Who is the inner-man?

[mel35215]

In Paul's prayer (Eph.3:16) he ask God to strengthened with might through His Spirit the inner-man. My question, when Paul refers to the inner-man what does he mean? :confused:

[Serapha]

Hi there!

:wave:

It is "eso", the Greek word for inner meaning the inner man or the soul. When one is born again, the spirit is born in the man. That spirit is the ability to communicate with God. To understand "soul" in Greek, one needs to understand "soul" in Hebrew.

The soul is the will, the intellect, emotions, thoughts, decision-making ability, or discernment. There is not a definite translation for the word soul/spirit from Hebrew to Greek, or Hebrew to English, or Greek to English. Soul and spirit are very unique and hard to understand concepts of a word. Generally speaking the spirit is the highter, the soul the lower element.


The Hebrew contrasts two other concepts which are not found in the Greek and Latin tradition: "the inner self" and "the outer appearance" or, as viewed in a different context, "what one is to oneself" as opposed to "what one appears to be to one's observers."

In your passage, perhaps a good rendering is the strength to serve God, through the Spirit, or communications with God, the soul is strengthened.


I hope this helps in your understanding.

~malaka~

[seangoh]

I think i've got a different understanding of it.
"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;" Eph 3:16

Strengthened with might. The might that strengthens is the power of God. The power is conveyed through the operation of the Holy Spirit. The same power that converts men must continue in them if there is to be Christian growth. Here is where many Christians fail. They do not recognize that spiritual endurance requires as much of the grace of God as did the initial conversion. As the physical strength is increased by food and the intellectual life by thought, so the spiritual life is sustained by the immediate presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
In the inner man. The Greek suggests power entering into and remaining there. The vital spiritual powers within a man have not sprung from his own nature; he has nothing of his own to offer, nothing of his own of which to boast.