The English word "spiritual" is one that is in very common use; and it is my conviction that there is no word in the Christian vocabulary that is as misused, abused, and misunderstood as this one. Most of the time it is used as a ritualistic word, having no meaning and carrying no information to those who hear it.
The incorrect use and the abuse of this word have given rise to a flood of errors that have done great harm by creating misunderstandings of God's revealed Truth. If we purpose to "walk in the Truth," then we will need to be in harmony with the Spirit of God, both in our understanding and use of this word.
As a teacher of the Word of God, and as one who permits his hearers to ask questions, We know quite well how many Biblical problems have been created due to misunderstandings of the meaning of the word "spiritual." Over and over the same questions are asked that would never need to be asked if the questioner had any conception of the Biblical usage and meaning of this word.
Usually framed as objections to something I have said, some of these questions are: "But, aren't we spiritual Israel?" "Isn't it a spiritual kingdom?" "Aren't our blessings spiritual?" "Isn't heaven a spiritual place?" or, "Won't we have spiritual bodies ?"
In attempting to deal honestly with such questions, it is necessary to ask, "What do you mean by the word 'spiritual'?" We seldom get an answer to this; and if the questioner does attempt an answer, it always demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the usage of this word in the Word of God. It also reveals that he has adopted, without question, the Platonic concept that the opposite of spiritual is material and that material things are never spiritual.
In the writing and thinking of the Greek philosopher Plato and all who follow him, it is evident that the word "spiritual" ( pneumatikos) is used to describe things that are not material or physical, that is, incorporeal, having no substance. This was Plato's use of the word and these are the ideas he intended to convey; but this is not the way the Spirit of God uses it, and these are not the ideas conveyed by it.
Since dictionaries define words according to the way in which they are currently used by men, the definition based upon Plato's usage is the one we will find in them. However, it must be remembered that man's usage is not the same as that in the New Testament. What men mean when they use this word is not what the Spirit of God means when He uses it. No man can claim that he has "overcome the world" as long as he is mouthing the ideas of the world in regard to the word "spiritual." We would be doing nothing but mouthing the concept of the Mormons if we used the word "gentile" to designate a non-Mormon. That is the way they use it and that is what it means to them, but it will never mean that to me. Even so, the word "spiritual" may be used by the church and the world to designate that which is not physical or material; but I refuse to follow them in this.
The Greek word with which we must deal in considering the meaning of "spiritual" is pneumatikos. This is an adjective which comes from the noun pneuma, and it is found 26 times in the New Testament. It is translated "spiritual" in every occurrence, so the student is not troubled with discordant renderings. There is also an adverb (pneumatikos) that is cognate with this adjective. It is found only two times and is translated "spiritually" in both occurrences.
As a simple Greek adjective, derived from the noun pneuma ( spirit), it is entirely correct to define pneumatikos as meaning "of the spirit," or "having the qualities of spirit"; but, as already stated, this is a word which the Spirit of God has chosen, used in a specific way, and given a specific meaning. This is in harmony with Paul's declaration: "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth" (1 Cor. 2:13).
In determining the meaning of a word by New Testament usage alone, the proper process is to find an occurrence where the meaning is unmistakably clear, then to try out this meaning in all other occurrences. If this meaning fits, if it makes the passage clearer, if it enlightens the passage, we can then feel assured that we have the idea which the Spirit of God intended to convey when He inspired the writer to use this term.
Certain occurrences of this word in the writings of Paul are so crystal clear in meaning that it has caused some scholars to speak of the "special Pauline use of this word," inferring that Paul gave this word a sense not found in other writings. But it is right here that they miss the truth, since twenty-four of the twenty-six occurrences of this word are found in Paul's writings, as reference to a concordance will show. The two occurrences found in Peter's epistles are in complete harmony with Pauline usage.
In 1 Corinthians 10:3, 4, we find three occurrences of this word
in a familiar and plain context.
And did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
In this passage we can identify three actual, material, physical things that are called "spiritual": the manna, the water, and the rock, nullifying once and for all the idea that the material cannot be spiritual.
The manna was actual food. In shape it was round, and in color it was white. It was gathered in containers, and it could be baked or boiled. It spoiled quickly, would breed worms, and give an offensive odor if kept too long. It had many of the same qualities which we attach to many foods today. When taken into the mouth, it was chewed and swallowed the same as any other food. It filled the stomach, caused hunger to cease, and gave the digestive process something on which to work.
Thus, we have an actual, physical, and material thing that is called spiritual. And if we ask why the Spirit of God so describes it, there is only one answer. It is called spiritual because it was produced directly by God Himself without any natural instrumentality.
The water they drank was actual water, two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen in a liquid form. The people drank of it; the cattle drank of it; the women did the family washing in it; the children waded in it and gleefully splashed it on one another. It was real, literal, material water; yet, it is called "spiritual" by the Spirit of God. And again, if we ask why, there is only one answer. This water was produced directly and by the sole power of God without any intervening, natural instrumentality. There was no evaporation, no clouds, and no precipitation; yet there was water.
