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Scripture Reading: Rom. 5:10, 17; 6:3-6a; 8:1-2, 9-11, 16, 23; 12:5-6
The Gospels show us how Christ became a man so that we could be put into Him, and how He became the Spirit so that He could come into us. First, we have been put into Him. Then second, He comes into us and lives within us. This is the main aspect of the Gospels.
Following this, the Acts show us a group of people who have been baptized into the Triune God, and now He is indwelling them as their life, and they become His expression. So Acts, strictly speaking, is not a book of preaching, work, or ministry. It is a record of a corporate people who have been put into the Triune God and who have the Triune God living within them. They are such an extraordinary kind of human being. They are a kind that are mingled with God by being in God and having God living in them. Acts is not a book of activities but a biography of such an extraordinary kind of being.
After Acts there are the Epistles. We really must thank the Lord for the arrangement of the Scriptures. There is first the Gospels, then the Acts, and then the Epistle to the Romans. To understand the indwelling Christ, we need two things. We need the vision and we need the experiences. The experiences always come out of the vision. The four Gospels and the Acts give us the vision, and the Epistles tell us how to experience the indwelling Christ.
The book of Romans is considered by most Christians to be a book of justification by faith. A great section in this book covers the matter of justification by faith. But we all must realize that justification by faith is not the ultimate goal of this book. The ultimate goal is the Body of Christ. The beginning of the book speaks of justification by faith, but at the end the book reaches the final goal of the Body of Christ. Between these two ends, we have the indwelling Christ. Romans starts with justification by faith and ends with the Body of Christ, but the central section speaks of the indwelling of Christ.
If we have only seen justification by faith, we have only seen the first part of the book of Romans. We appreciate the fact that the Lord used Martin Luther to recover the matter of justification by faith, but that is just the beginning of the book of Romans. We have to go on to reach the goal. The goal is the Body of Christ, and the way from justification by faith to the Body of Christ is the indwelling of Christ. Therefore, we can see that the indwelling of Christ is quite crucial and strategic. If we would reach God’s goal from God’s start, we must take God’s way. This way is the indwelling Christ.
We need to see some of the more important verses on the indwelling of Christ in the book of Romans. The first is Romans 5:10: “If we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled.” This verse covers two main points. The first is that when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of Christ. We were not only sinners in the eyes of God but also enemies. We were God’s enemies, but, Hallelujah, we were reconciled! If we were only sinners, we would only need forgiveness, but as enemies we needed reconciliation. Praise the Lord that we have not only been forgiven but also reconciled. We were reconciled to God through the death of Christ. This is the ultimate consummation of justification by faith. There are no more problems between us and God. Is this not wonderful? All the problems have been solved. We have been reconciled to God through the redeeming death of Christ.
But this verse covers something more. And it is not only something more but much more: “Much more we will be saved in His life.” We have been reconciled, yet we still need some saving. Have you been saved? Are you sure that you have been saved? If you have been saved, why does this verse say that we will be saved? What does this mean? Well, on one hand, we have been saved from God’s condemnation, and we have been reconciled to God. Praise the Lord, we have been saved! But on the other hand, there are still many negative things in our lives from which we need to be saved. I am afraid that as a wife you are not so happy with your husband, and as a husband you are not so much at peace with your wife. I do not know what it is, but I am sure that it is something that you need to be saved from. Furthermore, we all have our temper and all our shortcomings from which we must be saved. The flesh, the old man, the self, and the natural life all need a daily salvation.
We have been saved from so many things, yet we still need to be saved from more things. So, being reconciled, much more shall we be saved in His life. This saving is not in His death but in His life. Here we must consider something. If Christ does not live within us, if He does not indwell us, how could we be saved in His life? If He is just in heaven sitting at the right hand of God, how could we be saved in His life? But, Hallelujah, Christ today is not only sitting at the right hand of God (8:34); He is also moving within us (v. 10). As He lives within us, we can enjoy His saving life. And the life of Jesus is simply Jesus Himself living in us. We should not consider that the life of Jesus is one thing, and Jesus Himself is another. The life of Jesus is Jesus Himself living within us.
We all realize that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So, through His death we received forgiveness from our sins, and we were reconciled to God. But after His death He was resurrected to become the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) to live within us. Now He lives within us as our life. It is by this indwelling life of Christ that we are daily being saved. We are daily saved from our bad temper, our shortcomings, our dissatisfactions with our husband or wife, and so many other things. I can testify that even today I have been saved at least eighteen times. I was not saved by His death but by His indwelling life.
Once today something came to me from the enemy. A few days ago I had cast away that burden. Psalm 55:22 tells us to cast our burden upon Jehovah. In the original language it means to throw away your burden. So I did throw away this burden to the Lord, and the burden was gone. But today Satan tried to bring the burden back to me. I turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus, You are my life.” Immediately, the burden went away. So I was saved from this burden by the living Jesus who lives in me.
