Why the Human Spirit of Man Is the Real You

Have you ever wondered how the Holy Spirit can enter a human spirit? You know that’s what the Bible says. The Spirit of God will be with you and He will be in you. How can God’s spirit be in your spirit? A.W. Tozer offered this explanation. One quality belonging to the Holy Spirit, of great interest and importance to every seeking heart, is penetrability. He can penetrate matter, such as the human body; He can penetrate mind; He can penetrate another spirit, such as the human spirit. He can achieve complete penetration of and actual intermingling with the human spirit. He can invade the human heart and make room for Himself without expelling anything essentially human. The integrity of the human personality remains unimpaired. Only moral evil is forced to withdraw. The metaphysical problem involved here can no more be avoided than it can be solved. How can one personality enter another? The candid reply would be simply that we do not know, but a near approach to an understanding may be a simple analogy borrowed from the old devotional writers of several hundred years ago. We place a piece of iron in a fire and blow up the coals. At first we have two distinct substances, iron and fire. When we insert the iron in the fire we achieve the penetration of the fire by the iron. Soon the fire begins to penetrate the iron and we have not only the iron in the fire but the fire in the iron as well. They are two distinct substances, but they have co-mingled and interpenetrated to a point where the two have become one.¹ The human spirit is the essential part of your being. And so in this podcast, we are going to talk about “Why the Human Spirit of Man Is the Real You”, all on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
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Catalog and review the scriptures in this podcast on the human spirit. Read and think on these verses. The more you see yourself as a human spirit and not just a physical body, the more the spirit realm will open to you.

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
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Question: What has the Spirit of God, who is in your spirit, taught you lately? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

Episode Resources: How Jesus Style Perserverance Can Make You a Winner

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 48 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 44 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Well, welcome again.
Let’s pray.

Father God, the God of all spirits, thank you for creating us after your image and likeness. Thank you for Jesus and the new birth whereby our spirit man has been recreated with the life and nature of God. Open up our understanding to behold the mysteries of your Word in regards to the human spirit. We thank you for that in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

The Human Spirit in First Corinthians Two

1 Corinthians 2:11–16 (ESV) — 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

So, we are going to talk today about the most vast frontier that exists today and it’s not space.
You may have heard about the hugely popular TV series Star Trek.
The opening narration of the original Star Trek series goes like this — ‘”Space: the final frontier” describing the mission of the starship Enterprise to explore new worlds and seek out new life.
I’m here to tell you that Space is not the final frontier, the human spirit is.
Now when I say ‘human spirit’ I don’t mean how the secular uses that terminology.
Here is an example: “The human spirit is an extraordinary force that can overcome any obstacle and transcend any challenge. It is the driving force behind our accomplishments, our resilience, and our unwavering determination. Throughout history, countless individuals have shown us the indomitable nature of the human spirit, proving that we are capable of achieving greatness even in the face of adversity.”
This definition is not what the human spirit is in man.
When the Bible refers to the human spirit of a man, it does not refer to the spizzerinctum of a person.
You know that person really has some zip to them.
They have high energy — they have real spirit.
That’s not what the Bible means by human spirit.
The human spirit is not a quality — it’s the real you.
The spirit of a man is the essential part of his being.

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That Leaves Your Body When You Die

It’s the part of the whole man that goes to heaven when you die.
Your body doesn’t go to heaven when you die.
Your spirit goes to heaven when you die.

Luke 8:41–42 (ESV) — 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.

So now, the woman who had the issue of blood interrupts these proceedings.
Jesus deals with that woman and her faith — for she said, If I can touch His clothes, I shall be whole.
Well, she did and God did and the woman was perfectly healed.
Back to this little 12 year old girl and verse 49.

Luke 8:49 (ESV) — 49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.”

So in taking the time to minister to this woman with the issue of blood, the little girl dies.
No worries — God is never late.

Luke 8:50–56 (ESV) — 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Isn’t that amazing? — Jesus spoke, and this little 12 year old girls spirit returned.
So, this goes with this verse in the book of James.

James 2:26 (ESV) — 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

The child’s human spirit left and she died.
Where did this child’s spirit go?
Well, if you’re a child of God it goes up.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 (ESV) — 1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”…

Dropping down to verse six.

Ecclesiastes 12:6–7 (ESV) — 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Now, if you are not a child of God and you die…

What the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Teaches Us about the Human Spirit

One of the most insightful passages on the human spirit is the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

Luke 16:19–22 (ESV) — 19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side…

Now, observe this: both the rich man and Lazarus died and both were buried.
So now the body is in the ground.
What happened to their spirits?
Well, the Word of God tells you what happened to the poor man’s spirit.
He [his human spirit] was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.
The human spirit is not just some floaty mystical puff of smoke that has no substance.
The angels carried the poor man’s spirit — that means the human spirit has to have substance.

