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In more than twenty translations of the New Testament there is a difference in the way spirit is written. In some translations the word is capitalized in certain instances, and in the same instances in other translations it is not. For example, the translators of the King James Version capitalized the word spirit in Romans 8:2, “the law of the Spirit.” In verse 4 of the King James Version spirit is also capitalized, “who walk...after the Spirit.” Again, in verse 5 the King James Version capitalizes spirit, “they that are after the Spirit.”
What is the reason for such conflicting translations? It is difficult for any translator to decide whether spirit is referring to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit in passages such as these. Since our spirit has been mingled together with the Holy Spirit, the two spirits are mingled as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). Therefore, one may assert that this spirit is the human spirit, but another may say this Spirit is the Holy Spirit. Of course, the context of some passages makes it clear that the reference is to the Holy Spirit but in other passages, the human spirit.
“If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.” The context of this verse, Romans 8:10, clearly indicates that here the spirit is not the Holy Spirit, because it is compared with the body. We cannot compare the Holy Spirit with our body. It is our human spirit that the apostle was comparing with our body. What is the meaning of this verse? Originally, our body was dead because of sin. Now Christ is in us, and though our sinful body is still dead because of sin, yet our spirit is alive and full of life because of righteousness. Therefore, the spirit mentioned here in this verse is not the Holy Spirit but the human spirit, which is compared with the human body.
In another verse, Romans 8:11, it is obvious that reference is made to the Spirit of God. What follows the phrase the Spirit of the One defines whose Spirit it is. “If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Verse 10 tells us that though Christ is in us, our body is still dead because of sin. However, verse 11 declares that our weak, mortal bodies, due to Christ’s indwelling, will also be enlivened, revived, and strengthened. Because Christ is living in us, even our mortal bodies, which are dead because of sin, could be enlivened and revived by the divine Spirit, who is dwelling within our spirit. The indwelling Spirit makes us alive not only in our spirit but eventually also in our body.
Why are we emphasizing the difference between the Holy Spirit and the human spirit? It is because our greatest problem is that we do not know the indwelling Spirit or realize that the human spirit is the very dwelling place of the Holy Spirit; neither do we know that these two spirits are being mingled together as one Spirit. This is a pity! It is the mark of God’s economy, and many Christians are missing this mark. It is like a house that is inaccessible because the key is missing. Only the key will open the house to us so that we may enjoy everything in it. For centuries the enemy has covered the key. What is the key? It is that our human spirit is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and that our human spirit is one with the wonderful Holy Spirit.
The word of God is living and sharp, even sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit. For more than thirty years I tried to understand why this word was written and why it was written in Hebrews 4. The Lord has revealed the reason. The book of Hebrews is encouraging us to press on from the wilderness into the good land, from the wandering stage to the resting stage in the all-inclusive Christ. At that time the Hebrew Christians were in danger of drifting away from Christ into Judaism, which is like returning to the land of Egypt. They had been delivered out of Judaism and intended to enter into the good land of rest, but they were wandering midway between Judaism and Christ. The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to encourage them to press beyond the wandering stage by taking Christ as their all-inclusive life and rest.
Hebrews also refers to the Holy of Holies. Again, for many years I could not understand what the Holy of Holies is. Eventually I was helped by the Lord to realize that the Holy of Holies is, in a sense, our very spirit. Today our human spirit is the Holy of Holies. The three parts of the temple correspond to the three parts of man — body, soul, and spirit. The inmost part of the temple, the Holy of Holies, indicates the inmost part of our being, the human spirit. Just as the Ark, the type of Christ, was in the Holy of Holies, so is Christ in our spirit today. Our human spirit, therefore, is the Holy of Holies, where we can contact God. If we cannot discern our spirit, we cannot locate the Holy of Holies.
Furthermore, we must be very clear that today the Triune God has completed everything — the creation, the incarnation, and the life and sufferings on earth; He has gone into death and passed through death; He has resurrected, ascended into heaven, and has been enthroned. Everything has been attained by the wonderful Triune God, and all these realities are in the Holy Spirit, who has come into us. The point is that this Holy Spirit has been dispensed into our human spirit, which is now the residence of God. Our spirit is the organ to receive God and to contain Him. If we are going to contact this wonderful Spirit, we must know our spirit. If you are going to contact me, you must know where I live. Hebrews 4:12 was written to encourage us to press on into the Holy of Holies, which is our spirit. If we do not know how to discern our spirit, we cannot locate the Holy of Holies, the place where the Lord dwells today. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us, and the very place where He dispenses Himself is our spirit. When we are able to discern our spirit and to exercise our spirit to contact the Lord, we can then be permeated and saturated with the Lord and be transformed into His image.
