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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; 1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Tim. 4:22; 4, Rom. 8:16
In the previous three chapters we saw the matter of our living with the Lord and our mutual abiding with the Lord. In this chapter we want to see the matter of walking according to the spirit. Apparently, this chapter is unrelated to the previous chapters, but in actuality, it is the issue of the previous chapters. The Bible is the most wonderful book, in which the most wonderful matter is that the Spirit of God is mingled with our human spirit and that we should live and walk according to such a mingled spirit.
Among the Chinese people The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Golden Mean, two of the Confucian Four Books in the Chinese classics, may be considered the highest books. The Great Learning says that the doctrine of great learning lies in developing the “bright virtue,” whereas the teaching of the Bible lies in the spirit and in walking according to the spirit. The phrase develop the bright virtue seems very profound in wording, but actually, there is nothing mysterious in it. While the phrase walk according to the spirit is simple in wording, the mystery within cannot be exhausted. The Bible is wonderful in that, first, it reveals a wonderful person and, second, a wonderful salvation. Although this wonderful person in the Bible has passed through two thousand years of human research, He remains mysterious and unfathomable. Isaiah 9:6 says that the name of this wonderful person is called “Wonderful Counselor.” This wonderful One, Jesus, is wonderful not only in the Bible but also in the six thousand years of human history. Not only is His person wonderful, but His deeds, His might, and His transcendence are also difficult for us to comprehend.
Napoleon occupied a dominant position for a period in history, but eventually he was banished to an island for imprisonment. Before he died, he confessed that Jesus was the Lord of heaven and of earth. Even the atheistic Communist countries use the calendar of Jesus Christ. According to Chinese history, whoever was in power, his calendar would be used. Thus, the Communist countries also admit today that the whole earth is under the ruling of Jesus. Jesus Christ is so wonderful that He is unsearchable and unspeakable.
Another wonderful thing in the Bible is the matter of the Triune God. In these past two thousand years, among theologians, Bible scholars, and Bible-studying preachers, there have been many debates concerning the Trinity — the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit. Is Jesus Christ the Father or the Son? Of course, most Christians would say that He is the Son, not the Father. However, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Son and also the Father. In John 14:9 the Lord Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Some say that to see the Son is to see the Father because the Son represents the Father, but this does not prove that the Son is the Father. However, in verse 10 the Lord Jesus went on to say, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” This cannot be explained simply by saying that the Son represents the Father.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This statement involves a great deal. John initially says that the Word was with God; therefore, They must be two. But John also says that the Word was God, indicating that the two are one. Then, are God and the Word one or two? To this day no one can fully explain this. In reality, He was the Word, and He was also God. Then John says that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (v. 14). Furthermore, he says, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (v. 29). He was the Word, God, the flesh, the tabernacle, and the Lamb. Doctrinally speaking, since He was God, how could He be the Lamb? Not only so, He was the complete God, not the partial God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. This Word was the Lord Jesus; hence, the Lord Jesus was God, even the complete God — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Some may ask, since God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and since the Lord Jesus is the Son, then is the Lord Jesus only one-third of the Triune God, being neither the Father nor the Spirit but only the Son? In his Gospel, John clearly states at the outset that the Word was God, and this God was the complete God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Hence, the statement “the Word was God” refers not only to the Father, only to the Son, or only to the Spirit, but to the entire God, that is, the Father and the Son and the Spirit. Since the Word was God, this Word must be the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as the complete Triune God. We cannot say that the Lord Jesus as the Word was only the Son but not the Spirit or the Father; otherwise, we would contradict the truth in the Bible. This is why Isaiah 9:6 says that a Son is given to us, and His name is called Eternal Father. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” All these verses show us that the Lord Jesus is too wonderful. We cannot use our limited mind to restrict Him. He is all in all.
Colossians 1:15 tells us that Christ is the Firstborn of all creation. Some may argue that since Christ is the Creator, He cannot be a creature. But both the Bible and history tell us that this Creator at one time became a man with bones, blood, and flesh. Having a body of blood and flesh proves that He was created. He is not only the Creator but also a creature. It is illogical to say that a man is not a creature. The Lord Jesus is a genuine man with genuine human blood. His blood is not the blood of goats and calves, which cannot obtain redemption for man’s sins. The blood of goats and calves cannot accomplish redemption for man’s sins, because it is only a type and a shadow. In the first and second centuries there was a group of people called the Docetists, who said that since Jesus Christ is holy, He could never have had the defilement of human flesh. They also said that His body was not real flesh and blood but was merely a deceptive, transient phantom, and therefore He did not suffer, die, and resurrect. Such a great heresy was condemned by the apostle John in his first Epistle (4:1-3 and footnote 31, Recovery Version).