I will give you another testimony of being saved in His life. This evening when my wife called me to dinner, a little temptation came to speak negatively about someone to my wife. But again I began to call on the Lord. “O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus!” Immediately, I had the deep sensation that I should not say those things. So I was saved again by the indwelling Christ. Much more we will be saved in His life! I said that I was saved eighteen times today, but it may have been more than eighteen times. Not only today but every day I am saved by Jesus living within me as my life. The more I take Him as my life in my daily walk, the more I am saved.
Now let me say something to the sisters. I hope they will not be offended. We know that all human beings like to gossip. But the sisters are experts in gossiping. It would be very difficult for the most spiritual sisters not to gossip. But if the sisters would take Jesus as their life, this living Jesus would save them from their gossiping. Then they could save their strength for praying. There is no need for us to waste our time and strength in gossiping. We can be saved by the living Jesus within us. Then we will have more time and strength for prayer. “Much more we will be saved in His life.”
Then Romans 5:17 says, “If, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” We are not only saved in His life, but we can also reign as kings in life. A king is one who is above all. Everything is under him. Praise the Lord that we can reign in life! All things will be subdued under our feet. We are reigning in Jesus who lives in us as life. This Jesus living within us is even the kingdom. He is the kingdom, and within Him we can be a king subduing and conquering all things. Hallelujah!
Sometimes a brother will say, “By God’s mercy I was barely saved from losing my temper.” Well, this is good, but it is too poor. What we need is to be king over our temper, not to be barely saved from our temper. Then we can tell our temper, “Be quiet. I am the king over you.” All people like to be a king, but no one can be king over his temper. Our temper is usually a king over us. But by Christ living in us as our life, we have the position to reign in life over our temper. We are not only saved but also reigning in life.
From Romans 5 we must go on to Romans 6. Here we see how we can be saved in life and how we can reign in life. The reason is that we all have been baptized into Christ: “Are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life. For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him” (vv. 3-6).
We all have been baptized into Christ, and this means to be baptized into His death. So by burial we have been put into death. This means that the baptism into Christ is a kind of termination. Hallelujah! We all have been buried into Christ. We all have been terminated in Christ. This gives Christ the opportunity to live in us. Our termination is His germination. We are terminated in Him, and He is germinated within us. Now He lives within us, and we walk in newness of life. We were first buried into Him, and then we were resurrected with Him to walk in newness of life as He lives within us. This is the indwelling of Christ.
Now we come to Romans 8. This chapter begins with a declaration in the first verse: “There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” I like this term in Christ. We all have been put into Christ, and now we are in Christ. In Christ there is no condemnation because in Christ there is nothing negative, dark, or sinful. If we are outside of Christ, we will be full of condemnation. But in Christ everything is in the light. Therefore, there is no condemnation. We should not look at ourselves or consider our situation. If we look at ourselves, we will be in real trouble. Therefore, we must realize that we are in Christ. Just as Paul declared it, we must declare it. We all need to say, “Hallelujah, I am in Christ, and here there is no condemnation.”
There is no condemnation in Christ because in Christ there is a law. “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death” (v. 2). In Christ there is the law of the Spirit of life. A law is a natural governing principle. We all know that gravity is a law. If you throw anything into the air, it comes down. There is no need to pray to the Lord to send it back to earth. If we pray in that way, we are foolish. The law of gravity will take care of it. It is the same way in Christ. In Christ there is the law of the Spirit of life. The law, the Spirit, and life are all in Christ.
More than thirty years ago I was deep in trial. I remembered the verse that said we must rejoice in the Lord. I was suffering very much, so I really needed to rejoice. But how could I rejoice? I tried to rejoice again and again, but I simply could not do it. Now I understand. To rejoice is not an act; it is a law. If we try to rejoice, that is just an act. It will never work. But if we keep the principle of the spiritual law, spontaneously we will be rejoicing. Rejoicing is a law that belongs to the Spirit of life, and the Spirit of life is nothing less than Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Christ Himself is the Spirit of life, and within Him there is such a law.
When I tried to rejoice more than thirty years ago in that situation, I failed. But now I have learned to call on the Lord. “O Lord Jesus. O Lord Jesus. O Lord Jesus.” After calling for a few minutes, it is easy to rejoice, for the rejoicing One lives within me. That is the law. When we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, we touch Him, and He is the Spirit of life. Within Him there is the law of rejoicing. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord that there is such a law within us!
Within Christ there is also the law of holiness. When we have Jesus living within us as our life, spontaneously it will be easy to be holy. This is because holiness is a law. Since Christ lives within us as our life and our person, there is a law of holiness. Regardless of how many times the devil casts us into a defiled situation, the law of holiness spontaneously keeps us from being unholy. This is the law of the Spirit of life. Christ living within us as our life is the Spirit of life. In this Spirit of life there is an automatic law that frees us from anything of sin and death. Hallelujah! There is no condemnation in Christ, for the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and of death. This is the indwelling Christ with the liberating law within us.
