PCT & RTP

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The Natural Man, the Spiritual Man, and the Carnal Man

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The Old-Man vs. The New-Man

This chapter will relate PCT and RTP to the biblical concepts of the natural man, the spiritual man, and the carnal man. It will also relate PCT and RTP to the biblical concepts of the old-man and new-man.

First, let’s establish the biblical fact that God’s thoughts and man’s thoughts are not the same; and God’s ways are not the same as man’s ways. This can be accomplished by reading Isaiah 55:8-9.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NAS) reads: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For {as} the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

An expanded and interpretive rendering of this same passage would read: "For My thoughts [God thoughts; we will call them divine viewpoint] are not your thoughts [natural man’s thoughts; we will call them human viewpoint], Nor are your ways [natural man’s intentions for himself] My ways [God’s intentions for man]," declares the LORD [God the Father who is the Author of the decrees]. For {as} the heavens [earth’s atmosphere, stellar space, throne room of God] are higher than the earth, So are My ways [God’s intentions for man] higher than your ways [natural man’s intentions for himself] And My thoughts [God’s thoughts; we are calling them divine viewpoint] than your thoughts [natural man’s thoughts; we are calling them human viewpoint].” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

This passage makes it clear. God’s thinking and God’s ways are not the same as man’s thinking and man’s ways.

Now, when God looks at the human race he sees three categories of persons: the natural man, the spiritual man, and the carnal man. (1 Corinthians 2:14, 15; 3:1) The natural man is man as he is born into the human race--totally depraved, separated from God in spiritual death, and totally dominated by the old-man whose thinking is completely human viewpoint. In the “big picture” of human history, this is man’s worst case scenario. If he dies physically in this condition, the spiritual consequence is that he goes to hell to await his own resurrection at the end of the millennium—the last 1,000 years of human history. He will then face Jesus Christ as Judge of the Supreme Court of Heaven, at the Great White Thorne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), and he will be cast into the lake of fire—forever separated from the Triune Godhead with no possibility of reconciliation.

The spiritual man is the born-again Christian who lives his life from the source of his new-man. He is the born-again Christian whose sins are confessed up-to-date (1 John 1:9); he is yielded to God the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:13) who indwells his human spirit; he is applying pertinent truth

(divine viewpoint) that is resident in his soul to every life situation. In the “big picture” of human history, this is man’s best case scenario. When he dies physically, he is transported immediately into heaven to await the bema seat judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 2:11-15) at which time he, too, will face Jesus Christ as the Judge of the Supreme Court of Heaven. At this judgment, the spiritual man will have his Christian works (deeds) evaluated—those accomplished from the moment he was saved until the moment of his physical death. The bema seat judgment distinguishes between works (deeds) the source of which is either the old-man or the new-man. The works of the old-man are referred to as human good, and the works of the new-man are referred to as divine good. The spiritual man will be rewarded according the divine good that he produced, and he will suffer the loss of reward for the human good produced during that same period of time.

The carnal man is the born-again Christian who lives his life from the source of his old-man, just like he did before he was saved spiritually. The old-man is the source from which every newly born-again Christian begins his pilgrimage. However, he can and should learn to operate from the source of his new-man. If he dies physically while in the state of carnality, he still goes to heaven immediately, but he will face the reality that his post-salvation lifestyle that approximated his pre-salvation lifestyle. He, too, will face Jesus Christ as the Judge of the Supreme Court of Heaven at the bema seat. There, the carnal man will have his Christian works (deeds) evaluated—those accomplished from the moment he was saved until the moment of his physical death. The bema seat judgment will again distinguish between works (deeds), the source of which is either the old-man or the new-man. The works of the old-man are still referred to as human good, and the works of the new-man are still referred to as divine good. The carnal man will be rewarded for any divine good that he might have produced. He will surely suffer the loss of reward for all human good that he produced during that same period of time. In the “big picture” of human history, this is man’s second best case scenario—The good news is that he goes to heaven when he dies. The bad news is that he suffers loss of reward at the bema seat judgment.