Luke 16:23 (ESV) — 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he [the rich man] lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

The rich man’s body is dead and buried.
This man is in torment.
The Greek word ‘torment’ means severe pain associated with, in this case, hellfire.
The human spirit can feel pain after it has left the body.

Luke 16:24a (ESV) —24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue,

Your human spirit has a tongue, how about that?
The human spirit is feeling the need foe hydration.
He goes on to say.

Luke 16:24b (ESV) —for I am in anguish in this flame.’

The Greek word ‘anguish’ means to be in severe or great pain—‘to suffer greatly, to be in great pain.’²

Luke 16:25a (ESV) — 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember

Here is yet another trait of your human spirit.
Your human spirit can store memories.

Luke 16:25b (ESV) — that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—

The human spirit can talk — there’s voice power there.
This rich man says, “I beg you.”
Isn’t that intriguing.
This story Jesus told is not one beggar and a rich man.
It’s about two beggars.
The first beggar, the poor man, begged in this life.
The second beggar, the rich man begged in the next life.

Luke 16:28 (ESV) — 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

The rich man’s memories includes his family on earth.
Wow! How miserable to be able to remember your family while you’re in hell!

Luke 16:29 (ESV) — 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

The human spirit is able to reason and carry on an intelligent argument.
The rich man is arguing with Abraham here.
Now, here’s another piece about the human spirit — see if you catch this.
Abraham died way before Moses was ever born.
Two-hundred-forty-five years separate them — that is after Abraham died, it was 2 1/2 centuries before Moses was born.

Genesis 25:7–8 (ESV) — 7 These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

Abraham dies in Genesis 25.
Moses wasn’t born until Exodus chapter two.
So how did Abraham know about Moses and the prophets?
Because they were all in Paradise with him!
So, we talk about how you are going to meet our saved loved ones in heaven and you will.
But, we will also meet people we’ve never met!
So after a person’s body gives out, his or her human spirit — the real you — leaves the body and goes to be with the Lord.
This is what happened to Steven.

Acts 7:59–60 (ESV) — 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

This is what happened to Jesus as well!

Matthew 27:50 (ESV) — 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That’s Born Again

The Bible defines the composite pieces of a man’s being.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV) — 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your human spirit is the part of you that’s born again when you say ‘yes’ to Jesus.
Man is spirit, soul, and body.
That’s a Bible fact.
The spirit is the invisible part of person that survives death, the life principle in a person, and is described in the Bible as pneuma.
‘Pneuma’ is the Greek word for spirit.
And, it is the same Greek word whether you are talking about the human spirit or the Holy Spirit.
Here in 1 Corinthians 2:11, Paul gives us a descriptive piece of info on the human spirit.

For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?

Your spirit man knows.
Your spirit man knows what’s going on in your head.
Can I tell you that your spirit knows things beyond your head?
It knows things your head doesn’t know.
Being the child of God that you are, you understand that your spirit is in contact with the Holy Spirit of God who is in you.
Your spirit picks up things from the Holy Spirit or rather, the Holy Spirit transfers things to your spirit.

Job 32:8 (ESV) — 8 But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

Understanding comes from your spirit.
So then this prayer in Ephesians one should make more sense to you.

Ephesians 1:17–18 (ESV) — 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

The heart referred to here is not the physical blood pump.
Your physical blood pump cannot be enlightened with understanding.
Know that the term ‘heart’ is another word for the spirit of a man.
Your spirit is the part of your composite being that is born again when you say yes to Jesus.
You find that proof in John’s gospel.

John 3:5 (ESV) — 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Read this next verse slowly.

John 3:6—7 (ESV) — 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Look at the capitalization.
That which is born of the capital-S Spirit — which is the Holy Spirit is the small-s spirit.
Saying it another way: that which is born of the Holy Spirit is your human spirit.
The human spirit is the part of you that is born again.
That’s what Jesus is saying.
It is the part of you that receives the life and nature of God.
It is the part of you that is the righteousness of God.
Your human spirit is the part of you that has been forgiven.

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That’s Led by God

Again, we are endeavoring to understand what the Word of God says about the human spirit.
Go with me to Proverbs chapter twenty.

Proverbs 20:27 (ESV) — 27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.

Of course when Proverbs was written, there was no electricity.
If Proverbs was written today, it would read like this: The spirit of man is the lightbulb of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.
A lamp or a lightbulb is a source of light whose purpose is to illuminate.
The Lord uses your spirit to illuminate you.
He uses your spirit to communicate with you.
Notice what the verse did not say.
It didn’t say, your mind is the source of illumination.
It didn’t say your soul, which is your mind, will, and emotions are the source of illumination.
So, if God wants to communicate with you directly, He is going to use your spirit to do it.
Now put this verse in Proverbs together with Romans 8:14.

