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SUBJECT: Spirit of Man and Spirit of God
QUESTION: What is the difference between these two
spirits?
ANSWER:
The Spirit in man is that essence that makes it possible for
man to think and reason. The Spirit of God is the power of
God. When a person is conceived, he or she receives this
spirit of man and becomes a thinking person. When a person
is called of God (John 6:44), he or she receives a measure
of the Holy Spirit to understand spiritual things. Compare
1 Corinthians 2:14 with 1 John 2:20 to see the difference
between one with and one without the Holy Spirit.
Some people, since Adam, have been called and have received
this Holy Spirit. The good news is that ultimately,
everyone who has ever lived will have the opportunity to
know all truth, receive the Holy Spirit and enter into the
Kingdom of God (the Family
of God) with eternal life. Following are some
key verses:
Zechariah
12:1
The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the
LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the
foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man
within him.
1 Corinthians
2:11
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of
man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no
man, but the Spirit of God.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the
spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Here is a excerpt from our booklet, “The Pain and Joy of
Repentance” (http://www.garnertedarmstrong.org/pubs/PainandJoyofRepentance.shtml)
which speaks to both the Holy Spirit and the spirit in man:
---begin quote---
“And Ye Shall Receive The Gift Of The Holy Spirit”
When Jesus Christ fulfilled His promise to send the
“Comforter,” He did so with awe-inspiring miracles! First, a
loud ROARING filled the large room where thousands were
assembled! Then, right before their startled eyes, FIRE
began to appear, coming through the ceiling! As the
brilliant flames came nearer, they split into twelve equal
parts, and each of the twelve fiery flames settled right on
the heads of the apostles! (Acts 2:1-3).
Then, people representing at least EIGHTEEN DIFFERENT
LANGUAGES began hearing the apostles, one by one, relating
their experiences with Christ; how they had seen His
miracles; what He had said to them about His impending
death, burial, and resurrection; how they had seen Him die,
and then seen Him ALIVE again!
Remember, each of these pilgrims came from one country or
another from hundreds of miles in all directions! Present
were “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers
in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus,
and Asia,
“Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya
about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
“Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues
the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:9-11). Count that list!
Here, at a minimum, were people representing at least
eighteen different languages and dialects. The apostles were
not speaking in “unknown” languages! No, they were speaking,
by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, from their own
minds and hearts, in their own tongue! Yet, God performed
the MIRACLE of causing each individual to HEAR what was said
in HIS language, or tongue! They said “we do hear THEM
speaking IN OUR TONGUES” the wonderful works of God!
This great miracle was VISIBLE! It was AUDIBLE! It was for a
great sign to unbelievers; a miracle from God to grab their
attention, and give divine POWER to the words of the
eyewitnesses to Christ’s ministry; His death, burial, and
resurrection!
These people did not see a ghostly apparition, like an
obscure wraith, hovering about!
They did not see a “PERSON” walk into the room and perform
this great miracle! Millions have been deceived into
believing that God is a “trinity!” They are told that God is
“three in one, and one in three.” To them, there is the
“Father,” and the “Son,” and the “Holy Spirit”—each being a
separate (yet together)
individual of the Godhead!
You need to read my booklet entitled
Is God A MYSTERY? It completely demolishes the false
doctrine of the “trinity.” God’s spirit is likened to fire,
air, water, power, and life!
It is said to be “poured out,” and is said to have the power
to “beget.”
The Holy Spirit of the Father is His life-giving power; His
mind, His nature, His life!
Jesus Christ was the FIRST BEGOTTEN of the Father (Hebrews
1:6).
Remember, divine Elohim (more
than one; the “Spokesman,” who became Christ, did the
speaking) said, “Let US make man in OUR image!”
But creation was not completed in the Garden of Eden, it was
only BEGUN!
Consider the example of Jesus Christ Himself! He was able,
through His divine power, to enter the microcosm, and become
the life-giving seed which fertilized the egg in the womb of
a God-fearing, righteous virgin named Mary! The angel had
told Mary: “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with
God.
“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of
his father David:
“And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of
his kingdom there shall be no end.
“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I
know not a man?
