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We have seen that, in the progressing stage of God’s full salvation, the stage of transformation, the believers experience the dispensing of the divine Trinity corporately by entering into the kingdom of God, by living in the church, and by living in the Body of Christ. The believers experience this dispensing also by putting on the new man and by wrestling against the Devil and his spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies. With this message we shall begin to consider the believers’ experience of the dispensing of the processed Triune God in other aspects.
The believers experience the divine dispensing of the divine Trinity in various other aspects, including serving and worshipping God, working and laboring for the Lord, not loving the world, overcoming Satan, fighting the good fight, running the course of the race, being profited by all things in their circumstances and environments, having the best attitude toward others, and watching and praying. For all of these matters we surely need the dispensing of the divine Trinity. However, few Christians realize this. We need to see that in order to carry out these matters, we need God’s divine supply, which comes to us through His divine dispensing.
For all the requirements related to the believers revealed in the New Testament we need to receive the divine supply through the divine dispensing of the processed Triune God. Without this dispensing we cannot receive the supply, and without this supply we cannot fulfill the requirements mentioned in the New Testament. If we would meet what the New Testament requires of the believers, we need the divine supply, even the very essence of the Triune God.
In ourselves we cannot meet any of the divine requirements. For example, we cannot fulfill the requirement to worship God. Some may think that to worship God is easy and natural. Actually, no one can truly worship God without God’s dispensing of His element into him. We cannot render to God the worship that satisfies Him, that is accepted by Him as a real pleasure to Him, apart from the dispensing of the divine essence into our being. But through this divine dispensing we can worship God in a way that satisfies Him.
In like manner, apart from the divine dispensing of the processed Triune God, we cannot be humble or meek. The meekness required in the New Testament is much higher than that required by human teachings concerning morality, ethics, and human virtues. In society there are many teachings concerning such matters as humility, meekness, gentleness, and love. It may be easy to have these virtues in a way that is according to the natural, human concept. But to meet the requirements of humility, meekness, gentleness, and love as revealed in the New Testament is impossible by our natural being. We need another being — the being of the processed Triune God dispensed into our being and even constituted into our being. Then through this dispensing and constitution we shall be able to meet the requirements of humility, meekness, gentleness, and love as revealed in the New Testament. Therefore, it is altogether necessary for us to contact the processed Triune God that we may receive His supply through His dispensing of Himself into our being. We need to be reminded repeatedly of our need for the dispensing of the processed Triune God.
In the New Testament serving God is actually the same thing as worshipping God. You cannot serve God without worshipping Him. Neither can you worship Him without serving Him. For instance, in Matthew 4 the Lord Jesus was tempted by the Devil concerning worship. Referring to the kingdoms of the world and their glory, the Devil said to Him, “All these will I give You if You will fall down and worship me” (v. 9). The Lord Jesus answered, “It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve” (v. 10). Here we see that to worship actually means to serve. Hence, to worship God is to serve God. Without serving God we cannot render real worship to Him.
In 1 Thessalonians 1:9b Paul says that the believers at Thessalonica “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “serve” here means to serve as a slave. As used in verse 9, the word serve is all-inclusive. It includes everything we do in our daily living.
God is living because He is true, not false. Thus, in 1:9 Paul speaks of serving a living and true God. The church of the Thessalonians was made up of believers serving a living God who is true. This is also what we are doing today. The fact that we are serving a living God proves that we are in God the Father (1 Thes. 1:1). If we were not in the Father, we would not be serving a living God.
In 1:9 the word “living” is mentioned before the word “true.” It is rather easy to serve a true God; it is not so easy to serve a living God. Nevertheless, we need to serve a living God. God must be living to us and in us in our daily life. He should be living in our speech, in our behavior, and every aspect of our daily life.
By our daily life we prove that God is living. If God were not living, our daily life would be very different from what it is. Our present living is a testimony that the God whom we serve is living. He is living in us, and He controls us, directs us, and deals with us. He will not let us go. Rather, in many matters He corrects us and adjusts us. The fact that God controls us and directs us, even in such small things as our thoughts and motives, is a proof that He is living. We live under the control, direction, and correction of a living God. As believers in Christ we must live a life which bears the testimony that the God we worship and serve is living in the details of our life. The proper Christian life should bear a testimony that God is living. The reason we do not do or say certain things should be that God is living in us. The God whom we worship and serve is living not only in the heavens but also in us. We have turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. No doubt, when God is living to us in our experience, He is also true.
