How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 2 - The Heart of Man)

How does Romans 5 to 8 work in a Human Being? (Part 2 - The Heart of Man)

Start the series here: Part 1
Go to the next part here: Part 3

There is more to the design of man than just the three components of spirit, soul, and body. We need to go deeper to find these underlying parts that are the primary elements that define the individual. In the previous post of this series, I mentioned that the soul can be understood as a container that needs to be filled with the essence of that person. What a person demonstrates to the outside world, in character, personality, desires, fortitude, etc, is that which is stored, processed, and released from the soul. (Please note that this attempt to express the soul, and make it easier to understand, is my personal, and creative explanation based on what I learn from the Word.)

Now, what comes out of the soul of a person is expressed in a few different ways in the Bible. We have investigated some biblical references to things like, the heart of a man, the spiritual mind, the carnal mind, the natural man, the spiritual man, the new man, also known as the inner man, and the old man. Jesus hinted on the contents of the soul when he reprimanded the pharisees, saying they were like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, in the soul, they were full of dead men’s bones, uncleanness, hypocrisy and iniquity, Matt.23:27-28.

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the contents of the soul, and more particularly, to discover how the truth, and Spirit, of God’s Word works in the soul. How does the foundation of Romans 5 to 8 get laid in the soul? How does the Word of God change us on the inside? Why does law kill us, but the Spirit (in God’s Word) give us life? What does the Word do in us to help us overcome sin? How does Christ get formed in us? All these questions will become clearer when one grasps the concept of the soul and its contents.

The HEART of man

Throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, we have reference to the word, “heart”. This is not referring to the beating heart in the chest that pumps blood around the body, but to the intangible essence of a person. It is a description of the sum content of all that is stored in the container of the soul. To provide some scriptural context, read through the following verses that refer to the heart of man, 

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

As a person learns, grows, and experiences life, all manner of content is shaping them. There is good and bad that goes into the mind and filters down into the soul. However, irrespective of what a person learns, there is one constant that must be recognised. Humans are by nature rebellious and selfish. It is the corruption of sin that has stained the contents of the soul. An illustration to prove this is to simply look at a child. They might appear innocent, but they are disobedient by nature, and they lie. Nobody taught them to do that. It comes from inside them, from the heart, which is stained with sin. One might hear someone say, “That person has a good heart!” No! The person might demonstrate a kind gesture, or do a good deed, but the bible tells us plainly that the heart is wicked! Sin is like leaven that infects everything that goes into the heart. Both good and evil can enter into the heart. What goes into the heart will shape a persons character, personality, and responses, and is dependent on their environment, on their parents (or guardians), on what they expose themselves to, and so forth. Both good and evil can come out of the heart, but in most cases, even the good can have underlying motives of selfishness. The leaven of sin infects most everything in the heart.

Mar 7:21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:  23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Pro 4:23  Keep [protect] thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.  

Pro 23:7  For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.  

Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

In the next post, I will discuss what Paul labels, ‘the mind of the spirit’. This is a very interesting component of the soul. It is unique to a saved person. The spiritual mind is created inside a person the moment they get saved. It is this part of the soul that needs to develop in order to attain to what Paul speaks of in Romans chapters 6 to 8. Understanding the spiritual mind will also lead into answering the questions on how God’s Word works within us in relation to Romans 5 to 8. I trust this will help you to understand, from a different perspective, what Paul teaches in these foundational chapters.