The Laws of the Spirit 391
(8) Conditions of the SpiritLet us summarize. A believer should know every law of the spirit
if he desires to live by it. If he is not vigilant and loses the
cooperation of his spirit with God, then he unquestionably has fallen.
To discern the particular condition of his inner man is one of the
most central laws pertaining to the spirit. All which we have
discussed in the chapter are included in this law.
A child of God ought to know what is and what is not the normal
condition for his spirit. Since it should have authority over man’s
soul and body, occupying the highest position in him and possessing
the greatest power, the Christian needs to know if such is the
situation in him or not. He should also recognize whether his spirit, if
it has lost its normalcy, did so through war or environment. The
conditions of the spirit may be classified generally into four types:
(a) The spirit is oppressed and is therefore in decline.
(b) The spirit is under compulsion and so is forced into
inordinate activity.
(c) The spirit is defiled (2 Cor. 7.1) since it has yielded ground to
sin.
(d) The spirit is quiet and firm because it occupies its rightful
position.
A Christian should know at least these four different conditions
and also understand how to deal with each one if necessary. Often a
person’s spirit sinks and is “pushed aside” through his own
carelessness as to the enemy’s assault. During that time he seems to
have forfeited his heavenly position together with its brightness and
victory and subsequently feels cold and withered. Due to sadness in
his spirit or to any one of a number of other reasons, his inner man is
cast down and is denied the joy of floating above. When the spirit is
oppressed in this fashion it drops below its normal level.
At other times it may be coerced into running wild. A person can
be so stimulated by his soul that his spirit falls under compulsion and