The Spirit of Man
The word "spirit" in our Common Version Bibles translates the Hebrew word
ruach and the Greek word pneuma; and hence to rightly appreciate the word
spirit in God's Word we must keep always in memory the meaning attached to
the originals, which it translates. "Spirit" primarily means wind, and secondarily
was made to apply to any invisible power. In connection with God we saw that
it signifies that he is powerful but invisible; and used in reference to God's
influence and operation, it implies that they are by an invisible power. It
is applied to mind because it is a power that is invisible, intangible; words
Spirit in the New Testament
In considering the use of the word spirit in connection with man, we remark:
(1) The words "spirit" and "spiritual" in the New Testament are often used
to refer to (a) the will, especially to the new mind of the "saints," begotten
by the Word and Spirit of God. The "new creatures in Christ" are called to
a change of nature, from human to spiritual, and are promised that if faithful
they shall in the resurrection have (b) spirit bodies like unto Christ's resurrection
body, and like unto the heavenly Father's glorious person. In view of this,
their future prospect, the hope of the Church is designated as
A few illustrations of such uses of these words follow:
(a) "Paul purposed in the spirit [pneuma--mind, will]... to go to Jerusalem."
Acts 19:21
(a) "Paul's spirit [pneuma--mind, feelings] was stirred in him when he saw
the city wholly given to idolatry." Acts 17:16
(a) "Paul was pressed in spirit [pneuma--in mind, he was mentally energized]
and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 18:5
(a) "[Apollos] was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in
spirit [pneuma--of ardent mind] he spake and taught diligently." Acts 18:25
(a) "God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit [pneuma--my new mind, my
new heart, my renewed will] in the gospel of his Son." Rom. 1:9
(a) "Glorify God in your body and in your spirit [pneuma-- mind] which are
God's." 1 Cor. 6:20
(a) "I verily as absent in body but present in spirit [pneuma--mentally] have
judged already as though I were present." 1 Cor. 5:3
(a) "A meek and quiet spirit [pneuma--mind, disposition]." 1 Pet. 3:4
(b) "It is sown an animal body, it is raised a spiritual [pneumatikos] body."
1 Cor. 15:44
(b) "There is an animal body and there is a spiritual [pneumatikos] body."
1 Cor. 15:44
(b) "That was not first which is spiritual [pneumatikos]." 1 Cor. 15:46
(b) "Afterward that which is spiritual [pneumatikos]." 1 Cor. 15:46
(c) "To be spiritually minded [pneuma--to have a mind controlled by God's
holy Spirit or will] is life and peace." Rom. 8:6
(c) "Ye which are spiritual [pneumatikos--spirit begotten and possessed of
the new mind] restore such an one in the spirit [pneuma--disposition] of meekness."
Gal. 6:1
(c) "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings [pneumatikos--blessings of a spirit kind] in heavenly
privileges in Christ." Eph. 1:3
(c) "Be filled with the spirit [pneuma--the holy Spirit of God] speaking to
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs [pneumatikos--songs in
accord with your new spirit]." Eph. 5:18,19
(c) "That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding [pneumatikos-- understanding of all matters connected
with your new spiritual relationship to God and his plan]." Col. 1:9
(c) "Ye are built up a spiritual household [pneumatikos--a family or household
of a spirit order or kind]." 1 Pet. 2:5
(d) "A damsel possessed of a spirit [pneuma--an invisible power] of divination"--through
fellowship with the fallen spirit-beings. Acts 16:16
(d) "Paul...turned and said to the spirit [pneuma--the evil spirit-being possessing
the woman] I command thee... to come out of her." Acts 16:18
(d) "The evil spirits [pneuma] went out of them." Acts 19:12,13
(d) "And the evil spirit [pneuma] answered and said." Acts 19:15
(d) "The Sadducees say that there is...neither angel nor spirit [pneuma--spirit
being]." Acts 23:8
(d) "If a spirit [pneuma] or an angel hath spoken to him let us not fight
against God." Acts 23:9
Spirit in the Old Testament
(2) The word "spirit" is used of mankind in general, especially in the Old
Testament; but always either with reference to (e) the spirit of life, the
animating spark which God first enkindled in Adam and which thence (impaired)
descended to all his posterity--which is an invisible power or quality; or
(f) the spirit of the mind, the will--an invisible power which controls the
life.
