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Scripture Reading: John 3:5-6; Rom. 8:2, 9, 15, 23; 1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; 13:14; Gal. 5:22, 25; Eph. 3:16; 4:23; Titus 3:5-6; Phil. 1:19; 2 Thes. 2:13; 1 John 2:27
In the last chapter we saw four aspects of the divine Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit of life, for the dispensing of God Himself as life into our being. In this chapter we want to see more aspects of the Spirit of life.
John 3:5-6 tells us that the Spirit of life is the begetting Spirit. To be born again is to be born of the Spirit of life. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (v. 6). The Spirit of life brings Christ with the divine life into us, and we are born again. Then this begetting Spirit begins to dwell within us as the Spirit of life.
The term the Spirit of life is mentioned only in Romans 8:2. This Spirit of life has a law. A law regulates. The law is not only a regulating matter but is also a power, an energy, and a spontaneous strength. A grain of wheat grows out wheat, and a peach tree brings forth peaches because there is a life law. This life law regulates. There is no need for a person to regulate the peach tree and tell it, “Peach tree, you should not bring forth apples. If you bring forth apples, you will be punished.” There is no need to teach the peach tree in this way because within the peach life is the peach law. The life law regulates the peach tree so that it brings forth only peaches. Within the life law there is the spontaneous power, the strength, and the energy to produce something according to the regulating law.
Scientists investigate the laws that operate in nature, such as the law of gravity and the law of aerodynamics. I think the apostle Paul was the greatest “scientist” because he discovered the law of the Spirit of life. Within the life of the Spirit is a law. With every life there is a law. Dogs bark according to the law of the dog life, and chickens lay eggs according to the law of the chicken life. We have the divine life, the life of the Spirit, and with this life there is also a law. This law regulates us from within and is powerful and spontaneous. This law sets us free from another law, a negative law, the law of sin and of death.
The law of gravity works to pull things down to the earth. By my effort, I may hold a book in the air with an outstretched arm, but eventually my effort will be exhausted. Because of the law of gravity, I will have to put the book down. A higher law is needed to overcome the law of gravity. Similarly, we need a higher law to overcome the law of sin and of death. As believers in Christ, we have this higher, positive law, the law of life, which is versus the negative law, the law of sin and of death. The unbelievers do not have this positive law within them, only the negative one. We have another law within us because we have another life, the divine life. With this life is the divine law that sets us free from the law of sin and of death.
Romans 8:9 tells us that the Spirit is the Spirit of God and also the Spirit of Christ. We may say that the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are synonyms, but there is still some difference between these terms. The Spirit of God brings us the essence of all that God is with all God’s attributes. But the Spirit of Christ brings us all that Christ is. God is Christ, and Christ is God. But Christ is both God and man. We cannot say that God is God and man, but we can say that Christ is God and man. The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit not only of God but also of man. God is the Creator, but Christ, as both God and man, is the Redeemer.
We may say that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ and that the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God. But the Spirit of God does not include as much as the Spirit of Christ does. The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are one Spirit but in different stages. The Spirit of God is in the first stage, while the Spirit of Christ is in the second stage. The Spirit of God has the element of divinity and was active in God’s creation (Gen. 1:2b). In the Spirit of Christ we have Christ’s incarnation, humanity, human living, death, and resurrection. In the Spirit of God there is life, but in the Spirit of Christ there is life as well as resurrection. The Spirit of Christ dwells within us not only as God but also as Christ and comprises the divine nature of God and the human nature, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ.
Romans 8:15 tells us that we “have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father!” The sonship includes the life of the Son, the nature of the Son, the title right of the Son, the position of the Son, the reality of the Son, the potential of the Son, the image of the Son, and the heritage of the Son. Today we are sons of God but not the sons in fullness. The Spirit of sonship will make us real sons in fullness. We may say that we have the life of the Son of God, but this life has not been developed in us to its fullness. We may have the nature of the Son of God, but it is still so hidden. We may have the potential to be rich in Christ, but we may still be poor in the experience and riches of Christ. However, the Spirit of sonship will bring forth in us all the things related to the sonship.
Romans 8:23 says that we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Any fruit comes out of the life seed. The fruit is the outcome of the life within the seed. Thus, the Spirit is not only the life but also the fruit of life. The firstfruits are the foretaste. We have the foretaste, the firstfruits, of the Spirit, and we are waiting for the harvest. According to Romans 8:23 the harvest is the redemption of our body. We have been redeemed in our spirit yet not in our body. Regardless of how much we are in the spirit, sometimes our body really bothers us. My spirit may be strong, yet my body may be weak. Because our body has not yet been redeemed, it is a restriction and limitation to us. If our body is weak or sick, we have to pay attention to its demands. Paul said that we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit are “eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body” (v. 23). Through the regeneration of our spirit, we have the Spirit as a foretaste. The Spirit is the firstfruits in our spirit. Then we need the harvest of the Spirit, which is the full sonship, the redemption of our body.
First Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” In this verse the Spirit is not only the baptizing water but also the drinking water. We all have been made to drink of the Spirit, and to drink of the Spirit is a life matter. To be baptized is to be put into water, but to drink is to take water into us. After being baptized in the Spirit, we are now drinking of the Spirit. To be baptized in the Spirit is to get into the Spirit and be lost in Him; to drink the Spirit is to take the Spirit in and have our being saturated with Him.