From Paul's threefold use of the word spiritual in 1 Cor. 10:3, 4, we are able to say that when anything is produced by God, when it comes directly from God, when it can be attributed directly to Him without any natural instrumentality, and when it is something for which He is directly responsible, then it can be called spiritual. The manna, the water, and the rock fit all these descriptions; therefore, they are called spiritual by the Spirit of God. In order to further clarify this definition, let us consider several illustrations.
Take for example an earthquake. These are usually caused by natural forces such as volcanic explosions in the earth, by the faulting of the rocks, or the movement of the earth along a fault. Any earthquake caused by these natural instrumentalities could not correctly be called "spiritual"; but one produced by the direct and sole power of God could be so designated, according to the New Testament usage of this word. Thus, the earthquake recorded in Acts 16:26 can be called a spiritual earthquake. It is not so designated in Scripture, there being no discussion as to its nature there. .
In Judges 6:36 - 40, we read of Gideon, who sought evidence in regard to God's purpose to use him by asking permission to put a fleece of wool on the ground and to know that it was God's purpose to deliver Israel through him if the dew wet only the fleece and the earth around it remained dry. As further proof the sign was reversed so that one night it was wet fleece and dry earth, and the next night it was dry fleece and wet earth.
Now, according to the inspired usage of "spiritual" in the New Testament, we have every right to say that the wetness and dryness of the fleece were spiritual conditions. It would have been a simple matter for a man to have made the fleece wet and just as easy for him to have kept it dry. But such wetness or dryness would have been human conditions. The wetness and dryness of Gideon's fleece were spiritual conditions - they were produced by God.
In 1 Corinthians 15:44, we read, "it is raised a spiritual body." The followers of the Platonic philosophy jump in quickly here and say that this means we will have "immaterial bodies," which, they say, can pass through solid objects such as doors without opening them. This is childish thinking to say the least, since the very words "immaterial bodies" are contradictory. There cannot be a body unless there is material and substance. One may as well speak of "bodiless bodies."
We do not know how a babe is produced within its mother, but we do know it is produced there by natural processes that God has ordained and established. Truly, we are born "after the flesh"; and the body that is ours was not produced solely by an act of God without any intermediate processes. However, when we are raised from the dead and given a body as it "pleaseth Him," it will be one produced solely by God and without any human participation. It will be produced in an atom of time, and the nine months required for the natural process will be eliminated. Our bodies in resurrection will be actual, physical bodies, composed of flesh and bones, even as today; yet, they will be spiritual since they will be produced entirely and only by a direct act of God.
As we have seen, the word "spiritual" was shown to be an adjective used specifically by the Spirit to designate things produced by the Spirit of God, which came directly from God without any human instrumentality or natural processes intervening. We believe that this definition will shed light on every passage in which the word is found, and it is my plan to demonstrate this in this second study.
To emphasize this definition further, let us say that it is our firm conviction that when Adam was created, he had a spiritual body. No man and woman came together in order to produce him. He did not pass through the birth processes, even as we have. He was never a babe, had no father or mother; but he was every inch a man. Since he was produced entirely by God without human instrumentality or natural processes, he was spiritual. We will now see how this definition fits in the passages where the word pneumatikos is found.
Romans 1 :11. "Some spiritual gift." The message which was proclaimed by Paul was not according to man; he had not received it from men; he was not taught it in, any school; nor did he learn it from other apostles (Gal. 1: 11, 12). It was therefore a «spiritual gift" which he desired to pass on to those in Rome.
Romans 7 :14. "The law is spiritual." Many prohibitions and directions in the law of Moses were not new. Men had seen the need of these restrictions; conscience told them they were right; and rulers before Moses had decreed them for their subjects. However, the law of Moses was a divine production. Even Moses was only the deliveryman. Indeed, the law was spiritual. It came from God apart from any human instrumentality.
Romans 15 :27. "Their spiritual things." Israel's spiritual things, of which the nations became partakers, were entirely out of God. They had nothing worthwhile to give to anyone except what they had received from Him.
1 Corinthians 2: 13. "Comparing spiritual things with spiritual." In the context of this passage, Paul tells of speaking «wisdom among them that are perfect" (1 Cor. 2:6). Here he speaks of matching that which is spiritual with those who are spiritual. He took God-produced truths and gave them to God-produced believers.
1 Corinthians 2 :15. "He that is spiritual." The contrast here is between the soulish (psuchikos) man and the spiritual (pneumatikos) man. The chief characteristic of the soulish man is that he rejects the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned. In contrast, the God-produced believer receives the things of the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 3:1. "I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual." As believers who had been produced by the Spirit of God, they were spiritual. Yet, because of shortcomings, Paul could not speak to them as such.
1 Corinthians 9:11. "If we have sown unto you spiritual things." The things that the apostles had planted in these Corinthians were most certainly things produced by the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 10 :3, 4. "Spiritual meat. . . spiritual drink . . . spiritual rock." This passage is the basis for my definition of the word "spiritual." In John 6:1 - 14, we read of the feeding of about five thousand men. Our Lord began with five barley biscuits and two sardines, a boy's lunch. This was material food, produced by natural means, which, in the case of the barley biscuits, required the planting of seed, time for growth, harvesting, threshing, grinding, and baking. The Lord Jesus produced barley biscuits apart from all this. Those biscuits which the boy brought could not be called spiritual. Those which the Lord produced could be called spiritual. They were produced by Him apart from all natural processes.
