A spirit-led Christian is a unique creature in the earth, unlike no other.
But being led of the spirit is something we must learn, we must be discipled into.
In every one of us there is a natural man/ woman and a spiritual man/ woman. the way that scripture uses natural vs. spiritual is not an adjective but it is a noun. Spiritual man is a man in whom the spirit lives and gives life to.
Being spiritual or natural is not defined by a list of a behaviors. Being spiritual describes a person who has Jesus Christ as an inner source of life. We twist it when we turn it into an adjective list of behaviors.
When Adam and Eve fell they became only a natural man/ woman. Their spiritual selves died when they sinned, it took many years for that death to catch up and kill off their natural man/woman.
It has been a common teaching in the last several decades to teach about the spirit, soul and body three-fold nature of man.
But I think by over-teaching this, we’ve confused ourselves and the next generation. We’ve taught that even the non-Christian is spirit, soul and body. Too many Christian teachers have taught that its our job now to let our spirits (which are inherently good) to dominate our lives.
As most do, this Christian teaching has boiled over into the secular world …with Jesus removed. To the point that spirituality is often seen as some sort of quality or mindset to be admired in an of itself.
How many people have you heard say “I am spiritual not religious”? I have heard some of the most ridiculous boasting along these lines. There is great confusion around this topic of spirituality.
Ask a few people who claim to be spiritual how they are able to have their spirit dominate their mind and flesh and you’ll get no two same answers.
It’s a confusing list about love or not hurting other people or how the universe is all connected, from Christian and non-Christian alike. True maybe but always partial and rarely is Jesus given his proper place in the universe, he becomes like a distant good example…at best.
Those that say “I am spiritual” nowadays are usually adhering to a popular form of natural religion. Like Hinduism or a religion from one of the native American tribes. Acknowledging the spirit world but excluding or ignoring Jesus’ place in it.
In some ways it can be a very kind and enlightened mindset, but in other ways it is quite hostile to God.
The truth is that when Jesus Christ rose again and filled his believing followers with his spirit. Once again we became dual-natured, both natural and spiritual. He also made it very simple for us both to understand the things of the Spirit and to be spiritual ourselves.
He now defines spirituality for us. Being spiritual is not a hippie-like mindset of peace and love. It is actually now much easier even than doing those things.
The idea that to be spiritual I need to be passive, or free spirited or to give a certain way. Or that I need to pray like this or go to a certain place each week, is a product of the natural man. The natural man must look to external things and label those things to identify them as spiritual.
The natural man often spends a lifetime trying hard to display and define spirituality for themselves and others (religion). Gathering followers with confidence. Displaying superior living habits with discipline and talent. But at his end be as confused about spirituality as those following him.
The Spiritual Man
Being spiritual is simple, its just summed up in one thing. The spiritual man lives exclusively by the life of Jesus Christ. We live by Jesus’ life which is within us. We do what we see him doing. We hear and speak what we hear him saying. We go where we see him going. We lay down our natural lives, we surrender and let die our natural desires, appetites and cravings.
Being a spiritual man is not a matter of knowing what Jesus would do then doing likewise. It is not memorizing his teachings then living according to that memory. Jesus Christ defines our spirituality moment by moment, in a sense HE is our spiritual nature now. We don’t have our own spirituality.
The natural man is very religious, he longs to reach and impress God but he cannot. He likes to establish sets of do’s and don’ts to follow and then please God with that list.
The natural man can be talented and can go to great lengths to impress God and others with religious activity. With great intellectualism we impress ourselves… and one another.
The natural man can look wonderful on the outside but is lost on the inside. So it can be very confusing to follow him around.
How to Sense the Natural Man vs. Spiritual Man In Ourselves
The natural man in us will always do the following:
- He will look for or even make up rules, do’s, don’ts, outside criteria to rid himself of guilt or obligation.
- He will try to make others feel guilty either by showing them up with superiority or by direct confrontational teaching (bully pulpit).
- He will “check the box” on his own spirituality check list and feel good about his accomplishments. Without much regard to what Jesus actually wants at that moment in his life.
- Pleasing Jesus or God becomes generalized, he/ she goes on autopilot doing what seems right in his own eyes. The moment by moment being led of the spirit falls off his radar.
The Spiritual man will always do the following:
- He will look to Jesus Christ moment by moment for guidance in what to do (or not do).
- He is not on autopilot just doing what seems right. This is true to the point that he seems crippled by not doing anything that he is not seeing his Lord do in the Spirit. Jesus was of little use to the religious authorities of his day, they could not control him or secure his loyal cooperation.
- He will not succumb to pressure to do things (or not do things) based on obligation or guilt or peer pressure. Guilt is unimpressive to the spiritual man/ woman. He has learned to not respond to it.
- His instinct is always to look within to the life of Jesus Christ first and wait patiently for guidance. Even if that patience gets him ridiculed, misunderstood or left out.
These are a few ways to spot the natural man vs. the spiritual man within ourselves.
It is important we not live by the natural man if we want to please the Lord.
If we want to see “the will of God done on earth as it is in heaven” let’s live by the spirit.
