Acts 19:25

Acts 19:25. Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation. ' with this sense of ‘spirit' Hence this anthropological sense is rare compared with that which follows.

(c.) The soteriological sense: the Holy Spirit in the human spirit, or, the human spirit acted upon by the Holy Spirit. As distinguished from (a.) this is the subjective sense, as distinguished from (b.) it is a theological sense. In Paul's writings it is very frequent, and we find it expressed in the Gospels: ‘that which is born of the Spirit is spirit' (John 3:6); comp. Matthew 26:41 ; Mark 14:38. This sense includes the term ‘new man;' comp. also Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10.

4. FLESH. (1.) Physical sense. In the Old Testament this term is applied to' man with the adjunct idea of frailty' (Tholuck), but the idea of depravity is not suggested. In the New Testament the physical sense occurs, with a reference to the earthly life and relations (Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 10:3; Ephesians 2:15; Philippians 1:22; Philippians 1:24; Colossians 1:22, etc.). In these instances the contrast with man's new relation to God is only negatively implied. In other cases the term is almost = body, or to the material of which the body is composed. ‘According to the flesh,' as applied to Christ, refers to His human nature (or, descent), probably with the idea of frailty, as in the Old Testament use. Here, too, we may trace the notion of physiological descent, suggesting the transmission of nature, a thought not remote from the strictly ethical sense; comp. John 3:6: ‘that which is born of the flesh is flesh.'

(2.) The ethical sense of flesh is recognized by all commentators. It is in contrast with ‘Spirit,' either expressed or implied, and this gives the key to its meaning, i.e., that it refers to our unregenerate depraved nature, but the exact significance has been frequently discussed.

(a.) How much of man's nature is included under the term ‘flesh,' when used in the ethical sense. We answer more than the body, or the body with its animal life and appetites. The Bible nowhere justifies the Pagan view that sin is confined to our animal life. Nor can we limit the term to body and soul, excluding the human spirit from the empire of the flesh. The distinction between soul and spirit is not essentially an ethical one; the only passage suggesting this is 1 Corinthians 2:14, where ‘spiritual,' however, implies the influence of the Holy Spirit. The antithesis to ‘flesh' in this ethical sense never is the unregenerate human spirit. Even in Romans 7:18; Romans 7:25, where ‘inward man,' and ‘mind' are contrasted with ‘flesh,' the real antithesis is to be found in Romans 7:14: ‘the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,' which is illustrated in the description that follows. ‘Flesh,' therefore, means, not a tendency or direction of life in one part of man's nature, but the whole human nature, body, soul, and spirit, separated from God, the human nature we inherit ‘according to the flesh,' from Adam.

(b.) This human nature, termed ‘flesh,' is essentially alienated from God; antagonism to God is the essence of sin. Its positive principle is selfishness, for after God is rejected, self becomes supreme. The human nature, thus alienated from God, with selfishness as its ruling principle, seeks its gratification in the creature, for it has forsaken God, and it requires some object external to itself. This devotion to the creature has a higher form as sensuousness, and deems itself noble, in its intellectual and esthetic pursuit of other things more than God. But the course of heathenism, as portrayed in chap. 1, shows that it is an easy step to sensuality, the lower form of fleshly gratification. Hence this ethical sense of ‘flesh' has been confused with its lowest manifestations, namely, physical appetites. But the true definition is: ‘Flesh is the whole nature of man, turned away from God, in the supreme interest of self, devoted to the creature.' This definition links together ungodliness and sin, implies the inability of the law, and the necessity of the renewing influence of the Holy Spirit.

5. MIND. The word translated ‘mind' in the preceding section is row, and may be distinguished from several other Greek terms occasionally rendered by the same English word. As indicated in the above comments, ‘mind' here is not equivalent to renewed nature, nor does it include merely the intellectual faculties. It is rather the active organ of the human spirit, the practical reason, usually as directed to moral questions. Hence it properly covers what we term the moral sense, or conscience. But the Scriptural anthropology does not favor the view that this ‘mind' of itself is not depraved; for it is used several times in connection with the worst forms of heathenism, and in other passages obviously means a sinful mind (chap. Romans 1:28; Ephesians 4:17; Colossians 2:18; 1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Timothy 3:8; Titus 1:15). The ‘inward man' (Romans 7:22) is practically equivalent to this term, and represents the same moral status: before regeneration under the dominion of the flesh, but made the sphere of the operations of the Holy Spirit, so that a ‘new man' results, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. But both ‘mind' and ‘inward man' may cover the whole immaterial nature of man; the former in its moral and intellectual aspects; the latter in its theological aspects (so Ellicott).

6. HEART. Although this term occurs with comparative infrequency in this Epistle, it is important to understand its application in the New Testament. More distinctly than any of the other terms it shows the influence of the Old Testament. It is regarded as the central organ of the entire human personality, and includes what we distinguish as intellect and feeling, sometimes the will also. It is the organ of both soul and spirit, and yet is sometimes distinguished from the former (comp. the sum of the commandments: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,' etc.), never from the latter, although occasionally used as if equivalent to it (Psalms 51:10; Psalms 51:17; comp. Colossians 2:5 with 1 Thessalonians 2:17). Hence it is inferred that it is more closely allied to ‘spirit' than to ‘soul;' but we must beware of making divisions, where only phases of a vital unity are concerned. The important point to be remembered is, that while ‘heart' includes the affections, the term in the Scriptures does not imply the contrast we make between ‘head' and ‘heart,' i.e., intellect and affections. In chap. Romans 10:9-10, believing is predicated of the ‘heart,' but in contrast with confessing with the ‘mouth,' not with intellectual credence. Hence the phrase ‘new heart' implies far more than a change of feelings, just as ‘repentance' suggests more than our English ‘change of mind,' which is the literal sense of the Greek. For ‘mind' and ‘heart' alike, according to the Hebrew conceptions, had moral aspects which were the controlling and important ones. ‘Heart,' therefore, when used in the New Testament in a psychological (not physiological) sense, implies a moral quality, but what that moral quality is depends on the connection. In the case of the regenerate man the ‘heart' is spoken of as if it were the seat of the Holy Spirit's influence (chap. Romans 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 3:16-17).

The incidental meanings of the term may be readily determined.

Clearly, then, the New Testament use of terms serves to emphasize the language of the Apostle in Romans 7:24: ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' All the powers and organs of human nature are powerless from this organism of sin, until through Jesus Christ our Lord deliverance comes.