- An Anatomical Study of Man’s Being & His Conscience

By Arthur J. Licursi

Before we may understand the functioning of the conscience within man, it would help is to first understand the anatomy of man and how it is that he possesses life in each of the (3) three organs of his being; spirit, soul and body.

1Thes. 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly (completely); and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Breath of God At Creation Enlivened Man Completely

When God breathed “the breath of life” into Adam's body of clay, that breath imparted a human spirit that cast off or enlivened Adam’s soul, as the organ of his human self-being. God breathed the breath of life (human spirit) into Adam (his body) and he became a living soul (Gen 2:7).

The human spirit in man is what animates the tri-part man entirely - spirit, soul and body (1Thes. 5:23). The formation of man’s soul occurred by the union of the physical body, which God Himself fashioned from the dust of the ground, and the human spirit, which God created when He breathed the "breath of life" into the Adam's nostrils. Scripture says that man, by union of the created body and the God breathed spirit, "became a living soul". Thus, men are often referred to as "souls".

In this Genesis account of man’s creation we have mention of the three parts of man's being that are listed in 1Thes 5:23.

1.) Body

2.) Soul (nephesh)

3.) Spirit (Aramaic, "neshamah", may be translated "breath" and also "spirit")

The one puff of God’s breath of "life" produced more than one kind of life in Adam. The word “life”, in the phrase “breath of life”, in Aramaic is "chay", which actually is plural "lives".

Thereby, three kinds of life resulted from God’s one breath of life.

1) Spiritual life, in man’s human spirit, his innermost man (Dan 7:15)

2) Psychological life, as man’s soul/self, is his inward man (2Cor 4:16)

3) Physical life, in the outward body. (2Cor 4:16)

Hence, the breath of life is more correctly transliterated as “the breath of lives”. Thus Adam had gained not only his created human spirit, as his central enlivening organ within him, but also he gained a soul or self-life within a living physical body.

The soul, as a hidden psychological part of man, may be empirically evidenced simply by the human reaction of blushing, which is an emotion of the metaphysical soul within, but expressed outwardly as seen in the physical body. The breath of God imparted a created human spirit to man, and this at the same time produced a soul in man, whereby he simultaneously became a living soul (Genesis 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:45).

This reality may also be represented by the example of the light bulb. The electricity in the bulb parallels the enlivening human spirit. The filament represents the body, while the resultant aura of light cast off represents the soul. The union of the electricity, which is as the spirit, and the filament, which is as the body, is what creates the light. Without electricity the light bulb is unlit or dead and it casts off no aura of light at all.

Likewise, we read what Jesus said in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” John 6:63 NIV

For light to be expressed in the bulb we need both the filament and electricity. If light in a bulb is gone out, it is only because the electricity has left the filament. Likewise, if the body becomes dead it is because the spirit and its resultant soul have departed the body. So likewise, apart from the human spirit there is no life in man. “For as the body without the spirit is dead...” (Jas. 2:26a)

Scripturally, it is without doubt that it is the human spirit that animates man completely, spirit, soul, and body.

The Purpose of the Human Spirit In Man

The human spirit is that part of man that allows man to relate to the spiritual world; it permits man to have spirit-consciousness, a consciousness beyond the mind alone. This function makes man different from all the other creatures of creation. This is evidenced by the fact that only men, not animals, seek for God, build temples, and makes totem poles or other graven images. Animals have a body with intuitive instinctual sense, but certainly not a human spirit. Only man has this innate, God seeking, capacity; to participate in the spirit realm, and that capacity flows out of his human spirit (John 4:24).

The human spirit was created purposely for man to relate to the realm of the spirit. Note that in Zechariah 12:1 and Isaiah 42:5 both mention the Lord forming "the spirit of man within him" in the context of such other foundational and major creation items as; "the Lord, which stretched forth the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth". God here lists the critical and planned elements of creation including man’s human spirit; seeming to say, “the heavens are for life on the earth, the earth is for man sustenance, and man by his human spirit, is for relating to God”. Man's human spirit is central to creation and God's eternal life-giving plan, "promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2).

The human spirit is a created spirit in man. The human spirit is the “spirit container” to ultimately contain Christ as the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2).

“The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. (Proverbs 20:27 KJV) Here, the "spirit of man" as the "candle (meaning “lamp”) of the Lord" functioning in the "inward parts" of man. The “lamp”, here, is as was as the oil lamps of ancient times. My wife and I recently bought one in Italy not long ago, as a keepsake of this truth. The lamp itself was only a container to contain or hold the oil that burned to give light. Such is our spirit. Man’s human spirit is the lamp, the Spirit container for the oil of Christ’s Spirit of life, to bear the inherent light of Christ to man.

