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Scripture Reading: Heb. 8:10-11; Rom. 6:14; 1 Cor. 9:21, 26-27; James 1:25; 2:12; 2 Tim. 1:7; 4:22
In the previous chapter we learned the definitions of the terms God’s economy and godliness. We need to review the definitions of these terms not only in church meetings but also in smaller times of fellowship and even in family conversations. Such spontaneous fellowship will be a great help to us. We should not think that it is enough to hear or read a message one time. We first need to study the content of the message; then the Spirit will bring us into the experience of the message. The Lord has given us much new light in His recovery. Because the teachings in the Lord’s recovery are not ordinary shallow Christian teachings, we need to pay our full attention to them in order to fully understand and experience them. We need to be bathed in all the terms and healthy teachings in the Lord’s recovery by making them the topic of our daily conversations. Rather than talking about low, worthless things, we should speak to one another about what we have read in the Life-study messages and other ministry books. This will enrich our Christian life and uplift the standard of the Lord’s testimony among us.
Chapter 3 of this book is entitled “The Lord’s Recovery Being the Recovery of Christ.” In the Lord’s recovery we do not have various ways, activities, organizations, or dissenting, divisive teachings and doctrines; rather, we have only Christ. These words may be easy to understand and repeat, but we need to be able to illustrate what it means practically that the Lord’s recovery is nothing but Christ. We need to spend time to enter into these matters.
Chapter 2 concerns the content of the word and the Spirit. The content of both the word of God in the Bible and the Spirit is Christ, His death, and His resurrection. We should be able to explain that all the words in the Bible either cross us out with Christ’s death or enliven us with His resurrection. Therefore, the word is our spiritual food that contains all the elements needed to kill the germs in our body and to supply us with life and strength. Every time we take the word of the Bible into us, we receive Christ, His death, and His resurrection. Then the word works within us, killing us and strengthening us.
We all need to fellowship about all these matters. Although these chapters are in simple words, they are quite profound and rich. As we fellowship concerning these matters, the Holy Spirit will work to bring us into the depths of all these truths. Then these truths will gradually be wrought into our being. These truths are rich food. Every time we read these chapters, we will receive something new, fresh, and refreshing because they contain the deep truths from the Word of God. Therefore, we need to fellowship concerning these matters until we fully enter into them and they are wrought into our being.
Romans 6:14 says, “You are not under the law but under grace.” This verse does not mean that we are fully liberated to do anything we want; grace does not make us lawless. The law referred to in this verse is the Old Testament law, the law given through Moses. Although we certainly are not under that law today, this does not mean that God has no law toward us. God is not a lawless God. In the New Testament God has imparted His law upon our hearts (Heb. 10:16). In the Old Testament it may have been possible to disregard the Ten Commandments, which were written on tablets of stone, but today God’s law has been written into our hearts. We cannot disregard this subjective law within us. Furthermore, the law of the New Testament is stricter than the law of Moses. What God does is always advancing and going higher. Romans 6:14 does not mean that today we are not under any law; rather, it means that we are not under the Old Testament law, the objective law written on tablets of stone. Today we are under a law that is stricter and more subjective to us; it is written upon our hearts.
The Old Testament law, the law given through Moses, was a law of bondage (Gal. 5:1). Because we are not able to keep the Old Testament law, we are bound by it. The law says, “You shall not covet” (Exo. 20:17a). A missionary in China once preached the gospel to his cook, explaining that all people are sinners and need salvation. However, the cook resisted, claiming that he was a good man who never sinned. The missionary wisely did not argue with the cook but instead began to talk about a fine horse that the missionary owned. The cook immediately began to think about the missionary’s horse and how he could obtain it. The next day, when the missionary spoke again to the cook concerning all men needing salvation, the cook again claimed to be a good man who never sinned. The missionary then asked what the cook had been thinking about since their previous conversation. The cook admitted that he had been thinking about the missionary’s horse and how to obtain it. The missionary pointed out that this was covetousness and was a sin, and the cook was convicted.
Because no one can keep the Old Testament law, it is the law of bondage. Because the New Testament law, which is written upon our hearts, frees us, it is a law of freedom. Romans 8:2a says, “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus.” Today we are under the law of freedom, not under the law of bondage. The law of freedom is written not on stone but upon our hearts. Many saints have testified that as they were going to an ungodly place, although they were outwardly claiming to be liberated, something bothered them within. This inward feeling, sensation, or consciousness is the function of the law written upon our hearts. This shows that we are indeed under a law. Regardless of how much we believers may declare that we have been liberated, there is always a living law within us. Whenever we do something that offends God, this living law within rebukes us. Although we are always under the inner law, if we obey this law, it immediately frees us.
