Prayer: Lord, how we thank You for Your cleansing blood. Lord, You know how much we need You for this Perfecting Training. Even tonight we need You. We need You to show us all the problems we have found in Romans 8. Lord, we need You to show us the way. We need You to show us the secrets. Do cleanse everyone among us. Lord, do subdue our will and sober our mind, and, Lord, give us a clear spirit, so open to You and to one another. Lord, come to visit and touch and reveal the secrets to each one of us. Again, Lord, we need You. We like to tell You again and again, we need You. We have a lot of problems here in Romans 8. We just do not know how to get through. Oh, cover us again. Amen.
In previous chapters we have seen in such a definite way that if we could not enter into the experiences according to Romans 8, there is no way for us to go on from Romans 8 to the Body in Romans 12. This year the Perfecting Training intends to get through this matter of the Body of Christ. From the very beginning I was clear about the burden for this year’s Perfecting Training, that is, that we would have a clear view of the Body and enter into the Body of Christ. But now the problem is, as we spend more time to dig out some of the points of Romans 8, we eventually discover more problems. After the past two or three weeks, I now have more problems from Romans 8 to consider. Before the summer training, we will probably be all the time on Romans 8. I doubt whether we could get through even by that time. Let me present the problems that I cannot avoid.
In Romans 8 the word spirit is used again and again. Nearly all the translators hold different kinds of opinions concerning this word spirit. They have different interpretations of whether this word, pneuma, denotes God’s Spirit or whether it denotes our spirit. With a few verses—unless the apostle Paul were with us—no one could answer in a definite way whether it should be God’s Spirit or our spirit.
Verse 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.” The King James Version, J. N. Darby’s New Translation, and some other translations render this spirit with a capital S. This means that they understand and they interpret that the spirit here denotes the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of God. But according to our understanding, it must denote our spirit.
Then verse 5 says, “Those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit.” We understand that the first spirit in this verse is our spirit, and, of course, the second must be the Spirit of God. But when I say this, I even put a little question mark there. How do you dare to say that the second spirit is not the human spirit? The King James Version, Darby’s New Translation, the American Standard Version, and the Amplified translation all render both as “the Spirit of God.” On the contrary, the Concordant Version renders both spirits with a small letter s. Why do we dare to say that in the same verse the first spirit denotes our spirit, and the second spirit denotes God the Spirit? If you were to ask me, I do not have much boldness to say, but I just understand that it should be like this.
Verse 6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” In this verse spirit is not capitalized. Who can say which is right? No one can tell. Then verse 9 says, “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.” With the first spirit in this verse, most of the translations use a capital letter S. But we understand that the spirit here must be with a small letter s. Who dares to have the assurance that we are right? As a rule, in the New Testament the contrast is between the flesh and the Spirit of God. It is not often that the contrast is between the flesh and our spirit. Why then did we render the first spirit in lowercase? This is based not only upon the spiritual experiences but also upon the grammatical composition. If the verse read, “You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit of God, if indeed He dwells in you,” it would clearly denote the Spirit of God. The composition gives you the inclination that there are two spirits. Otherwise, the pronoun He should be used. It would read, “You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed He dwells in you.” This would be clear. Why then does Paul render the verse in this way? Because Paul’s intention is to show us two spirits. You are not in the flesh but in your spirit if indeed the other Spirit, the Spirit of God, dwells in you. In this verse I have the boldness to say that we are right because the grammar stands with us. Grammatically speaking, it must be two spirits.
Now verse 10: “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.” Many versions have rendered spirit here with a capital S. I oppose this very much because in the New Testament you do have a contrast between the flesh and the Holy Spirit, but you cannot have a contrast between our body and the Holy Spirit. The contrast must be between our body and our human spirit, not our flesh and our human spirit. It seems that Paul could have composed this sentence in a more brief and clear way. This is one problem. Another problem: Where does the Spirit of God who dwells in us dwell? In what part of us does He dwell? Of course, all of you would answer that He dwells in our spirit. But how can you prove that from chapter 8?
Then we come to verse 13: “If you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.” Here most of the versions capitalize the word Spirit, but even this is a kind of opinion.
Then verse 14: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” This verse is so clear! Why did Paul not make all the verses as clear as this verse? Here Spirit clearly refers to the Spirit of God.
Verse 15 also has the word spirit: “You have not received a spirit of slavery bringing you into fear again, but you have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father!” The King James Version renders the first spirit with a small s and the second spirit with a capital S. Darby renders both the words with a small letter s. The 1901 American Standard Version also renders it in this way. Again, different opinions.
Then verse 16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.” This is a very clear writing. Two spirits are here, and the first one must be the Spirit of God, and the second one is our spirit. This is clear. But why would Paul make such a crucial point so ambiguous in this chapter? This matter of the spirit is too crucial in chapter 8, yet it seems that he made it so obscure, so vague, so altogether debatable. Why did Paul write in this way?