That light in man is to one day illuminate him so that he may be turned and drawn to God; to ultimately receive, contain, possess, and be mingled with Christ’s very Spirit of life, as that man’s indwelling, and governing, life.

Man’s human spirit is separate from God; it is not the Spirit of God. However, when a man is regenerated by the entrance of Christ Spirit of life into his human spirit, he becomes born of Christ’ Spirit (John 3:6). He then is “one spirit” with Christ’s Spirit of life. This may be seen as mixing of two liquids elements that entirely become one. “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit”. 1 Cor. 6:17

Man has or is a created as a spirit being. God's Spirit is the uncreated eternal life, and God’s substance is spirit (John 4:24a), having no beginning or ending. The human spirit in man is the receptacle of Christ’s Spirit of life and the key to man experiencing God according to His eternal purpose and plan (2Tim. 4:22, Eph. 3:3-11, 1John 4:13).

The Soul of Man Makes Him Self-Conscious

The soul is the self-life of man, for self-consciousness and world consciousness as it relates to his self. The soul is where the faculties of mind, emotion and will exist. The soul life is the "psuche" life, Greek, for the soul life, the metaphysical, or "psychological life" in man. By the soul we can reason, communicate thoughts, feel emotions and make choices of our will. The soul's will is led by the mind as the “eyes of the understanding” (Eph. 1:18), where we have knowledge (Proverbs 19:2, 2:10, 3:21-22, 24:14, Psa. 139:14); followed by the emotions such as love (Song 1:7, Luk. 1:46, Deut. 6:5, Psa. 107:18) and feelings (1 Sam. 30:6, Luk. 2:35, Judges 10:16b, Psa. 86:4, 116:7, 42:5, Jn. 12:27, Mat. 26:38). The soul is the seat of our unique individual and personal being.

One Life Many Expressions

Man, made in the image of God, was made in his soul to be a thinking, feeling, creature with a free will, making man capable of choosing. We were each made uniquely and individually in soul, as we are in body in order to uniquely express the prevailing spirit life and nature governing us from within. The soul is not the life source within a man, but rather it is man’s organ that is capable of expressing the spirit life that prevails within a man. Every person is either expressing the sin spirit and nature within the body of flesh (Rom 7:20-23), which Paul simply calls Sin, or … if he is a regenerate, reborn Christian, the Christ’s Spirit of Life within his human spirit (Col 1:27, 3:3, Rom 8:8-10).

Consider the Light Bulbs of Many Colors

Metaphorically, the soul may also be seen as the colored glass or lens of a light bulb, expressing the light within, but only as it is colored. The electricity may be seen as the spirit in man. The lens of a light bulb relates to the electricity in the bulb in that it simply expresses the electricity according to its color. Our souls were each made to be different, just as the light bulbs lens may be variously colored. Each light bulb, regardless of color, expresses the very same electricity (spirit life). So it is that every man may uniquely express the prevailing spiritual life within him.

Thus, we can each possess Christ’s very same Spirit of life and yet be individually different in our expression by our unique soul. God as creator and Father had no intention of producing cookie cutter, stereotypical or robotic children. Yet each one bears His life by the indwelling Spirit (John 17:3 Rom 8:9). His children are birthed by His very own life to spontaneously flow out in the expression of His life “as they are”, as they are in their uniquely created souls. We were created individually unique and the Lord does not do away with that uniqueness in Christ.

Why Are We Made Different From Each Other?

I recently realized why it was that we are all so different physically and in soul, and that this is okay that we are Christians and yet different. Certainly the Lord would not fail if he desired to make us all the same; so there is a purpose for us each being different. Consider that the billions of people who live and have lived on this earth, yet in all their uniqueness they are not sufficient to fully express the glories of His limitless life. He is the One Father with many expressions, by each of His blood bought, rebirthed children.

As Christians we express Christ’s Spirit of life in and through us as our new life, but only according to the state of our soul - be it renewed or not (2Cor 4:16, Rom 12:2, Ephes. 4:23; Col. 3:10). As we are renewed to yield to, and trust, Christ in our spirit, our expression will be more “of Him”. But, if we are less yielded and trusting of His life in us, then we will offer little expression of Him and more of our independent self. Thus we might have Christians whose life is greatly changed as the expression of Christ’s life, and also those who have little expression of Christ, preferring to live by their own independent self-life.