Many people are under the bondage of movies. A young brother may lie to his mother, telling her that he is going to the library when he is actually going to a movie theater. After returning home, the young brother may lie again when his mother asks about what he studied. By telling two lies, both of which will be judged by God, this young brother has shown that he is bound by movies. However, the law written in our hearts can free us from such bondage. This law frees us by troubling us. Before being saved, a young man may have felt fine and even proud after deceiving his mother in such a way. After being saved, however, something within will bother him both about going to a movie and about lying to his mother. Thus, the law of freedom bothers us, troubling us within. This law is very patient. If we disregard the troubling within, this law will simply continue to trouble us. Sooner or later, we will be subdued because a bothering element has been written upon our hearts.
Apparently, to be a Christian is to have peace. Actually, however, after becoming Christians, we do not always have peace. We are often bothered by the One who is within. This bothering One will not stop His bothering. He may continue bothering us for years. We will never convince Him to allow us to do certain things. He will patiently and gently continue bothering us until He subdues us. When He subdues us, the law within becomes the law of freedom. The law of freedom can thus free us from the bondage of movies or anything else.
We should not think that today we are not under any law. Christians are under the strictest law; it binds us even in minor points. This law, which is within every believer, requires not only that we speak the truth but also that every word be accurate. The more we love the Lord, the more this law will operate by troubling us. Before being saved, we were lawless, but after being saved, we become people of law. God’s law is written upon our hearts. In 1 Corinthians 9:21 Paul says, “I am not without law to God but within law to Christ.” We are under the law to Christ. There is a new law in the New Testament, the law of freedom, which is also called the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). We are under the law of freedom, the law of Christ. Every Christian is a lawful person, a person under law. This law is stricter and finer than the old law. If we have only a little pride within us, although no one may perceive it, the law within will condemn our pride. We all need to realize that we are under this law.
Those who misuse Romans 6:14 as a justification to live lawlessly say that as New Testament believers we should not be under any commandments. However, there are far more than ten commandments in the New Testament. The first commandment in the New Testament is “repent and believe” (Mark 1:15); the second is “be baptized” (Acts 2:38). Other commandments in the New Testament are “love one another” (John 13:34), “unceasingly pray” (1 Thes. 5:17), and “always rejoice” (v. 16). If we do not rejoice, we are disobeying God’s commandment.
Another commandment in the New Testament says, “In nothing be anxious” (Phil. 4:6). To be anxious is to worry. Parents know that the more children they have, the more anxieties they have. My mother often worried about her second daughter, my sister, who was teaching hundreds of miles away in another province. One morning my mother was nearly weeping and seemed to be angry with me. I asked, “Mother, what happened?” She said, “It has been four weeks since we received a letter from your sister, but you have not said a word. Last night I dreamed that she is very sick. You do not have a heart for your sister.” I said, “Mother, this was only a dream. Be at peace.” However, this only made her more upset. I did not understand that what she really wanted was for me to send a telegram to check on my sister. She did not say this but instead rebuked me with the intention that I would understand her heart. I said many things to appease her, but nothing worked. Finally, she said, “Why are you so dull? Don’t you know that you should send a telegram?” I immediately ran to send the telegram, and that afternoon the reply came from my sister that all was well. When we are anxious about anything, we commit a sin, for the New Testament says, “In nothing be anxious.”
Romans 12:2a says, “Do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Verse 11 says, “Do not be slothful in zeal, but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord.” These also are commandments. If our spirit is not burning, we are disobeying a commandment. Therefore, we cannot say that we are not under any commandments. The New Testament is full of commandments that are even finer than the law in the Old Testament.
Second Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” This is a commandment to the young people. The young people should not believe that they cannot overcome their flesh and that they should therefore allow their flesh to do whatever it desires. This is terrible lawlessness. Young believers should heed the commandment to flee youthful lusts.
Christians are not lawless people; we are the most lawful people on the earth. In our eating, dressing, and lodging we are lawful. In everything we are under the commandments of the New Testament, the new law, which is the law of Christ and the law of freedom. The more we keep the new law in the New Testament, the more we are truly liberated. Genuine, true freedom is not lawlessness but the new law, which releases us from the bondage of all kinds of wrongdoings and sinfulness. When we are freed from all kinds of wrongdoings and sinfulness, we are fully in freedom. This is the Christian life.
