A SPIRITUAL PERSON, HIS BEHAVIORS AND ACTIONS

Natural man and Spiritual man by Don Steward

Natural Man
The Bible speaks of the natural man as the person who has not received Christ as Savior. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Characteristics of Natural man:
1.Operates On Human Wisdom
+an individual who operates entirely on human wisdom

+not made a commitment to Jesus Christ; not experienced the new birth

+have not the Holy Spirit living inside of them

+do not understand or welcome spiritual truth

+It is foolishness unto them

+cannot understand how a person who died 1900 years ago can have any meaning with the way they are living today.

2.No Real Understanding Of Bible
+ do not receive or welcome the message of Scripture

+reaction to the message of the gospel is that it is foolishness, ridiculous.

3.Does Not Have The Proper Equipment
+Unsaved does not have the proper equipment to decide  spiritual truth.

+stars are telescopically discerned; germs are microscopically discerned,

+the Bible is discerned by the Holy Spirit

+It would be like a blind person judging an art contest.
Many sincere and educated people admire the Bible as literature and extoll its moral teaching-but they miss the real spiritual message of the Bible that salvation is only through the person of Jesus Christ.
Miss The Purpose
These same people may acknowledge Christ as a wonderful teacher or example but they miss the real purpose of why He came into the world. Paul wrote. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst (1 Timothy 1:15).

4.Spiritual Blindfold: 2 Corinthians 4:3,4).
+The Bible says the unbeliever is  spiritual blindfold.
+And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing +The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers; they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God

Spiritual Man:  (1 Corinthians 2:15).
*The spiritual man is in contrast to the natural man.
* Spiritual discern all thing: are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny

*Is characterized by the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Bible encourages believers to let the Spirit lead them.
*Do not get drunk with wine, is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts (Ephesians 5:18,19)

*The spiritual man produces the fruit of the Spirit -The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things (Galatians 5:22).

Characteristics of a Spiritual person – By Martijn Dieleman,

1.They are peaceful and loving;

2.They are honest

3.They are patient;

4.They are not easily influenced by external input;

5. They do not judge;

6They have strong faith in Spirit;

7.They believe in Oneness.

10 Signs that You Are a Spiritual Person:

1.You have no fears.

2. You see things as they are.
3. You don’t speak ill of others or gossip.
4. You are knowledgeable about the right things
5. You are loving and kind.
6. You believe that the soul is eternal
7. You meditate.
8. You feel your life has a purpose
9. You take care of your mental and physical health
10. You have inner peace.

10  SIGNS OF A SPIRITUAL PERSON   – by SAMUEL RUTHERFORD

1. SUBMITS TO THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
2. RUNS STRONGLY AFTER THE HOLY SPIRIT
3. CHERISHES ALL OF THE SPIRIT’S ACTIVITY

Scripture notes our wrongs we do to the Holy Spirit: (a) vexing; (b) quenching; (c) tempting; and (d) resisting.

(a) will not vex the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:10) or grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30). To grieve is to sadden rather then to anger (see Matthew 14:9; 17:23 and 26:22).

b) will not quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We add new fuel to His fire, blow away the ashes and wrestle against deadness, dullness, faintness, and stir up the grace of God.

(c) will not tempt the Holy Spirit (Acts 5). We must acknowledge and adore the Holy Spirit as God and not follow Ananias in trying the Holy Spirit to see if he will find out hypocrisy, (Acts 5).

(d)will not resist the Holy Spirit and do despite to the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:28-30; Matthew 12:31-32). Do you find not the acting’s of the Spirit sweet and heaven-like? If so, it indicates a spiritual disposition

4. DISPLAYS MUCH SELF-DENIAL

There is little of self in children; the children of God are like such as are learning to walk. So does the Spirit act without resistance in the sons of God. There is much of renewed self, in spiritual actions actions (see 1 Corinthians 15:9-10; Galatians 2:20; Romans 7:17, 22; 1 Corinth. 9:20-21)

5. IS SPIRITUALLY BEWILDERED

a)Doubts every way he walks in except the way that he is sure to be from God (Psalm 143:10). (b) esteems God’s Spirit to be a good leader and guide.(c) commits their goings to the Spirit and asks Him to be a guide to them. d)  fears lest the way be hidden to him (Psalm 119:19

6. FINDS SPIRITUAL ACTIONS TO BE NATURAL

Action is easy when it comes from an inward principle. The stream flows from the fountain naturally without violence. It’s neither toil nor labor to the sun to give light. All these come from internal principles

7. ACTS MUCH IN THE SPIRIT

Acting much in the Spirit brings greater abundance of the Spirit.

(a) The more that someone acts for the good of others (especially the people of God) the more the person is under the Spirit. “He shall glorify me (Christ says about the Spirit) for he shall receive of mine” (John 16:14). The Church shows more of the Spirit in being willing to bear the Lord’s indignation because she has sinned (Micah 7:9) . “Quench not the spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) includes the positive requirement to cherish kindly and yield sweetly to the flowings and sweet influences of the Spirit.

8. IS WATCHFUL

The Spirit of God keeps the soul watchful. “Praying with all prayer and supplication in the spirit” is combined with watching “with all perseverance” (Ephesians 6:18 see also Jude v21). “The spirit is willing” (Matthew 26:4 – forward, watchful i.e. the renewed part) “but the flesh is weak” (i.e. sleepy, and lazy). The more watchfulness in any, the more of the Spirit. “Let us not sleep as do others: but let us watch, and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:6-7; see also Romans 13:13).

9. KEEPS COMPANY WITH OTHER SPIRITUAL PEOPLE

Beware of becoming weary of the Spirit’s company or that of spiritual men. Beware of loathing a spiritual ministry. The saints keep their spiritual being with the excellent ones in whom is all their delight (Psalm 16:2).

10. SPEAKS ABOUT SPIRITUAL THINGS

When the well is full it must run over. When there is a treasure and abundance in the heart, the Spirit comes to the tongue in Zechariah and Simeon (Luke 2:25, 27).  The spiritual person speaks about Christ, redemption and imputed righteousness. The pilgrim’s heart, tongue and thoughts are all on his way and his home. In the same way the spiritual person dwells much on eternity, heaven and Christ.

References:

1.BEING A SPIRITUAL MAN General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)
2. Don Stewart :: Who Is the Natural Man? Who Is the Spiritual Man?
3. Three Marks Of A Spiritual Man by : Zac Poonen
4. HOW TO RECOGNIZE A SPIRITUAL PERSON (7 SPIRITUAL BEHAVIORS BY Martijn Dieleman
5. 10 SIGNS OF A SPIRITUAL PERSON by SAMUEL RUTHERFORD
6.11 characteristics of a spiritual person By Raychel Ria Agramon