Implied above is the fact that every born-again Christian has two persons living inside him—the old-man and the new-man. The old-man is the product of freely yielding one’s volition to the influence of his old-sin-nature. The new-man is the product of freely yielding one’s own volition to the indwelling Holy Spirit. Both the old-man and the new-man have a way of thinking. The old-man thinks human viewpoint and the new-man thinks divine viewpoint. The old-man thinking is programmed into the human soul from the moment of physical birth, and new-man thinking is programmed into the human soul from the moment of spiritual birth. Until spiritual salvation occurs through faith alone in Christ alone, the natural man is dominated by his old-man and human viewpoint thinking. The carnal man, like the natural man, is also dominated by his old-man and human viewpoint thinking. This accounts for the speculations and uncertainties of life in both the natural man and the carnal man. Why? Because the old-man that dominates them both does not have the capacity to understand the spiritual truths that address the speculations and uncertainties of life. “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) Since the carnal man functions from the same source as the natural man, neither have the capacity to understand spiritual phenomena. How does all this relate to PCT and RTP?

In PCT, the highest level of perception is called the “system concept level.” At this level a human being forms his beliefs, his values, his goals, and determines the type of person he wants to be. Since the old-man has a way of thinking, he establishes a set of beliefs and values that biblically classify him as an atheist, an agnostic, or religious (any form of religion). He cannot be classified as spiritual because the old-man, by divine decree, is incapable of producing the spiritual man. Whether he is an atheist, an agnostic, or a religious man, he is capable only of human viewpoint thinking. His I.Q. has no limits. His acts of humanitarianism and altruistic values know no limits. Yet, he is bound to his old-man and human viewpoint thinking. Herein lies the man about which Holy Scriptures say, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) The end of the atheist, or agnostic, or religious man is eternal separation from the triune Godhead. Their final destination is called the lake of fire. Eternal separation from God is called the “second death.” Consistent with PCT, every human being is the captain of his own ship. Consistent with Holy Scripture, when the captain freely chooses throughout his lifetime to ignore and reject Jesus Christ as his Savior, the divinely decreed consequence is that his name is blotted out of the Lambs Book of Life, and then he is condemned to a location known as the eternal lake of fire. “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14-15) There is no deliverance from the lake of fire. This is biblical fact, and no rationalization will change the absoluteness of God’s decree. Frequently, old-man influence argues that a loving God, if He exists at all, would not act in this unloving manner. This manifests a basic flaw in both the natural man and the carnal man’s thinking. They lack a biblical understanding of why man exists in the first place. They do not understand their relationship to “the big picture” of God’s purpose for human history

RTP, using PCT as a basis, is a method of teaching others how to look within themselves, decide the way they want to be, and how to restructure their own lives so they can get what they want while respecting the rights of others. Let’s amplify this statement.

RTP, using PCT as a basis, is a method of teaching [not controlling] others [human beings] how to look [consider, evaluate their own scale of values, beliefs, goals] within themselves [within the mentality of their soul where information is stored], decide [an act of volition, acting for themselves free from the control of others] the way [God’s way or man’s way] they [as free moral agents] want to be [right, wrong, or otherwise], and how [mechanically] to restructure [by changing their want or by developing an alternative action] their own lives [because their current behavior is disrupting the environment where they are] so they [as captains of their own ship] can get what they want [not what others want for them] while respecting the rights of others [permitting others to achieve their own goals without disruption].

It really doesn’t make any difference whether a person is a natural man, spiritual man, or carnal man; in any environment managed by the RTP process, all three men are expected to respect the rights of others who are operating in that same environment. None are exempt from the RTP process should they create a disruption in their environment.

PCT says, “You’re free to self-control.” RTP says, “If you abuse your freedom, I have the process by which you can correct your problem.”