In this book we have seen a number of crucial matters. First, we need to spend time in the Word every day, for the word in the Bible embodies God, Christ, the Spirit, and life. The word and the Spirit are composed of Christ, His terminating death, and His enlivening resurrection. Every portion in the Bible is either the word of the cross or the word of life. We also need to see that the Lord’s recovery is simply the recovery of Christ Himself as everything to us. If we see this, we will drop all concepts, ways, activities, and organization and simply cleave to Christ in everything. Furthermore, we need to realize that God’s economy is God coming into us and that godliness is God flowing out of us. If we see and practice these things, we will live under the law of freedom. We need to review all these matters, fellowship concerning them, and practice them until they are wrought into our being. Then the church will be uplifted and enriched and will grow unto maturity.
Question: Why does the law of freedom continually bother us?
Answer: The law of freedom is the law of life (Rom. 8:2). A baby does not know the words bitter or sweet, but he will always swallow something sweet and spit out something bitter. This illustrates the function of the law of life. The baby is living, and in his life is a law that regulates him, causing him to swallow the sweet and spit out the bitter. Every life has a law. Because we have been born of God, we have received the life of God. With the divine life there is a divine law. Before being saved, if we went to a movie, we did not sense any bitterness. Rather, we may have felt happy. After being saved, if we still go to a movie, something within will cause us to feel bad. However, not many Christians are immediately willing to obey this inner feeling. Therefore, this inner feeling will trouble us again and again, even for years, until we are eventually subdued. Nevertheless, the sooner we obey, the better. By obeying sooner, we save ourselves from the bitterness and from wasting time.
Question: How can we keep the New Testament law?
Answer: Second Timothy 1:7 concerns our human spirit, and 4:22 concerns Christ as the life-giving Spirit being with our spirit. The real experience of the Christian life is entirely related to these two spirits — our spirit and Christ as the life-giving Spirit. The unique way to keep the New Testament law is to always remain in our spirit. As soon as we realize that we are not in our spirit, we need to immediately turn back to our spirit. To walk in Christ, to walk in the spirit, and to keep the New Testament law are all the same thing. Our spirit indwelt by Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the basic principle of every experience of the Christian life. We should not care for our reasonings, our arguments, our emotions, our decisions, or anything else within us. We need only to take care of remaining in our spirit, going along with our spirit, and always returning to our spirit. The only way to live the Christian life is to practice this.
Question: In 1 Corinthians 9:21-22 Paul says, “To those without law, as without law (though I am not without law to God but within law to Christ), that I might gain those without law. To the weak I became weak that I might gain the weak. To all men I have become all things that I might by all means save some.” Based on this verse, some have said that we can participate in worldly activities in order to preach the gospel. Is this right?
Answer: Verses 21 through 22 do not mean that we must be the same as the person whom we intend to save. They do not mean that in order to save a robber, we must become a robber. We must always understand a portion of the Bible according to its context. The context of these verses shows that Paul was speaking in reference to the different ways of eating and practice held by Jews and Gentiles. When Paul was with the Jews, he behaved in a way so as not to violate their laws, particularly with regard to eating, but when he was with the Gentiles, he did not behave according to the practices of the Jews. The “all things” that Paul spoke of becoming were related to different ways of eating and living, not to worldly, defiling activities.
Question: My children are saved, but I cannot always convince them to come to the meetings. What is the best way to care for them?
Answer: To be a parent is very difficult. No amount of teaching concerning parenting is adequate. When couples do not have children, they pray as Hannah, the mother of Samuel, prayed for a son (1 Sam. 1:10-11). The Lord may hear their prayer and give them a child, but this child may become a great troublemaker. Although there is no unique, fail-safe method for parenting, there are a few lessons we can learn.
First, in order to raise our children to love the Lord and to come to the church meetings regularly, we must be a proper person. We must have a proper living before the Lord. Besides the Lord, the persons who know best about the kind of life we live are our children. We may be able to fool others about the kind of person we are, but we can never fool our children. Therefore, we need to be genuine. If we tell our children not to tell lies, yet we lie to our spouse, the children will see it. This is very serious, for if we lie to our spouse only one time, our children may remember it for their whole life. Our behavior and our way of living do not affect anyone as much as they affect our children. This is a universal spiritual principle. Therefore, being a parent is not easy. Our children will be negatively affected if we are not upright persons, but this does not mean that our children will be good if we are upright persons. If an upright mother has four children, two may be good, and the other two may be bad. However, if she is not upright, all her children may be worse. It is difficult to predict how a child will turn out; this depends on many factors.
