The nature of man
We are more than skin and bone. We are complex beings with many layers to our nature. Certainly, we have a physical nature to us. Arms, legs, skin color, eye color. We have our five senses that provide input from the world around us. As humans, we quickly realize we’re more than just our physical nature. We have a complex inner being that processes emotions, feeling, choices, intellect, and decisions.
When we better understand how God created us, we better understand the impact of sin, salvation, and our relationship with God.
Inner man vs Outer man
There are two primary categories for the way the Bible describes humans: an inner (immaterial) dimension and an outer (material) dimension.
”Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.“ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV
Not only does this matter to the way we live life now, it impacts how we view eternity. We’re going to look at some words that are used to describe the nature of man from a Biblical perspective, including: soul, spirit, heart, mind, body.
Inner man
Soul
Heb: Nephesh (H5315); Gk: Psyche (G5590)
The Hebrew word nephesh is commonly translated as soul and shows up 753 times in the OT. The Greek translation for this word is psyche, which shows up 105 times in the NT. While it is primarily translated as soul, these words have a wide range of translations based on the context.
Soul is a very loaded word. The common understanding of soul is that it’s an immaterial version of ourselves that’s trapped inside of a physical body. We’ll usually picture a ghost that looks like a human, but is semi transparent and can walk through walls. It can talk and communicate. This picture of a soul is nothing like what’s described in the Bible. This version has been heavily influenced by Ancient Greek philosophers. So how does the Bible talk about soul?
Throat
The most basic meaning of the word nephesh is “throat.” When the Israelties are wandering through the desert after escaping from Egypt, they are tired of eating manna and say “our nephesh is gone” (Numbers 11:6). Our appetite is gone. When Joseph was sold into slavery, it says his nephesh was put in irons (Psalm 105:18). But nephesh doesn’t only mean throat. Let’s look at the first time nephesh shows up in the Bible.
Fish, livestock, creation
“And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living nephesh (creatures), and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” Genesis 1:20 ESV
“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living nephesh (creatures) according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.” Genesis 1:24 ESV
“And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of nephesh (life), I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.” Genesis 1:30 ESV
The first instance of nephesh is in the creation story and it’s referring to fish, livestock, bugs, animals. It’s life, or living things.
Humans
Let’s move forward to chapter 2 of Genesis.
“then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the neshemah (breath) of life, and the man became a living nephesh (creature).” Genesis 2:7 ESV
More than just the body
In Genesis 46, there were 33 nephesh in Jacob’s family, or 33 people (Genesis 46:15). In the Torah, a murderer is called a nephesh slayer (Numbers 31:19). A kidnapper is called a nephesh thief (Deuteronomy 24:7).
In the Bible, people don’t have a nephesh. They are a nephesh. A living, breathing, physical being.
Nephesh is often used interchangeably with “me.” For example, many translations look at Psalm 119:175 as, “Let me live that I may praise you” (Psalm 119:175 NIV). Literally, it says: “Let my nephesh live, that it may praise you.” By using nephesh, the poet is emphasizing that it’s their entire life and body that offers praise to God. In the Song of Songs, a young woman seeks the one whom her nephesh (soul) loves (Song of Songs 3:1). This is because love is multidimensional. It’s something that our whole being expresses to another person.
In the Shema, when we are called to love the Lord with all our nephesh (soul), it’s to devote our whole living existence to the Creator.
Breath
Heb: Neshamah (H5397); Gk: Pnoe (G4157)
Neshemah is a little less common throughout the OT, showing up about 24 times with a mix of translations. The most common translation is breath.
Life with neshamah
When God formed Adam in Genesis 2, he breathed into his nostrils the neshamah of life (Genesis 2:7). When Job defends himself to his friends, he says, as long as his neshamaH is in him he will not speak falsehood or utter deceit (Job 27:3). Later on he says that the neshamah of the Almighty gives him life (Job 33:4). The Psalmist declares, “Let everything that has neshamah praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6).
Death without neshamah
On the flip side, we see that when you lose your neshamah, you die. In the story of the flood, everything with the neshemah of life in its nostrils died (Genesis 7:22). When Joshua entered the Promised Land to battle the King of Hazor, the Canaanites were totally destroyed so that no one with neshamah was spared (Joshua 11:11). When Baasha overthrew Nadab (son of Jeroboam and the evil king of Judah), he killed the entire house of Jeroboam so that no one had neshamah (1 Kings 15:29).
When you have a neshamah, you’re alive. If you can’t breathe or your breath is taken from you, you’re dead. Your neshamah is your literal, physical breath that sustains your body and gives you life.
