The Nature of Man - Trichotomy Stated and Refuted Part 1 — John Murray

O Lord our God, may our souls always rejoice in Thee, that Thou art not as we are, that Thou art holy, Thou art just, Thou art good. We are unholy, unjust, and evil, and we bless Thy great and holy name, that the riches of Thy glory, the riches of Thy perfection, are brought there with such efficacy upon our need.

Spiritual Grief in Christ and Humanity

And Thou dost raise us from the dumb, Thou dost set our feet upon a rock, Thou dost establish our glory, Thou dost put a new song, praise and glory be unto Thy name. Know that behind spiritual exercises, that is a very important lead to the catatonic hypothesis, and I mention first of all sorrow.

In terms of our Lord's undertaking in the days of His breath, nothing had deeper significance for Him than His suffering, His human spirit, with greater intensity and effect. And that grief climaxed in the agony of Gethsemane and Calvary, but it was in Gethsemane that our Lord said, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.

Even unto death. Now with my soul. These are Matthew 26, 38 and John 12, 27 respectively. Now these texts would not have the same relevance if it were not the case that on another occasion this kind of grief is referred to His spirit.

On 12, 31, 21 He was troubled in the spirit, and He sighed deeply in His spirit, and obviously He grieved. On these two occasions where the spirit is mentioned, did not have the intensity of His grief in Gethsemane.

The word soul is used for the personal pronoun, and if it is, they are used according to a great personal pronoun, because even then it would mean that the word soul, the tonality, the exercises of His spirit are in view.

And I don't believe it would comport with the tricatonic view of soul as distinct from spirit. The tricatonic view of soul as distinct from spirit. To identify His person in the deepest exercise by the word soul is, according to the tricatonic.

Not only do you have this connection with our Lord, but you have it also in connection with mere man. You have the same kind of variation in connection with man. The deepest religious grief is referred to the spirit, and at other times it is referred to the soul.

Acts 17, 16, 2 Peter 2 .8, particularly in the Old Testament contention. Under this same heading, let us now be in concert with grief. And again, I suggest that we all together come. Evidence which strictly provides us the highest spiritual joy.

The Soul and Spirit in Spiritual Joy

The word of Mary, the spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. There you have patterns like those of the spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Patterns of the Old Testament. That very same kind of variation, frequency in the Old Testament.

Highest exercises of joy. Isaiah 26, 9. Numerous other instances. I'm not going to wait to ponder on them. Another aspect from which grief can be viewed is devotion. Christian devotion, dedicated of the soul.

Wholehearted Devotion to God

Don't forget our Lord's own definition of wholehearted devotion. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. Thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.

Now we shall more define some of the godly devotion in these terms. Some of godly devotion. And if the spirit is the present chamber of God, the organ of God's consciousness, it is that the spirit is not mentioned, not mentioned here or in the parallel text.

The spirit must be enlisted in the highest expression of godly devotion to the fact it is not. So I'll just write down a few passages. Hebrews 6, 18 and 19. Ephesians 6, 6. Philippians 1, 27. And Philippians 2, verses 2, 19 and 12.

Philippians 2, verses 2, 19 and 12. Now when you examine these instances, I've only given you a few of them. When you examine these instances, you will find that community of feeling, of interest and of purpose, unity of feeling, interest and purpose, in the highest demands of the Christian vocation, one, and therefore should do anything for God, take the conclusion that the center of devotion, the most characteristic exercises of the regenerate man, the soul as well as the spirit, cannot be adjusted.

The Whole Personality in Creation and Redemption

The high priest has only a presentative knowledge, a representative knowledge, the spirit, rather than the soul. Genesis 2, 7 and 2, I came to deal with the way in which the whole personality is recognized.

Then I came to deal with this subdivision, the highest exercises of the human personality. There are a lot of returns to the soul as well as to the spirit. And now, 4, I'm going to deal with the contrast that there is between the cause, no matter the cause, in the spirit.

Soul and Spirit: The Trichotomist Contrast

What is that contrast? Because this is the main argument, the distinction between soul-cage and human. Human is cause, and as you remember, the psychotomic view is that anthroposophy cause, anthroposophy causes, the anthroposophy cause is the man who is indwelled and controlled by his soul, in conscious and indwelled by his human.

The inter-English equivalence, the natural man, the regenerate man would be the soulless man, and the regenerate man would be the spirit. The soul is on the one hand because it is only indwelled by his soul, the ritual on the other hand because it is indwelled, directed and controlled by his spirit.

Now, we need to examine this very carefully, not simply because there is an erroneous conception of the human nature, to find the position, but for various reasons, for various reasons, understand what the meaning of this word, pneumatic cause, in the usage of the root, has meant, really is.

Various aberrations of biblical teaching, a misunderstanding of this word, split, in the usage of the root. I won't bother you now with the instances, but this word, pneumatic cause, occurs very, very frequently in the New Testament.

