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This is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them; and I will be God to them, and they will be a people to Me. And they shall by no means each teach his fellow citizen and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all will know Me from the little one to the great one among them. (Heb. 8:10-11)
As for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him. (1 John 2:27)
Both Hebrews 8 and 1 John 2 declare that today, under the new testament, there is no need of any outward, human teaching. Hebrews 8:10 says that the law is written within us; thus, there is no need for any brother to teach us to know the Lord. First John 2:27 says that the anointing is abiding in us, so there is no need of any human teaching. One passage says that the “law” is written in us, and the other, that the “anointing” is abiding in us. What are these two things? It is quite possible for us to be Christians for years and yet not know that we have these two wonderful things within us. We have a wonderful law written in us and a mysterious anointing abiding in us. How marvelous and yet pitiful if we do not realize it. It is due to the inner law and the inner anointing that we do not need any outward, human teachings.
The inner law and the inner anointing are something of resurrection. We have seen the principle of the cross, that is, the all-inclusive ending of the negative things in the universe, and we have also seen the principle and the reality of resurrection. The cross ends the old creation, whereas resurrection produces the riches of the new creation. Through the cross the old creation is finished. By the Lord’s death all twelve items of the old creation have been brought to the cross and completely crossed out. But that is not the end of the story, for after death came resurrection. What was resurrected? Satan? The kingdom of Satan? Sin? The flesh? A thousand times no! The eternal Spirit resurrected only the essence of what God originally created for His purpose.
The human nature was a part of God’s original creation. God created the human nature for His purpose, but Satan damaged it. Therefore, by His death the Lord brought the Satan-damaged nature into death, but by His resurrection the Lord brought the God-created nature into resurrection. The Lord not only redeemed the human nature but uplifted this human nature to a higher standard. So the new creation consists of Christ in the eternal Spirit and the recovered and uplifted human nature in resurrection.
What are the items of the riches of resurrection? First, there is the Triune God, not in the sense of the Old Testament but in the New Testament sense. Then there is the divine, eternal life, which is God Himself as our life. (The difference between God and divine life is the same as that between electricity and light. Strictly speaking, electricity is the light, and the light is the electricity, but there is still a distinction. For example, the electricity is used not only as light but also as power, heat, etc. Similarly, God Himself is our life as well as many other things.) The third item is the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4), the fourth is the law of life (Rom. 8:2; Heb. 8:10), and the fifth is the anointing (1 John 2:27). These five items are the all-inclusive riches of resurrection — all other things that one may name are included in these. The new creation inherits all these items in the resurrection.
All the riches of resurrection, we can say, are simply God Himself. The divine nature is certainly God Himself, and the law of life and the anointing are also something of God Himself and His moving. Man, however, is not one of the riches of resurrection but one who is recovered and uplifted by these riches. We are somewhat familiar with the Triune God, the divine life, and the divine nature, but most Christians are not familiar with the law of life and the inner anointing. In today’s Christianity these have been neglected. But the inner law and the inner anointing are the practical riches of resurrection. If we do not know them, we cannot know resurrection in a practical way. Resurrection will be known only objectively unless we know the law of life and the inner anointing; only thus can we experience resurrection in a subjective way.
Let us consider the Old Testament with the law and the prophets. In a sense the Old Testament was even called the law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12; 22:40). What is the difference between the two? The law is a set of fixed rules which cannot be changed. For instance, one item of the law requires everyone to honor his parents. This is a changeless rule, and everyone must keep it. There is no need to seek guidance about honoring one’s parents; this law is fixed. Another rule is, “You shall not steal.” It is also an established, fixed rule. There is no need to pray, “Lord, tell me whether or not it is Your mind to steal. Give me guidance about stealing.” There is no need to seek such guidance. This same principle applies to the rest of the Ten Commandments. Thus, the law is a set of fixed rules which everyone must keep. It does not alter with each individual. Regardless of whether a person is a man or a woman, old or young, rich or poor, he is compelled to keep the rules.
Now what about the prophets? The prophets speak to the individual situation. Suppose someone came to Jeremiah and asked, “Is it all right for me to go to Jerusalem?” The prophet might say this time, “You may go.” But another time he might say, “You may not.” The prophets give the living guidance of the Lord according to the different individual situations. The law has no changes, but the prophets have many changes depending upon the situation of those involved. Once we have the law, we always have it, for the commandments are permanent, whereas the guidance from the prophets only holds for the occasion. The prophet, therefore, must be contacted continuously. The one who sought Jeremiah could not say, “One month ago the prophet said that it was all right for me to go Jerusalem; therefore, I can go now without consulting him.” If he desired to go to Jerusalem again, he must seek guidance from the prophet once more. Whether or not he should honor his parents requires no guidance, for this is a fixed principle of the law, but how to honor his parents is definitely a matter of guidance. Should he honor his parents on a certain occasion by this way or by that way? Guidance is needed; therefore, he must contact the prophet.
