Non-Christian, Deceased, Suffered Psychosomaticism, i.e. Soulicalishness
In reviewing chapter 11 of Created in God's Image by Anthony Hoekema, we can observe many mistaken assumptions on his part in understanding the dividing of spirit, soul and body according to Heb. 4.12, 1 Thess. 5.23.
He labels man's parts as abstracts, but this is incorrect. According to the best work ever done on the subject by Watchman Nee (see Chapters 1-3 of The Spiritual Man), man's soul and spirit are far from abstract but quite precise and exacting in the Scriptures. One can conclude that a man who wants to abstract away such things is a man who prefers the fleshly unspiritual life, and more probably, the unsaved life. Spiritual life is not something that interests this man. This is why he will claim for the wholeness of the man, yet deny the parts of the man that make up his wholeness. Call it easy-believism or lazy-believism, or man that does not know God.
The believer is a unity in spirit, soul and body and in such unity God shows the harmony of the functions of the inner man with respect to the functions of the soul and the functions of the body and how they all work in perfect symphony with one another, especially where God resides in the spirit, as the guiding principle in the man, not the outer man. In order for the outer man to function according to God's will the spirit must be right. God never comes in from the outer to the inner. He always works from the inner to the outer. But this appreciation and God's holiness in man's members is lost in Anthony. He can not see these vital principles, and I am convinced it is because it is a dividing of the body of Christ. Call it a holistic teaching, a new age concept which ends up placing the importance not where it is due, but on the outerman. Yet the inner man never is reached. And this is seen in his comment, "It uses terms like soul, spirit, and heart more or less interchangeably" mindless unable to drawn the importance of the spirit being the spirit, and the soul being the soul, and the heart existing between the soul and the spirit.
If there is no reverence for God's Word how can you ever walk after spirit since you would be walking after the soul, or the heart. The heart deceives, yet you walk after it anyway because you think it is the sprit. But the truth is when you know the functions of each as outlaid in the Scriptures, you then can begin working with God in a deeply more profound and spiritual way. I testify this because I have experienced His life deeply in this regard, not in abstract ways that create confusion so I know His Word is real that He wants to break the outer man's bipartite or holistic approach.
Another observation noted is the use of the terms, trichotomy, which is more of a "division into three parts", rather than a tripartite man, who is "composed of three parts" that make up the spiritual man. This typifies the shallow misunderstand of Anthony and misreading of what a spiritual man is. I believe the reason why the fallen man wants to stay dichotomous or bipartite or dipartite, which ever term you want to use, is based on the soulishness of the man exalting himself before God without regard to the inner life where God resides as the guiding principle in their being.
To conclude, Anthony prefers not bipartite man, reasonably, and as we have seen he rejects man's as tripartite because of his misunderstanding of these constituent parts of the man and respective functions that make up the whole man. Instead, he chooses the term psychosomatic which of course in not in the Scriptures as are the terms, spirit, soul and body. He tried to prove this term as Scriptural, since he says he is a Christian, by comparing the word, "brain" as one way of looking at the mind physically with the "mind's" conscience experience.
One who believes in tripartite man certainly can not deny this statement (already discussed in The Spiritual Man comparing the brain to the mind), but what a spiritual (tripartite) man does is go deeper and says the spirit of the man has the functions of intuition, communion and conscience and is God-consciousness (inner man); the soul has the functions of mind, will and emotion and is self-consciousness (outer man); and the body has mobility and senses (outward man) different from the others also. The point of all this is that we commune with God in our spirit, not our inordinate rationalizations as witnesses here by Anthony nor in our flesh. That is the Word of God.
Conclusion: what the fleshly man will do is go about lengthy statements to deny the inner spirit of the man its rightful place, thus smothering that spirit of his with his soul, preventing the release of the spirit, a walking after the spirit. The result is a headiness, but no life, as we see in this article. Headiness for headiness sake is futile and selfishness. Usually their is an underlying reason why they reject spiritual life, and in Anthony's case, it is his love for amillennialism, denying the millennial kingdom reign of Christ, which has significant negative consequences. What is interesting, is he is also a calvinist. It is these three elements that are dead and without life, like zombiism. 99% of calvinists are not saved, 99% of amillennialists are not saved, and a man who refuses the inner man (spirit) and the outer man (soul and body) is also probably not a Christian. Remember, they say they are Christians. But we know better so God does not believe in these things, so they must have some false spirit that teaches them these things, so that they are usually without new life and the Holy Spirit.
Anthony writes, "rather, what happens to the unbelieving dead after the thousand years have ended is what is called in verse 20.6 “the second death.” When it is said in verse 6 that the “second death” has no power over the believing dead, it is implied that the “second death” does have power over the unbelieving dead." Of course this is inaccurate since the second death will still have power over non-overcoming Christians that will be needed to burn off their dross, and cast into outer darkness outside the light of reigning during the millennial kingdom. It is only those of the first resurrection (overcomers in Christ like select men and women in Rev. 2 and 3 like those who are to receive a "white stone" who can no longer be hurt by the second death). Obviously not all Christians are in the first resurrection which totally destroys amillennialism.
Watchman Nee says, "Matthew 17.4 Peter speaks
again, and once more he shows his ignorance. He can only do fishing (as on the
day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius), not make tents (as was Paul’s
ministry in building God’s true tabernacle, the church). Even so, it does
indicate that Peter knows and recognizes the glorious delight of the kingdom of
heaven, and hence he does not wish to leave the mountain.
“I will make here three tabernacles” – What a mistake Peter has made:
(1) for thinking that one can enjoy the glory of the kingdom of heaven
without the need of losing one’s soul and bearing the cross (that is,
without ever going down the mountain again to suffer; for as we soon learn,
there are demons down below). How many other have the same idea! When they
receive some blessing from God, they cease to strive for growth. They become
lazy. They reject suffering and seek only for blessing.
(2) for imagining that now is the millennial kingdom. Many are the
“Peter-type” believers who fancy they can enjoy the blessing of the kingdom of
heaven today.
(3) and for conjecturing that Moses and Elijah can stand on the same level with
the Lord. On earth our Lord is truly humble and lowly, yet in the kingdom of
heaven He is the highest. Even though Moses and Elijah are honorable men, they
cannot stand parallel with the Lord – for the Father loves supremely the Son to
whom every knee shall bow (see Phil. 2.9-11; see also Is. 45.23, Rom. 14.11).
Moses indeed comes back from the dead and Elijah most surely is raptured, but
they cannot be on an equality with Christ.
The Lord gives no answer to Peter. His silent response is the best reply." (King
and the Kingdom of Heaven - Chapter 17).
Therefore as we have come to see, the
amillennialist psychosomatic man is heavy into abstractionism of the soul, and
lacks a dividing of his spirit, soul and body to know what is of the spirit, and
what is of the soul. They love being in their mind, not their spirit, and
therefore not touching life. That is that.
Troy Brooks