The Human Spirit Gives Man Spirit Consciousness

The human spirit in the midst (core) of man’s being (Dan 7:15) is the organ by which man is spirit conscious. Our God consciousness is by the spirit of man since God’s substance is in fact spirit (John 4:24a). We should not say, “God has a spirit” rather God is spirit. It is by God as Spirit, one with the resurrected Christ, that our human spirit was regenerated, born again (John 3:6, Rom 8:16).

A man's means of contacting God is by his human spirit. Apart from the spirit man has only self-consciousness in his soul. A man cannot contact God by the physical or soul, except as the soul of man is yielded to Christ in His spirit. Thus, Paul says the mind (soul) should be submitted to, or come under the rule of the spirit, wherein Christ dwells as Lord (Rom 8:5-6). Learning to yielded and trust Him in the midst of our circumstances brings about a renewal of the soul; we become renewed to a new mindset or prevailing attitude to trust Christ in his spirit. In this way our trust will grow greater and greater.

By our human spirit we can sense, hear and come to ultimately partake of or possess Christ’s Spirit of life, the "Zoë" life, which is Greek for God's life, which is real life. We receive the life of God when we are born again by His seed, Christ as the Spirit of life. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly", John 10:10. The word life here is "Zoë", God's life, not better or improved human life.

The human spirit is the antenna of the Lord whereby men can hear, sense, and touch God, who is spirit. Only spirit can touch or relate to spirit. Our physical body cannot relate to spirit no more than we can taste food with our soul's mind. Tasting is a function of the body senses.

The Three (3) Faculties of the Tri-part Human Spirit

Within the organ of the human spirit there are three faculties or functions. They are as follows.

1.) Conscience

2.) Intuition

3.) Place of Union, wherein we may have fellowship for communion with God, as “one spirit” (1Cor 6:17)

The “conscience” was created within the human spirit of Adam and remains functional in mankind, even after the fall of Adam. A conscience may become seared or scarred and insensitive (1Tim 4:2), but only after much, much rejection of God. After all, we all rejected His beckoning for quite a time. The Lord knows the heart of every man.

The “Intuition” and “Union”, the second and third faculties of the human spirit, were deadened or cut-off in the rebellious fall of our earthly, first, father Adam. The Lord had told Adam and Eve that the day they eat of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they would die and that is exactly what occurred (Gen. 3:3). “Death” by definition is "cessation of communication with the environment around you". Adam at one time walked with God in the cool of the day, which was a union by fellowship that had to transpire in and by man’s spirit, since God is spirit. This fellowship function of man’s human spirit was deadened and Adam ceased to have communication with God. Adam obviously did not die physically, since he was able to leave the Garden on his own two legs.

Adam (Thus, we also in him.), did die in his ability to commune, fellowship, and hear from God, … except for his conscience. This is evidenced by the fact that he and Eve hid themselves and covered their nakedness with leaves. The result was they were banished from the Garden and communion was cut-off. Yet in God’s provision of coats of skin from an innocent animal, they did have a unilateral promise from God that one day a savior, born of the woman, who would cover their sins, and restore fellowship with God.

By Adam, as the federal head and progenitor of mankind, sin and death entered the world of mankind (Rom 5:12,15, 1Cor 15:56b). Man's human spirit, which possesses these faculties and functions, had then lost something. He lost, at least for a time, the ability to have the sense of God, and also the ability to fellowship and commune with God who had created him.

This is the condition of all unregenerate men until the Father draws them and regenerates them by the 2^{nd birthing, in spirit. Due to Adams fall to independence from God, “as god” (Gen 3:27) of his own life, Adam became separated from and dead to God. It would take reconciliation by Christ’s sacrifice in man’s stead to restore man to fellowship and communion with God (Col. 1:20).}

Lets’ now look at the functions of the human spirit in greater detail.

1.) The Conscience Faculty of the Human Spirit

“Conscience” - Greek, suneidesis, soon-i'-day-sis, co-perception, i.e. a moral consciousness, Strongs Exhaustive Concordance

Notice that the Greek definition of the word for conscience is “suneidesis”, meaning a "co-perception", it is another perception we have from within. This voice of “conscience” is the 1st faculty of our human spirit as it relates to our soul. Yet it is a knowing or consciousness that is deeper than our mind. This means that men are not alone in their perception of anything, they have also a voice of conscience within their spirit.

In the unregenerate, the temporary and momentary flowing of the Spirit of God into man's conscience of his spirit is from the outside in. This is what ultimately enlightens a man of His need for God. The conscience is obviously not self-evocative since it often speaks contrary to what a man believes he wants according to his own self. The often contrary thought of a man’s conscience is the light of God flowing through man's spirit.

