The Messenger 3
Introduction
In your reading of Ephesians chapter 2, and we touched on this already, you may have noticed two things: firstly, the contrast that Paul makes here between ‘the natural man’ and ‘the spiritual man’ and, secondly, the distinction between the personal dimension of the salvation message in the first half of the chapter and the broader aspect of the salvation message with its emphasis on the church that appears in the second half. If you haven’t picked that up before take a few moments to go through that chapter again.
Now as we continue you will begin to see just how significant for our understanding of the message of Ephesians those two points are.
From natural man to spiritual man
In his dialogue with the Pharisee, Nicodemus, Jesus was wanting him to see this clear distinction between the natural man with its limitations and the spiritual man.
“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no man can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh (the natural man or woman), but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (the spiritual man or woman)’” (John 3:5-6).
In summarising the meaning of ‘natural man’ Stephen Motyer refers to those lower aspects of our human nature that “mark us off as creature. As temporarily and spatially confined, as limited to this worldly, ‘fleshy’ modes of perception that cannot penetrate the world of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor.2:14ff).”
It is a fact that in this world there are there are some very clever, wise, successful, sophisticated and cultured people who would fall under the category of being a natural man or woman. And it is true that in this world we often owe a great deal to what these people have achieved. But with all their natural human abilities, talents and achievements, they remain men and women who are unable to penetrate the world of the Spirit. To such people all those who proclaim salvation through the cross of Christ, who profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father, and who express their joy in songs of praises might as well be talking an alien language. As Paul points out to his readers in his letter to the Corinthian Church:
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them” (1 Cor. 2:14).
Paul’s statement and Stephen Motyer’s summarising of the natural man are reminders that without the sovereign intervention of God we remain in a state of lostness, cut off from the true purpose of our existence on this earth, unable to penetrate the world of the Spirit. This is the point Jesus was making to Nicodemus. Despite his being a high-ranking Pharisee and a spiritual leader, Nicodemus could neither see nor enter the Kingdom of God unless and until he was born again.
It is this contrast between the unregenerate natural man and the regenerated spiritual man that sums up Ephesians chapter 2. The former is excluded by virtue of his or her nature, the latter included by virtue of what God has done in his or her life.
The challenge
Chapter 2 does not deal with the challenges that come with our being a regenerated spiritual man or woman. It is something we will only pick up further on in Paul’s letter. However, because I don’t want to see these reflections ending up as little more than a theoretical exercise, I want to encourage you to think about the practical outworking of being a spiritual man or woman in our world today. What are the challenges we are being left with in that first half of chapter 2?
As I said before, our being ‘born again’ is not simply about going to heaven when we die. Yes, it is that, but there is more. It is also about how we live out our life in this world so that others can see Christ in us. Ours in not a mere verbal profession of faith – it involves a visual expression of a life that is demonstrably different from the one we had outside of Christ. If it is not that then why does Paul bother to point out in his letter – this is what you were outside of Christ and this is what you have now become in Christ? In verse 10 he writes “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared for us in advance to do.” No escaping the challenge that comes with our being in Christ, is there?
Think for a moment what we face in this life as a spiritual man or woman. Spiritually we may be in the Kingdom of God yet physically we still live in this world. The challenge we face is how we balance the responsibilities we have in both realms. How do we prioritise those responsibilities? And every day we experience the pressure of conforming to this world’s norms, values, attitudes and standards of behaviour that often are in conflict with our having been set apart for God. So how do we handle it? How do we ensure that we think and act as born-again, spiritual men and women though we live in an alien world that neither accepts nor understands spiritual things?
Enthusiasm is not going to be enough for the pressures of this life will gradually wear us down and quench our enthusiasm. Religious devotion is not enough for it will ultimately leave us, if not filled with self-righteousness, then devoid of the spontaneous joy of someone who has been chosen, redeemed, forgiven, adopted into God’s family, made privy to the mysteries of God, included in Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit and who has had God’s grace lavished upon them. So what is the answer?
The answer to the challenge of being a spiritual man or woman living in this physical world is found in one verse in a later part of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. It is found in the divine imperative in Eph. 5:18 – “Be filled (literally – go on being filled daily) with the Spirit.
In his book “What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?” John MacArthur tells how ”in the summer of 1872 near Dublin, Ireland, two prominent evangelists were discussing ministry. The two men were the British evangelist Henry Varley and the renowned American evangelist Dwight L. Moody. Their conversation contains one of the best-remembered quotes attributed to the life and times of Moody. The remark affected him for the rest of his life. The morning after an all-night prayer meeting, as the two men strolled around the grounds of the mansion where the meeting had been held, Varley uttered a brief but thought-provoking statement to Moody. This is how Moody recorded it in one of his diaries: ‘The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.’. . . A man! Varley meant any man. Varley didn’t say he had to be educated, or brilliant, or anything else. Just a man. Well, by the Holy Spirit in me I’ll be that man.’”
“By the Spirit in me I will be that man” said Moody. Listen carefully. God may be speaking to you right now and saying to you “If you want to be a spiritual man or woman in this world fulfilling my calling on your life; if you want to live in this world but not let the world shape your thinking or your behaviour then let my Spirit living in you fill you and go on filling you moment by moment, day by day.”
Here are the first two verses of a spiritual song by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend. If your heart’s desire is to live in this world as a spiritual man or woman make this your prayer:
Holy Spirit, living Breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see;
Give me passion for Your purity.
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.
Holy Spirit, come abide within;
May Your joy be seen in all I do—
Love enough to cover every sin
In each thought and deed and attitude,
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my striving into works of grace.
Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.
If you have a question or a comment about this series please feel free to write to me, Brian, at
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