Romans 8:14 (ESV) — 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

How is God going to lead you? — By illuminating your spirit.
Lightbulbs are marvelously simple things.
They are either on or they are off.
Both states communicate something to you.

Acts 16:16–18 (ESV) — 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

This is a girl who had a demon spirit in her spirit.
She had a fortune-telling devil.
Verse 18 here brings out a key point.
This fortune-telling demon was speaking out of this girl’s mouth saying — “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
She’s trying to bring notoriety [like people trying to boost their social media profiles today] to herself by identifying with these Jesus people.
It was like she was piggy-backing on these Jesus followers credentials.
She kept doing these ‘many days.’
What child of God wants the devil to testify for them?
One day Paul got greatly annoyed.
The Greek word used here means to have an agitation, or be provoked.
Of course, this is an inner agitation.
This is what Paul sensed in his human spirit.
But, he didn’t sense it the first day.
It was after many days.
So this woman would come along and say “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” and Paul just thought well ‘that’s nice.’
But one day, all of a sudden, Paul’s lightbulb went off — illumination occurred.
Now, how come it didn’t happen on the first day?
I don’t know the answer to that.
Paul got this check in his spirit and he knew, at that moment, that something was bad off with this woman.
Paul didn’t know that the first day — he only knew it after many days.
Again, I’m talking about how our human spirit functions — how it operates — how things happen on the inside of you.
Scholars believe that Proverbs 20:27 is a reference to how the conscience works.
How do you know that something is good — it’s okay — it’s righteous?
You get a sense inside yourself.
How do you know that something is off?
The same way — you get a sense inside yourself.
Now, there are several podcasts we’ve already done that look at the conscience.
They are available for you at emeryhorvath.com.
Just go to the link and put the word ‘conscience’ in the search bar and you will come with those episodes.
Here’s a few scriptures that we didn’t reference in those podcasts on the conscience
Here’s one from the book of Second Samuel.

2 Samuel 24:10 (ESV) — 10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

So, here’s the million dollar question.
How come David’s heart didn’t strike him while he was numbering Israel — you know as he headed out to do it?
Why after?
Well, right now I don’t know the answer to that.
I mean I have had this happen.
You head out in a certain direction — you take an action — and you get that check inside you and you say ‘Oh man, I missed it.’
And then, you end up going back and try to undo the action you took.
So one possible clue is this incident that Sharon and I had with acquiring a new dog for our home.
Kobalt passed away.
Sharon and I went to go visit a breeder.
So, we’re looking at the facilities and it was an impressive operation.
But, I wasn’t impressed in my spirit.
I got a check in my spirit.
Now mind you, I’ve been looking at this specific breed of dog for many years — no check — no nothing and here we are and bang I get a check inside me.
Long story short — I decided within myself to back off.
That’s what you do when you get a check, right?
The next day, Sharon and I go for a walk around our neighborhood and I turn the corner and the Spirit of God spoke up on the inside of me very clearly.
He called the animals name and said it was okay to go forward.
But then He said, ‘Weren’t you going to ask me?’
That question threw me for a loop.
It threw me for a loop because when you get a check in your spirit — that always meant ’no’ to me — stop — don’t move forward.
Which is what I did in this case.
So, ‘No, I wasn’t going to ask you, Lord — you checked me.’
That means stop.
What He taught me was ‘Yes, stop — stop and ask.’
Asking is what I wasn’t doing.
So, he arrested me in human spirit so that I would stop and have a conversation with Him about this thing.
Wow! What a marvelous piece of education.
The human spirit is the real you.

So Father God, thank you today for the witness of the Spirit in our spirit. Please, continue to teach us and show us the way in which we should walk. I thank you for doing that in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Why the Human Spirit Is the Real You.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

Why Your Human Will Is So Vital In Receiving Help and Healing

__________
References:

A. W. Tozer, The Divine Conquest, in A Treasury of A. W. Tozer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1980), 43. ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 286. ↩

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Why the Human Spirit of Man Is the Real You

Podcast: Light on Life Season Twelve Episode Twenty-Eight

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to iTunes

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources: How Jesus Style Perserverance Can Make You a Winner

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Human Spirit in First Corinthians Two

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That Leaves Your Body When You Die

What the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Teaches Us about the Human Spirit

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That’s Born Again

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That’s Led by God

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to iTunes

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources: How Jesus Style Perserverance Can Make You a Winner

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Human Spirit in First Corinthians Two

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That Leaves Your Body When You Die

What the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Teaches Us about the Human Spirit

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That’s Born Again

The Human Spirit: The Part of You That’s Led by God

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