The Inner Man

1. The InnerMan – 5th
November2015
Many take Inner Man to mean the soul,with its faculties of reason and emotion and will. Itthe dictionary itis
defined as a person's spiritual or intellectual being.We can learn the spiritual reference what Paul means here in 2
Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day” It tells us what he does mean when he says the inner being. Actually Paul uses the
term inner man several times in his epistles.In Ephesians 3:16 “ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being”. Although it refers to the same person our
physical aspectand inner being aretwo different aspects.We can understand further in Romans 7:22–23 that
says,“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the
law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Therefore the “inner man” is
another way of describingthe spiritual aspectof a person. The “outer man,” by contrast, would be the visible,
external aspectof a person.
Human beings were created by God with a spirit,soul,and body.We can read this in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “May
God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Although the spirit,soul and body are three elements in one
person, the above passagetells thatall these three elements should be clean…blameless! Ithas been said thatwe
are not bodies with souls;we aresouls thathave bodies. The body—the “outer man”—is our physical housing
through which we experience the world.Our bodies function primarily through the five senses and by meeting
innate needs that drive us to eat, drink, and sleep. Our bodies are a giftof God. He desires that we surrender our
bodies as livingsacrifices to Him: “ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1–2). When we accept Jesus Christ
as our saviour and receivethe giftof salvation,our bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit:“Do you not know
that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not
your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). It tells
us that we don’t own ourselves as we have been bought at the costof Jesus’ sacrifice.Therefore Gods spiritdwells
within us: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
(Corinthians 3:16).
Our souls arethe personality centers of our beings from which our mind, will,and emotions operate. With our
‘inner mind’ we choose ‘either to listen and obey the lusts of our flesh’ or ‘honour the desires of the Holy Spirit’.
Paul clearly tellsus as to which we should choosein Galatians 5:16–17 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will
not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is
contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want”. We can
also learn in Romans 8:9 “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to
Christ”. The ‘inner man’ of a person is the courtroom where lifedecisionsaremade. It is the seat of the self-life
and the fountain from which character traits such as self-confidence,self-pity,self-seeking,and self-affirmation
originate.
Our spiritscontain theinner man about which the Scriptures speak.Our spirits arewhere the Spiritof God
communes with us. Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John
4:24). As Christiansweknow about the importanceof being born again. It is within our spiritsthatwe are born
again (John 3:3–6). The “inner man” contains the conscienceupon which the Holy Spiritcan move and convict us

2. of sin:We can learn when Paul tells us two very important mannerisms that he adopts: “So I strive always to keep
my conscience clear before God and man” (Acts 24:16). Our spiritis thepart of us most likeGod, with an innate
knowledge of right and wrong. 1Corinthians 2:11 says,“For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own
spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
In Romans itteaches us:“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect
will”(Romans 12:2). This mind-renewal comes about as we allowthe Holy Spiritfree rein within our “inner man.”
We have to believe and have faith in Jesus Christas our saviour. He begins to changeour actions and desires to
match His.Romans 8:13–14 says,“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to
death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” It is sin that
causes spiritual death,but through our inner man being renewed through the Holy Spiritof God, we can move
away from sin and begin to livespiritually. Wecan learn in Romans 6:6-7 – “For we know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,that we should no longer be slaves to
sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin”. When we acceptJesus Christas our saviour and
thus areborn again,the inner man is renewed and will beset free from sin. Crucified with Christand born again as
a new entity. Our ‘inner man takes control and changes us to be in keeping with Gods will.
We know that the inner man changes the outer man…our actions,thoughts and our behavior. Until we consider
ourselves “crucified with Christ” and thus now belong to Him, the soul and body battle with the spiritfor
supremacy. We continue to livein a state of defeat until we die to self and allowthe Holy Spiritto have full control
over every aspect of our lives,both inner and outer man. Romans 7 details the often painful battlebetween our
flesh and spirit. When the inner man havingbeen reborn by the power of God, longs to obey and follow Gods
ways. Itis God’s desireand design for human beings that we livealways directed by the born-again nature,which
is in step with God’s Spirit.But our fallen natures as humans want to rule,do what we feel and so a spiritual battle
rages. We can read of a question that that every dedicated follower of Christ’s ‘inner man ‘posses to us: “What a
wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(Romans 7:24). In Verse 25
answers that question: “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my
mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. It is the extent to which we
surrender the ‘inner man’ to the control of the Holy Spiritthat we can walk in continual victory over our fallen
flesh.When the ‘inner man’ is controlled by the Holy Spirit,in our mind we become a slaveto God lawand thus
and continue to be protected from our sinful ways!“Ipray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you
with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (Ephesians 3:16-17).