556 The Spiritual Man
The Mind Working with the SpiritIn analyzing the discerning-understanding-performing process of
a spiritual Christian, we can identify these steps: (1) the Holy Spirit
reveals God’s will in one’s spirit that he may know what it is; (2)
through his mind he comprehends the meaning of this revelation; and
(3) with his volition he engages his spiritual strength to activate the
body that it may execute God’s will. Nothing in a person’s life is
closer to the spirit than his mind. We know it is the mechanism for
learning matters in the intellectual and material realms while the
spirit is the component for perceiving realities in the spiritual realm.
A Christian knows all things about himself through the intellect
whereas he knows the things of God through the spirit. Both are
organs of knowledge, hence their relationship is manifestly closer
than are others. In walking after the spirit we shall find the mind to
be the best helper to the spirit. It is therefore necessary to understand
how these two work together.
The Bible speaks most distinctly about the coordination of the
spirit and the mind: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in
the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know... “ (Eph. 1.17-18). We have explained the
meaning of “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation” before; it means
that God makes Himself and His will known to us by giving
revelation in our spirit. But now we wish to note how the revelation
obtained intuitively in our spirit works together with our mind.
“The eyes of your heart” points figuratively to the organ of our
reasoning and understanding, that is, our mind. In this passage the
word “know” or “knowledge”—used twice—serves to convey two
distinctive notions: the first one is a knowing intuitively, the second
is a knowing or understanding mentally. This spirit of revelation is
located in the depth of our being. God reveals Himself to our spirit
that we may truly apprehend Him by our intuition. Thus far,