NOW God shall be glorified in His handiwork, fitting
it so as to be conformable to, and modelled after, His own Son. For by
the hands of the Father, that is, by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man,
and not [merely] a part of man, was made in the likeness of God. Now the
soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not
the man; for the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union
of the soul receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of that
fleshly nature which was moulded after the image of God. For this reason
does the apostle declare, "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect,"
terming those persons "perfect" who have received the Spirit of God, and
who through the Spirit of God do speak in all languages, as he used Himself
also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church,
who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds
of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things
of men, and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms "spiritual,"
they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit, and not because
their flesh has been stripped off and taken away, and because they have
become purely spiritual. For if any one take away the substance of flesh,
that is, of the handiwork [of God], and understand that which is purely
spiritual, such then would not be a spiritual man but would be the spirit
of a man, or the Spirit of God. But when the spirit here blended with the
soul is united to [God's] handiwork, the man is rendered spiritual and
perfect because of the outpouring of the Spirit, and this is he who was
made in the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit be wanting to
the soul, he who is such is indeed of an animal nature, and being left
carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing indeed the image [of God]
in his formation (in plasmate), but not receiving the similitude through
the Spirit; and thus is this being imperfect.