God always flows as light before life may be kindled. See the sequence of the events of the recreation of the earth described in Gen 1-2.

“For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” (Psalm 36:9)

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

We each gained some degree of light before we received Christ as our savior and our life. God’s light flows into man’s spirit, through man's conscience, and into his soul - the seat of his being; convicting man of His need of a saving life - of His need of Christ.

Before Christ’s death and resurrection His Spirit was not available to indwell men. The Spirit of God only came upon men (outside in) temporally, whereas Christ now irrevocably indwells the born-again.

Conscience As A Gateway

In all cases the conscience is the door or gateway for God's light to shine into a man's soul. Metaphorically, the conscience is as the “wick” of the Spirit, through which Spirit flows as oil flows through a wick. Thus God’s Spirit of light comes upon a man, flowing into a man’s spirit at his core, and via the conscience of the spirit, as a wick, into that man’s soul/mind as a new perception. This flowing Spirit is the living Word, rhema, which divides soul and spirit, exposing to the man the thoughts and intents of his heart (Heb. 4:12). Thereby, a man is convicted in the heart of His soul and then has the opportunity to respond.

The Conscience Is For God's Conviction of Man

I believe that the human spirit in man is initially, as spiritual ears in man, placed there by God who would thereby speak unregenerate man, to draw men to make a choice, to receive or reject Him. By his spirit men may hear and commune with God. God thereby speaks to man to draw man to Himself.

By the conscience, the Holy Spirit convicts (Jn. 14:8) the men of the world of sin and exposes man's true condition; his need of another kind of life entirely, the higher God-life. In the unregenerate, the light of God's Holy Spirit, flowing through the conscience of man's human spirit into his soul/mind, has the power to illuminate and expose a man's true needy condition and incompleteness as a human being, needing to be completed by Christ (Col. 2:10).

The conscience of the human spirit is where even the unregenerate man can hear the deeper voice of the Holy Spirit of God. The conscience functions in both the unregenerate and the rebirthed man (Deut. 2:30, Dan. 5:20). The conscience, as one function of man’s human spirit, is as Trojan horse God placed in all men. By the spirit, all men possess a conscience where they hear the voice of God speaking, convicting them.

The conscience convicts a man that he is short of the Godly standard of true righteousness. That conviction that exposes man’s true state of neediness is intended to turn a man to God. The Holy Spirit thereby draws men to God. Most people acknowledge a voice of conscience, but refuse to acknowledge whose voice it really is. The Apostle Paul refers to the working of the law and conscience in the unregenerate.

“For when the Gentiles, ... these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;" Romans 2:14-15

The writer of Hebrews 10:22 says " let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience”. God is speaking to the hearts of all men individually via the conscience of their own human spirit. Acknowledging and responding to that voice of conscience will bring unregenerate men to God.

We can also be sure that our children have a conscience. If kept tender in our small children, the conscience will in time draw them to make a choice concerning Christ, God's provision to be their genuine life to complete their creation (Col. 2:10).

The planned work of the conscience is to turn a man toward God. The word “repent" means to turn around reverse direction. Repentance is not necessarily and emotional beating of the breast or even sorrow with tears, although godly sorrow should work to lead a man to consider his true condition, his ways, and neediness of God’s mercy and love (2Cor. 7:10; Hag. 1:7).

2.) The Intuition Faculty of the Human Spirit

Upon regeneration by a spiritual second birthing, the second faculty of the human spirit, the "intuition", is enlivened so we can possess the innate sense, which is of Christ in our spirit (1John 2:20, 27). By "the mind of Christ" (1Cor. 2:16b) we may spontaneously know even as Christ knows, and thereby respond to a given situation, as God would have us to respond (Mark 2:8, Acts 18:5, 20:22, 1Cor. 2:11, Jn. 11:33, Rom. 8:15). Jesus Himself only did the will of the Father and acted not of His own self-will (John 5:19).

Now regenerated by the very life of God in Christ as the Spirit of Christ, we possess that life of Christ as our very life. We now have a sixth sense, the intuition of Christ. Beyond the five senses of the body we now gain an additional sixth sense, which is of Christ’s Spirit of life in our spirit, His indwelling life, being one with our human spirit.

The intuition is the actual spontaneous mind of Christ's life that presently "has been made unto us wisdom" (1Cor. 1:30). Just as the body spontaneously functions to swallow and digest food, the intuition of the rebirthed regenerated human spirit has a sense of "knowing" in spirit. This is why John in 1John tells the Diaspora, the Jews, that when they receive Christ as life (1Jn 5:11-12) they “know all things” (1Jn 2:20), and have no need that any man should teach them (1Jn 2:27). Thereby, we know all that we need to know at the time we need to know it, making us able to live, making choices by Christ’s spontaneous life within our spirit.