Heart
Heb: Leb (H3820); Gk: Kardia (G2588)
Leb is most commonly translated as heart. We know from physiology that the heart is in the center of our chest and it pumps blood throughout the body. But in modern cultural contexts, it also represents affection and desires. I 🖤 you means that I love you.
Different cultures throughout human history have had different ideas about how the body works. In the Ancient Near East, people understood the heart was an organ that kept the body alive. There’s actually a story of a heart attack in the OT where “Nabal’s heart failed him and he became like a stone” (1 Samuel 25:37). He died because his heart stopped.
While they had an understanding of the inner workings of the human body, they didn’t have a full understanding for the human brain. They thought the heart was the center of human intellect. You feel with your heart. You love with your heart. The heart is where you determine right and wrong. It’s where you intellectually process the world.
Center of emotions / feelings
When Hannah couldn’t have any children, she felt pain and was sad in her heart (1 Samuel 1:8). “A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed” (Proverbs 15:13).
Discerning wisdom
The Proverbs teach that “wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (Proverbs 2:10). We’re called to give up our own ambitions and trust the Lord with all of our heart (Proverbs 3:5). The heart is the place where wisdom determines right from wrong.
One’s skills
When someone has a skill, like a designer, someone who makes clothes, or embroiders, they’re said to have “wisdom of heart” toward that thing (Exodus 35:35). Bezalel, who was the designer for the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant was said to be a “wise-hearted man” or a skilled craftsman (Exodus 36:1). Heart can be used to talk about skills, talents, or craft.
Fallen and usually not to be trusted
The condition of the heart is usually one that is selfish and separated from God. By the sixth chapter of the Bible, it says that every intention of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil (Genesis 6:5). Pharaoh’s heart was hardened toward God as he refused to let the Israelites go (Exodus 7:14). After David’s murder and adultery, he cries out to God to create in him a “clean heart” (Psalm 51:10). Jesus warns that “out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:19). God’s own heart was grieved when He saw the extent of man’s wickedness in the world (Genesis 6:6). The human heart is separated from God and not to be trusted. “Following your heart” is bad advice when wanting to live a life following Jesus.
But, the heart can change. “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). The heart is a reflection of a deeper change. Which leads us to the spirit.
Spirit
Heb: Ruach (H7307); Gk: Pneuma (G4151)
Ruach is used 378x in the OT and is most commonly translated (232x) as spirit. Ruach is used when talking about man’s spirit, as well as God’s spirit. And I think that is very intentional.
The spirit generally refers to the immaterial center of all human life. It’s different from the heart in the OT which refers to your will, desire, feelings, and emotions.
“Create in me a clean leb (heart), O God, and renew a right ruach (spirit) within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy ruach (Spirit) from me.“ Psalm 51:10-11 ESV
Our spirit is most closely associated with our mind or thoughts. Nowhere in the scripture do you feel something with your spirit. You always feel something with your heart. Your thoughts involve perception, reasoning, and memory and are typically more logical and rational.
The spirit cannot be separated
Man’s spirit cannot be separated from himself. James tells us that the body apart from the pneuma (spirit) is dead, in the same way that faith apart from works is dead (James 2:26). In fact, when Jesus was crucified on the cross, he bowed his head, “gave up his pneuma (spirit)” and died (John 19:30). When Jesus grabbed the hand of Jairus’s daughter who had just died, it says that her pneuma (spirit) returned to her and she woke up (Luke 8:55). The author of Hebrews gives us a word picture showing how inextricably linked the spirit is to who we are.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)
To be without your spirit is to experience physical death. It’s to cease being who you are.
God’s ruach and man’s ruach together
God’s ruach and man’s ruach come together very purposefully. God’s ruach is His own, personal life presence that can enter into humans and influence them. When Joseph interprets pharaoh's dream, pharaoh says that Joseph is filled with the ruach (spirit) of God (Genesis 41:38). He was given an understanding is his mind of what the images meant. Bezalel was filled with the ruach of God to take raw materials and design the tabernacle according to God’s specifications (Exodus 31:3).
