The Natural Man

1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 14 ... The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

The "natural man" is the person who is of the sensual world. I submit, that this is either a "babe in Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:1), who has yet to spiritually discern, or a person who has only experienced natural birth. The knowledge of the natural man is what he has learned from the world. As such, that person is in the flesh, and essentially, has yet to discern between God's will and their own!

Discernment is the ability to separate ideas. In the context of knowledge, it is making a distinction between right and wrong, good and bad, or truth from deception. I could have said truth from lies, but few outright lie; they add it to truth - thus deception.

Wise people have spiritual discernment. Wisdom is comparing knowledge to scripture:

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Science can never "prove" anything. By its own methods, it can only fail to disprove the nulls of the hypotheses. Neither can Christianity prove anything by natural means. Those who demand testable ideas are natural men. Part of faith is accepting that God is the source of all truth.

John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Do you remember from John Chapter 1 who the Word is? He was made flesh. The Word is Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life...

 Thus, the discerning man knows truth and who He is! The last part of this last passage is: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." The natural man fails to realize that heaven is only obtainable by the grace of Jesus Christ, and that all He says is truthful. Hence, the natural man seeks to obtain eternal life by his own actions. The self is not the way to salvation - the truth is that Jesus is the Way and only Way.

Hence, the natural man seeks to do things on his own. Obviously, the only thing which the natural man has going for him is knowledge. Constructive application of knowledge is wisdom. For instance, knowing that drugs may kill you is knowledge. Wisdom is refraining from their use. Foolishness is using drugs knowing they will kill.

Likewise, believing Jesus is the Way to salvation is knowledge. Seeking salvation by trusting Jesus for salvation is wisdom. Knowing Jesus as savior without trusting him to save is foolishness. This last idea is the condition of the natural man. Many believe in Christ but few trust him. Many claim to be Christians but are never born-again. The natural man may never even understand the new birth.

The constructive application of knowledge is wisdom. Although many men constructively apply their knowledge, even for the benefit of mankind, it is for wrong reasons. For instance, discovering a cure for cancer is a noble idea. Being cancer free increases the longevity of mankind. Finding a cure for cancer, then is the constructive use of knowledge. However, it is spiritually for the wrong reasons!

Death is the consequence of original sin back in the Garden. Hence, death is from God. He doesn't mean for us to be immortal in a physical state. Endeavoring to provide eternal natural life is noble but not God's will. Jesus could have wiped out natural death with one thought. He didn't do that because only eternal life in the Kingdom of God is God's will. The natural man will not exist in heaven, albeit Christians there will have glorified bodies. That is truth because Jesus's purpose in existing is to provide eternal life - not immortality in a natural sense.

Natural man desires to live forever in natural bodies. Spiritual man desires to live eternally but realizes it's in glorified bodies. That possibility is not scientifically provable but can be tested by scripture. By faith we can prove truth. The truth is, even historically, that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. We know that as fact because many credible men left depositions. Since that is truthful, we know that Jesus still lives because he said he would. You see, Jesus left a legacy of truth which validates what remains untestable.  Because Jesus has a history of truth, we accept his further claims as truthful. The acceptance of what we cannot verify is called "faith".

The natural man has little or no faith. For the natural man, he must have physical proof. That is foolishness. Wisdom is understanding that mankind does not know it all, and realizing man has not discovered everything. Because we can't detect the supernatural doesn't mean it's not there. Wisdom is accepting as possible what cannot be proven by physical means. The spiritual man accepts spiritual truth, and that is wisdom.

Discernment is using the "table of proofs". Jesus spoke all truth, and it is written so as to easily be found. Man added an index to the words of Jesus. The index is by book and verse. Wisdom is examining scriptural truth, and applying it to a given thought. If the thought is not in line with God's truth, distinguishing that difference is discernment. Wise men realize that truth is often uncomfortable because it convicts. The natural man seems to never accept conviction. The man with spiritual wisdom does even though it humbles them.

As an example, "all men have sinned" should convict anyone but foolish men rationalize their sin. I struggle with rationalizing myself although I'm beyond the natural person.  Like Lot's wife, the "safe" person still looks back to the time they were "unsafe". Lot's wife lusted after what she once had, and deserved death. Likewise, when I look back at when I was the natural man, I too deserve death. Grace is that I don't get the punishment that I deserve! Wisdom is being contrite and confessing those sins.

Adam and Eve attempted to cover their sin with fig leaves. They were natural man and woman. The person without spiritual wisdom still endeavors to cover their own sin with various fig leaves. Pride makes even the Christian man protective of his righteousness. I don't want to admit that I am a sinner safe by grace. However, that is what I am! It hurts my esteem to face my weaknesses but the concept of self-esteem is not from God. It is the false wisdom of man. The natural man worries about self-esteem while the spiritual man focuses on Christ-esteem. The truth is that self-aggrandizement is not saving but meekness is!

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek...

Being blessed is Jesus providing a reward. He says that it is "inheriting the earth", but even more so -  the heavens!

The natural man not only is not spiritually wise and neither is he meek. Many seek knowledge and accomplishment for a legacy. It is themselves which they project. Honestly, I write books and this blog to leave a legacy for future generations. I want them to know that I am here, and to be honest,  I want to be known as intelligent. I know that weakness. However, My motive is that if I want the future to remember me, it's as a spiritual man. That is why I write spiritual truth, and even delve into natural truths. My hope is that God will overlook my pride as well as my fleshly desires, and reward me in spite of myself.  Grace is from God's Book of Truth. I trust that Jesus will overlook my "coming short" of his will, and glorify me anyway!

We all seek glorification. That is eternal life but in the presence of God. Since God's Kingdom does not have sub-standard things, we will be remade in the image of God. We will be like Jesus with perfect sinless bodies. Being glorified is being perfect in mind, spirit, and body in the presence of God - forever! Wisdom is seeking that. We don't have to do anything for it but to trust God for it! The natural man doesn't have that trust. The spiritually wise do have it!