The Bible tells us not only that the Lord Jesus was a man when He was on the earth but also that He was still a man even after His resurrection. In the evening of the day of His resurrection, He showed His body to the doubting disciples because they thought that He was an apparition. The Lord Jesus told them that He had bones and that they could put their finger into His side to touch the wounds. To this day our Lord Jesus is still a man in the heavens. When Stephen was stoned to death, he lifted up his eyes and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). This One spoken of in the Bible is so wonderful; therefore, we must not limit Him or visualize Him according to our imagination. We should speak according to the Bible and believe what the Bible says. We should speak, believe, and receive whatever the Bible says.
In Taipei more than twenty years ago I spoke on what Christ is. I had discovered nearly three hundred items from both the Old and New Testaments concerning what Christ is. He is truly too wonderful; He is the wonder of all wonders. Actually, He is everything; He is the Lord, God, the Triune God, the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit. If there is God in the universe, then He is God. If there is man in the universe, then He is the most distinguished man and the real man. If there is a Savior in the universe, He is also the Savior. If God needs sacrifices and lambs, then He is the sacrifices and the Lamb. He is all in all. Since He is so wonderful, the salvation that He accomplished is also wonderful.
Unfortunately, most Christians understand the salvation of Jesus Christ according to their human concepts. They think that we need a Savior, first, because of our sins, and second, because of our afflictions and woes. Therefore, we need a merciful Savior to deliver us from our sins and our afflictions. In China, not many believe in the Lord Jesus solely because of sins, but a great number believe because of sufferings. The Chinese people have the Buddhist concept of great mercy and compassion. Thus, the new believers of the Lord Jesus usually have the thought of Jesus having great mercy and compassion, though they may not say it. In the past I prayed with some after they first heard the gospel. When they opened their mouth, they often said, “O Savior of great mercy and compassion.” Gradually, they stopped praying in this way because they observed that we did not pray like this. According to the human concept, we always think that we need a Savior because we are so wicked, sinful, and full of sufferings.
In actuality, the Lord’s salvation is of two aspects. The first aspect is mainly for solving the problem of our sins. Through His crucifixion the Lord Jesus solved this problem. Since God is righteous, sin became a problem before Him. As our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus died on the cross and solved the problem of sin. The Bible shows us that on the cross the Lord Jesus as the Lamb became our sin offering and our trespass offering to deal with our double sin — our sinful nature within and our sinful deeds without. On the cross He was judged by God on our behalf and shed His precious blood; hence, God could forgive us. His precious blood not only cleanses us of our sins, but it is also eternally efficacious.
There is another aspect of salvation, which is much deeper than the first aspect and is related not only to what the Lord Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. Based on the redemption accomplished on the cross, He has entered into us to be our life, our nature, and even all the elements of our entire inward being so that we can live not by ourselves but by Him. Some may understand that our living by Him means that we have to live outwardly in a manner that is proper, good, bright, holy, and overcoming. This understanding is superficial and incomplete. The main intention of the Lord Jesus’ living in us is to transform us.
I often like to use tea as an illustration. The Chinese make tea by adding water to tea leaves. When the tea leaves are immersed in the water, the water is transformed. Originally, it was a cup of plain water, but when you put tea leaves into it and cover it, after five minutes the plain water is completely transformed. The nature, color, and flavor of the tea leaves enter into the water and transform it into tea. Water becomes tea because the element of tea has entered into the water. Christ is the tea, and we are the water. When the element of tea gets into the water, the water becomes tea. Likewise, when Christ enters into us, we become Christians. Hence, Christian means “Christ-man.” We all are Christ-men because Christ has entered into us, and He is transforming us with His element. This is too mysterious.
Confucius spoke of developing the “bright virtue,” which is to develop and magnify the bright virtue that we had originally. However, the Lord’s salvation is not to develop and magnify what we had originally. Rather, He Himself comes into us to be our essence and element. This is truly a mystery. Originally, there is no other element in the water, but after the tea leaves are placed into the water, the element of tea is added into the water. Thus the water becomes tea. Originally, we did not have Christ in us, but now Christ has entered into us. The entrance of Christ into us adds a new element to us. Christ as the new element is God, the Lord, life, holiness, righteousness, and light. He is all in all. He is the Son with the Father. Moreover, in reality, the Son is the Spirit. Therefore, He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He is all in all.
