Schreiner: the person without the Spirit

The impotence of human beings with regard to spiritual reality is communicated in a variety of ways by Paul. The natural person—that is, the person without the Spirit—does not welcome the truths of the Spirit and indeed has no capacity for such understanding (1 Cor. 2:14). The unregenerate push the truth of the gospel away from themselves, for they find their pleasure in evil rather than in embracing the truth (2 Thess. 2:10–12).

Unbeknownst to them, Satan is their god, and he has spun a veil over the minds of unbelievers so that they fail to see the beauty of Christ (2 Cor. 4:3–4; cf. 3:14). They have been snared by the devil, and he holds them as prisoners, so they invariably do his will (2 Tim. 2:26) even as they trumpet their own freedom.

The state of unbelievers is spiritual death, and the consequence of that death is sin (Eph. 2:1, 5; cf. Rom. 5:12). Unbelievers live under the thrall of the world, the devil, and the flesh (Eph. 2:1–3). We could say that the captivity is sociological, spiritual, and psychological.

It is sociological in that unbelievers follow the dictates and fashions of the world. It is spiritual in that the devil works in their hearts to bring about disobedience. It is psychological in that the unregenerate follow the desires of the flesh. Unbelievers, whenever possible, follow the desires of their hearts, and yet this so-called freedom to indulge in desires is nothing other than slavery.

Schreiner, T. R. (2008). New Testament theology: magnifying God in Christ (pp. 535–536). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

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