Ruach, Pneuma--an Animating Power
When speaking of man's creation it is the spirit of life that is understood--the
breath of life. The Scriptures clearly show that this spirit of life is common
to all God's creatures, and is not possessed exclusively by man, as the following
Scripture quotations will clearly demonstrate.
(e) "All flesh wherein is the breath of life [ruach--the spirit or breath
of life of all flesh]." Gen. 6:17; 7:15
(e) "All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life [margin, ruach--the
spirit or power of life]." Gen. 7:22
(e) "The spirit of Jacob their father revived [ruach--the vital or life powers
of Jacob revived]." Gen. 45:27
(e) "And when he [Samson] had drunk, his spirit [ruach] came again and he
revived [his strength, vigor, energy returned to him]." Judges 15:19
(e) "In whose hand is...the breath [ruach] of all mankind. [The spirit of
life of all mankind is in the divine power]." Job 12:10
(e) "O God, the God of the spirits [ruach--life-power, spirit of life] of
ALL FLESH, shall one man sin and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?"
Num. 16:22
The theory that the distinction between man and beast consisted in a different
spirit of life, a different kind of life, and that at death the one went up
and the other down
(e) "Who knoweth [who can prove] that the spirit [ruach-- spirit of life]
of man goeth upward and that the spirit [ruach--spirit of life] of the beast
goeth downward to the earth?" (Eccl. 3:19-21) Solomon's own understanding
he gives just previously, saying:
(e) "That which befalleth the sons of men [death] befalleth beasts; even one
[the same] thing befalleth them: as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea
they have all one breath [ruach--spirit of life, breath of life]; so that
a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast"--in this respect, in the matter
of having a different kind of life--his pre-eminence must be sought and found
elsewhere, as we shall see.
(e) "Into thine hand I commit my spirit [ruach--spirit of life or vital energy]."
Psa. 31:5
This was the prophetic declaration of our Lord Jesus' dying words. He had
received the spirit of life from the Father as a gift: he had, in obedience
to the Father's plan, become a man to be man's Redeemer: and when yielding
up his spirit of life or vital energy, he declared his reliance upon God's
promise to give the spirit of life again, by a resurrection.
Mankind received the spirit of life from God, the fountain of life, through
father Adam. Adam forfeited his right to the power or spirit of life by disobedience,
and gradually relinquished his hold upon it--dying slowly for nine hundred
and thirty years. Then the body returned to the dust as it was before creation,
and the spirit of life, the privilege of living, the power or permission of
living, returned to God who gave that privilege or power: just as any contingent
privilege or favor returns to the giver if its conditions are not complied
with. (Eccl. 12:7) Nothing in this text implies that the spirit of life "wings
its flight back to God," as some would represent; for the spirit of life is
not an intelligence, nor a person, but merely a power or privilege which has
been forfeited and hence reverts to the original giver of that power or privilege.
The thought is that man having sinned has no further life-rights: the return
of his forfeited life-rights to God, and the return of his flesh to dust,
reduces his condition to exactly what it was before he was created.
But as our Lord Jesus had hope in the divine promise for a return of his "spirit
of life" or life powers and rights under divine arrangement, so by reason
of our Lord's redemptive sacrifice certain hopes and promises are opened to
all mankind through "Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant." (Heb. 12:24)
Hence believers "sorrow not as others who have no hope." Our Redeemer purchased
the spirit of life-rights which father Adam had forfeited for himself and
all his family. Now, therefore, believers can for themselves (and, by a knowledge
of God's plan, for others also) commit their spirits (their powers of life)
to God's hand also, as did our Lord and as did Stephen--full of faith that
God's promise of a resurrection would be fulfilled. A resurrection will mean
to the world a reorganization of a human body, and its vivifying or quickening
with life-energy, the spirit of life (Hebrew, ruach; Greek, pneuma). To the
Gospel Church, sharers in the "first [chief] resurrection," it will mean the
impartation of the spirit of life or life-energy (Hebrew, ruach; Greek, pneuma)
to a spirit body. 1 Cor. 15:42-45
In that graphic picture of earthly resurrection furnished us in Ezekiel's
prophecy (37:5-10,13,14) the relationship of the body and the spirit of life,
"the breath," is clearly presented. It matters not that the prophet uses this
merely as a symbol, it nevertheless shows (proves) that a human organism has
no life until it receives the ruach--the breath of life-- which, as elsewhere
shown, is common to all animals, none of whom can live without it. Let us
notice Ezekiel's statements very critically, as follows:
(e) "I will cause breath [ruach--spirit of life, life-energy] to enter into
you, and ye shall live."