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke
1:30-35). Yet, though the angel plainly said it was the HOLY
SPIRIT which would come upon Mary, Jesus was to be called
“the Son of God!” But IF the Holy Spirit is the THIRD PERSON
of a “trinity,” then Jesus was NOT the son of God the
Father, but the Son of the HOLY SPIRIT!
The truth is there IS NO TRINITY! The ancient “Athanasian
Creed” adopted by an apostate church at the Council of
Nicaea in 324 AD, claiming God is an “hypostasis,” and a
“mystery,” is absolutely FALSE! God reveals Himself to us
through His word! Everywhere, you see DUALITY in His
creation: North and South poles; positive and negative
magnetic forces, night and day, two sexes; male and female;
two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet!
Plainly, God the Father is called the FATHER of Jesus
Christ! Christ prayed to His FATHER continually! He said, “I
am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent
me beareth witness of me.
“Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus
answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known
me, ye should have known my Father also” (John 8:18, 19).
This is a VITALLY important point! You need to know what it
means to receive the Holy Spirit of God! It is not
“spiritual salt and pepper” to make one feel good. It is not
just theological double-talk, or sanctimonious nonsense to
speak of receiving the Holy Spirit! What you must understand
is WHAT HAPPENS at the moment you receive God’s Spirit. What
change takes place?
Notice how often we are called children of God once we are
begotten with God’s Holy Spirit in the Bible: Look up the
following scriptures in your own Bible and read them:
Matthew 5:9; 8:12; Luke 6:35, 36; 20:36; John 11:52; Romans
8:16, 17, 21; Galatians 3:26; Hebrews 2:13.
Here is one of the most profound passages of scriptures in
the Bible: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption [Greek:
sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of God:
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together” (Romans 8:14-17).
THINK deeply about what you just read. Too many people read
the expression “they are the sons of God” as if it were so
much “sanctimonious” language; a kind of spiritual phrase
which means we are Bible believing, church-going people, or
that God likes us. But if you read that you are the son or
daughter of your PARENT, you would know it is a literal
statement of fact!
To become a son of God means exactly what it says! When you
are BEGOTTEN of the Father, then He becomes your LITERAL
Spiritual Father — the Father who has begotten a NEW CHILD
OF HIS inside your human mind, by uniting HIS Holy Spirit
with YOUR HUMAN SPIRIT! Notice that the Greek word for
“adoption” means more than legal adoption. You do not become
God’s adopted child, and He does not become your foster
parent! No, He becomes your REAL SPIRIT FATHER, and you
become a “new creature in Christ!” Notice how Paul puts it,
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Few professing Christians understand the REALITY of this
scripture!
Here, in summary, is what it means: It required both of your
parents to produce YOU.
Your father’s seed united with your mother’s fertile egg,
and, at the instant of conception, YOU were in existence!
You did not come into existence a split second prior to
conception, nor did you come into existence a split second
later! You did not suddenly become you on the third or sixth
week from conception, but at the EXACT MOMENT of conception!
Now, inside the womb of your mother, a NEW HUMAN BEING was
living! Do you see the clear analogy? After all, God (Elohim)
said, “Let US make man in OUR IMAGE.” Christ, who was the
Logos who did the speaking was the FIRST BEGOTTEN from the
Father among all humans! He is also called the FIRSTBORN
among many brethren, and the FIRST BORN FROM THE DEAD: “For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).
Since there are to be MANY BRETHREN who will also be BORN OF
GOD, Christ is called the FIRST born, not the only born!
You and I have a human spirit. God’s word says, “...there is
a SPIRIT in man” (Job 32:8).
Solomon wrote, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD,
searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Proverb
20:27). God gives us our human spirit: “The burden of the
word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which
stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of
the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him”
(Zechariah 12:1). When Christ died, He said, “...Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
The human spirit is that which lifts man far above the level
of animals. It is where our conscience, our volition, our
decision-making capacity, our personality, and our deepest,
innermost psyche resides. The SPIRIT of man is directly
connected to the brain of man, which gives us what we call
MIND. The spirit is NOT CONSCIOUS APART FROM A LIVING BRAIN!
When the brain dies, the spirit is ASLEEP!
Notice several proofs: “And as we have borne the image of
the earthy [you and I are
the “express image” of our human parents], we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly [We
are created in the image of our HEAVENLY Father IN SPIRIT!].