Not only so, the Bible speaks first of Christ being God and then of Christ becoming man. God becoming man is truly a mystery. In the universe there is such a One who lived on the earth two thousand years ago for thirty-three and a half years. Today, as you read the Gospels in the New Testament, you may not sense that these records are very marvelous. But if you would quietly consider that one day the Creator of the heavens and the earth actually became a man and grew up in the despised city of Nazareth in the home of a poor and lowly carpenter, you would realize how wonderful this is! The Creator of all things did not come to the earth for a short visit, as He did with Abraham in Genesis 18. Instead, He lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years.
In Genesis 18, when Abraham was cooling himself at the tent door, three men came, two of whom were angels, and the third was Jehovah God. Most people know only that Jesus became flesh to be a man two thousand years ago. But in reality, He came to visit Abraham in the likeness of a man four thousand years ago, even before He became flesh. Abraham washed His feet and served Him a meal with fine flour and a calf. The Southern Baptists published an article about their faith, quoting many verses as the basis of their faith. Concerning Christ, one of the verses quoted is Genesis 18:1. They said that the Jehovah in Genesis 18:1 was Jesus Christ. Some may question, “How could He have the form of a man at that time, and not only so, even have the reality of a man?” He was there, and Abraham washed His feet; He even ate the meal that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, prepared for Him. The Bible is truly mysterious, and God is likewise mysterious. Even the theologians cannot explain these things.
We can only receive the spiritual and mysterious things according to the plain words of the Bible. The Bible states plainly that He was God who became a man. Then, at the fullness of thirty-three and a half years, according to the day, month, and year prophesied in the Scriptures, that is, on the fourteenth day of the first month when the lamb of the passover was slain, the Lord Jesus was killed on the cross. When He was crucified, He was truly the Passover lamb who died for us to deal with our sins. He was buried and was resurrected on the third day, and at the time He was resurrected, He became the life-giving Spirit. First, He was God who became a man, that is, the last Adam. He passed through thirty-three and a half years of human living and eventually died on the cross. After passing through death and resurrection, the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. The first step was that God became a man, and the second step was that this man became a Spirit. On the evening of the day of His resurrection He came into the midst of His disciples as a Spirit, yet with bones and flesh. This is truly beyond our understanding. Not only is God a mystery; even we ourselves are a mystery that we cannot comprehend.
On the one hand, the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus was God who became a man as our Savior to bear our sins on the cross. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that He died and resurrected, and in His resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit to enter into us. Now that we have Him in us, we can have an unveiled face before Him. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we are like mirrors continually beholding and reflecting the Lord. Not only so, this reflecting causes us to be transformed into His image, even as from the Lord Spirit. This Lord is now the Spirit, who is in us transforming us into His glorious image. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We are one spirit with the Lord in our spirit, not in our mind, emotion, and will. Thus, Paul said to Timothy, “The Lord be with your spirit” (2 Tim. 4:22). This may be a simple statement, yet it is a great blessing. This statement implies two important points. First, the Lord must be Spirit. If the Lord were not Spirit, how could He be in our spirit, and how could He be with us? Second, we also must have a spirit in us. It is in our spirit that the Lord is with us. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.” There are two spirits within us: one is our spirit, and the other is the Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, I believe that you all are now clear. Our Lord Jesus, who was God, became a man who died on the cross to be our Savior to deal with our sins. Furthermore, He was resurrected from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit to dwell in us and be mingled with our regenerated spirit. Hence, there are not two spirits in us, because actually these two spirits have been mingled into one spirit, just as tea and water are mingled into one. If you want to drink tea, you do not drink water first and then tea. When you drink, you get both the tea and the water because they have been mingled into one. Now the Lord as the Spirit has been joined and mingled with our spirit into one spirit. Thus, Romans 8:4 says, “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” We are those who walk according to the spirit. In Greek there is no definite article before spirit; hence, it is difficult for the Bible translators to determine whether the spirit here refers to the Spirit or to our spirit. Why? This is because the two have become one — the two spirits have become one spirit. Just as in making tea, it is difficult to say whether it is tea or water in the cup.
The Greek word for walk in the phrase walk...according to the spirit denotes our living, our moving, our conduct, our actions, and our existence. All those who are saved know that there is a God in the universe. This God became a man to die for our sins and was resurrected to be the Spirit to dwell in our spirit. Now what He requires of us is that in our living, our walk, our conduct, and our every word and action we have our being according to the mingled spirit within. If you remember this and practice it, you will be truly blessed. To walk according to the spirit is not to walk according to human effort. Whenever you walk according to the spirit, the Spirit comes out and the Lord Jesus is lived out because He is in your spirit. Hence, we should all practice to live according to the spirit. Walking according to the spirit should be the motto of our living. How good it is to do everything, whether big or small, according to the spirit!
