01.10. CHAPTER 5
THE SPIRITUAL CHRISTIAN
(pneumatikos) " He that is spiritual (pneumatikos) judgeth all things " (1 Corinthians 2:15).
" And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly: and may your spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) and body (soma) be preserved entire, without blame ... " (1 Thessalonians 5:23, R.V.). In this passage in Thessalonians we have, as it has already been observed, one of the only two which in English plainly declare the tripartite nature of man, also describing it in the due-and original-order. It is remarkable how frequently the order is changed by many children of God, in the quotation of this verse in Thessalonians, as they pray that they may be " sanctified, body, soul and spirit ", showing that the mind unconsciously describes the true conditions of the fallen creation, until the believer is illuminated by the Spirit of God and the spirit is brought back to its place of control, in thought, as well as all the other activities of the man. The Apostle in his prayer for the Thessalonians gives comprehensively a picture of the " spiritual " believer, for he could pray no less for any of his converts than that they should be sanctified wholly ; just as he wrote to the Colossians that he laboured that he might present every man " perfect " or " full-grown " in Christ-the word he used, denoting " grown to the ripeness of maturity ". " I pray God," he says, " your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless " (A.V.). The being " preserved blameless ", or " entire " follows the being " sanctified wholly ". And this briefly means:
(1) As regards the spirit: The Triune God, Who is Spirit, taking up His abode in the shrine of the spirit of the man, who is first quickened in spirit by the Holy Spirit through the redemptive work of the Son.
(2) As regards the soul: The Triune God dwelling in the spirit manifesting Himself through the vessel of the soul or personality-of the man, in (a) a will wholly one with the will of God, (b) an intellect renewed and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and (c) emotions under the complete control and usage of the man, guided by that same Spirit.
(3) As regards the body: The Triune God abiding in the spirit, manifesting Himself through the avenues of the soul, keeping the body under complete mastery (1 Corinthians 9:27), with every member yielding quick obedience as a " weapon of righteousness " (Romans 6:13), thus making the outer man-the body-verily a sanctuary of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19). This is the " spiritual " believer, grown to the " ripeness of maturity "; sanctified wholly in spirit, soul and body, and needing to be " preserved entire " and blameless-not faultless-by the God of Peace dwelling in the central shrine of his being.