When we come to serve God, or worship God, we need to have a pure conscience, a conscience purified from dead works or from any kind of offense. Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” On the cross, Christ offered Himself to God in a human body, which is a matter of time. But He offered Himself through the eternal Spirit, who is of eternity, without any limit of time. Because Christ offered Himself by the eternal Spirit, His blood has an eternal efficacy to purify our conscience so that we may serve and worship the living God.
The blood of Christ purifies our conscience to serve the living God. To serve the living God requires a blood-purified conscience. To worship in dead religion or to serve any dead thing rather than God does not require our conscience to be purified. The conscience is the leading part of our spirit. The living God, whom we desire to serve, always comes to our spirit (John 4:24) by touching our conscience. He is righteous, holy, and living. Our defiled conscience needs to be purified so that we may serve Him in a living way. To worship God in our mind religiously does not require this.
Hebrews 9:14 speaks of “dead works” and “the living God.” Because we were dead (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13), whatever we did, bad or good, was dead works in the sight of the living God. The book of Hebrews does not teach religion; it reveals the living God (3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22). To touch this living God we need to exercise our spirit and to have a blood-purified conscience. The blood of Christ was shed for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28), and the new covenant was consummated with it (Heb. 10:29; Luke 22:20). It has accomplished eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19), and now it washes us from our sins (Rev. 1:5; 1 John 1:7) and purifies our conscience so that we may serve and worship the living God.
The believers serve and worship God in their spirit in the gospel of God’s Son. Paul says, “God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son” (Rom. 1:9a). The Greek word translated “serve” here means to serve in worship of God, as used in Matthew 4:10; 2 Timothy 1:3; Philippians 3:3; and Luke 2:37.
If we would serve God and worship Him, we must do this in our spirit for the preaching of the gospel. The New Testament service and worship are carried out in the preaching of the gospel. This gospel is not concerned with anything other than God’s Son. The gospel of God’s Son refers to the all-inclusive Christ. Therefore, to serve God in the gospel is to serve Him in the all-inclusive Christ. In the New Testament the gospel is simply Christ Himself. This is the reason Acts 5:42 says that the apostles were “bringing the good news of Jesus as the Christ.”
In Romans 1:9a Paul said that he served God in his spirit. This indicates that in order to preach the gospel of God’s Son, we must be in our spirit. Preaching the gospel depends on our spirit. Whenever we preach the gospel, we should exercise our spirit.
Only in the book of Romans does Paul say that he serves God in his spirit. The reason is that in Romans Paul is arguing with religious people who invariably are in something other than the spirit — in letters, forms, or doctrines. In Romans Paul indicates that whatever we do toward God must be done in our spirit, that whatever we are must be in spirit, and that whatever we have must be in spirit. In 2:29 he says that the genuine people of God must be in spirit, that true circumcision is not outward in the flesh but in the spirit. Then in 7:6 he says that we should serve God in newness of spirit. Finally, in 12:11 Paul says that we must be burning in spirit. Preaching the gospel of God is absolutely a matter of our spirit.
The gospel of God in which we serve God in our spirit is actually the subject of the book of Romans. In the very first verse of this book Paul says that as a slave of Christ and a called apostle he was “separated to the gospel of God.” This indicates that Paul’s intention in Romans is to write concerning the gospel. The entire book unfolds the gospel, the glad tidings of God, in its fullest way.
Paul refers to his Epistle to the Romans as a gospel. In 2:16 he says, “God shall judge the secrets of men according to my gospel by Jesus Christ.” Paul also believed that God would establish the saints according to his gospel: “Now to Him who is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ” (16:25). Therefore, the book of Romans may be regarded as the fifth gospel.
The gospel in the first four books of the New Testament — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — concerns Christ in the flesh as He lived among His disciples before His death and resurrection. The gospel in Romans concerns Christ as the Spirit, not Christ in the flesh. In Romans 8 we see that the Spirit of life who indwells us is simply Christ Himself. Christ is in us. The Christ in the four Gospels was among the disciples; the Christ in Romans is within us. The Christ in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is the Christ after incarnation and before death and resurrection. As such, He is a Christ outside of us. The Christ in Romans is the Christ after His resurrection. As such, He is the Christ within us. Hence, the gospel in Romans concerns Christ as the Spirit in us after His resurrection. This Christ is deeper and more subjective than the Christ in the four Gospels.
