The Three Spiritual Levels of Man

The Three Spiritual Levels of Man
By Tommy Franks

In the Church and in ministry, it is important to understand the different levels of spiritual maturity in people. First, let us look at the natural man.

The Natural Man is: The unspiritual, physical man without eternal life (1 Cor.2:14). He knows nothing about the things of God. He has never been recreated or regenerated. His mind has not been renewed. He is sensual and spiritually dead...without God, without hope. He is controlled by his appetites, his flesh, and senses. He has no legal standing with God. Unless he accepts Jesus Christ, he will be eternally separated from God in a place called hell. "But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor.2:14).

The Carnal Man is: A babe in Christ. He is a born again Christian who is undeveloped and primarily controlled by his five senses...and not the Spirit of God. He is selfish, sensitive, easily hurt, often jealous, and spiritually weak (Eph.4:14, Heb.5:11-14). The carnal man has a tough time chewing and digesting solid food. Look at the following Scriptures:

“I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you've picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong” (Hebrews 5:11-14, The Message).

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection (completion); not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit” (Hebrews 6:1-3).

The Spiritual Man is: The Believer who has taken advantage of his rights in Christ and has grown to the point where he can bear fruit to the glory of God. He appreciates and understands his righteousness in Christ. He knows that knowledge adds responsibility. He knows His God is able and that he has been given the ability of God to carry out the mission. The spiritual man has drunk deeply at the fountain of God and has eaten regularly at the Master's table. He is saturated with love. He has come to know the reality of the Father, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the intimacy of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.2:12). The Word has gained the ascendancy over his mind, body, and soul. He knows about his inheritance, estate, endowment, legacy, and his Divine Destiny (Col.1:12-17). The spiritual man is longer a babe in Christ. He is a full grown man identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Col.2:6-15). Read the following:

Col 2:6-7 “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Col 2:10, 12 “And you are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power: Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead.”