We see that the soul life continues through the cross has dealt with the believer’s sinful nature.
It is true that every sin erupts from the power of sin, with the soul simply a willing servant; nevertheless, the soul as inherited from Adam cannot avoid being infected with Adam’s fall.
It may not be entirely defiled; however, it is natural and quite unlike God’s life.
The corrupted old man in the believer has died but his soul remains the power behind his walk.
On the one hand, the new nature has been imparted to our spirit, but on the other hand the self-life still persists and therefore cannot escape being soulish.
Although the old man (old nature) may cease to direct the soul, the soul-life continues to energize the daily walk of man.
Since God’s nature has replaced the sinful nature, all man’s inclinations, desires and wishes are naturally good, not like their former nature. It must not be overlooked, however, that what executes these new desires and wishes continues to be the soul-power (will).
To depend upon the soul life to carry out the wish of the spirit is to use natural (or human) force to accomplish supernatural (or divine) goodness.
This is simply trying to fulfill God’s demand with self-strength. In such a condition the believer is still weak in positively doing right, even though negatively he may have overcome the sin habit.
Few are those willing honestly to acknowledge their weakness and incapability and to lean utterly upon God.
Who will confess his uselessness and powerlessness if they have not been humbled by the grace of God?
The natural Man takes pride in his ability. For this reason, he can hardly entertain the thought of trusting the Holy Spirit for doing right but is sure to correct and improve his former behavior with his soul power.
The danger for him is in attempting to please God with his own power instead of learning to be strengthened with might in his spirit- life through the Holy Spirit so that he may follow the dictates of his new nature.
Their spiritual life is still in its infancy, not having grown yet to that maturity wherein they are able to manifest every virtue of God’s nature.
If the believer fails to wait humbly and to rely entirely upon God, they inevitably engage their natural, soulical vitality to meet God’s requirements placed upon His children.
They do not understand that however good to the human outlook their efforts may appear to be, they can never please God, only a life of faith in divine attributes and power please God.
Because by so doing, they are mingling what is of God with what is of man, expressing heavenly desire by means of earthly power. And the consequence? They fail miserably to be spiritual and continue to abide in the soul.
The new believer does not yet know what soul life is. Simply put, it is what we usually term self-life.
It is a serious mistake not to distinguish between sin and self-life.
Many of the Lord’s people view these two as one and the same thing. What they do not recognize is that both in Biblical teaching and in spiritual experience they are distinctive.
Sin is what defiles, is against God and is totally wicked; self may not necessarily be so.
On the contrary, it can at times be very respectable, helpful and lovely.
Take, for example, the soul in relation to Bible reading, certainly a most commendable activity.
Attempting to understand the Holy Bible with one’s natural talent or ability is not considered sinful; yet approaching the Bible in this way is undeniably the work of self.
Soul-winning, too, if accompanied by methods that allow merely with one’s own thought, will be full of self.
And how often pursuit after spiritual growth originates in the natural self perhaps only because we cannot endure the thought of falling or because we seek some personal ambition.
The doing of good is not sin but the manner, methods, or motive in such good doing may be overindulgent with our self. Its source is man’s natural goodness, not that supernatural kind given by the Holy Spirit through the new birth.
Many natural people are naturally merciful, patient, and tender. Now for these to show mercy or patience or tenderness is not committing sin; but because these “good” traits belong to their natural life and are the work of the self they cannot be accepted by God as something spiritual. These acts are performed not by complete reliance upon God’s Spirit but by trusting in self-strength.
These few examples illustrate how sin and self-differ from each other. As we proceed in our spiritual walk, we shall discover many more instances of how sin may be absent but self fully present.
It almost seems inevitable that self will creep into the most holy work and the noblest spiritual walk.
Having long been bound by sin the child of God easily interprets freedom from being spiritual but are still soulish. Just here prowls the greatest danger in the days ahead for this one who now concludes that all malicious elements within him have been rooted out. He is unaware that even if the old man has died to sin and the body of sin is rendered powerless, “sin” nevertheless has not died.
It merely has become an unseated sovereign which if given the opportunity will put forth its best effort to regain its throne.
The believer’s experience of being delivered from sin may even continue but he is not thereby perfect. They have yet to deal with their “self.”
How disgraceful it is should Christians look upon themselves as wholly sanctified when, having sought sanctification, they experienced deliverance. Yet are ignorant of the truth that liberation from sin is only the first step in the overcoming life.
It is but the initial victory given by God as an assurance to them of the many more victories that are to follow.
Triumph over sin is like a door: one step taken and you are in; triumph over self is like a pathway: you must daily walk for the rest of your days.
Upon overthrowing sin, we are called next to overcome ourselves: even the best of self, the zealous and religious self every day.
If one knows only emancipation from sin but has had no experience of self-denial or loss of soul life, they place themselves inescapably in the position of resorting to their natural soulical strength to accomplish God’s will in their walk. They do not realize that, sin apart, two other powers reside within him, spirit power and soul power.
Spirit power is God’s power received spiritually at the new birth, while soul power is theirs granted them at their natural birth.
Whether one is to be a spiritual person or not largely centers upon how they handle these two forces within them. The believer enters the position of the spiritual by drawing upon the spiritual power to the elimination of that of their soul.
Should they use their soul power or even a combination of the two, the result inevitably shall be a soulish or carnal Christian.
God’s way is plain. We must deny everything originating in ourselves: what we are, what we have, what we can do: and move entirely by Christ, daily apprehending the life of God through the Holy Spirit.
Failure to understand or to obey leaves us no other alternative but to live hereafter by the power of the soul.
A spiritual Christian therefore is one whose spirit is led by God’s Spirit. they draw the power for their daily walk from the life given by the Holy Spirit Who fills their spirit.
They do not abide on earth seeking their own will but the will of God. They do not trust in their cleverness to plan and to perform service towards God. The rule of their walk is to dwell quietly in the spirit, no further influenced or controlled by the outer man.
The soulish Christian is very different. Though they are in possession of a spirit power they do not draw upon it for their life. In their daily experience they persist in making the soul their life and continue to lean upon their self- power. They follow their influences of pleasure and delight because they have failed to learn to walk with God. Their everyday existence is governed and affected by the outer man.
The problem of the two lives remains unsolved. The spirit life and the soul life coexist within us. While the first is exceedingly strong when filled with the Spirit, the second manages to control the entire being because it is so deeply rooted in a person.
Unless one Denies their soul life and permit their spirit life to maintain control, their spirit has little chance to develop.
The child of God then deprives themselves of spiritual growth. A walk in the Holy Spirit is not only not committing sin but also not allowing self to abide. The Holy Spirit can manifest His power solely in those who live by Him. Whoever walks by their natural strength cannot expect to witness the mighty realities of the Holy Spirit. We need to be released from everything natural as well as from everything sinful.
If we insist upon walking according to our soul: we reject the rule of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
How can we exhibit His power if we are set free from sin and yet continue to think as “men and women” think, desire as “men and women” desire, live and work as “men and women” do? We are not leaning entirely upon the Holy Spirit of God to work in us. If we genuinely desire His fullness, we first must break the influence of the soul.