
C. Spirit -- Holy of Holies pg 29
1. Only the High Priest enters once every year.
2. God dwells here.
3. A brilliant light burns here.
4. This spirit lies beyond man's self-consciousness and above his sensibility.
5. Here man unites and communes with God.
6. The activities of the Holy Place (soul) are regulated by God's presence in the
Holy of Holies.
God's order is the spirit and soul and body (I Thes 5:23). The spirit should control the
body through the soul.
VI. GREEK DEFINITIONS OF LIFE
A. Bios
1. The biological sort of life which comes to us through nature, and which like
everything else in nature, is always tending to run down and decay so that it can only be kept up by incessant subsidies from nature in the form of air, water, food, etc.
C. S. Lewis Mere Christianity Luke 8:14
2. This is created biological life. [We enter bios (979) at conception.]
B. Psuche
1. Refers to the animated life of man, his natural life or the life of the soul. Nee
2. Created life, the natural life. Nee pg 45
3. Not the uncreated life, neither the life of God which we receive at
regeneration. Nee 24
[We enter psuche 5590 at conception. Matt. 6:25 Matt. 20:28 ]
C. Zoe
1. The Spiritual life which is in God from all eternity, and which made the whole
natural universe. C. S. Lewis Mere Christianity
2. The highest life, the life of the spirit. pg 39 Nee
3. When the Bible speaks of eternal life, it uses this word. Nee
4. The life that we receive from God at regeneration.
5. This is uncreated life. [We enter zoe 2222 at rebirth. Matt. 7:14 ; 18:8; 19:16 ]
VII. BEFORE THE FALL OF MAN
A. Adam in his unfallen state knew nothing of these ceaseless strivings of spirit and flesh
which are matters of daily experience to us. There was a perfect blending of this
three natures into one and the soul as the uniting medium became the cause of his individuality, of his existence as a distinct being. pg 24
B. Before the fall, the spirit controlled the whole being through the soul. pg 27
C. Before man committed sin, the power of the soul was completely under the dominion
of the spirit. pg 27
D. If man's spirit and soul would maintain their created perfection, healthiness and
liveliness, his body would then be able to continue forever without change. pg 44
VIII. AFTER THE FALL OF MAN
A. Man had in his possession the ability to choose.
1. God never deprives us our freedom. pg 43
2. Neither God nor the Devil can do any work without first obtaining our consent,
for man's will is free.
B. Man's spirit was originally the highest part of his entire being to which the soul and
the body [through the soul] were to be subject. pg 43
C. Man sinned and fell
1. The proper order of spirit, soul, and body has been confused. pg 44
2. Man would plunge into darkness and the human body could not last long but
would soon be corrupted. pg 44
3. The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil:
a. Uplifts the human soul and suppresses the spirit.
b. Stimulates the soul life.
c. Stifles the spirit life.
d. Man loses the true knowledge of God and thus be dead to God.
D. Man died.
1. Natural death -- cessation of communication with the environment. pg 50
2. Spiritual death -- cessation of communication with God. pg 50
So when we say the spirit is dead it does not imply there is no more spirit;
we simply mean the spirit has lost its sensitivity towards God and thus is
dead to Him. pg 50
3. Adam's spirit fell (as well as the spirit of all of his descendants [for they were
within his loins] ) under the oppression of the soul. pg. 51
4. Now man's spirit needs to be quickened because it is born dead. pg 61
IX. THREE POSSIBLE STATES OF FALLEN MAN
A. Bodily -- Body-Control
1. Spirit is present, but dead to God.
2. Because the body of sin is abounding in desire and passions, man may commit
the most hideous of sins. The base desires of the soul may therefore often
be expressed through the soul. The power of the body becomes so
overwhelming that the soul cannot but become the obedient slave. pg 54
3. Romans 8:5 - 13 Read v. 6 -- zoe
B. Soulish -- Soul-Control
1. Spirit is present, but dead to God.
2. Can be religious, moral, learned, capable, strong and wise, but he is dead to
God. He may even talk about God, reason about God, and preach God,
but he is still dead to Him. pg 51
3. In religious matters, in the hottest pursuit of God, all is carried on by the
strength and will of man's soul, void of the Holy Spirit's revelation. pg 52
4. I Cor 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned."
5. They are unfit to receive revelation from the Holy Spirit.
C. Spiritual -- Spirit-Control
1. In an unrighteous sense.
The fallen spirit can emerge in control being alive to Satan -- sorceress, witches
They indeed maintain contacts with the spiritual realm; but these do so
through the evil spirit, not the Holy Spirit. The spirit of fallen man thus is
allied with Satan and his evil spirits. pg 52
2. In a righteous sense.
[The submission of the soul allows for regeneration of the spirit.]
a. New birth is something which happens entirely within the spirit; it has
no relation to soul or body. pg 61
b. The spirit, soul, and body are restored to God's original intention in
every born-again person. pg 63 I Cor. 2:15 "he that is spiritual"
c. A "babe in Christ" I Cor 3:1 - 3
d. Here is when and where the battle over the soul begins between the
spirit and the flesh. The battle itself indicates regeneration has
taken place. Romans Chap 7 Romans 7:5 "in the flesh"
Taken from The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee
