Search
Scripture Reading: Rom. 5:10-17; 8:2-3, 6, 9-11, 14-16, 29-30
In the foregoing chapter we began to consider the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the book of Romans. Although the word dispensing is not used in this book, the fact of the divine dispensing is nonetheless found in this Epistle. The fact of dispensing is indicated by the word give in 8:11. We have seen that Romans 8 includes the Divine Trinity, the process through which the Triune God has passed, and our experience of the divine dispensing. This dispensing involves our tripartite being — our spirit, soul, and body. We need to open ourselves to the divine dispensing so that we may be soaked with the Triune God,
The central thought of the book of Romans is that God is producing sons for the formation of the Body of Christ. This book reveals that God is making sinners into sons for the Body. All the members of the Body of Christ are sons of God. If someone has not been regenerated, born again, he is not a child of God, and he is not a member of the Body of Christ. An unregenerated person may be a member of a particular religious group, but he cannot be a member of the living Body of Christ. Christ’s Body is living and organic. Only through regeneration can we become the living, organic members of the Body of Christ, which is an organism, not an organization.
We may use dentures as an illustration to show that every member of the Body of Christ must be living and organic. Although a person may wear dentures, they are not an organic part of his body. Because the dentures are not living or organic, they may come out of place. Actually, the dentures are a foreign article in the human body. However, every genuine member of a person’s physical body is living, organic, and attached to the body. Because the ears are such living members of the body, they do not fall away from the body. In a similar way, we who have been regenerated of the Spirit are not “foreign articles” in the Body of Christ. We are not “dentures” that have no life and that are not organic. On the contrary, as members of the Body, we are living and we are organic.
A living person with a body is very different from a robot. A robot may act in a mechanical way, but a person acts in a way that is living and spontaneous because he is full of life, and every part of his being is living and organic. In like manner, all the sons of God have the divine life within them. This life makes us the living, organic members of the Body of Christ.
In Romans 8 Paul speaks concerning the sons of God. For example, verse 14 says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” But in chapter 12 of Romans Paul goes on to speak regarding the Body of Christ. In 12:5 he says, “So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” The many sons of God in chapter 8 are the many members of the Body of Christ in chapter 12. The real church is this Body. The living, organic Body of Christ is the church of the living God. This church of the living God is produced by the dispensing of the Triune God into our being.
It will be helpful to give some practical illustrations of our need for the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in order to practice the church life. Suppose a group of brothers live together in a brothers’ house. These brothers will be tested as they live together. The brothers’ house may be called a house of testing. Suppose one of the brothers realizes that he is doing the dishes much more often than the others are. He begins to complain about the situation. However, when he complains, he has the sense deep within that, in a practical way, he is not in the church life, because the “switch” within him has been turned off, and he is no longer experiencing the divine dispensing. Simply complaining about having to do the dishes so often causes this brother to lose the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. As a result, when the brother comes to the church meeting, he is not able to praise the Lord or even say Amen. This is a strong indication that, in a practical way in his experience, he is not in the church life.
Let us also use married life as an illustration. Suppose a brother is not happy because his wife showed him a “long” face at home before the meeting. When he comes to the meeting, he is still bothered by what happened at home with his wife. The switch has been turned off within him, and he is not able to pray. This is an indication that something within him has been disconnected and that in his experience the divine dispensing has been interrupted. This is not a mere teaching or doctrine; it is our actual experience.
According to the divine fact, when we believed in the Lord Jesus, He, the very embodiment of the Triune God, came as the Spirit into our spirit. In 8:9-11 three divine titles are used interchangeably: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ. Hence, Christ is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God. These titles, used interchangeably, are related to the Triune God. Furthermore, all these titles point to the fact that the divine person now dwells in our spirit.
Today many Christians pay attention only to objective teachings and not to subjective experience. But in the Lord’s recovery we care not only for the proper understanding of the Word of God, but we care also for the subjective experience of Christ. If we do not have any subjective experience, then we become nothing as far as the Christian life is concerned, and we are left with nothing except doctrine. We praise the Lord for the experience of the Triune God! Because we have Christ in us, we have the Triune God in us. In 8:10 Paul says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.” Now this Triune God who dwells in our spirit is dispensing Himself into our whole being. All day long He seeks to dispense Himself into us. Because the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity is so intimately related to our daily experience and enjoyment of the Lord, this dispensing is crucial and vital.