We have seen for some time that this chapter speaks about the mingled spirit, but we need to go through it once again to make it very clear. First of all, in verse 16 we are fully assured that there are two spirits. That verse says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. So this chapter is talking about these two spirits—God’s Spirit and our regenerated and renewed spirit. In a few verses the Spirit of God is designated clearly (vv. 9, 11). Also the first spirit in verse 9 and the spirit in verse 10 are clearly our human spirit. But in a number of verses, spirit is very ambiguous. Verses 4, 5, and 6 are very ambiguous. Even spirit in verse 15 is somewhat ambiguous. I somewhat agree that the first time the spirit is mentioned in verse 15, it must be our spirit. And it would seem in the last part of the verse that the spirit of sonship should be the Spirit of God. If the spirit of sonship is only our spirit, that would mean the sonship is not related to God’s Son. The sonship is not the sonship of the Son of God but the sonship of the son of man because the spirit of sonship here is the human spirit. How could the human spirit alone give you the sonship of God? But, on the other hand, although it is the sonship of God, you are still a man. The parallel verse, Galatians 4:6, says, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.” This Spirit of His Son is surely the Spirit of sonship, so according to Galatians 4, the spirit of sonship must be the Spirit of the Son of God. How then could we say that it may be our spirit as the spirit of sonship? The reason is here: if your spirit has never been regenerated, you cannot be a son of God. Since you have been regenerated in your spirit, your spirit becomes the spirit of sonship. This is more subjective. In other words, we do not have only the Spirit of the Son of God, but we have even our spirit, which has been sonized. So not only is the Spirit of God the spirit of sonship, but even our spirit has become the spirit of sonship. So in our translation we have the boldness to make the decision that spirit in Romans 8:15 denotes our mingled human spirit, because in our human spirit we have the sonship. Our spirit becomes the sonship. From God’s side the spirit of sonship is God’s Spirit. From our side the spirit of sonship is our spirit. Both are the spirit of sonship. Eventually, both are one. This must be a mingled spirit.
Let me use a very shallow, simple illustration. It is just like the tea-water. You put tea into the water, and the two are mingled into one drink. You may say it is tea, or you may also say it is water. The best way is to say that it is tea-water. Of course, according to language, that is too awkward. So we just call it tea. But if you say it is tea, I would argue that tea is something dry, and what you are drinking is a cup of water. You have to say it is water, but it has tea mingled in it. It does possess the tea element, even the tea flavor, but actually it is not tea; it is a cup of water. If you say that you are simply drinking water, I would argue that you are not merely drinking water; you are also drinking tea. When you put dry coffee into water, you call it coffee. Actually, it is water.
Let us read verse 4 again: “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.” You may say this is to walk according to the Spirit of God, but I might say this is to walk according to our spirit. It is because the spirit here is the “tea-water.” It is the mingled spirit. The spirit in verses 4, 5, and 6 is the mingled spirit.
If we can be clear about this, it will help us to solve a big problem. In verse 14 you have the word led: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Although you may have been a Christian for years, do you really understand what the Lord’s leading is? According to your Christian realization, what is the Lord’s leading? In my early ministry if a young brother or sister came to me concerning marriage, I gave them at least four points to check whether it was the Lord’s leading for them to marry a certain one. Is this the Lord’s leading? What is the Lord’s leading? How does the Lord lead us? The Pentecostals wait for something to fall upon them. The fundamentalists wait for inspiration. Some have not gotten married because they have not received any inspiration. Some sit quietly in the meetings because they have received no inspiration. In this meeting, if the eleven hundred people were waiting for an inspiration, the whole meeting would be thoroughly silent until time for dismissal.
This illustrates how far off we Christians have been. How then could we enter into Romans 12? It is impossible! This is why after twenty centuries of Christian history on this earth and even including our present situation, we have never seen the Body in an actual and practical way on the earth. There are millions of Christians, but where is the Body? There are a lot of disembodied members—scattered bones—like what is mentioned in Ezekiel 37. But where is the Body? Not only have very few gone through Romans 8 to Romans 12, but I am afraid very few have even entered into Romans 8. Too many Christians have remained in chapter 4, being justified by faith. They have not even entered into chapter 5. Even now we could not go on into chapter 12. We must get through the problems in chapter 8.