The enemy tries to frustrate us from discerning our spirit, and soon after we are saved, he does this by helping us make a decision to do good. No one is exempt from this subtle suggestion. Even this morning some have prayed, “Lord, I want to do Your will; I want to please You; I will try my best to do the things that satisfy You.” This sounds like a good prayer, but it is not from the Lord. It comes from the enemy. Whenever we have such good intentions, we must jump up and tell Satan to depart from us. In my Christian dictionary there is not such a word as evil, nor is there such a word as good. From the beginning to the end my Christian dictionary contains only one word — Christ. I understand neither good nor evil. I do not want help to do good; I only want Christ!
Now you can understand the Lord’s words, “Abide in Me and I in you...He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit” (John 15:4-5). Here there is nothing of self-effort, only abiding in the indwelling One and allowing Him to abide in us. Then all the riches of Christ will be wrought out through us. Fruit-bearing is simply the outworking of the indwelling Christ. We should say, “I do not know this, and I do not know that. I only know one thing: I am a branch, and He is the vine; I have to abide in Him and let Him abide in me.” Spontaneously we will bear fruit. This is the missing key. Trying to do good is a real temptation and a great distraction from experiencing Christ.
Doctrines form another device used by the enemy to distract the seeking ones from Christ. Through the centuries, doctrines such as eternal security, dispensations, predestination, absolute grace, etc., have been much used by the enemy to distract Christians from the living Christ. I knew some Christians who were so familiar with the Bible that one of them was even called “the living concordance.” If you could not find a certain portion in the Scriptures, these Christians could tell you immediately the book, chapter, and verse. But I can testify that they knew very little about contacting Christ as their life. To possess the knowledge of the Scriptures is one thing, but to know the living One revealed by the Scriptures is quite another. Christ must be contacted through the Scriptures. But it is regrettable that so many Christians have the Scriptures only in their hand and in their memory, with very little of Christ in their spirit. The Mosaic law was to bring people to Christ and keep them for Christ. It was to help people to know Christ, but many merely kept the law and ignored Christ. Therefore, the law was misused. Today the problem remains unchanged. The same principle applies to all the teachings and doctrines of the Scriptures. Doctrines are the means to experience Christ, but Christians use the doctrines and knowledge to replace Him.
Another thing which the enemy utilizes is the matter of spiritual gifts. A proper understanding of the gifts is necessary in order to see how they are related to God’s economy. This applies to all gifts. Many gifted persons give too much attention to their gifts and, more or less, neglect the indwelling Christ. The indwelling Christ is the mark of God’s economy, and all the gifts are for this. Many know how to speak in tongues and how to have healing, but they do not know how to discern the spirit and contact Christ. Although I am not speaking against any gift, I am against one thing — that is, paying full attention to the gifts and ignoring the discernment of the spirit in order to contact Christ. This is definitely wrong.
The book of Romans allots very little ground to the gifts. Romans is a general sketch of the Christian life and walk, and in such a sketch not much reference is made to gifts. Of sixteen chapters, only chapter 12 speaks something about them, and if the whole twelfth chapter is read, we will see that not only the gift of prophecy is mentioned, but even the gifts of showing mercy and of giving material things are listed (vv. 5-8). The gifts mentioned here result from the living Christ experienced as grace in each believer. Not all Christians have the gift of prophecy. It is just one of many gifts. Although we are not trying to oppose any gifts, nevertheless, we must give proper proportion to every gift; otherwise, we will be unbalanced.
