How to Differentiate Between -- Being Spiritual and Being Soulish
To live a spiritual life, we must allow the Holy Spirit to operate within us and give up our soul-life to make room for spiritual growth.
Watchman Nee discusses the distinction between being spiritual and being soulish, emphasizing that after regeneration, believers possess both a soulish life and a spiritual life. He explains that while the spiritual life is strong, the soulish life often dominates unless one willingly surrenders it to allow the Holy Spirit to operate fully. A spiritual Christian lives by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, while a soulish Christian remains influenced by the mind and emotions, failing to draw strength from the spiritual life. The sermon highlights the necessity of allowing God's nature to rule over our being for spiritual growth.
Text
The answer to this question is very long. Here, we can only mention something in brief. We have seen that from the time of our regeneration there are two lives within us. One is the soulish life, and the other is the life of the spirit. With these two lives, there are two natures. One is the flesh, and the other is the nature of God. We have also seen how one of our two natures, the flesh, was crucified, and the other, God's nature, is invested with the full authority to rule over our whole being. The question of the two natures is solved. But the question of the two lives still remains. Both the soulish life and the spiritual life now live within us simultaneously. Although the spiritual life itself is very strong, the deep-rooted operation of the soulish life rules our whole being. Unless a person is willing to give up his soul-life and to allow the spiritual life to live and to operate, there will be little chance for the spiritual life to develop.
A spiritual Christian is one who allows the Holy Spirit to operate within his spirit. He accepts the Holy Spirit as a person dwelling in his own spirit and allows the life given by the Holy Spirit to supply him with all the strength he needs for his walk. All the principles of his living are no longer guided and affected by the mind or the emotion. Instead, he is living dispassionately in the spirit.
The soulish Christian is just the opposite. Although he has the spiritual life, he does not derive vitality from his spiritual life. Instead, his daily living still has the soul as its life, and he continues to be guided and affected by the mind and the sensations.
Sermon Outline
- Two Lives Within Us
- The soulish life and the life of the spirit
- The soulish life rules our being, while the spiritual life is strong but underdeveloped
Key Quotes
“A spiritual Christian is one who allows the Holy Spirit to operate within his spirit.” — Watchman Nee
“Unless a person is willing to give up his soul-life and to allow the spiritual life to live and to operate, there will be little chance for the spiritual life to develop.” — Watchman Nee
Application Points
- We must be willing to give up our soul-life to allow the spiritual life to operate and develop.
- A spiritual Christian lives dispassionately in the spirit, guided by the Holy Spirit rather than their mind and emotions.
- The Holy Spirit supplies us with strength for our walk and guides our living.