The Spiritual Man

"Many Christians are born again and have participated in the Lord's resurrection but lack the manifestation of the power of the resurrection." (p.51) According the the Scriptures, "a complete person is a tripartite being, a person with a spirit, a soul, and a body." (p.6) Watchman Nee reveals how Scripture teachs us that man is spirit, soul, and body. Nee explains how God created man to join His Spirit with man's spirit (i.e. the eternal center of a man). The spirit is to govern the soul of a man (i.e. thoughts, emotions, will) and then the body. He calls the spirit of a man the "inner man"; the soul--the "outer man"; the body--"the outermost man." Before the inner man is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, a man's spirit is inopperative. His spirit is there, but in fact... it is dead! The soul then tries to function as only the spirit can do. Thus, the soul coupled with the power of sin... produces flesh! Man is then a frustrated being. Nee submits that most Christians live a "mixed" life. Many Christians are unaware of this divine created order of God. Therefore, many believers can not distinguish the difference between the spiritual life and the soulish life; a life powered governed by the spirit and the life ruled by man's own natural life. The Christian life is to be a Spirit-led and a Spirit-driven life. The Holy Spirit has regenerated the spirit of a man and is to continue to be the power that controls and governs him. However, many Christians allow their soul to interfere with the Spirit's work. Again, this produces flesh! The Spirit is hindered from joining with man's spirit while the soul of a man is not in full submission to the Spirit. It is any wonder why many believers live a defeated life. They are trying to produce in their natural life what can only be birthed from the Spirit at work in the spirit. Nee speaks from experience. There is absolutely no way a person can speak on this subject with not having first identified its activity in their own life. Nee wonderfully describes the battle going on in each Christian. Our soul wants to govern, but the Spirit must rule for God to be glorified in us. I have yet to read a book such as this. It has taken me over a year to read volume one in "The Spiritual Man" three-volume series. It's depth into the biblical teaching of the tripartite nature of man and the nature of God is unparalled to any book I know in the past or present. Skimming over the book every time I would pick it up to read again... I saw how Christ had been at work in my life. At first I was overwhelmed by the depth of spiritual meaning and how I was to see this expressed... if ever... in my daily life. I was relieved to find that the Lord was working out my new-found knowledge into spiritual exprience. I know why Nee states in the beginning that "the enemy hates this book." If the Christian can ever apply these spiritual truths to his own life... there will be nothing that stops him from fully expressing Christ's life in the power of his resurrection. What at first may seem like spiritual arrogance... turns out to be a truly humble man writing of deep spiritual things he learned in experience and articulated by the grace of God. Volume one unveils the mystery behind spirit, soul, and body... and teaches readers how to continually be mindful of the diviine order God has set in place for us to walk in Christ's life. If you want to know the true meaning of "denying self" in order that you might know what it is to "take up your cross daily"... then this spiritual masterpiece is for you. I highly recommend that you begin reading this book right away. If I was to recommend reading another Nee book before this one... it would most definitely be The Release of the Spirit by Nee. This book would work as a great precursor into what Nee unfolds in volume one of "The Spiritual Man". I do not see why any believer should wait to read this book. It especially should be read by new believers... lest you learn the Christian life in many errors and needlessly walk in the wrong direction spiritually. The spiritual truths in this book need to be discovered immediately following new birth in Christ. Reading this book sooner than later will save you much heartache and aimless wandering from the divine spiritual order of God. Once you have read Nee's insights into the spiritual order of things... the Word of God will come alive to you in ways never seen before. By the Word of God and the work of the cross... we shall be governed by the Spirit of God! I look forward to reading the next two volumes. I also recommend reading: The Normal Christian Life (Hendrickson Christian Classics) Christ the Sum of All Spiritual Things The Centrality of Jesus Christ (Works of T. Austin-Sparks) Volume One The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ (Library of Spiritual Classics, Volume 2)

Watchman Nee’s Spiritual Man should be in every Christian’s book collection. I have read The Normal Christian Life by the same author and this book takes those principles and expounds on them in this. It is basically the fundamentals of the Christian life and how to grow spiritually mature in Christ. Though I will say, that summarization doesn’t do it justice. It will challenge you no matter what level of spiritual maturity you may be. It takes more time than usual to read the whole book because the thought that goes into reading this is intense. A few paragraphs written will open up pages of thought. So carve out some time for this one.

Watchman Nee exemplifies the believer of whom the Lord Jesus spoke "from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water." (Jn. 7:38). He was a man full of the Holy Spirit, and this book overflows with words of life inspired by the Spirit. The book is no substitute for the Scriptures, rather its a book written by one to whom the Scriptures had come alive, and who was blessed with the words to convey the quickening of his own spirit experienced within. This book will be a wonderful discovery for those who have hoped that the Bible is more than doctrine and dogma, and speaks also of a spiritual reality that can be experienced by faith in such promises as "the Spirit will guide you in all truth" and "teach you about all things." (Jn. 16:13; I Jn. 2:27.) The book is no less than a manual for those believers who have heard the inward call to the Spirit-led life, and seek to understand what this life is about and how to maintain it. Nee writes that "spiritual service means nothing other than our working by our spirit for the quickening of the spirits of others." By the power of the Holy Spirit, Nee has done a great service with this book. Many in the evangelical camp have criticized Watchman Nee. They are, for the most part, what A.W. Tozer has described as Evangelical Rationalists. The rationalists believe that divine truth is reducible to mere words and creeds. If you hold the right opinion on the stated propositions, then you have the truth. If you can recite the creed, you have the truth. Tozer compared the Evangelical Rationalists to the Pharisees of Jesus' day who searched the Scriptures, thinking that in them they had eternal life, but they did not come to Him of whom the Scriptures bore witness. C.H. Spurgeon similarly wrote, "'Ye must be born again' means a good deal more than you must believe certain dogmas" and to the rationalists he declared, "You stop short at the Scriptures, and therefore short of eternal life." The Scriptures, like the Law, are there to lead us to Jesus, and Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, to all who believed in him. So do not be discouraged by the rationalists. They have stopped short. You must press on to know the Lord!

This amazing book has changed my life as a follower of Jesus. I realized that in all my years as a follower of Jesus, after being born again, yet I never was taught what regeneration by the Holy Spirit meant to my life in my heart, mind, will and body through my human spirit. If this sounds like you too, read this book.

I read this book (actually it is three volumes) 25 years ago at one of the most difficult times of my life. It took a year to read. No one seemed able to help me at the time. Volume 3 gave me insight I needed. It explained how I had fallen into wrong thinking (even though well-intended) and what i needed to do to get out of the situation, renew my mind and get back to my normal state. It even explained that a certain bible passage (Phil 2:13), which when misinterpreted a certain way causes certain problems like I had. And sure enough, i misinterpreted that passage that way. Nee said when a person goes through these tough times and is renewed, they are stronger in the end than they were in the beginning. And that is what happened with me. My copy of this book is well worn. Best book I have read, next to the Bible.

Watchman Nee provides the clearest, easiest to understand and detail explanation of our walk with Christ. His analogies and word pictures are excellent hooks to hang my scriptural concepts on. The Spiritual Man has become my go to Bible Companion. I will immediately reread it to make sure I haven't missed anything. I recommend it to all believers who are serious about following Christ.

Lots of stuff to think about in these books. Pretty deep.

If you're a Christian, in my humble opinion, this is one of the best books to read.