ψυχικὸς, is a term that frequently occurs in the apostolic
writings: The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” 1
Cor. ii, 14. Here it is plain that by the natural man,” is not meant a
person devoid of natural judgment, reason, or conscience, in which sense
the expression is often used among men. Nor does it signify one who is
entirely governed by his fleshly appetites, or what the world calls a
voluptuary, or sensualist. Neither does it signify merely a man in the
rude state of nature, whose faculties have not been cultivated by
learning and study, and polished by an intercourse with society. The
Apostle manifestly takes his natural man” from among such as the world
hold in the highest repute for their natural parts, their learning, and
their religion. He selects him from among the philosophers of Greece,
who sought after wisdom, and from among the Jewish scribes, who were
instructed in the revealed law of God, 1 Cor. i, 22, 23. These are the
persons whom he terms the wise, the scribes, the disputers of this
world--men to whom the Gospel was a stumbling block and foolishness, 1
Cor. i, 20, 23. The natural man is here evidently opposed to, ὁ
πνευματικὸς, him that is spiritual,” 1 Cor. ii, 15, even as the natural
body which we derive from Adam is opposed to the spiritual body which
believers will receive from Christ at the resurrection, according to 1
Cor. xv, 44, 45. Now the spiritual man is one who has the Spirit of
Christ dwelling in him, Rom. viii, 9, not merely in the way of
miraculous gifts, as some have imagined, (for these were peculiar to the
first age of the Christian church, and even then not common to all the
saints, nor inseparably connected with salvation, 1 Cor. xiii, 1–4; Heb.
vi, 4–7,) but in his saving influences of light, holiness, and
consolation, whereby the subject is made to discern the truth and
excellency of spiritual things, and so to believe, love, and delight in
them as his true happiness. If therefore a man is called spiritual”
because the Spirit of Christ dwells in him, giving him new views,
dispositions, and enjoyments, then the natural man,” being opposed to
such, must be one who is destitute of the Spirit, and of all his saving
and supernatural effects, whatever may be his attainments in human
learning and science. It is obviously upon this principle that our Lord
insists upon the necessity of the new birth in order to our entering
into the kingdom of heaven, John iii, 3, 5.
writings: The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” 1
Cor. ii, 14. Here it is plain that by the natural man,” is not meant a
person devoid of natural judgment, reason, or conscience, in which sense
the expression is often used among men. Nor does it signify one who is
entirely governed by his fleshly appetites, or what the world calls a
voluptuary, or sensualist. Neither does it signify merely a man in the
rude state of nature, whose faculties have not been cultivated by
learning and study, and polished by an intercourse with society. The
Apostle manifestly takes his natural man” from among such as the world
hold in the highest repute for their natural parts, their learning, and
their religion. He selects him from among the philosophers of Greece,
who sought after wisdom, and from among the Jewish scribes, who were
instructed in the revealed law of God, 1 Cor. i, 22, 23. These are the
persons whom he terms the wise, the scribes, the disputers of this
world--men to whom the Gospel was a stumbling block and foolishness, 1
Cor. i, 20, 23. The natural man is here evidently opposed to, ὁ
πνευματικὸς, him that is spiritual,” 1 Cor. ii, 15, even as the natural
body which we derive from Adam is opposed to the spiritual body which
believers will receive from Christ at the resurrection, according to 1
Cor. xv, 44, 45. Now the spiritual man is one who has the Spirit of
Christ dwelling in him, Rom. viii, 9, not merely in the way of
miraculous gifts, as some have imagined, (for these were peculiar to the
first age of the Christian church, and even then not common to all the
saints, nor inseparably connected with salvation, 1 Cor. xiii, 1–4; Heb.
vi, 4–7,) but in his saving influences of light, holiness, and
consolation, whereby the subject is made to discern the truth and
excellency of spiritual things, and so to believe, love, and delight in
them as his true happiness. If therefore a man is called spiritual”
because the Spirit of Christ dwells in him, giving him new views,
dispositions, and enjoyments, then the natural man,” being opposed to
such, must be one who is destitute of the Spirit, and of all his saving
and supernatural effects, whatever may be his attainments in human
learning and science. It is obviously upon this principle that our Lord
insists upon the necessity of the new birth in order to our entering
into the kingdom of heaven, John iii, 3, 5.