Hello Nik42,
Im enjoying our discussion, too. Thanks for participating.
YOU: "I see the spirit as immortal - the part of man that can't really die"
Actually, I do too -- but I believe "immortal" only means that the spirit cannot be made to die by any other means than Gods hand. Jesus warns us in Mat 10:28, "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."...which agrees with Isa 10:18. There is a plethora of interpretation as to soul and spirit in both Greek and Aramaic, as Im sure youre aware. You may see soul in both passages as "mind" while I see them as "spirit". I doubt either of us, despite our convictions, can show our particular view to be irrefutably true.
Its interesting to me, though, that Paul wrote, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1Thes 5:23) Why would the apostle present his hope this way unless he saw a real possibility that the entire man -- in this case as body/soul[mind]/spirit -- might not be fully sanctified and saved from death.
So you dont misunderstand me, I dont propose that the spirit is dead in the sense the body is dead...that is, in that it ceases to exist, suffers decay, becomes nonexistent or loses cognizance. Like traditional views on this subject, I understand spiritual death to be a principle in which the life of righteousness, virtue and right standing with God is completely severed and replaced with a love of sin, wickedness and unrighteousness; a total separation in this regard from God or from relationship with him. I do believe, though, that the immortal spirit, unless regenerated to new life, is doomed to final death and destruction in the final judgment (the second death of Revelation). In this sense, Im something of an annihilationist.
To me, the contradistinction between "flesh" and "spirit" used by Jesus, Paul and Peter refer not to separate entities (such as soul [mind] and spirit), but to two distinct principles existent [or potentially existent] within the spirit of all humans: spiritual life and death. Thus, walking "according to the spirit" to me means walking according to/in relation to that portion of the spirit which is alive in regeneration. When Paul teaches, "...walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out desires of the flesh" (Gal 5:16), he is saying that we have power by the Spirit to overcome (Rev 2 & 3) the death that still exists within. The will is largely influenced by the spiritual death that remains, such that the notion of "free" will is not possible. But to the one in whose spirit the life of Gods Spirit has been imparted, the principle of life now does battle with the principle of death. The ongoing work of sanctification, to me, is itself a process of death of the "dead" portions of the spirit ("I die daily"; 1Cor 15:31) to new life in ongoing regeneration (Jn 12:24). This death is accomplished in suffering (1Pet 4:1-2), which produces faith.
This simultaneous existence of both life and death answers logically the problems created by the view of a totally alive spirit by placing sin squarely back where it has always been -- in the spirit. The battle that takes place is thus in the spirit, the mind being merely the "processing point" and words/actions being the "output" of the will. I see the will as the product of the mind, not a separate entity. Paul pointed out that our battle is in the spiritual realm (Eph 6:12).
YOU: "I am inclined to believe that there are those that have taken the self-willed path to the spirit (the adversary's way)..."
I subscribe to the sovereign grace view of total depravity, that we are born completely "dead" and brought to life. But you make a good point, too, Nikolai, about the use of our will to chose the easier path. Since I believe all life (regeneration) is created in the midst of suffering, it seems only natural that our will, having experienced this "death" of some portion of our "spiritual death", would wish to say, "Whoa, I think I like the darkness better...it doesnt hurt so badly!" But even this leads to death in the wrath of God, which falls upon all unrighteousness (Rom 1:18). Here seems to me to be the mystery of Gods sovereignty...that our will is allowed to "do evil", but that the doing ultimately leads back to the death of "death" that we are running from in the first place. Thus, our will operates within an ever-shrinking circle of His sovereign will and mercy for us. Pretty metaphysical, huh?
YOU: "But I believe the part you would call 'dead spirit' is really the soul. I see no evidence for any death in spirit in man, but the soul that sinneth IT shall die.... The difference between soul and spirit is as fine as the difference between thoughts and intents"
I think here, well have to agree to disagree, Nikolai. Yet I bet we both also agree that theres a lot of room for interpretation, too. Ive been working on an 80,000 (and growing) word ms. on the spiritual aspect of salvation, and in researching the most common words for soul [<I>nephesh/psuche</I>], spirit [<I>ruwach/pneuma</I>] and heart [<I>leb</I> or <I>lebab/kardia</I>], have found they have many shared meaning elements in both the Greek and Aramaic which allow them the freedom to be used interchangeably where context allows. I quickly found that religious thinkers and writers from ages past to this day commonly substitute these words. The jury seems to remain pretty much "hung" to the relationship between spirit and soul. Regardless, we all recognize that death and life exist in both the ethereal and corporeal realms.
God bless you in your walk.