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Gen. 2:7; Rom. 5:12, 19; John 3:15; 8:2, Rom. 8:3, 4, 6, 13; 7:15-16, 22, 24
I. Man having three lives
А. The created life of man in the soul
B. The evil life of Satan in the flesh
C. The divine eternal life of God in the Spirit
II. Four laws related to man
А. The law of God outside of man
B. The law of good in our mind
C. The law of sin in our flesh
D. The law of the Spirit of life in our spirit
III. Our experience of the three lives and the four laws
In order to learn more about the divine life and its experiences, we must understand the three lives in man. Man is very complex. Animals only have one life, but we have three. This is strong proof that man is not an animal. Man has three parts — body, soul and spirit. Each of these three parts has a corresponding life.
The life in man’s soul is the created human life. It was put into man during man’s creation by God. [When God formed man of the dust of the ground, He breathed into him the breath of life, and “man became a living soul’’ (Gen. 2:7). This means that the human life obtained through creation is in man’s soul.]
There are three parts to the soul. The mind is the organ for thinking. The emotion is the organ for love and hatred. The will is the organ for making decisions. The soul is created by God to express God.
God’s intention in creating man is for man to express Him. In order to do so, God must enter into man’s spirit to be his life. God’s life is signified by the tree of life (Gen. 2:9). Before man received God into his spirit, man was deceived by Satan to receive his evil life into his body (Gen. 3:1-6). Satan’s life is signified by the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen.2:9).
[On that day, Adam, deceived as he was by Satan, ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Henceforth, Satan’s life entered into man, causing him to become corrupted. Thus, besides his own original created life, man also obtained the fallen life of Satan.
After Adam sinned and fell, man not only offended God in behavior, which resulted in a sinful situation, but, worse still, he was poisoned by Satan in life, which caused his life to become defiled and corrupted.]
Romans 5:12 tells us that “through one man [Adam] sin [the evil life of Satan] entered into the world.’’ Men were then constituted sinners (Rom. 5:19). Man now sins because he is a sinner and is fully under the condemnation of God (Rom. 5:16).
Praise the Lord, not all is lost. Though man’s condition seems so dismal, God is wise and mighty to save. God in the Son became flesh, a genuine man (John 1:1, 14; Heb. 2:14a), and His name was called Jesus (Matt. 1:21). He lived a perfect human life without sin (Heb. 4:15). Then He went to the cross to die for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) and to crucify the evil life of Satan in us on the cross (John 3:14; Heb. 2:14b). Now, we who have believed, have received this divine eternal life into our spirit (John 3:15).
Through Adam’s sinful act in the garden of Eden, we all were injected with the evil life of Satan into our flesh. But through the righteous act of Christ, we who believed are unto justification of life (Rom. 5:18). We are no more unto condemnation, but unto life. Though we were spoiled by Satan’s evil life, now we are saved in the divine eternal life of God (Rom. 5:10b).
[Thank the Lord, today we who are saved not only have the lives of man and the devil, but also the life of God. Just as Satan, through his corruption, injected his life into us and caused us to be united with him, gained by him, and possessed of all the evils of his nature; so also God, through His deliverance, puts His life into us and causes us to be united with Him, gained by Him, and possessed of all the divine goodness of His nature. Therefore, just as the crucial point of the fall was life, so also the crucial point of salvation is life.]
We are more complicated than the unbelievers, because they only have two lives, but we have three — man’s, Satan’s and God’s. We are like a miniature garden of Eden, because we have the same three things in us. We must choose to enjoy and live by the divine eternal life of God in our spirit all the time and must not choose to live by the evil life of Satan in our flesh. Every time we choose to live by the divine eternal life, we will experience life and grow in life. Young brothers and sisters, choose life.
We are more complex than we ever expected. Besides the three lives we Christians have, there are four laws related to us. [Each of the three lives within us who are saved has a law. Therefore there are not only three lives within us, but also three laws which belong to the three lives. Besides these, there is the law of God outside of us. Therefore, within and without us, there are all together four laws. This is revealed to us in Romans 7 and 8.] Other than the law of God which is outside of us, the three laws within us are not regulations, but operating principles and the automatic function of the various lives.
[The law of God, written on stone tables, was given by God to men through Moses during Old Testament times. Hence it is outside of us. The law of God is composed of the statutes of God, and its nature is holy, righteous, and good. This law, being outside of us, enables us to know what God condemns and what He justifies; it requires us to reject what God condemns and do what God justifies in order to comply with God’s holy, righteous, and good statutes.] Although the law of God is good, it has no power to help us to be good, because it was weakened by the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). It is by the law that we can know what God is and what God wants, yet we cannot fulfill it.
[The law of good in our mind, derived from our created, human life of good, contains the good human nature and exactly fits the nature of the law of God outside of us. This law creates in us, that is, in our mind, the desire to do good. Especially when the law of God outside of us requires us to be good, this law of good in us gives us the inclination toward doing good.]
The law of good wills to practice according to the law of God (Rom. 7:15), agrees with the law of God (Rom. 7:16) and delights in the law of God (Rom. 7:22). However, when the law of good tries to do good, the law of sin in the flesh rises up against it (Rom. 7:11, 23). It is, therefore, powerless to do good according to the demands of the law of God.
[The law of sin in the members is derived from the fallen and evil life of Satan. We have said before that due to Adam’s fall through sinning — eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil — Satan’s life entered into man. Within this life of Satan there is contained a law of evil, that is, the law of sin in the members. Since the life of Satan is evil, the law which is derived from his life naturally causes man to sin and do evil.]
This law is stronger than the law of good in our mind. Despite our trying very hard, we cannot fulfill God’s law (Rom. 7:17-23). We need to be saved and freed from the bondage of the law of sin (Rom. 7:24).
Praise the Lord, He came that we might have life (John 10:10). By His life we are saved (Rom. 5:10b). “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death’’ (Rom. 8:2). [The law of the Spirit of life is derived from the Spirit of life which is in our spirit and from the uncreated divine life of God. When we received the Lord and were saved, the Spirit of God together with the life of God entered into our spirit and mingled with our spirit to become the Spirit of life. In this life of the Spirit of life, there is contained a law which is the law of the Spirit of life, or the law of life.]
After we have believed in the Lord and received His life into our spirit, we have the strongest life with the strongest law in the universe. This life is divine, eternal and indestructible. It is without shortage or defects. Although the law of good in our mind may be overcome by the law of sin in our flesh, we can set our mind on the spirit and have life and peace (Rom. 8:6). And, “by the Spirit’’ we can “put to death the practices of the body’’ (Rom. 8:13). Hallelujah! We do not have to be weak Christians any more. “There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’’ (Rom. 8:1). Every day, from morning to evening, we may be filled with the Spirit and live by the Spirit to overcome the evil life of Satan in our flesh. This is to have “the righteous requirement of the law…be fulfilled in us’’ (Rom. 8:4). Praise the Lord! This is wonderful!