Gifts are also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. The Corinthian believers had all the gifts and did not lack in any of them (1:7). Yet, though the Corinthians had all the gifts, their spiritual condition was described as fleshly and immature (3:1). We may have the gifts yet remain childish and fleshly. There is no doubt that we can receive help from these gifts, but we need to learn something more. Signs and wisdom are gifts (1:22), but the apostle preached “Christ crucified” and “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (vv. 23-24). The apostle’s only intention was to minister Christ as the power and the wisdom — not the manifestations of the gifts and signs. The gifts are a help, but they are not the goal and the mark. The mark is the indwelling Christ. The gifts should only help us to realize this mark.
First Corinthians 12 mentions spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues, but at the end of the chapter Paul mentions “the more excellent way” (v. 31, KJV). The Greek text expresses it even more strongly: “a most excellent way.” What is the most excellent way? Chapter 13 is the continuation of this verse: If we speak with all the tongues of men and angels but do not have love, we become merely sounding brass. We hear only a sound, but we do not see the life. Love is the expression of life. This proves that tongues, strictly speaking, are not a matter of life. To speak in tongues without considering the life is to become sounding brass. Many people who speak frequently in tongues are very shallow and immature in their Christian life.
In chapter 14 the apostle encourages us rather to exercise our spirit for the spiritual profit of the church. This is the conclusion of the whole chapter. Even though Paul exceeded others in tongues, yet he would rather speak five intelligible words in the meetings than ten thousand words in a tongue (vv. 18-19). The apostle in these chapters manifests a somewhat negative attitude toward speaking in tongues. Rather than encouraging the practice of the gifts, he adjusts the Corinthians with some corrective instruction. Therefore, we must conclude that all the gifts are for the experience of Christ and must be used in proper proportion.
The key to God’s economy is Christ as everything wrought into our spirit. Of course, we need certain teachings and certain gifts to help us to realize the mark. But we must not allow the doctrines and gifts to replace this mark. The mark is neither the teachings nor the gifts but Christ, who is the living Spirit indwelling our spirit. With some, a gift may be needed to help them to realize this mark. Not all need the same gift. While some may need the gift of prophecy, others may need the gift of speaking in tongues. Some may need the gift of healing, and others need certain doctrines. Many people are drawn to Christ through certain teachings. But let us be clear that the indwelling Christ in our spirit is the key to God’s economy. We must give our full attention to this key. Actually, there is no need to give special attention to any kind of teaching or gift if the indwelling Christ is already realized in our spirit.
The old servant of Abraham was sent with a number of gifts to obtain a wife for Isaac. All these gifts helped Rebekah to realize that she must go to meet Isaac. This is the true place of the gifts. But after Rebekah received the gifts, she seemed to forget all about them and said, “I will go to Isaac. I will not be satisfied to remain here enjoying these gifts and yet forget about Isaac. I will go on to meet my bridegroom.” After Rebekah married Isaac, there is no further mention of these gifts. Day by day Rebekah just enjoyed living with Isaac. Christ is much better than speaking in tongues, much better than prophecy, much better than everything else.
With the key in my hand, I can open all the doors and enjoy the entire house. If I have no key, I must see the locksmith, but if I have a key, the services of the locksmith are not required. The real need is the key, not the locksmith, and just as the locksmith is not needed when I have the key, so the gifts and the teachings are not needed when we realize the indwelling Christ in our spirit.
Some may require certain teachings and gifts in order to find the key, but praise the Lord, as long as the key is in our hand to realize Christ, let us forget the teachings and gifts. Let us give our full attention to discerning our spirit, contacting the living Christ, and fellowshipping with Him. In order for us to obtain the key, God has proportioned certain gifts and teachings. We can praise the Lord for this mercy, but we must be careful. We must not give so much attention to the locksmith that we go to him every day. As long as the key is obtained, we can thank the locksmith and leave him. We can use the key to come into the building and discover its riches. Day by day we need to learn to know this wonderful Triune God, the unsearchable Christ, the all-inclusive Holy Spirit, who is now in our spirit. We have the key when we discern our spirit. We have the key! Whatever we need of Christ, we have by exercising our spirit to contact Him. This is the mark of God’s economy. Although the Lord grants us teachings and gifts, He Himself is the goal, the complete and all-inclusive One. Let us not settle with anything less than Himself. The aim of God’s economy is for the all-inclusive Christ to indwell our spirit. All during the day we must seek to return into our spirit, discern our spirit, and contact Christ as everything. Then we have the key to the proper and normal Christian life.
