[UntoHim]

Excerpt from: The Parts of Man - by Witness Lee

Since Christ, as the life-giving Spirit, dwells in our spirit, we need to discern our spirit from our soul that we may contact and experience Him. We may know that man is composed of the spirit, soul, and body, but to discern the difference between the spirit and the soul is a real problem. To know the difference between the body and the soul is easy, but to discern the spirit from the soul is rather difficult. The following illustration is most helpful. Suppose we find something that we would like to purchase. The more we consider it, the more we feel that we would like to have it. Eventually, we make the decision to buy it. The emotion is exercised, since we like it; the mind is exercised, because we have considered it; and the will is exercised, because we have made the decision to buy it. Therefore, the whole soul is exercised. But when we proceed to buy it, something very deep within us protests. Our emotion likes it, our mind considers it, and our will chooses it; but something deeper than all these protests. This is the spirit. The spirit is the deepest part within us, the very inmost part of our whole being. It is absolutely different from our soul.

We must first realize that Christ is the Spirit in our spirit. Then we need to discern the difference between the spirit and the soul that we may deny the soul and live by the spirit. When we live by the spirit, Christ will have the first place in everything. Then we will experience Christ in the spirit, and we will learn how to apply Him in our daily life.

My experience and observation over the past 45 years tells me that what Witness Lee has quoted above is a bunch of spiritual sounding gobbledygook, and should be thoroughly rejected by all mature, sensible Christians. Look where this kind of "theology" has gotten our dear brothers and sisters in the Local Church of Witness Lee.

Also in my experience and observation is that when one makes too much out of the differences between our soul and our spirit, there is great danger to sink into the nonsense that is published here in "The Parts of Man" - especially when it comes to young people and new, inexperienced believers. **I do understand and appreciate that my brother StG is not intentionally implying, much less insisting, that what Lee is teaching here is good and healthy teaching, only that in my experience and observation it is the inevitable result of an over-emphasis of the difference(s) of the soul and spirit.**
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