The Old Testament forbids women to wear men’s clothing and men to wear women’s clothing (Deut. 22:5). This was clearly established by the Lord as a settled rule and a changeless law. But when we are shopping for an article of clothing, one item may be worth two hundred dollars and another, twenty dollars. This becomes a matter for seeking the Lord’s guidance, not His law. This is the difference between the law and the prophets. The fixed principle of the law varies with no one, but the guidance of the prophets varies with all. Sometimes with even the same person it may vary from one occasion to another.
Is there then any law in the New Testament? There is, but it is not the law of letters. In the New Testament there is only the law of life. This is not an outward law but an inward law; it is not the law written on tablets of stone but the law written on the heart. What about prophets in the New Testament? As the law of life replaces the law of letters, so the inner anointing succeeds the prophets. For example, if I were to have my hair cut, should I seek the Lord’s guidance by praying, “Lord, show me if I should have my hair cut like a cowboy or like a movie star”? There is no need to seek guidance in matters such as this, for there is a law within me forbidding a movie-star or a cowboy style of haircut. The inner law of life regulates me in such matters. Suppose you are a sister in the Lord and you try to have your hair styled like the movie stars. Something deep within will regulate and check you. This is the inner regulating of the law of life. In more than a thousand chapters of the Scriptures there is not one word prohibiting stylish hairdos like the movie stars. The movie stars are not even mentioned in the Scriptures, but there is an inner law regulating you from patterning yourself after the movie stars.
Suppose a brother is about to minister the word of the Lord. There is no need for him to ask, “Lord, should I wear cowboy pants?” If he proceeds to dress this way, the inner regulating law will check and prohibit him. This is a fixed principle of the law within him. Neither is there any need for him to seek guidance about cutting his hair like a cowboy. But when and where to get his hair cut is a matter of the Lord’s guidance. Therefore, he has to pray, “Lord, is it Your will for me to get my hair cut today? Should I get it cut in the barber shop or in the home of a brother?” This is not a matter of the inner law but of the inner anointing. The anointing within is his indwelling Prophet, who gives him guidance. If he becomes careless and does not seek the guidance of the Prophet within, he may go hastily to a brother to get his hair cut and have some trouble. Due to his carelessness about the anointing within, he must suffer. Do you see the point?
Most of the ladies like to buy things. When they enter a department store, they have no limitation and no regulation except that of their checking account. But the dear sisters who love the Lord and learn to live and walk by the Lord have a different story. When they enter a department store and pick up an item, there is something within regulating them and saying, “Drop it,” and they drop it. When they pick up another item, again, “Don’t touch it; drop it.” What is this inner protest? This is the inner law, the law of life. The worldly ladies can pick up anything they desire, regardless of design, color, and shape. If they like it, they buy it. But the sisters who love the Lord have an inner negative feeling when they pick up this item or that. This is the regulating of the inner law.
On the other hand, if you need to purchase a certain item, you have to seek the guidance of the inner anointing as to how much you should spend for it. You need to fellowship with the Lord, seeking His guidance through the inner anointing. No one else can tell you. If you brought the problem to me, I would say, “Don’t ask me; ask the Inner One. You know how much you should spend by the anointing within you.” Just say, “Lord, $150?” The inner anointing may say, “No.” “$95?” “No.” “$65?” “Maybe.” “$50?” “Okay.” Something within you will feel okay.
The husband cannot even tell his wife what she should do. If the wife asks her husband about a thirty-dollar hat, he had better say, “Dear, you must go to the Lord and seek His guidance by the inner anointing.” The inner anointing will tell her, but she needs time to pray and contact the Lord. “Lord, I worship You. You are my life. You are my Lord, and You are dwelling within me. Lord, give me the proper feeling as to how much to spend for a hat.” Then she will sense the Lord inside: “$30?” “No.” “$25?” “No.” “$20?” “No.” “$15?” “No.” “$12?” “Okay.” Finally, the inner anointing will give her a proper inner sense.
If you do not have this kind of experience, I am afraid that you may not be a child of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). How does the Spirit of God lead us? It is by the inner anointing. Praise the Lord, we are the new creation in resurrection. In resurrection we have the Triune God Himself, we have Him as our life and as our nature, and we also have both the inner law of life and His Spirit working within us as the ointment, continually moving and anointing us with God Himself. The more we are anointed by this practical way, the more we will have the very essence of God within us. It is just like a painter, painting a table. The more he paints the table, the more paint is added to it. The more we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit within us, the more we will gain the substance of God Himself. If we are willing to be continually anointed by the Holy Spirit within us, after a certain period of time we will have more of God’s essence, or substance. God Himself is the paint, the Holy Spirit is the painter, and the anointing is the painting. The Holy Spirit is painting us inwardly with God Himself as the paint. This painting will give us the inner sense of the Lord’s will.
We must have the inner regulating and the inner anointing. We are regulated by the inner law to be kept in the Lord’s way, and we are anointed by the inner anointing to know the Lord’s will in everything. In this way the very essence of God Himself is increased within us all the time. The more we are painted by the Holy Spirit with God as the paint, the more the substance of God Himself will be added within us. These are the riches of the resurrection as our inward, practical experience.
