The Apostle Paul uses the phrase “natural man” in 1 Corinthians 2:14 to describe people who do not have the Spirit of God dwelling within them. In this verse, Paul writes:
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV)
So when Paul refers to the “natural man,” he is talking about someone who has not been born again by the Spirit of God. This person lives life relying solely on their natural human abilities and reasoning, apart from the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Let’s explore in more detail what Paul means by this phrase and what he is seeking to communicate about the natural man’s spiritual condition and capabilities.
The Natural Man is Unregenerate
The most foundational truth about the natural man is that he is unregenerate. This means he has not been born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ (John 3:3-8). Everyone starts out life as a natural man, spiritually dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). But when someone repents and believes the gospel, he is born again and transitions from being a natural man to a spiritual man (1 Corinthians 2:15).
Paul is clear in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that the natural man is completely devoid of the Spirit of God. He does not have spiritual life within him, so he cannot resonate with or understand spiritual truth. As Jesus said, unless one is “born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The natural man’s fundamental problem is that he is spiritually dead in his trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).
The Natural Man Cannot Understand Spiritual Things
Because the natural man does not have the Spirit of God living inside him, teaching and illuminating his mind, he finds spiritual truth absurd and nonsense. Paul says “the things of the Spirit of God” are complete “folly” to him. He is essentially spiritually blind to the truth and beauty of the gospel.
Just as a physically blind man cannot appreciate a gorgeous painting, the natural man cannot grasp the wonder and glory of who God is and what Christ has done in saving sinners. He may be able to intellectually understand the facts of the gospel, but its true significance utterly escapes him. He lacks the spiritual capacity to cherish the things of God in his heart. As Paul says, the natural man “is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
The Natural Man Relies on Human Wisdom
Since the natural man does not have access to God’s wisdom through the indwelling Holy Spirit, he must rely entirely on human wisdom and reasoning. But human wisdom falls infinitely short of grasping divine truth. Paul wrote earlier in 1 Corinthians 1:20-21, 25:
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Even the most brilliant natural man cannot come close to plumbing the depths of God’s truth. His best theories and philosophies are nonsense compared to the divine revelation given to those in Christ.
The Natural Man Cannot Please God
In Romans 8:7-8 Paul further elaborates on the capabilities of the natural man:
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
The natural man, relying on his fleshly nature rather than the Spirit, finds himself in active hostility toward God. He refuses to humbly submit himself to God’s commands. And because of this defiant stance, the natural man is incapable of pleasing God through his actions. Even his most righteous deeds are corrupted by the fundamental rebellion of his unregenerate heart. He desperately needs the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit to find acceptance with God.
The Natural Man is Dead in Sin
In Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul provides a sobering summary of the natural man’s lost condition apart from Christ:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
Using the vivid image of spiritual death, Paul reinforces that the natural man is completely cut off from God and under His judgment. There is no spark of life in him that simply needs to be fanned into flame. He is dead and totally dependent on God for resurrection life.
The Natural Man Can Be Saved by Grace
The bleak picture Paul paints of the natural man is not meant to convey hopelessness. After all, every Christian was once a natural man before coming to faith in Christ. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
By God’s grace and regenerating power, the natural man can be born again and transferred from spiritual death into new life in Christ (John 5:24). When this happens, the natural man dies, and the spiritual man comes alive. Paul longed for this to happen to his fellow Jews who were still stuck in spiritual darkness:
“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1)
In Summary
When Paul speaks of the “natural man,” he is describing humanity in their natural state apart from the saving grace of God in Christ. The natural man is:
– Unregenerate – he has not been born again by the Spirit
– Unable to understand spiritual truth – it seems like folly to him
– Dependent on human wisdom which falls infinitely short of God’s truth
– Hostile to God and unable to please Him
– Dead in sin and destined for wrath
– In desperate need of God’s mercy and regenerating power to receive spiritual life
The natural man has no power in himself to change his condition. But by God’s sovereign grace, he can be born again and brought into a saving relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. This spiritual rebirth is necessary to become a new creation equipped to thrive in God’s kingdom.
So in summary, the natural man apart from Christ is lost, blind and condemned. But by God’s grace, the natural man can transition to a spiritual man with new life in Christ and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is the hope held out to all those who put their faith in Jesus and his finished work on the cross. As John Newton’s famous hymn “Amazing Grace” celebrates, “I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see.” By God’s grace, the natural man can be transformed into a spiritual man. This is the good news offered to all people in the gospel.