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God [we
can only enter His great FAMILY KINGDOM in our glorified
SPIRIT bodies!]; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption.
“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed,
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians
15:49-52). Study the entire fifteenth chapter of 1
Corinthians. It clearly points out the vast difference
between our human, earthly existence, and our future, spirit
existence as a part of the very family of God! Notice that
Paul says “we shall not all SLEEP” meaning die!
Here is additional proof: “But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that
ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus [elsewhere
called “the dead in Christ”] will God bring with
him.
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we
which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent [precede]
them which are asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14).
Millions call the spirit in man the “soul.” They have been
deceived into believing each of us has an “immortal soul”
which remains CONSCIOUS when the body dies. But the words
“immortal soul” are nowhere in the Bible! The word
“immortal” occurs only ONCE in the Bible, in 1 Timothy 1:17,
and speaks of Jesus Christ, who is immortal! The word
“immortality” is found only five times. Paul, writing of
God, said to Timothy, “ Who only hath immortality, dwelling
in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man
hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:16).
The spirit of man is NOT CONSCIOUS when the body dies, but
is ASLEEP! Your Bible says so, over and over again! When the
person dies, the “new creature in Christ” is still there,
but IN A PROFOUND SLEEP! There is no consciousness; no
awareness of the passing of time; no pain, no anxiety, no
suffering! This is why Paul characterizes the sleep of the
creature in Christ as being so SHORT a time as to be like a
mere MOMENT, like the twinkling of an eye. He said, “Behold,
I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed,
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
[they are DEAD, unconscious,
NOT ALIVE!] shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
We are to be changed from flesh to spirit! From human to
divine! From the children of our fleshly parents to the
children of GOD HIMSELF! Christ is the FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY
BRETHREN!
Now, read these profound words again, and understand: “For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption [sonship!],
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
“The Spirit itself [God’s
Holy Spirit] beareth witness with our spirit [our
human spirit; the “spirit in man”], that we are
the children of God:
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together” (Romans 8:14-17). And what has
Christ INHERITED? He is the FIRST born of the Father by a
resurrection from the dead!
You need to understand these words exactly as they are
written! Millions “spiritualize away” the profound content
of these words. To them, being a “child of God” is merely a
spiritual-sounding phrase that means we are loved of God;
that we are in His good graces; that we are a “Christian.”
But they fail to understand that we are to be BORN OF GOD
OUR FATHER in the SAME WAY as was Christ at the
resurrection!
They fail to see we are to become a PART OF THE FAMILY OF
GOD!
Your last name connotes your family ties. You are the son or
daughter of your parents.
You were conceived by them. You were produced by them. They
were recreating in their own HUMAN image! You were born of
your mother. You became a member of their family!
The same thing occurs in the SPIRIT realm when you repent,
are baptized, and receive the begetting Spirit of your
HEAVENLY FATHER! He is not your heavenly Father in name
only. When you pray, “Our Father which is in heaven,” you
are not merely recognizing a title of God, but identifying
yourself as HIS SON OR DAUGHTER!
When He BEGETS you as a “new creature in Christ,” you are
HIS SPIRIT CHILD!
Just as your mother “hosted” your microscopic life at
conception; just as you grew within her womb, so your own
physical body is merely a temporary TABERNACLE in which the
“new creature in Christ” dwells! Now, following repentance,
baptism, and the begettal by your Heavenly Father, a NEW
SPIRIT BEING has been engendered!
His Spirit has come to connect with your human spirit! The
TWO spirits become ONE NEW SPIRIT. In your physical
beginning, your father’s seed connected with your mother’s
fertile egg, and YOU WERE THEN IN EXISTENCE! A NEW, NEVER
BEFORE, NEVER TO BE AGAIN, UNIQUE HUMAN BEING was on the
way!
When God the Father begets new children with His Spirit, a
new, never before, never to be again SPIRIT BEING is on the
way!
God’s church is analogous to the spiritual “womb” where each
“new creature in Christ” is nurtured, protected, and fed. It
is where the new creature GROWS toward maturity!
Paul wrote, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians
4:11-13).
---end quote---
For a full doctrinal statement on the Holy Spirit, go to:
http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/churchdoctrines.php?stp=5
For a full doctrinal statement on the spirit in man, go to
http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/churchdoctrines.php?stp=6 |