The Spiritual Man Paperback – September 20, 1968

"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 ThingsThe Centrality of Jesus Christ (Works of T. Austin-Sparks) Volume OneThe Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the DivineExperiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ (Library of Spiritual Classics, Volume 2)

this book isn't one a person will breeze thru...the reader would do well to slowly read the text & absorb the wisdom in the writing....it is excellent for anyone searching to understand the influence of the spirit & spiritual growth...

Only caveat to this review is I am only half way thru the 3 volume set sold here on Amazon in one book as The Spiritual Man. This book has made me an avid follower of Mr. Nee's work. Thankfully he, or his listeners at his many lectures, took voluminous notes-enabling the compilation of his many books. (According to Wikipedia he did not compose these the way most authors do.) I plan to buy all of his books and have never said that about any author, like I feel about Mr. Nee's work. (Many authors I have bought for the pleasure, Mr. Nee's I will buy all for my great need for his insights.) Mr. Nee is a huge blessing to God's children. I am forever thankful. This book has been a Godsend to me. Every Christian needs his works. God's first rules of his very holy thumb is HAVE FAITH and BELIEVE and SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES DAILY - it is only when you have done all 3 of these things that HE will begin to reward you with understanding. It is so simple, yet we are even more simple-minded as to look at all these history books that deceive in every imaginable way, to destroy faith. Don't bother with them, movies, tv, books - Satan deceived the whole world in Revelation (and we are almost there.) Whether those authors, historians, tv producers as well as NUMEROUS thrologians are lying on purpose or not, it doesn't matter. God's word is true, it just may take many, many readings for us to put all that together to get to the point of understanding just how true. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES incouding the ones spoken of in them like Enoch and Maccabees and much more. As to this book, look inside this title to see the contents by clicking on the book, there should be a "look inside" option. All I can say is it is extraordinary especially in understanding spiritual warfare. One of the gems so far Mr. Nee writes of - is how destructive self-analysis is to the spiritual life. Please read this book to understand this. It is so true. Only God can change us for the better, Satan can remove or input demons to improve performance in ways that increase vanity & more un-Godly ways. God can HEAL your heart to its core overnight. I pray everyone who reads this book finds it as wonderfully helpful as I did. God bless you, all believers.Thank God for Watchman Nee.