The Spiritual Man Quotes

“The Spirit is both a builder and a dweller. He cannot dwell where he has not built; He builds to dwell and dwells in only what he has built.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Attempting to follow Him without denying the self is the root of all failures.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“To be penitent, to feel sorry for sin, to shed tears, to even make decisions does not bring in salvation. Confession, decision, and many other religious acts can never be and are not to be construed as new birth. Rational judgment, intelligent understanding, mental acceptance, or the pursuit of the good, the beautiful, and the true are merely soulical activities if the spirit is not reached and stirred.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Actually, only God can satisfy a Christian's heart; man cannot. The failure of many is to seek from man what can be found only in God. All human affection is empty; the love of God alone is able to fully satisfy one's desire. The moment a Christian seeks a love outside God his spiritual life immediately falls.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“We recognize already that regeneration of the spirit is the paramount need of man.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“The reason for so many defeats in the spiritual realm is because this sector of the soul has not been dealt with drastically.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Andrew Murray once said that what the church and individuals have to dread is the inordinate activity of the soul with its power of mind and will. F. B. Meyer declared that had he not known about the dividing of spirit and soul, he could not have imagined what his spiritual life would have been. Many others, such as Otto Stockmayer, Jessie Penn-Lewis, Evan Roberts, Madame Guyon, have given the same testimony.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Neither our psychology nor that of the unbelievers can impart life to them. Unless the Holy Spirit Himself performs the work, all is vain.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“If any person desires to think, he must possess memory, imagination and reasoning power; but the Christian has presently lost these powers, hence is unable to think. He cannot create, deduce or recollect, nor can he compare, judge and apprehend. Therefore he cannot think. And should he attempt to do so he experiences a kind of dazed sensation which stifles any productive thought.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“The soul seeks to retain its authority and move independently, while the spirit strives to possess and master everything for the maintenance of God's authority.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Our rest lies in looking to the Lord, not to ourselves. In the degree that we look off unto Him to that degree are we delivered from self. We rest on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, not on our own shifting experience. True spiritual life depends not on probing our feelings and thoughts from dawn to dusk but on "looking off" to the Savior!”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“How pitiful it must be when the flesh gains dominion. Sin has slain the spirit:”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“power of the Holy Spirit is superabundant.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Only if we completely acknowledge that what man requires today is God's life: the quickening of the spirit: will we then perceive how vain is any work performed by ourselves.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Emotion must go through the cross (Matt. 10.38-39) in order to destroy its fiery nature, with its confusion, and to subject it totally to the spirit. The cross aims to accord the spirit authority to rule over every activity of emotion.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“The life of faith can be called the life of the will since faith is impervious to how one feels but chooses through volition to obey God's mind.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Many Christians are unaware how drastically the cross must work so that ultimately their natural power for living may be denied.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“God knows no good resides in man; no flesh can please Him. It is corrupted beyond repair. Since it is so absolutely hopeless, how then can man please God after he has believed in His Son unless He gives him something new? Thank God. He has bestowed a new life, His untreated life, upon those who believe in the salvation of the Lord Jesus and receive Him as their personal Savior. This is called "regeneration" or "new birth." Though He cannot alter our flesh God gives us His life. Man's flesh remains as corrupt in those who are born anew as in those who are not. The flesh in a saint is the same as that in a sinner. In regeneration the flesh is not transformed. New birth exerts no good influence on the flesh. It remains as is. God does not impart His life to us to educate and train the flesh. Rather, it is given to overcome the flesh. Man in regeneration actually becomes related to God by birth. Regeneration means to be born of God. As our fleshy life is born of our parents so our spiritual life is born of God. The meaning of birth is "to impart life." When we say we are born of God it signifies we receive a new life from Him. What we have received is a real life.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“The Holy Spirit uses this”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Por el hecho de que los carnales tengan muchos talentos –activos en el pensamiento y ricos en la emoción–, fácilmente estimulan el interés de la gente y conmueven sus corazones. En consecuencia, los cristianos anímicos suelen poseer personalidades magnéticas.”
― Watchman Nee, El hombre espiritual

“Do not be impatient for impatience is of the flesh. Do not try different methods because they are useful solely in helping the flesh. We must distrust the flesh entirely, however good or able it may be. We should trust instead the Holy Spirit and submit to Him alone. With such trust and obedience the flesh will be humbly kept in its proper place of curse and accordingly lose all its power. May God be gracious to us that we may put no confidence in the flesh: yea, that we may look down upon ourselves and acknowledge how unreliable and utterly fruitless is our flesh. This is a very real death. Without it there can be no life.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“If man's soul wills to obey God, it will allow the spirit to rule over the man as ordered by God. The soul, if it chooses, also can suppress the spirit and take some other delight as lord of the man.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Unless the believer offers his soul life to death, he shall cultivate that life, incur the displeasure of God, and miss the fruit of the Holy Spirit.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“The body element of the flesh, full of sin and lust, naturally cannot but express itself in many sins, much to the grief of the Holy Spirit.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Let us not argue over our being labeled as either spiritual or carnal. If we are not governed by the Holy Spirit what profit will the mere designation of spiritual be to us? This is after all a matter of life, not of title.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“The first and foremost sign of new birth in anyone is that he knows God intuitively, for his spirit has been quickened.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“The life of faith can be called the life of the will since faith is impervious to how one feels but chooses through volition to obey God's mind. Though the Christian may not feel like obeying God,”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“If any person desires to think, he must possess memory, imagination and reasoning power; but the Christian has presently lost these powers, hence is unable to think.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“Do we think because we have prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to reveal His mind and to work in us, that all shall accordingly be done? That assumption is not the truth; for unless we deliver to death specifically and daily our natural life, together with its power, wisdom, self, and sensation and unless we equally desire honestly in our mind and will to obey and rely upon the Holy Spirit, we shall not see Him actually performing the work.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man

“God knows no good resides in man; no flesh can please Him. It is corrupted beyond repair. Since it is so absolutely hopeless, how then can man please God after he has believed in His Son unless He gives him something new? Thank God. He has bestowed a new life, His untreated life, upon those who believe in the salvation of the Lord Jesus and receive Him as their personal Savior. This is called "regeneration" or "new birth." Though He cannot alter our flesh God gives us His life. Man's flesh remains as corrupt in those who are born anew as in those who are not. The flesh in a saint is the same as that in a sinner. In regeneration the flesh is not transformed. New birth exerts no good influence on the flesh. It remains as is. God does not impart His life to us to educate and train the flesh.”
― Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man