1 Corinthians 14:14 “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”      Scripture reveals to us that our spirits also require prayer in order to grow strong. I am not referring to praying with our understanding however, although I’m sure that it does help in a limited way to pray with the understanding. I am specifically referring to praying with our spirits, for as we have already seen earlier the Christian has the ability to pray both with

John 4:31-34 “In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  (32)  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  (33)  Therefore, the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  (34)  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”     Hearing the word of God is not the only source of spiritual food for our spirits, for Jesus mentioned another source of spiritual

Luke 9:44-45 “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  (45) But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.”    And so we come to the method of spiritual growth through meditation in God’s word. In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus was trying to get the disciples to understand what wa

John 21:17 “He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.”   There are three methods that the believer can use to feed their spirits. The first and most common method (which we have already discussed) is to simply read the word of God, and all believers who desire to gr

Luke 4:4 “But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'”   As we have seen in the previous section, scripture identifies two main categories of believers i.e. babes in Christ and mature believers. And so the question is asked how do believer’s transition from being babes in Christ (where all believers start out) to becoming spiritually mature. To answer that question we can look to the natural. There are two key

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.  (2)  I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; (3) for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”    We have stated thus far that all believers come into the kingdom of God as babe

Luke 2:40 “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”   One of the main differences between the New and Old Testament saints is that the New Testament saints can grow in spirit. The reason New Testament saints can grow strong in spirit is because they are born-again, whereas the Old Testament saints were spiritually dead. Sadly however, because most New Testament believers have very limited knowledge in this area,

John 4:23-24 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  (24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”   It is only under the New Covenant that the saints can worship God as He desires to be worshipped, for in the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus teaches us that because God is Spirit that He desires those who worship

Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”         One of the most enlightening aspects that help us to more clearly understand the spirit of the born-again believer is the gift of speaking in other tongues. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see the gift of other tongues being given to the New Testament saints for the first time on the day of Pentecost. The reason this gift was n

Romans 2:14-15 “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,  (15)  who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.”   We have seen thus far that the born-again spirit has full and complete understanding of God’s word, because of which the spirit of the believer is ab

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  (11)  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”    Scripture reveals to us that the spirit of man has spiritual understanding. The understanding of man’s spirit however is not to be confused with the mind of man which forms part o

Genesis 1:11-12 “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.  (12)  And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”   We all know that in the natural a seed contains everything that the s

1 Peter 1:23  “ having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”   One of the main differences between the spirits of believers and the spirits of unbelievers is in the area of sin. It is impossible for the spirits of believers to commit sin, for as the apostle Peter teaches us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the spirit of the believer is born of the incorruptible seed of God’s word. Incorrup

Ephesians 5:8  “ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”   We have seen thus far that the two conditions of human spirit is either spiritual life or spiritual death. There is a further aspect to the spiritual condition of men however, which is the aspect of spiritual light and spiritual darkness. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit introduces us to the concept of the spirits of men being either light or

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”   There are two conditions of the human spirit. The one condition is spiritual life and the other condition is spiritual death, and the spirits of everyone is either one or the other. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul is sp

Revelation 20:13-15 “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.  (14)  Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  (15) And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”    Again, it is in the New Testament that revelation is given to us for the first time that there are in fact two spiritual deat

Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (5) to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”   The salvation of mankind cannot take place through the forgiveness of sins alone. Under the Old Covenant the sins of the saints could be forgiven. And so if it was possible for men to be saved through only the forgiveness of sins, then it would have been possible for

Luke 4:5-7 “Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  (6)  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  (7) Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”      Regarding the spirit of man, we need to understand exactly what happened when Adam and Eve committed sin in the Garden of Eden.

Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”   We have seen earlier that sin kills the human spirit, for death enters through sin. And so the question is asked, if sin kills the human spirit, why don’t believers die spiritually once again the moment that they commit sin after they are born-again? Based on what we have seen in scripture thus far; believers should die all over again the moment they commit sin, because by tha

John 3:3-6 “Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  (4)  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  (5)  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Sp

Genesis 2:16-17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”    When God created Adam and Eve their spirits came from Him and had His life in them. In other words their spirits were alive to God. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that when God created them, that He gave them the comma

John 1:6-9 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  (7)  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all through him might believe.  (8)  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  (9) That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”   We have seen in the previous section that God is the Father of spirits and that every spirit of man is created by God. And so when God creates the spirit of

The spirit of man is actually the primary part of the inward man and as we have already seen, it is this part of the inward man that is born-again. The apostle Paul confirms this truth when he teaches us that the saints become new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). The spirit of man is located in the centre of man i.e. the area of the abdomen, for it is from this region of man i.e. the belly of man that the rivers of living water flow out of the man. The Lord Jes

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”   As I have already alluded to in the previous section, the soul of man can be further divided into three separate parts. The first part of the soul that we will discuss is the mind. The mind of man is where the reasoning, intellect and emotions of man reside. Unlike the spirit of man which becomes