Originally Posted by Igzy

The problem is the term "natural man." It implies that even some things that are quite natural by the way God created us should be denied because they are "not Christ."

This is making the good the enemy of the better. It isn't, and the Bible never says it is. The only time the good is the enemy of the better is when the good is contrary to the better. But your doctrine says that it always is contrary. That's simply false. There have been plenty of times when someone shared a humorous story, it was completely natural for me to laugh at it and the Spirit had no problem with it. The same goes for a multitude of normal human responses that Lee's natural man teaching makes us suspicious of, including, as in the sad story, helping one's wife with dishes when she needs help.

God gave us a human nature to help direct us. The idea that the Spirit replaces all the instincts of our good human nature is silly. We still have our human nature and we still follow it, instinctively. It's only when the fallen side of our human nature sidetracks us that the Spirit bothers us with the "uh-uh" within. Whether you admit it or not, most of the time we take our cues from our human nature, with the tutoring of the Spirit. But our human nature is not replaced completely by the Spirit. It just doesn't work that way.

We should always walk in the Spirit. There is no need to nit pick the "natural man." Just walk in the Spirit and be obedient. Don't go around being worried that your love is "natural" or your affection is "natural" or your sense of humor is "natural." Doing so is not Biblical. The Bible never asks us to do it. It's hyper-spiritual hoo-hah.