If we have only the gospel concerning Christ as revealed in the first four books of the New Testament, our gospel is too objective. We need the fifth gospel, the book of Romans, to reveal the subjective gospel of Christ. Our Christ is not merely the Christ in the flesh after incarnation and before resurrection, the Christ who was among His disciples. Our Christ is deeper and more subjective. He is the Spirit of life within us. Although John 14 and 15 reveal that Christ will be in His disciples, that was not fulfilled before His resurrection. The book of Romans is the gospel of Christ after His resurrection, revealing that He is now the subjective Savior in His believers. Therefore, this gospel is deeper and more subjective.
The gospel of God concerns God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Of course, the gospel includes forgiveness and salvation, but they are not the central point. The central point of the gospel is the very person of Christ, the Son of God. The gospel is not a doctrine nor a teaching nor a religion — it is a wonderful person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God with His divinity and His humanity.
The central message of the book of Romans is that sinful, fleshly people can be made sons of God and conformed to the image of the Son of God. In this way Christ becomes the Firstborn among many brothers (8:29). Thus, the central point of the gospel is not forgiveness of sins. It is the producing of the sons of God, many brothers of the Son of God. God desires to transform sinners in the flesh into sons of God in the spirit. If we would serve God in the gospel, we all should make this same matter our goal. We preach the gospel not simply that people may be saved or be forgiven of their sins or become spiritual, but that they may become sons of God. This is our aim. In Romans 15:16 Paul says, “That I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to the nations, ministering as a priest the gospel of God.” For Paul, the preaching of the gospel, the serving of God in the gospel of His Son, was a priestly ministry, a priestly service. As believers, we all should serve God in such a priestly way in the gospel of His Son.
If we would serve God in the proper way, we need to serve Him in the gospel. To do this, we first need to know what the gospel is, and then we need to experience all that the gospel includes. We also need to learn how to minister the gospel to others, that is, how to function as priests in ministering the gospel of God. Whenever we contact anyone, whether a believer or an unbeliever, we need to know his need as far as the gospel is concerned. If a person is not clear about salvation, we should help him to be clear and even joyful in God’s salvation. We need to serve him with the gospel. Others may be clear about salvation but not about other aspects of the gospel. Thus, we must minister something to meet their needs.
The crucial point in serving God in our spirit in the gospel of His Son is that we minister Christ to others in the gospel. For this, we need to learn the elements and details of the gospel, we need to experience the full content of the gospel, and we need to exercise our spirit. This is to serve God in our spirit in the gospel of God’s Son.
The believers not only serve God in their spirit but also serve Him by the Spirit of God. In Philippians 3:3a Paul says, “We are the circumcision, who serve by the Spirit of God.” Literally, the Greek word translated “serve” means to serve as priests. All New Testament believers are priests to God (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6). Hence, our ministry to the Lord, in whatever aspect, is a priestly ministry, a priestly service. As priests, we must serve God and worship Him in our spirit and by His Spirit. Whenever we get into our spirit, we also get into the Spirit of God. Likewise, when we worship God by the Spirit of God, we also worship Him in our spirit.
Philippians 3:3a indicates that the only acceptable service and worship we can render to God is not by the flesh but by the Spirit of God. The Spirit is the means for the believers to serve and worship God. The Judaic worship and service, on the contrary, involve the flesh and the various regulations related to it. Such regulations include the dietary laws, the keeping of the Sabbath, and circumcision. The service and worship rendered to God by the Judaizers in the flesh cannot be acceptable to God. As New Testament believers, we serve and worship God in our spirit by the Spirit of God. We are the circumcision, for we have been genuinely circumcised by Christ’s crucifixion. Whereas the Judaizers serve by ordinances of law related to the flesh, we serve by the Spirit of God.
The believers serve and worship God in spirit and truth. “An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and reality; for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and reality” (John 4:23-24). In typology the worship of God should be in the place chosen by God to set His habitation there (Deut. 12:5, 11, 13-14, 18) and with the offerings (Lev. 1—6). The place chosen by God for His habitation typifies the human spirit, where God’s habitation is today (Eph. 2:22). The offerings typify Christ. Christ is the fulfillment and reality of all the offerings with which God’s people in the Old Testament worship Him. Hence, the Lord’s word in John 4:23 and 24 about worshipping God the Spirit in spirit and reality means that we should contact God the Spirit in our spirit, instead of in a specific place, and through Christ, instead of with the offerings, for now, because Christ the reality has come, all the shadows and types are over. God is Spirit, and worshipping God is to contact Him. Contacting Him is not a matter of place but a matter of the human spirit.
