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Natural vs Spiritual

16 Mar
Natural vs Spiritual

As we read through Jude’s letter to the church, he begins to show us the differences that need to separate us from the false teachers. It’s a very important concept.

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

Jude 17-19 NIV

This is an age-old problem that we’ve faced in the church. It’s the difference between serving God in the natural versus serving Him in the spirit.

It’s important for us to understand the phrase, natural instincts, in this context. Jude uses the Greek word from which we get words like psychology. It speaks of the mind.

When you only use your mind in the worship and service of Christ, you end up getting only the results that mankind can do. If you want to see supernatural results, then you must minister in the spirit.

The Apostle Paul understood this intimately.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV

The phrase, without the Spirit, in the above verse is the same Greek word that Jude uses for natural instinct. It should really be translated as the soulish man. It’s just living for Christ with what you can figure out on your own.

You need to be able to tap into the Holy Spirit if you want to fully understand God’s will. That will require you to spend some time praying in the spirit.

However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIV

There are so many who just don’t want to come to grips with this verse. The fact is that you can read the whole Bible from cover to cover (and you should!) and you can hear every sermon ever preached. You can brainstorm for the next ten years and you still won’t know God’s total plan for your life.

The only way to know what God has prepared for us to accomplish is time spent with the Holy Spirit. That’s where He can reveal to us His heart.

The Galatian church was struggling with this truth.

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

Galatians 3:2-3 NIV

So much of what we see in the church today is the result of human effort. Don’t let that be your legacy. Live and minister by the spirit. Spend time with the Holy Spirit and don’t follow your own human natural instinct.

Question: How much time do you spend in the presence of the Lord?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2026 in Leadership, Ministry, Power of God, Prayer in the Spirit, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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Your Soul is Important

30 May

MirrorIt’s important to keep our soul healthy and prosperous. Probably even more than the physical. That’s because what happens in your soul is the foundation for the rest of your life.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (NKJV)
3 John 2-3

Soul prosperity is the basis for physical prosperity and health. Of course there are those who say that this is just a greeting. They teach that you can’t trust God to perform this in your life based upon this verse.

Wasn’t it the Holy Spirit who inspired John to write this? If so, then it should be applicable to my life. What about the Apostle Paul? When he greets the church by saying “Grace and peace through the Lord Jesus Christ,” does that negate the truth of it? The truth is that the blessings we experience in our Christian walk are directly tied to how our soul prospers. That brings up a question. What is my soul and how does it prosper? I want to post about this for a bit.

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
1 Corinthians 15:45-46

In the above passage, the word natural is the word soulish in the Greek. Right now we have inherited a soulish body from Adam. That means that our body responds to commands from our soul – which is our mind. It’s who you are. The soul includes your personality and all of your memories.

It’s the Greek word psyche. It’s where we get our English word psychology, which means the study of the soul. Your soul is the real you. That’s why the Scripture refers to people as souls.

When I speak or write, it’s your soul that I want to communicate with. I don’t just want to stimulate your eyes and ears. It’s the person on the inside that matters.

Even animals have souls – but they don’t have a spirit. That’s what sets us apart from them. Yet without using the spirit, our lives are not much better than the animals.

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
Psalms 73:21-22

That’s what humanity is like without Christ. We end up storing up nuts like squirrels. Or constantly searching to mate, like dogs.

The fact is that if you want a good life with health and prosperity, then you need your soul to prosper. Our problem is that we usually don’t take good care of our souls. We let things slide and then wonder why our lives get messed up. I want to take a few posts to look at what it takes to get your soul in shape.

Question: What are the characteristics of a healthy soul?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2014 in Healing, Revival

 

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