1 Corinthians 12:1 and 14:1. "Spiritual gifts." The word "gifts" in both of these passages is supplied by the translator. Some noun is certainly needed to complete the sense. "Gifts," "endowments," "manifestations," and "persons" have been used by various translators. The word "endowments" appeals to me more than any other. But whatever Paul may have had in mind, we know he was speaking of something produced solely by God's Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:37. "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual." we do not think that we are a prophet, and neither do we claim to be spiritual. Many men are prone to think of themselves as being spiritual, and they readily ascribe spirituality to others who conform to their mold. We do not claim spirituality for ourself, and neither will we ascribe it to any other man. However, we do claim that as a theogenic believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are in possession of many things that are very definitely spiritual. We have faith in the record God has given of His Son. We have a forgiveness that is entirely of God. We have redemption and all that comes under the heading of salvation, and these are things of which God is the author and for which He is entirely responsible. No priest has absolved me; no blood of bulls and goats has redeemed me. The things we claim as a believer are entirely spiritual. They are out of God. In the present dispensation, one person cannot be more spiritual than another. Some are more devoted, more faithful, and more diligent, yes, even more prayerful and careful; but all believers are now in Christ Jesus and none can claim spiritual possessions that are not the joint property of all.
1 Corinthians 15:44 - 46. "Raised a spiritual body. . . there is a spiritual body." If we try here to read the Platonic concept of "immaterial" into the word "spiritual," then the two words "spiritual body" flatly contradict each other. It would be like saying "cold heat" or "hot ice." There are no such things. When Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, He invited His disciples to handle Him, saying, "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:39). Thus, in resurrection He had a material body; and we can expect to have the same.
Galatians 6:1. "Ye which are spiritual." These were men of flesh; yet, they are described as spiritual.
Ephesians 1 :3. "All spiritual blessings." The usual cliche, which men utter when they come to this passage, is that, "Our blessings are spiritual in the heavenlies, while Israel's blessings are to be material upon the earth." Such a statement implies that the opposite of spiritual is material and that Israel is to have no spiritual blessings. How can these men make such a declaration in view of the words spoken by Jeremiah: "I will put My law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31: 33 )? These are most certainly great spiritual blessings. The Ephesian passage speaks of "every spiritual exaltation," and designates exaltations of which God alone is the author - exaltations that will be our portion apart from any human agency or process. The Pope of Rome may be very highly exalted by men now, but will he ever be so exalted by God?
Ephesians 5 :19. "Spiritual songs." This would have to mean songs of which God is the author. Truly, He "giveth songs in the night" (Job 35:10).
Ephesians 6 :12. "Against spiritual wickedness in high places." It would seem as if all I have said as to the meaning of "spiritual" is contradicted by the occurrence here. But not so, for there is a very faulty rendering of the Greek here. "Spiritual" is pneumatika, which is accusative, plural, neuter. "Wickedness" is poneria, which is genitive, singular. These two words do not agree in case and number and cannot be used together. Since there is no substantive here, one needs to be supplied. The phrase should read: "with the spiritual forces of wickedness among the most elevated." It is these forces against which we wrestle. Understanding the word "force" to mean the power to act effectively and vigorously, or the power to persuade and influence, and seeing Satan as the prime example, it is not difficult to understand the use of the word "spiritual" here. Where did Satan get his wisdom, skill, and ability? Was he not endowed with these when he was created as one of the cherubim? Did he lose all these when he fell? As much as we dislike to admit it, we must acknowledge that Satan is in possession of forces of which God was the author and giver. God never intended that these abilities should be used by him the way they are being used today. Satan has prostituted all his God-given powers in ways that are contrary to the will of God. These are the forces against which we must now wage war.
Colossians 1:9. "Wisdom and spiritual understanding" Solomon urged his children saying: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding" (Prov. 4:7). Wisdom can be obtained in many ways by natural processes. We can memorize passages in the Bible and quote them freely; but if we ever understand them, understanding will have to be given by God. And as Paul declares: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but by the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:11). Such knowledge and such understanding are indeed spiritual.
Colossians 3:16. "Spiritual songs." See comments on Eph.5:19.
1 Peter 2 :5. "A spiritual house." A good commentary on this will be found in
Hebrews 3:1 - 6.
1 Peter 2 :5. "Spiritual sacrifices." A spiritual sacrifice would be one provided wholly by God.
There are two occurrences of the adverb that need to be considered. In 1 Cor. 2:14 we are told that the things of God are "spiritually discerned." This means that comprehension and understanding of that which is divine is wholly dependent upon God and must come from Him. In Revelation 11:8 we are told that Jerusalem "spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." This means that this is a divine designation. It is called this by God.
It has not been our intention to expound or explain all these passages. We have deliberately avoided trying to do so. Our purpose has been to show that our definition of the word "spiritual" is in harmony with, and is not contradicted by, any passage in the New Testament.