Philippians 1:19 refers to “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The Spirit supplies us with whatever we need. If we need life, He supplies life. If we need strength, He supplies strength. If we need patience, He supplies patience. If we need the power to endure suffering, the suffering strength, He supplies it. Whatever we need is in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. W. J. Conybeare tells us that the word for bountiful supply in Greek literally means the supplying of all the needs of the chorus by the choragus. The choragus was the leader of the chorus, and he met all the needs of everyone in the chorus, such as the needs for food, clothing, lodging, and musical instruments. Whatever the members of the chorus needed, the leader of the chorus supplied. The supply of the choragus truly was bountiful, even all-inclusive. Thank the Lord that whatever we need, the all-inclusive, bountiful Spirit supplies.
Second Corinthians 3:17 tells us that the Lord is the Spirit and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This means that the Spirit is the liberating Spirit. Where life is, there is always liberation. The more we grow in life, the more we become liberated. The more mature we become in life, the more we are freed from all kinds of bondage. Many of the young saints are still under much bondage. Seemingly they are more free than the saints who are more mature in the divine life, but actually they are more bound. Many of us are bound by religion and religious practices, so we need to experience more of the liberating Spirit. As we grow in life, we are released from our bondage.
The many habits that we have according to our flesh and our natural constitution are bondages. The liberating Spirit can free us from the bondage of our habits. Some brothers have the habit of being silent, while other brothers have the habit of talking all the time. You may want to say something to a brother who has the habit of talking, but you may not get the chance because of his habit. We all need to be liberated from our habits. Another brother may have the habit of speaking softly in a large meeting of the saints. He may be bound by his natural habit and not experience the boldness in the Lord and the release of the spirit. He needs to be liberated from this habit; otherwise, he will not be able to minister adequately. He needs the liberating Spirit to grant him the boldness and the release of the spirit.
When we pray-read the Word, we must be liberated from our habit. We need to pray-read according to the need and the atmosphere. If four or five brothers come together to pray-read the Word in someone’s apartment, there is no need for them to shout. If one of the brothers does shout, this is according to his habit. We should shout not according to our habit but according to the situation, the condition, the environment, and the atmosphere. We need the release of our spirit, not the release of our habit. Another brother may have the habit of being quiet all the time. His “exercise of the spirit” fits in the homes of the saints. But when he comes to a meeting of three or four hundred people, he needs the boldness to release his spirit in a living way. In a larger meeting it will be easier for this brother to remain in his habit and to pray-read with the release of his habit of being quiet.
We need the liberation of the Spirit so that we may fit in any kind of environment or situation. With a small number we need to experience the Spirit to pray-read in a low voice. With a large number of saints we need to pray-read with a loud voice in the Spirit. If we are enjoying the liberating Spirit, we will speak when there is a need to speak and be quiet when we need to be quiet. What we do should not be according to our habit but according to the liberation of the Spirit. To enjoy the liberation of the Spirit to the uttermost, we need the growth in life. Outward regulations will not work to deliver us from our habits. The more we grow in life, the more we will be liberated.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” In this verse the Spirit is the transforming Spirit. Transformation is a change in life, a metabolic change. The more life supply we enjoy, the more we will be changed, or transformed. Transformation is not an outward change by some method but an inward change by the supply of life. The transformation mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is not something of teaching but something of the changing life.
We all need to be changed, not by outward teachings and outward regulations but by the inward growing of life. When little children grow in their human life, they change in appearance from year to year. With the growth in life, there is a change. We all need to pursue the real growth in life, and we all need to have a real change in life. We are not practicing religion, but as the church we are God’s cultivated land. We have to take care of the growth in life so that we may have the transformation in life by the Lord Spirit.
Verse 17 of 2 Corinthians 3 tells us that the Lord is the Spirit, and then it refers to the Spirit of the Lord. To say “the Spirit of the Lord” is similar to saying “the current of electricity.” The current and the electricity are not two things. In like manner, the Spirit and the Lord are not two different items. The current of electricity is the electricity itself, and the Spirit of the Lord is the Lord Himself. The current of electricity is the electricity itself in motion. The Spirit is the Triune God in motion, the reaching of the Triune God. The Triune God reaches the tripartite man as the Spirit. In verse 18 there is the term the Lord Spirit. This is a compound title like the Father God and the Lord Christ. The compound title the Father God refers to the Father who is God or to the very God who is our Father. The Lord Spirit refers to the Lord who is the Spirit and to the Spirit who is our Lord. The Lord and the Spirit are not two, but They are one.
In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 the Spirit is mentioned in three aspects: (1) the Lord is the Spirit, (2) the Spirit of the Lord, and (3) the Lord Spirit. We have to realize that the Lord is the Spirit to us, and we should call Him the Lord Spirit. To call Him the Lord Spirit is according to the subjective experience of life. If we do not know the divine life, it will be difficult for us to call our Lord Jesus the Lord Spirit. As we are experiencing the divine life in our daily life, we will spontaneously have the sense that the Lord is the Spirit. The more we experience the Lord in life, the more we will realize that the Lord is the Spirit to us.
When we experience the divine life in the Spirit and come to the Bible with this experience, we will be able to receive the proper, enlightened understanding from the Word. If we do not have the knowledge or experience of a certain piece of machinery, we will not be able to understand it. If you gave me a part from a car, I would not know what part it is or where to put it. But if you gave the same part to a mechanic, he would know what the part is and know where it belongs. Because he has the knowledge and experience of an automobile, it is easy for him to understand its parts. In the same way, in order to understand the Bible, especially concerning life and the Spirit, we need the real experiences of life and the Spirit. We may learn doctrines, teachings, and theology, but to understand the things concerning life and the Spirit, we need to enjoy and experience Christ as the Lord Spirit. We need to enjoy the liberating Spirit and the transforming Spirit, who transforms us from one degree of glory to another.