3.) The Union Faculty of the Human Spirit Is For Fellowship, Communion

The third faculty of the human spirit, “Union”, is for "fellowship" or communion with God (Jn. 4:23, Rom. 1:9, 7:6, 8:15, 1Cor. 6:17, 14:16). By such communion the regenerated, born again, know the indwelling Christ as their life. We also know of His love, our acceptance in Christ, and our sonship (Rom 8:16), thus as we abide in Christ we enjoy God as our loving Father.

Adam apparently walked with God in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8). But this capacity to commune or fellowship with God was lost in the fall of Adam. Recall that in the garden, before the fall, Adam had fellowship with God who was with Adam, but not in him.

Now regenerated by the Spirit, we have fellowship and communion with God our Father in spirit (2 Cor. 13:14, Jn. 4:24). We experience His acceptance and unconditional love within us by His indwelling Spirit and speaking within us. As we abide in this fellowship all loneliness and abandonment is gone. We are filled and come to rest in a living, experiential knowledge of Him.

Dead To Fellowship With God

Before Adam's fall, he did no doubt enjoy fellowship with God, who is Spirit, while God walked with Him (outside Him). Scripture says that God walked with Adam in the cool of the day. God flowed in fellowship with Adam, but this was only in temporary spirit communion with Adam, via Spirit to spirit. Due to Adam's fall to independence, however, a huge gulf then existed between sinful man and the righteous creator God. The fellowship potential between God and man was cut off. Fellowship was broken or made dead just as we say a phone line has gone dead when two-way communication is cut off. Man had become deadened to God in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1); nevertheless, his conscience still functions to convict and draw man to God.

All Men Hear God In Their Conscience

"For when the Gentiles, ... Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) Romans 2:14-15

All human beings, regenerated and unregenerated, were created with a conscience. The Spirit of the Lord, from outside of man, communicates with him just as radio waves (likened to the Spirit of the Lord) enliven a radio when received by the antenna (likened to the human spirit, containing the conscience).

In Summary: Two Means of Hearing God Speak

1.) In the case of unregenerate man, God speaks into a man's conscience of his spirit from outside a man. God's Holy Spirit flows light into him from without, into and through His spirit and conscience into his soul’s mind. This is as often as “The Spirit of the Holy” comes upon a man. This is how God provides light to the unregenerate in order to convict, push, prompt and turn a man toward God, usually out of a then realized need.

2.) In the case of the God birthed, regenerated, child of God, with Christ indwelling his spirit, God speaks to that man from within his human spirit through His spirit’s, where He dwells. He is one who has been birthed and enlivened by God's Spirit now residing within his human spirit.

Such a rebirthed man actually has two sorts of enlightening working through and in his spirit.

§ Light now comes by Christ’s life within him as his new life and nature, with its intuitive mind of Christ as knowledge and wisdom (1Cor 1:30).

§ Light now comes by the Holy Spirit, who convicted and drew the unregenerate man to God, but now continues to shine upon a rebirthed man's soul/mind to reveal the Christ who is now that man's life (John 15:26; 16:13-15).

Note that in the Christian the conscience only functions when something is wrong or we are about to go wrong, otherwise all is well. After all we are not conscious of our bodies when we are healthy, likewise, we only sense the conscience when something is wrong.

Fully Supplied By Christ’s Life

God, in Christ, as the Spirit of Christ of life, now in every rebirthed man, is the fully processed Christ. The life of Christ that is now available to be in man has passed through incarnation to be crucified, resurrected, ascended and glorified in order to become the "life-giving Spirit" of Christ (1Cor. 15:45). This Christ, who has gained all the experiences a man could endure, is then literally dispensed or imparted into man's human spirit, becoming now "one spirit" with that man by the impartation of Christ’s Spirit of life Spirit (John 3:6; 1Cor 6:17). A rebirthed man is a "partaker" of the divine nature (2Peter 1:4), literally one with Him. By Christ in our spirit, the One who is the very Light of Life shines upon our soul/mind via our conscience if necessary.

He flows, from within, through our blood cleansed conscience. We have His intuitive mind and wisdom of Christ already in our spirit, which desires to flow out through our cleansed conscience into our soul/mind, making it "the mind of Christ" (1Cor. 2:16b, 1Cor. 1:30). Christ’s life flowing within is the sanctifying light, which lights our path. Christ’s life within, as our new and only genuine nature, ultimately governs and renews our entire being as we grow to yield to and trust Him. <END>