Besides being proper persons, parents need to exercise their wisdom. This is the area in which most parents are lacking. It is easy for a parent to have love, but it is not as easy to have wisdom. Parents must exercise their wisdom to discern whether or not to charge their children to come to the church meetings. Asking whether or not parents should charge their children to come to the meetings may be likened to asking whether or not we should take an umbrella when we go out. For such situations we need to exercise our wisdom to discern the situation. According to our discernment, we may exhort our children. However, some parents are zealous without wisdom, and their zealousness offends their children. The more they charge their children to come to the meetings, the more they offend their children, causing a strong reaction. This matter is not easy. Parents need to be proper persons and exercise their wisdom. It is right to charge our children to come to the meetings, but we need to discern, based on our children’s condition, the proper time and the proper way to charge them. If our children are in a certain condition, it may be better not to charge them to come to the meetings until their condition improves.
Finally, parents need to trust in the Lord’s mercy. Romans 9:16 says, “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” I have seen many spiritual parents whose children have not been good. I have also seen worldly, backslidden, careless parents who are absolutely indifferent about their children’s spirituality, yet their children are good and spiritual. Therefore, we must conclude that the way our children turn out depends on the Lord’s mercy. The first part of verse 18 says, “He has mercy on whom He wills.” As parents, our duty is to be proper persons and to exercise wisdom to discern when and how to speak to our children. We need to do our duty, but we should not trust in anything we do. Without the Lord’s mercy, everything we do means nothing. We must trust in the Lord’s mercy, praying, “Lord, it all depends on Your mercy. I do my duty as a parent by being a proper person to be a good example and to not stumble my children and by exercising my wisdom to know when and how to speak to my children. However, my trust is in You, Lord.” We all need to learn this lesson. Parents should never be proud, thinking that their ability can produce the best children. There are many different factors in producing a good child, but in the end it depends on the Lord’s mercy.
Question: How should I regulate my children concerning watching television and movies?
Answer: Because of the current of the age, it is very difficult for parents to forbid their children to watch television and movies. Therefore, parents need to exercise their wisdom to restrict which television shows or movies their children are allowed to see. We also need to teach our children the reasons for these restrictions so that they will understand our decisions as they grow older. We need to give them a proper explanation according to their age, not prematurely. We should not tell them something that they cannot understand at their age. Our training must be according to their age.
To raise children is not easy or simple. It requires that we spend much time with our children. The more time we spend with our children, the better. We should spend at least two hours every evening doing nothing but being with our children, talking to them, or teaching them something. This will make them happy and give them some training. If we do not spend time with our children, we should expect that they will have problems. Although we cannot always afford to spend that much time with our children, the principle is that we need to spend as much time as possible with our children and give them the proper education according to their age.
Question: Some young brothers and sisters who leave home to study end up staying in dormitories with unbelievers. What is the best way to care for these young ones?
Answer: It is difficult to know whether it is better to keep our children at home or send them to school in another city. This is a very complicated matter with many factors involved. However, one thing I know is that in order to take care of our children, we always need to prepare them ahead of time. In order to properly care for a fifteen-year-old, we need to spend fourteen years to educate the child. Every bit of proper education at the proper age is an inoculation. If we adequately educate and inoculate our children, they can leave home to study without any problem. If we do not adequately educate and inoculate our children, it will not matter much if they stay at home while studying. A fifteen-year-old’s spiritual health depends on how much education and inoculation he received in his first fourteen years. If parents do not properly prepare their children, it will not help much to suddenly consider where they should go to school. This is a warning to all parents. We must not neglect the raising of our children. If God has given us children, we must spend adequate time to raise them properly. Everyone likes to have choices, but we lose all our choices when we have children. Besides the time we spend in the meetings, we need to spend every minute for our children. Otherwise, we should not expect that we would have good children. The only way to have good children is to spend all our time with them and exercise our wisdom to give them a proper education and adequate inoculation beforehand. However, after all this, we still must place our trust in God’s mercy.
