We are therefore dealing with two powers in the universe which operate in different ways and on different parts of man. Nee summarizes this as follows:

"The Holy Spirit works in our spirit; but the evil spirit operates on our soul. Satan can only operate in the soul and by the power of the soul. Satan has no way to commence his work in man's spirit; his working is restricted to the soul. What he has been doing for the past five or six thousand years he is presently doing and will continue to do in the future. Why is it that Satan seems to be omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient as God? For no other reason than what he is able to do with man's soul power. We may say that while the Holy Spirit is the power of God, man's soul appears to be the power of Satan."

It is very clear, therefore, Satan gets less credit for he creates nothing on his own, rather borrowing or stealing that which is not and was never his.

"All who serve the Lord ought to pay special attention to this point, otherwise they will get carried away by miraculous powers while trying to help people. Let me reiterate the difference between soul and spirit: Adam's fallen soul belongs to the old creation; but the regenerated spirit is the new creation. God works with man's spirit, for this is his regenerated life, his new creation. Satan, on the other hand, builds with man's soul - that is, the fallen soul in Adam. He can only use the old creation because the regenerated life in the new creation does not sin."

And God has no use for the power of the old created soul. This is important because as we draw to the end of times, we may understand why in Revelations 18:11-13, the souls of men are listed as things which can be traded by merchants - because of the harnessing of soul power in this day and age. It is important because miracles wrought by this power, counterfeit miracles wrought by the Soul - that even the elect shall come close to being deceived.

First created on 3 February 2000 Last updated on 3 February 2000

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