And therefore, if we want to discover what the meaning is, I would like to determine that question. When we examine all the evidence, pneumatic cause, characterizing a thing, characterizing a thing, means, derived from the Holy Spirit, broadly, derived from God, characterizing, when characterizing man, directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit, well, directed and controlled.

Well, that's the key, and I'm going to deal with the evidence in the course of time. There is one example I may mention right now, and that's Ezekiel 6, but it is an exception, lies on the very feet, because there, the pneumatic cause, in the plural, pneumatic cause, the neutral plural, refers to the demonic, well, the dualities of wickedness.

Really, the only instance in the New Testament where the adjective is used, meaning, creative spirit. Who created the spirit? The spirit of man, or the spirit of the demonic spirits, too. The only instance in which the denotation and argument prove that.

Pneumatikos and Spiritual Gifts in Romans

Now let us examine some of these instances in the New Testament where the meaning of pneumatic cause is demonstrated. One example, that he desires to go to Rome, he is very anxious to go to Rome, in order that he might impart some spiritual gift.

Some spiritual gift, pneumatic cause. Well, you just go down to verse 4, and you find there this very term he uses in Romans 1 .11, namely charisma. It perfectly appears that the noun to be supplied with pneumatic cause, in verse 1, is about spiritual gifts.

Nine occasions in these twelve verses, he is talking about the Holy Spirit. He refers to the Holy Spirit. He uses pneumatic cause for gifts. The cause, the evidence, was Greek and Hebrew and English. Spell with the e of pi, capital S.

Spiritual and Natural Man in Romans and Corinthians

You have to deal with particular expression in the usage of Scripture. We're still in Romans, take Romans 7 .14. Romans 7 .14, Paul speaks about all beings, pneumatic cause, the same term. What does it mean, let's see if the Lord speaks.

It would have to mean that the law has particular relation to the human spirit. But according to trichotomy itself, it isn't the human spirit that sustains direct relationship to the law of God at all.

Trichotomy is the sphere of moral decision and judgment. The sphere of moral decision and judgment, therefore, even on its own family, of these relations which Paul gives of the law of God. Spiritual, Corinthians 2 passage, because it is in this context that you have the continent that can be derived from this passage.

Conclusive, without comment. Now here, Paul uses the expression, amazing expression here, pneumatic cause, pneumatic cause, pneumatic cause, combining spiritual things with spiritual. Presently, from the very preceding expression, in verse 13, and also from verse 14.

13, of the word, didactois, the word, didactois, anthropines, phobias, phobias, all ended at twice pneumatic. Human wisdom. There are the genitives there, anthropines, phobias, that's the source, on the one hand, and pneumatic, that's the source on the other.

Human wisdom. These words are taught, but from the other source. The spirit there is the Holy Spirit. And then you go down to verse 14, and you read, this man, so because the anthropos, the natural man, does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.

Combination which places beyond all question, the denotation. Here you have, pneumatos tu theo, the Spirit of God. This use of pneumatic cause, of the Holy Spirit, the meaning, pneumaticos, pneumaticos, is an adjective derived from the Holy Spirit.

The humans, need to argue the question, you can see readily how absurd, applied. Come to verse 15, and read, he that is spiritual, judges all things, is of a man, of woman. And here, of course, is the instance where you have, supikas, have an entirely different meaning, from that presupposed by psychotomy.

But we'll pass on, the next instance of, just trying to look at, the first Corinthians 15, see if there's some first Corinthians 15, first Corinthians 15, 44,. Here again, you have the contrast, between supikon, and pneumaticon, to death, and the resurrection.

It is soul, body, soma, supikon. It is raised, soma, pneumaticon, spiritual. If there is a, natural body, soma, supikon, there is also a spiritual, soma, pneumaticon. And then, you have later down, in verse 46, but not first, the spiritual, but the natural, pneumaticon, alas, oh, supikon, sustained contrast, supikas, during every time in the neutral, of course, supikas, and pneumaticon.

The Spiritual Person and the Resurrection Body

In connection with this passage, first of all, it should be noted, that Paul is dealing, with the death of a wife, is wickedness. It's being soul, a natural body, is adding to, body, all of the, psychotomic argument.

The fallacy, of course, this while the patent fallacy, in the psychotomic argument, because, a believer, a believer, is a spiritual person. He's a person indwelt, human spirit. In fallacy, it would be very strange, indeed, that a believer, should be characterized, as supikon.

Oh God, thou art great, and may we have, the apprehension, of thy greatness, and of thy majesty, at all times, so that our lives, may be constantly led, in the apprehension, of thine all pervasive presence, that we cannot escape, from thy presence, nor from thy spirit.

And as, we are the participants, of that reconciliation, which is in Christ Jesus, through thou grant, that the apprehension, of thy presence, may be our constant joy, that in thee, we live, and move, and have our being, that thou dost direct, our thoughts, that thou dost hold, up our Lord, and in the joy, of the reconciliation, which Christ has accomplished, may we rejoice, that thou dost overcome, our iniquities, and that thou dost accomplish, in us, the good pleasure, of thy will, all in Jesus name, and for his sake, Amen.