In The Inward Part

“Glorify God in your body.” Through the five senses of the body we become conscious of the outside world,—we can say that we know the world in which we live, for this world has made its way to us through these senses, and our great consciousness within cries out, “I know.”

Within this body is a soul. The soul has senses also,—I do not know how many; but with these senses it reaches out and knows its kind. For those the soul loves it would sacrifice and sometimes die. The consciousness within the soul rises up and says of the personalities of others, “I know them.”

Deeper still within us is the spirit. God breathed this into Adam’s nostrils and man became a “spirited soul” or “living soul.” This spirit should be able through its senses to know God, but sin has blinded its eyes, seared its conscience as with a hot iron to keep it from even feeling God, spoiled its taste for God, and through its smell (if it has one) it is not even able to discern the presence of God. God calls,—oh, how many thousands of times He has knocked and called,—but sin has made the ears deaf.

All mankind is in this condition by nature. God has said, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him.” Jesus came as our substitute to put away all sin of this spirit, soul, and body, and to regenerate this spirit. He calls it “the new birth.” When we are born again by accepting Christ as our Saviour and our very life, the One who has put away all our sins, we understand that God is our Father, and immediately His Spirit speaks to this newly regenerated spirit within us that now has eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and tongue. To this spirit the Word of God says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.”

When our spirits were blinded in sin, instead of drawing from God all the delights and pleasures in Him, we turned and began to draw our delights through the body; the spirit and soul became subject to the lusts and the desires of the body. All mankind, until released by Jesus, are the bond-slaves of the desires of their natural mind, natural tastes, and natural lusts and passions; but when He comes in, we give the Holy Spirit the very throne of our being, which is our spirit. He here communes with us, fellowships with us, and our disposition or soul becomes subject to both, to this newly regenerated heart, if we consent to let the Lord have His way. In this sense our body then becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of God keeps it a clean temple.