The inward and outward man
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
John 3:3-5 “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.”
There are certain truths revealed to us in the New Testament that cannot be understood unless we have a clear understanding of the nature of man. It is only in the New Testament that our Lord Jesus reveals to us the full make-up of God’s creation called man. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord revealed for the first time, the fact that it is the spirit of man that is born-again. And so in this passage we see that because Nicodemus had no understanding of the make-up of man, he couldn’t grasp the truth that our Lord was trying to teach him. This is just one illustration of why it is important for us as believers, to have a clear understanding of just how God has created us. For without that understanding we will be like Nicodemus, and miss out on spiritual truths as revealed to us in God’s word. In this series called “Man, the Image of God”, we examine each part of man as revealed to us in the scriptures, and the role each part plays in our walk as believers.
2 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
There is a lot more to man than that which we see in the natural, i.e. the physical body of man. In the above quoted passage of scripture the bible teaches us that there is an inward man and that there is also an outward man. Our outward man consists of our physical bodies, which includes the physical organ of our brain. This is the part of man that is mortal, and so this is the part of man that is growing older day by day, which is why the scripture states that our outward man is perishing. We will look at the outward man and what the bible says about it, later in this series.
Psalms 139:13-14 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. (14) I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”
It is the inward man which is the real person. In scripture, the inward man is sometimes referred to as the “soul”, for example when Noah and his family were saved from the flood, the Holy Spirit tells us that eight souls were saved (1 Peter 3:20). The inward man is also sometimes referred to as the “heart”, for the Holy Spirit speaks of the hidden person of the heart (1 Peter 3:4). Unlike the outward man the inward man is an eternal creation of God, which is why the scripture states that though our outward man is perishing our inward man grows stronger day by day. And so, just as our physical body is made up of different parts which all have different functions, so our inward man is also made up of different parts which also have different functions. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us that God has formed our inward parts (plural), thus indicating that the inward man is made up of more than one part. In this same passage we read that God covers us in our mother’s womb, which speaks of the physical body (our outward man) that God prepares for our inward man to dwell in. To more clearly understand the concept of our inward man being made up of different parts, we can look at the natural. In the natural, the physical body of man is a complete whole. Nevertheless our bodies are made up of different parts, and each part of the body of man has a different function. For example, the brain has one function and the heart another. And so just as in the natural, so the inward man also has different parts, and each part has a different function. But just as all the parts of the body make up the whole body, so all the different parts of our inward man make up the whole man.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There are three major components to the make up of mankind, and the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul lists those three components for us in the above quoted passage of scripture, which is the spirit, the soul and the body. The body is the outward man while the spirit and the soul are the two main components of the inward man. It is because these two components are the main parts of the inward man that scripture very often refers to mankind as either a soul or a spirit, when referring to the inward man as a whole.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
As we can clearly see in the above quoted passage of scripture, the spirit and the soul of man are not the same, for the scripture teaches us that the two parts can be separated. I want you to notice however that it is only the word of God that can separate the spirit and the soul of man, for God has created them to function together. Nevertheless just as the brain and heart of the physical body have different functions to perform within the body of man, so it is that the spirit and the soul also perform different functions within the inward man.
The diagram above shows the three components of God’s creation called mankind. The reason I have shown the soul at the top of the diagram is because, as we will see in the following section, the soul of man can be broken down into further components, of which the conscience is one, and it is the conscience of man that we want to concentrate on in this series.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments