God is sovereign, and may accomplish his purposes through whomever he chooses, often including men and women whose actions are not consistently in harmony with his Spirit. That is to say, there is a vast difference between being used by the Holy Spirit of God from time to time and being a spiritual person. Obviously, the second state is preferable to the first by orders of magnitude, and the Christian who aspires to anything less than being a spiritual person is selling him- or herself short.
The writers of the New Testament use the adjective “spiritual” in a couple of slightly different senses.
Spiritual in Origin and Energy
The first sense is obvious and common. A spiritual gift is a gift given and empowered for use by the Holy Spirit. The gift itself is spiritual in terms of its origin and energy, but the presence of such gift tells us nothing about the spiritual state of the person using it. The Christians in Corinth were “not lacking in any gift”, yet Paul says to them, “I could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.”
He uses the word in a similar sense in Ephesians, where he refers to “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. Again, in this sense the adjective “spiritual” has nothing to do with desirability, morality or maturity. Quite the opposite, in fact. He is saying these evil forces originate in and draw their power from the spirit realm. They are “spiritual” only in contrast to the material or physical.
Spiritual in Character
A “spiritual person” is something quite different. When used in this second sense, “spiritual” is the opposite of “carnal”, “fleshly” or “material”, a contrast Paul draws repeatedly. It’s the opposite of “natural”. Paul also contrasts this sort of spirituality with infancy. Spirituality of this sort implies a mature faith acting on its convictions. A “spiritual person” in this sense is under the consistent control of the Holy Spirit, not merely wielding a tool the Spirit has provided. It is this second use of the adjective to which every believer ought to aspire.
We can see that the differences between the two kinds of “spiritual” go well beyond whether the empowerment or insight the Holy Spirit provides is short- or long-term. The second type of spirituality is not just characteristic, but also Christ-like. It has a transformative moral component absent from the first type.
Temporary Empowerment or Insight
So then, the Holy Spirit may temporarily empower or enlighten men or women who are not spiritual persons. It’s quite possible they may not even be regenerate. We can find several Old Testament examples of this sort of occasional enablement for a specific purpose that did no long-term good for the men the Spirit enabled.
The Spirit of God “came upon Balaam”, who was assuredly not a man of faith. Jude puts Balaam the prophet in the company of Korah the rebel and Cain the murderer, and uses the three men as prototypes of the sort of false teacher for whom “the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever”. I think we can safely count him out of the ranks of the redeemed.
I won’t spend a lot of time on Samson, upon whom the Spirit of God came “mightily” and repeatedly. Perhaps we may meet him in heaven, suitably chastened; I cannot speculate. Although powerfully used by God, Samson displayed no consistent evidence of saving faith.
Saul, on the other hand, was a man the Spirit of God “rushed upon”, yet he later ordered the murder of eighty-five priests of the Lord. Saul was filled with courage for war, and used by the Spirit of God to fulfil his purposes, but derived no personal long-term benefit from this association. He prophesied on occasion as well, but his spiritual unsuitability for such a role was notable to all who saw him. The saying “Is Saul also among the prophets?” amounts to the Hebrew equivalent of “When pigs have wings!” or “You gotta be kidding me!” Certainly, nothing of the second sense of “spiritual” characterized Saul’s later years. I don’t have high hopes of spending eternity with such a man.
Sharing in the Holy Spirit
When we have learned to distinguish between “spiritual” in these first and second senses, we will have less of an issue with Hebrews 6:4-6, which speaks of those who have “shared in the Holy Spirit” and then fallen away. Of such it is said that it is impossible to restore them again to repentance. So long as we recognize that those Hebrews who fell away experienced the Spirit in only the first sense, we are unlikely to try to use them to falsify the doctrine of eternal security.
Like Balaam and Saul, these Hebrews too were literally “made to participate” in displays of spiritual power. Sadly, they were not spiritual persons.
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