(e) "And I will...bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put
breath [ruach--spirit of life, life-energy] in you, and ye shall live."
(e) "And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the
skin covered them above: but there was no breath [ruach--spirit of life, life-energy]
in them."
(e) "And he said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind [ruach--spirit of life, life-energy--margin,
breath] and say unto the wind [ruach--spirit of life, breath of life], Thus
saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds [ruach] O breath [ruach--breath
or spirit of life], and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."
(e) "So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath [ruach--spirit of
life, breath of life, living energy] came into them, and they lived."
(e) "And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves,
O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit
[ruach--spirit of life, breath of life] in you, and ye shall live."
This spirit of life or power of life given to Adam by his Creator he was privileged
to keep forever if obedient. He forfeited this right by disobedience, and
the right to life reverted to the great Giver; not as a person, nor as a thing,
but as a right or privilege, the spirit of life returns or reverts to God,
who gave that right or privilege conditionally, and whose conditions were
violated. Eccl. 12:7
(e) "No man hath power over the spirit [ruach--spirit of life, spark of life]
to retain the spirit [ruach--spirit of life], breath of life." Eccl. 8:8
By God's grace those forfeited life-rights or privileges which each man surrenders
to God in death have all been purchased with the precious blood, and the purchaser
is announced as the new Life-giver, regenerator or father for the race, who
will give life, and that more abundantly, to all who will ultimately receive
him.
We will give but one instance from the New Testament:
(e) "The body without the spirit [pneuma--life-spark, breath of lives] is
dead." Jas. 2:26
Ruach, Pneuma--the Mind, the Will
Since the mind or will is an invisible power or influence, it is represented
by the same words in the Hebrew and Greek languages, as the following examples
will show:
(f) "Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit
[ruach--mind, disposition]." 1 Sam. 1:15
(f) "A fool uttereth all his mind [ruach--plans, thoughts, mind, purpose]."
Prov. 29:11
(f) "My spirit [ruach--mind, courage] was overwhelmed." Psa. 77:3
(f) "My spirit [ruach--mind] made diligent search." Psa. 77:6
(f) "He that is of a faithful spirit [ruach--disposition, mind]." Prov. 11:13
(f) "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth
the spirits [ruach--the mind, thoughts, motives]." Prov. 16:2
(f) "Pride goeth before destruction, a haughty spirit [ruach--disposition,
will, mind] before a fall." Prov. 16:18
(f) "Better to be of an humble spirit [ruach--mind, disposition]." Prov. 16:19
(f) "Vanity and vexation of spirit [ruach--mind]." Eccl. 6:9
(f) "Patient in spirit [ruach--mind, disposition]...proud in spirit [ruach--mind,
disposition]...hasty in thy spirit [ruach--mind, disposition]." Eccl. 7:8,9
A few illustrations from the New Testament:
(f) "The child [John] grew and waxed strong in spirit [pneuma--mind, character]."
Luke 1:80
(f) "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit [pneuma-- mind, disposition,
character] serving the Lord." Rom. 12:11
(f) "Now you have received not the spirit [pneuma--disposition, mind] of the
world." 1 Cor. 2:12
(f) "I had no rest in my spirit [pneuma--mind]." 2 Cor. 2:13
(f) "Be renewed in the spirit [pneuma--character, disposition] of your mind."
Eph. 4:23
(f) "The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit [pneuma-- mind, disposition]."
1 Pet. 3:4
These Scriptural uses of these original words show that our English word spirit
is a good equivalent, for we not only speak of the spirit of life, but also
of a gentle spirit, a good spirit, an angry spirit or mood, a bitter spirit
and a fiery spirit: and we also use these expressions in respect to the lower
animals as well as man. The fact we are proving is abundantly demonstrated--namely,
that the spirit is not the real man, nor another man, but that this word,
when used in reference to man's creation, signifies simply the life-spark
or life-power.
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