In John 4:23 the Lord Jesus said, “An hour is coming, and now is.” This means that the age has changed. In the past, according to the law of Moses, God ordained that His people worship Him at a specific place where He would establish His habitation with His name (Deut. 12:5). God’s worshippers had to go to that unique place. That was a type. Now the age has been changed, and the type has been fulfilled. Typically speaking, the place of worship should no longer be a place; rather, it must be the human spirit, where God will set up His habitation with His name.
A crucial matter we need to see is that genuine worship, the worship God the Father is seeking, is not in a certain place but in the human spirit. In the Old Testament Mount Zion, the place of God’s habitation and the place of His name, was a type of the human spirit. According to the New Testament, God’s habitation is not on any mountain, nor even in the heavens. God’s habitation is in our spirit. Actually, our spirit is both God’s habitation and the place of God’s name. If we go elsewhere to worship God, this indicates that we have given up God’s name. There is only one place where we can be preserved in God’s name, and that place is our spirit. When we come to our spirit, we keep God’s name and we are preserved in His name. The genuine worship of the Father, the worship He desires, is the worship of Him in our spirit.
The genuine worship of God the Father is also in reality. In the Old Testament the children of Israel were required to worship God on Mount Zion with the offerings. The offerings typify Christ as reality. Christ is the fulfillment and the reality of all the offerings with which God’s people worshipped God. Christ is the genuine sin offering, trespass offering, burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering. Today we worship God in our spirit with Christ as the reality of all the offerings.
Finally, in serving and worshipping God the believers should have no confidence in their flesh. Paul says that those who serve by the Spirit of God “have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3b). The flesh here comprises all that we are and have in our natural being. The fact that the Judaizers had confidence in their circumcision was a sign that their confidence was in their flesh. They trusted in their natural qualities and qualifications, not in the Spirit. By contrast, Paul says strongly that we who believe in Christ serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
We may think that to trust in the flesh simply means to trust in the fallen human nature. But this is actually not the meaning of “flesh” in Philippians 3:3b. After saying that we should not have any confidence in the flesh, Paul goes on to say that he was circumcised on the eighth day, that he was of the race of Israel, that he was of the tribe of Benjamin, that he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, that according to the law he was a Pharisee, that according to zeal he persecuted the church, and that according to the righteousness of the law he was blameless. All these things were aspects of Paul’s flesh. However, we may think that the flesh includes only evil things but not good things. Nevertheless, the honorable, lovable, and superior aspects of our natural being are still the flesh. Everything Paul did according to the law and according to zeal was flesh and of the flesh. Even his righteousness according to the law was flesh. All the characteristics listed by Paul in Philippians 3:4-6 are aspects of the flesh because they are all natural and are neither of Christ nor of the Spirit of God. Anything natural, whether it is good or evil, is the flesh. The Judaizers trusted in their flesh, trusting in what they were by their natural birth. But as believers in Christ we should not trust in anything we have by our natural birth, for everything of our natural birth is part of the flesh. In order to render genuine service and worship to God, everything we do must be by the Spirit of God, in Christ, and with no trust in the flesh.
Although we are not Judaizers, in principle we may actually be the same as the Judaizers were. Even though we have been regenerated, we may continue to live in our fallen nature, boast in what we do in the flesh, and have confidence in our natural qualifications. Therefore, it is important that we be deeply and personally touched by these verses in Philippians 3. We need the Lord’s light to shine on us concerning our nature, our deeds, and our confidence in the flesh. If we are enlightened by the Lord, we shall confess that although we have been regenerated to become children of God with the divine life and nature, we still live too much in the flesh. One day, when the light shines on you concerning this, you will want to prostrate yourself before the Lord and confess how unclean your nature is. Then you will condemn everything you do by your fallen nature. You will see that in the eyes of God whatever is done in the fallen nature is evil and worthy of condemnation. Formerly, we boasted in our deeds and qualifications. But the time will come when instead of boasting in the flesh with its qualifications, we shall condemn it. Then we shall boast in Christ alone, realizing that in ourselves we have absolutely no ground for boasting.
Only when we have been enlightened by God shall we be able to say truly that we have no trust in our natural qualifications, ability, or intelligence. Only then shall we be able to testify that our confidence is wholly in the Lord. After we are enlightened in this way, we shall truly serve and worship God in our spirit and by the Spirit.
