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I. One spirit with the Lord
А. Two spirits mingled as one
B. No third nature produced
II. The Spirit witnessing with our spirit
III. Walking according to the mingled spirit
[Physically we were born of our parents, but when we were regenerated, we were "born of the Spirit" (John 3:6). By believing in the Lord Jesus, our spirit was born of the Spirit. The all-inclusive Spirit came into our spirit to regenerate it with the divine life.]
[One of the greatest verses in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 6:17, says, "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." The implications of this verse are marvelous and far-reaching. We, the believers, are one spirit with the Lord. How tremendous! This implies that we are in Him and that He is in us. It also implies that we and He have been mingled, blended organically, to become one in life. To be one spirit with the Lord implies that we and He are a living entity. We simply do not have words to explain the significance of this verse. To say that we are one spirit with the Lord definitely does not mean that we are deified. However, it certainly does imply the mingling of divinity with humanity. In the words of #501 in Hymns, "God mingled with humanity lives in me my all to be." To be one spirit with the Lord means that we are blended with Him organically and mingled with Him in life.]
[The word translated spirit in Romans 8:4, and in several other verses in Romans 8, presents a problem to translators. It is hard to decide whether to regard spirit as referring to the Holy Spirit and capitalize it, or to consider that it is the human spirit and not capitalize it. The spirit here refers to the mingled spirit, our spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit. We need another size letter to denote this, neither a capital letter nor a small one! These two spirits, the divine and the human, have become one (1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Tim. 4:22; 2 Cor. 3:17).]
[The Lord today is the life-giving Spirit, and we have a human spirit purposely created by God that we may take Christ as the life-giving Spirit into us. Now these two spirits have become one. This is wonderful! Our spirit is one with the Lord, because as the life-giving Spirit He indwells our spirit. But the Lord in our spirit is not like a drop of oil in water, never mingling with the water. He mingles with us in our spirit as tea mingles with water. This is why many times it is difficult to distinguish whether it is we or the Lord doing things. We have some burden, yet it seems the Lord wants to do it. It is because we are one with the Lord in our spirit. After tea is put into water, it is difficult to separate the tea from the water. That is why I call it tea-water. It is both tea and water. The two mingle as one. In the same way, the Lord Jesus as the life-giving Spirit mingles with our spirit as one. He is in us, and we are in Him. It seems that a brother is speaking, but while he is speaking, the Lord is also speaking. He speaks within that brother. His speaking is the brother's speaking, and the brother's speaking is His speaking. Eventually, a mingled one is speaking. Praise the Lord! We are really one spirit with the Lord.]
[Some Bible students and even some Bible teachers have failed to understand the matter of mingling. In ancient times there was a debate regarding the mingling of the divine essence and the human essence in the Person of the Lord Jesus. Some who misunderstood this mingling said that it caused a third nature to be produced, something which is neither divine nor human. To say that with respect to the Lord Jesus the mingling of the divine essence and the human essence produced a third nature, a nature that is neither fully human nor divine, is heretical. However, we wish to make it clear that this is not our understanding of the word "mingle." We agree with the first definition of this word given in Webster's unabridged dictionary; mingle — "to combine or join (one thing with another, or two or more things together), especially so that the original elements are distinguishable in the combination." According to this definition, when two or more things are mingled together, their original natures are not lost but remain distinguishable.]
["The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Rom. 8:16). Now that the Spirit is within our spirit through regeneration, He witnesses with our spirit, testifying that we are the children of God. These two spirits within us correspond to each other, together confirming that we are God's children.]
[This verse does not say that the Spirit witnesses and our spirit witnesses also. It says the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. To say that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit is deeper than saying that the Spirit and our spirit witness, for it indicates that the two spirits are one. To say that the Spirit and our spirit witness means that these spirits remain two. But to say that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit indicates that the two spirits have been mingled and have become one.]
[Regardless of how young or new you may be, if you are a child of God, the Spirit of God witnesses with your spirit. Notice that it does not say "in our spirit." If it said "in our spirit," it would mean that only the Spirit of God witnesses, but that our spirit does not witness. However, it says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit, meaning that both witness together. The Spirit of God witnesses, and simultaneously our spirit witnesses together with Him. This is wonderful.
Some may say, "I don't feel that the Spirit of God witnesses. Where is the Spirit of God? I don't feel Him. I don't have any sensation that the Spirit of God is within me. I never saw Him and I cannot feel Him. I simply cannot sense Him." However, do you not feel that your spirit witnesses? You must realize that as long as your spirit is witnessing it means that the Holy Spirit also is witnessing. You cannot deny that your spirit witnesses within you. The Apostle Paul was very wise. He said that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. When our spirit witnesses, that is also the witnessing of the Spirit, because the two spirits have been mingled together as one. It is very difficult for anyone to distinguish these two spirits.]
[Even a young student has to learn how to experience Christ in the study of his lesson books. He may pray, "Lord, here is the lesson book, and tomorrow will be the final. Lord, prove that You are one spirit with me. Lord, read this book with me." If he does this, I assure you he will experience Christ as his understanding and as his wisdom to take in all the secrets of his lesson book. He will even experience Christ as his good memory. Then the next day when he takes the exam he does not need to be so pressed and so trembling. He just needs to pray, "Lord, I am one with You, and even one spirit with You. Not only in speaking, Lord, even today in the classroom, taking the exam, I am one with You, Lord. Lord, make it so real. Make it so real to the angels. Make it so real to the entire universe that I am one with You." I assure you that he will experience Christ as his wisdom and quite often as his answer. This is the way.]
[Day by day we should cleave to the mingled spirit and do everything according to this spirit. Whenever we walk according to the flesh we are sinners, no matter whether we regard ourselves as good or bad. But we need not walk according to the flesh, for we have the option of walking according to the spirit. When we do this, we enjoy all the riches of Christ.
We daily need to practice having our being according to the spirit. We need to apply this in our talking, in our thinking, and in everything we do. For example, suppose a young one is wondering whether he can participate in a certain kind of athletic activity. My advice to him would be that if he can participate in that athletic activity according to the spirit, then he should go ahead and do so. As Christians, we should not decide matters according to right or wrong; rather, we should decide them according to the spirit.
The Spirit who is mingled with our spirit and according to whom we may have our very being is the wonderful Spirit of the Triune God. Such a Spirit, the realization and application of the Triune God, is now mingled with our spirit.] It [is no longer a matter of simply the divine Spirit nor of just the human spirit, but it is a matter of the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit. Hallelujah for this marvelous mingling!]
We the believers are one spirit with the Lord. We are in Him and He is in us. The Lord Jesus as the life-giving Spirit is mingled, blended organically with our spirit. In the mingling of divinity with humanity, the original natures are not lost and no third nature is produced. The Spirit witnesses with our spirit testifying that we are the children of God. Every day we should walk according to the mingled spirit.