Do you know why we need to spend time with the Lord early in the morning? We need to spend time with the Lord in order to have the divine dispensing. However, if we do not care for this dispensing or if we are not aware of its importance, we may waste time in our morning watch caring for other things. As a result, we do not receive any nourishment from the Lord.
During our time with the Lord in the morning, we should set aside our concern about other things and pay attention to the divine dispensing. We need to pray, “Lord Jesus, cleanse me once again. This morning I take You as my sin offering and as my trespass offering. Lord, I thank You that Your precious blood cleanses me. My desire is to contact You in my spirit. O Lord Jesus, I love You, I worship You, and I open myself to You. Lord, have a free way in me to saturate me by dispensing Yourself into my being. O Lord, I need Your dispensing all day long.” If we pray in this way, we will be watered, nourished, and enlightened. Sometimes we may be rebuked by the Lord, and at other times we may be comforted or strengthened.
This experience does not come merely from learning Bible verses. The watering, nourishing, strengthening, enlightening, comforting, and enriching are the result of the dispensing of the Triune God into our inner being in a practical way. We need this dispensing every morning and throughout the day. Minute by minute, we need to stay in the divine dispensing. It is a serious matter for this inner dispensing to be interrupted. If the divine dispensing ceases, we will be in a dead and dangerous situation.
In 8:2 Paul says, “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.” In this verse law does not refer to the Mosaic law or to a particular commandment. Rather, it refers to a principle that operates automatically and spontaneously. Paul had a scientific understanding of the function of the law of the Spirit of life. Just as the law of gravity causes objects to fall back to earth, and just as the law of digestion regulates the digestion of the food we eat, so with the divine life dispensed into us there is a law. This means that the divine dispensing works spontaneously by law, by a principle that functions automatically. Through the working of this law, the essence, the element, and the riches of the divine life are being dispensed into our being.
Apart from the law of life, it is impossible for us to be sanctified or transformed. We cannot be changed metabolically without the law of life. But in the divine life there is an element that works automatically, and by this law we can be sanctified and transformed, that is, metabolically changed. Through the working of this law, we will also be conformed to the image of Christ and eventually be glorified in His divine element. Doctrine cannot accomplish this. Not even proper biblical doctrine can avail to sanctify us, transform us, conform us to the image of Christ, and glorify us. The only thing that avails to sanctify, transform, conform, and glorify us is the law of the divine life. Praise the Lord that we have such a marvelous law within us! Now it is important that we do not interrupt the working of this divine law. As this divine law operates within us, we will have the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
What we are speaking about is not anything superstitious. We are talking about a divine fact. Through redemption and by regeneration, we have the Triune God living in our spirit. The Triune God within us is more real than the air that we breathe. There is no need for us to fast or cry to the Lord in order to receive the divine dispensing. Just as we breathe in air to maintain our physical life, we simply need to breathe in the Triune God in order to experience His dispensing. According to Paul’s word in Romans 10, the word is near us, in our mouth and in our heart (v. 8). In 10:12 Paul says, “The same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.” Therefore, we simply need to call on the name of the Lord, and He will be rich to us. The air is available for us all to breathe. By breathing in the air, we are enriched by it. In a similar way, by calling on the name of the Lord, we are enriched by the Triune God.
Because redemption has been accomplished and the blood of Christ has been sprinkled upon the propitiation cover, as believers in Christ, we have the Triune God in our spirit. There is no need for us to fast or wait in order to experience Him. We simply need to say, “Lord, I thank You for Your provision. I thank You for the blood and for the Spirit. I also thank You, Lord, for being so real within me.” When we pray like this, the divine dispensing will take place within us. Through this dispensing we will be saturated with the Triune God, and in this way our whole being will be sanctified. By this dispensing we are soaked with the Triune God. As long as we believe in the Lord Jesus, call on His name, and apply His redeeming blood to our situation, we may experience this divine dispensing.
The Lord’s salvation is not a matter of ethical improvement. Confucius taught people to improve themselves by developing something within them called the “bright virtue.” But the Lord’s salvation is not a matter of improvement, cultivation, or development of a so-called bright virtue. Rather, the Lord’s desire is that we enjoy what He has accomplished for us and what He is to us.