The Holy Spirit vs man’s spirit vs demonic spirits
Pneuma is used about 385x in the NT to describe man’s spirit, the Holy Spirit, and demonic spirits. When Jesus brought the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, He told them to pray that they wouldn’t enter into temptation because, while their pneuma (spirits) were willing, their flesh was weak (Matthew 26:41). As Mary reflects on the gift of carrying the Savior in her womb, she says “my pneuma (spirit) rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46). When referring to God, the Greek phrase agios pneuma (Holy Spirit) and pneuma theos (Spirit of God) are used when talking about the third person of the Trinity. Beyond that, Jesus gave the disciples the power to cast out unclean pneuma (spirits) (Matthew 10:1). So spirit doesn’t just refer to our minds, thoughts, and consciousness. Paul cries out, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also” (1 Corinthians 14:15). Our spirit seems to be at the very center of the type of being that we are and our relationship with God. It’s our connection with the unseen spiritual realm.
To be born again
When Jesus tells Nicodemus he needs to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God, He describes it as the “Spirit giving birth to spirit” (John 3:6). We are justified in God’s eyes when our spirit has been reborn. Our spirit determines our eternal salvation. Jesus says that the poor in spirit shall enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Paul says that whoever is joined to the Lord “becomes one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17). The condition of our spirit determines our position with God.
Implications of a renewed spirit
What are the implications of this renewed spirit? Here’s what Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians:
“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.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
This verse is often used to describe a “threefold nature of man,” with spirit at the center, then soul, then body. But I think that’s a poor interpretation based on the entirety of the Bible. Paul’s point here is that a renewed (or reborn) spirit will put us in a position where we are seen as blameless in front of God. The author of Hebrews says that our spirits are seen as righteous in God’s eyes (Hebrews 12:23). In that process of sanctification, God gives us a spirit of power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:14) . There is beauty in our gentle and quiet spirit, which is seen as precious in God’s eyes (1 Peter 3:4)
What is spirit?
The spirit is the immaterial center of all human life to which our minds, thoughts, and intellect are seamlessly connected. The spirit is our connection to the unseen spiritual world and ultimately determines our position with God. A reborn spirit is seen as righteous in God’s eyes.
Outer man
Body
Gk: Soma (G4983)
The word body is typically used to describe the outer or material aspect of man. The body grows and develops from infancy, but will decay and eventually be destroyed as a result of sin. There is a coexistent relationship between the outer man and the inner man. James calls the body dead when the spirit leaves it (James 2:26). But that’s not the end of the story. We also know the body will be reconstructed and resurrected from the dead after the final judgment.
“So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body…For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:42-44; 53 ESV
Paul’s talking about the transformation of our bodies. Our body doesn’t just exist on this side of eternity. The Bible indicates that the physical body will exist in eternity in a transformed state.
Interestingly, in Hebrew there doesn’t seem to be a common word for body. Most of the time, any mention of body is referring to a dead body or a corpse. Flesh is a more common term to describe the physical body.
Flesh
Heb: Basar (H1320); Gk: Sarx (G4561)
The Hebrew word basar shows up 269x in the OT and the Greek word sarx shows up 150x in the NT, both commonly translated as flesh. Flesh can be used to describe the material and immaterial aspect of man, and sometimes both as the same time.
Body
In the gospel of John, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). God became a physical human being with a physical body. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His death, they were scared because they thought they saw a ghost. But Jesus says, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39). When God created Eve, he took one of Adam’s ribs and closed up his flesh (Genesis 2:21). Flesh can refer to the physical exterior of the human body. But it can also refer to the inner feelings and emotions.
Heart
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he starts describing the flesh in a physical sense referring to circumcision (Philippians 3:2-3). But then he uses the term flesh to describe his ethnic pedigree, being “of the tribe of Benjamin” and being a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). He says that if anyone thinks they have reason for “confidence in the flesh,” meaning righteousness because of their Jewish descent and practices, He has even more reason. But Paul counts all of that as a loss for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3:7). Flesh moves beyond the physical description of the body and starts to take on a new spiritually-negative meaning.
Then to broaden the meaning, Paul associates flesh with the religious piety of law keeping, zeal, and morality. All of these things are missing the dependence on the Holy Spirit and glorifying Christ. He associates the flesh with anything man uses to determine self-righteousness. And for the religious elite in Philippi, it was their piety.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, He says that to “set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
Body + heart
Lastly, there are times when flesh refers to a combination of the body and the heart.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 ESV
Here is a good example of husband and wife coming together as one physical flesh through sex, but also connected through the emotions and desires of the heart. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he states that God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise so that “no flesh might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). There can be no boasting in what someone physically does with their body or boasting in their heart because of who they feel they are compared to others. It’s because of Christ’s work on the cross that we are considered righteous.
Why does it matter?
It is important to understand who we are as humans in order to understand our relationship with God. Our view of human nature impacts how we view everything: sin, salvation, the Bible, our relationships, and ultimately, God.