According to many of the teachings in Christianity, it seems that it is very hard for a Christian to stand. I am afraid that there are still many who hold this kind of concept. But this is absolutely a wrong teaching. To fall is really hard. While you are standing, try to fall. It is not so easy. We can all stand so steadfastly because of the gravity of the earth. It is harder for a Christian to fall than to stand. Many times I have tried to fall away from the meetings. Even though I tried to fall, I still ended up in the meeting. It is not so easy for us to fall. Occasionally we may stumble, but immediately we will regain our footing. After stumbling, we will hate what has happened. This will make us more careful the next time concerning what caused us to stumble. A Christian has a standing law. Within all Christians there is the standing strength and the standing governing principle. This is the life of Christ as the standing law within us. The law of the Spirit of life has set us free.
We must continue in Romans 8: “You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness” (vv. 9-10). Here we read that we are not in the flesh. This shows how much we have been cheated by the enemy. So many Christians are continually bemoaning the fact that they are so fleshly. But this is a lie! We are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. This is the word of Romans 8:9. Is your word or the Bible more trustworthy? The Bible says that we are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. So we must believe the word of the Bible. Our word is nothing. Only the word of the Bible is reality. Let us forget about our word and take the word of the Bible. We are no more in the flesh, but in the spirit. We know this because of the word of the Bible. Hallelujah! We are no longer in the flesh, because the Spirit of God dwells in us. This is the indwelling of Christ. It is only the indwelling Christ that causes us to be no more in the flesh.
We can realize from these verses that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is simply Christ Himself. So eventually we have these words: “If Christ is in you.” These are not small words. They are too great. We all have to shout, “Hallelujah! Christ is in us.” Is this not wonderful? We have such a wonderful person in us, and this person is Christ.
Therefore, we are a wonderful person in the spirit because the Spirit of life is now in our spirit: “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God” (v. 16). Christ is such a wonderful Spirit, and we have a spirit. And Christ as the wonderful Spirit of life is now in our spirit. This is where we are to walk. We should not look at our environment, our situation, or ourself. We should only look at Romans 8. Whenever Satan comes to cause us to look at something else, we must tell him, “Satan, look at Romans 8!” Satan will only say, “Look at yourself, look at your circumstances, look at your situation.” But we do not have to look at these things. Romans 8 says that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death. Hallelujah!
Then Romans 8:23 tells us that the indwelling Christ within us is a real taste: “Not only so, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body.” Christ as the Spirit within us is a real foretaste. A foretaste means two things. It means that the taste is so fresh, and it also means that a full taste will follow. Hallelujah! Christ is the Spirit, Christ is the life, and Christ is also the taste. We can enjoy Christ before Satan. The Lord spreads a table before us in the presence of our adversaries. The indwelling Christ is not only our life but also our taste. How enjoyable is the indwelling Christ! And how Satan hates to see us enjoying Him! Praise the Lord that we have such a One indwelling us!
Eventually, the issue of the enjoyment of the indwelling Christ brings us to the goal of the book of Romans: “Just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (12:4-5). We are all members of one Body in Christ. This is also seen in the last chapter, Romans 16. In this chapter we find four times the phrase in Christ. Another four times it says, “in the Lord.” Sister So-and-so is a person in the Lord, and Brother So-and-so is a brother in Christ. In the Lord and in Christ are altogether mentioned eight times in this one chapter.
Most of the expositors of Romans do not mention much concerning Romans 16. They say that it is just a chapter of greetings. They do not feel that “greet Brother So-and-so” and “greet Sister So-and-so” are very important. But I like Romans 16 as much as the previous fifteen chapters. So many times we read in Christ, in Christ, in Christ Jesus, in the Lord, in the Lord. Hallelujah! Today in the church we are those who are “in the Lord.” If we are not in the Lord, we are not brothers and sisters. But, praise the Lord, we are all in the Lord. I have underlined my Bible eight times in Romans 16 where it says “in the Lord” or “in Christ.” This is not some kind of vain repetition. These words really mean something. When we are in the Lord, the Lord is automatically in us. This makes us members of one Body in Christ. Then we have the church life. So in Romans 16 the church is mentioned several times.
For this reason, Romans 15 tells us to be of the same mind toward one another according to Christ Jesus: “Now the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind toward one another according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 5-6). We are not of the same mind according to the objective Christ in the heavens but according to the subjective Christ who lives in us. Christ lives in every one of us, and we all have Christ as our life. This is the reason we are one. We could never be of the same mind according to anything else. We only have one accord, and that is Christ, and this is for the church. The indwelling Christ is our one accord and our oneness. It is in this way that we all can have one mind and one mouth to glorify God in the church life. There may be thousands of us, yet we still all have one mind and one mouth because of the indwelling Christ. Hallelujah!
Now we are clear how Romans starts from justification by faith, goes through the indwelling of Christ, and brings us to the goal of the one Body of Christ, that is the church. Now we can enjoy Christ in the one Body, the church life.