Christ is the processed God. He passed through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. Having passed through this process, He is now in ascension. Furthermore, through His resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, we may now enjoy what He has accomplished through His incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection and enjoy Him as the life-giving Spirit. This is to enjoy Him as the indwelling Triune God. Hallelujah, the Spirit of God dwells in us! According to Romans 8, the Spirit of Christ and Christ are also in us. It is a fact that, according to 8:11, the Spirit of the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead dwells in our spirit. What a glorious fact this is! Now what do we need to do? We do not need to do anything except enjoy the Lord. Let us enjoy what He has accomplished, what He has obtained, and what He has attained. Let us enjoy all that Christ is. Christ is our redemption and sanctification, our life and life supply. He is our food, our drink, our everything. He is living, rich, and subjective to us. This is the One we experience and enjoy through the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
Through the Lord’s dispensing we have the cleansing of the Lord’s blood and the power of His resurrection. In this dispensing we have the element of sanctification, the very substance of the holiness of God. In this dispensing we also have the divine life, the divine love, and the divine light. Through the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, we have all the divine virtues. How marvelous that these divine virtues are in the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit!
Praise the Lord that the life-giving Spirit is now moving in us, acting in us, and anointing us! The anointing of the Spirit may be compared to painting. As coat after coat of paint is applied to a chair, so through the anointing of the all-inclusive Spirit the divine element with the divine essence is applied to us. The Spirit within us is continually anointing us, continually “painting” us with the divine “paint,” the divine essence. The Holy Spirit as the ointment is the paint, and this paint includes the divine holiness and all the divine virtues and attributes. The anointing is the moving of this Spirit within us. This anointing is actually the dispensing. Whether we call this anointing or dispensing, this is a matter of the processed Triune God being applied to us in our experience. All we need to do is simply stay under this anointing, stay in this dispensing. Let us stay under the divine dispensing and get soaked with the Divine Trinity.
Because our need is to be soaked with the Triune God, we should not make up our mind to improve ourselves. For example, we all have a problem with our temper. Do you think that you are an exception and that you have a good temper instead of a bad temper? The fact is that regarding the problem of temper, we are all the same. Just as frogs have a croaking life and dogs have a barking life, we have a temper-losing life. Do you know why you complain and get angry? You complain and get angry because you have that kind of life. Because we are what we are, we should not make up our minds to be different. A frog cannot stop croaking, a dog cannot stop barking, and we cannot improve our temper. This problem is rooted in our nature. Instead of trying to change your nature, simply receive the divine anointing, the divine dispensing, from the Lord. Keep yourself open to this dispensing. If you continually receive the divine dispensing, it will overcome your temper.
Actually, to overcome our temper or our besetting sins is not in itself a great matter. What is truly a great matter is for us to be saturated with the divine element through the divine dispensing.
This saturation with the divine element through the dispensing of the Divine Trinity is real sanctification and transformation. Eventually, this dispensing will issue in conformation and consummate in glorification. This means that through the divine dispensing we will be like Christ. Hallelujah, we will be like Him not only in glory outwardly but also with the divine element inwardly! We will be the same as He is in element, essence, and substance. This will be the result of being saturated with Him. Year by year and day by day, we need to be soaked with the divine element. This is the experience of the divine dispensing.
Romans 8:10 says that because Christ is in us, our spirit is life. According to verse 6, if our mind is set on the spirit, our mind will also become life. Furthermore, according to verse 11, if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, this One will give life to our mortal body. These verses indicate that the soaking, the saturating, begins with our spirit, spreads to our mind, and eventually reaches our mortal body. Hallelujah, our spirit is life! Our mind can also be life, and our body can receive life.
The dispensing God is also the spreading One. He spreads Himself from our spirit to our mind, and through our mind into our body. Our God is living not only on the throne in the heavens; He is also living in us, in our being. He is spreading Himself into every part of our being and saturating us with Himself until we are fully soaked with all that He is. How glorious! This is God’s full salvation.
The goal of God’s salvation is to make us sons of God so that we may be the living members of the Body of His Son, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah for the dispensing of the Divine Trinity! Hallelujah for the goal of God’s salvation!
