The following model was developed by me about 25 years ago. In time I have come to realize that it is the right explanation and the early Christian Fathers have presented them in the same spirit, though in different terminology.
A direct statement on these three forces or beings are given in 1
Corinthians as below:
1Cor.
2:10-12 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all
things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a
man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the
thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit
of this world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the
gifts bestowed on us by God.
These
verses in Paul's analysis of man in the world gives us three distinct spirits
that exist in the spiritual universe of existence. We are now talking about the
spiritual dimension where the real action is. Paul obviously applies this to man
1.
The Spirit who is from God, (Holy Spirit ,Spirit of God)
John
4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in
truth."
We
have seen earlier that one of the Trinity is Holy spirit. God gives this Holy
spirit into the hearts of those who believe in him. It is this presence that make a being a
Son of God. Adam was the son of
God. In the creation of man God
breathed into the matter his spirit and Adam
became a living being. Eve was
separated from Adam and hence shared this spirit and through Adam all mankind
shares this and are sons of God.
2.
The Spirit of Person (Ego – Self Will)
Since
man was created in the image of God he
was also given a free spirit. God created
the spirit of man within him. It is a force that gives man his direction,
purpose and power. Spirit of man is the life giving spirit within man, it
controls him. It is totally free to choose. This is the Free Will of the being.
Prov.
18:14 A man's spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can
bear?
Isa.
57:16 the spirit of man would grow faint before me-- the breath of man that I
have created.
1Cor.
2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit
within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit
of God.
This
spirit can be weak, strong or faint. It has variable strength depending on the
growth of the person. Each person is a vector in with magnitude and direction
in the plane of existence.
The
fundamental immutable reality is God. Hence man must be compared and related
with God. Sin and righteousness is definable only in terms of God. It has no
other meaning possible. Evil was not created, because a good God cannot create
evil. Evil is definable only in terms of a moral beings direction with respect
to God. That is what we have done in this vector definition. This property we
call Righteousness. It is the same concept as Yetser Hatov. Negative righteousness is then evil which is
Yetser Hara. In this universe each
being is either righteous or evil in charge. The charge of the nonliving is
zero because it doesn't have a spirit. A living being can have a charge zero if
it does not have a component in the direction of God. He is neither good nor
bad.
2Pet.
1:4 the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
James
4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is
hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an
enemy of God.
1John
2:15 -16 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world --the
cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has
and does --comes not from the Father but from the world.
Thus in relation to God every
conscious Son of God have two
components. One in Consonance with God
which is the Yetser Htom and the other which is totally free which is determined
entirely by the individual. Since God can be defined only as Love we can denote
God by a Positive Sign indicating the source of all Goodness and Love. It is this component that decides his
character in terms of righteous and Likeness of God. We denote love and righteousness as a positive charge. Negative components make an unrighteous
person the measure of man’s lack of love and selfishness. This
is denoted as negative charge. The magnitude of these are denoted by the
length of the vector. This Personal
component is decisive and makes the difference between righteousness and
unrighteousness; or measure of his likeness with the father.