In this chapter we have seen clearly that there are two spirits. One is the Spirit of God indwelling our spirit. The other, of course, is our spirit. These are two spirits, and one is in the other. God’s Spirit dwells in our spirit. Based upon these two spirits, we surely can dig out some other things. First, we are regenerated. If we were not regenerated, how could we have God the Spirit in our spirit? It would be impossible! As long as God’s Spirit indwells our spirit, our spirit is surely regenerated. Second, no doubt the Spirit of God today is right in our spirit. These are two facts. Do you really realize that you are regenerated and that the Spirit of God indwells your spirit? Have you noticed that the apostle in this chapter specifically uses the word dwell to describe what God’s Spirit is doing in us? He is indwelling us. This brings us to the third fact, that the Spirit of God is dwelling, making His home, housing Himself, in our spirit. Do you really believe this?
Have you realized that as long as God the Spirit indwells you, you do not need any leading? You do not need to pray for something to come upon you, and you do not have to pray to receive some inspiration. God the Spirit is indwelling you. Do you recognize this fact? So many Christians are praying for some leading or for some kind of inspiration but neglect the fact that the Spirit is dwelling in them. His indwelling means everything. Do you want leading? His indwelling is leading. Do you want power? His indwelling is power. What do you want? His indwelling means everything to us. Very few Christians understand this point clearly. We all have been led away and even led astray from this indwelling. We have been led away to something else, something funny. I tried many ways, and eventually I learned that every way is a wrong way. The unique way is the indwelling. This is why whenever you set your mind on the spirit, you have life. You do not need to seek any leading. You just walk according to the spirit. For over fifty-five years I have to be honest to tell you that I have never received any kind of “leading,” but for all those years the indwelling has been here. Whenever I just walk according to the indwelling, I am clear. Many Christians, when they need to buy a house or rent an apartment, pray that the Lord would lead them to the right place, to the best neighborhood, and so forth. They tell the Lord to cut it off if they should not get it. Most Christians pray in this way. They never do it according to the indwelling. If you need to get a house or rent an apartment, just go according to the indwelling. You do not need anything else. You are so clear. The leading is there. Because in our daily walk we have never entered into such a stage that we act and behave and move according to the indwelling, there is no possibility for us to have the Body life. It is altogether not a small thing to get into this stage. This means that when you get into this stage of acting and moving and behaving according to the spirit, according to the indwelling, you are out of your self, out of your flesh, and out of your natural life. Actually, right away you are in the Body life.
When Paul is speaking about the Spirit in Romans 8, why does he suddenly mention the Spirit of Christ? This indicates strongly that the very Spirit he is talking about is Christ. It is nothing less than Christ. And Christ is not so simple as what is in your understanding. This Christ is God incarnated to be a man. He brought God into man. This was incarnation. Then in such a kind of life, God mingled with man. In such a life, He lived on this earth and went through the human living. Then in such a life, He was crucified on the cross, and He was buried. Then He went through the grave, through Hades, through death. He came out of that and was resurrected. He was not only resurrected with His divine nature but also with His human nature. His entire being—the divine part and the human part—was resurrected and entered into glory. He was crowned, glorified, even enthroned. This is Christ. The Spirit of Christ is such a Spirit, and the Spirit of Christ is simply the real person of Christ. This person, this Spirit of Christ, has first regenerated you, putting His life and His nature and His element into your spirit, making your spirit one with Him. Individually speaking you have Christians, and corporately speaking you have a Body-Christ. The Body-Christ is comprised of the Head and the Body with so many members. This is Christ. Who can deny that this is Christ? What is Christ? The mingled spirit.
Now you can see that we have a lot of problems in Romans 8 that have not been solved. How then could we expect to be in the Body life? We have not gone through Romans 8. How could we be in Romans 12? It is impossible. It does not mean that because you are humble, meek, patient, nice, loving, or forbearing that you are in the Body. It means that when you are behaving, acting, moving, and living according to the spirit, to the mingled spirit, to the indwelling of the Spirit, then you are actually moving, living, behaving in the Body of Christ. What, actually speaking, is the Body of Christ? What is the Body of Christ practically speaking? It is the mingled spirit. Oh, may the Lord open our eyes! May He show us such a fact, such a practicality! If we would see this, we would say, “Lord, have mercy upon me. I am too far off. I have never entered into such a stage of the mingled spirit. I have never entered into a stage of the Body life. I still pray for this and for that, and I still wait for this and for that. I have never realized that the reality of the Body is right within me. The regenerated spirit and the indwelling Spirit are now one, mingled together right within me. I do not need to pray; I do not need to wait; I do not need to expect anything. Everything is within me. I just walk according to this mingled spirit. I just set my mind on the spirit. Life is here, and peace is here.”
We have something within us—our spirit—mingled with God’s Spirit. We can also say that God’s Spirit is mingled with our spirit. But today God’s Spirit is no longer merely the Spirit of God but the Spirit of Christ. If He is merely the Spirit of God, this Spirit does not comprise that much. But today He is the Spirit of Christ, so He comprises divinity, humanity, human life, crucifixion, the wonderful death of Christ, resurrection, glorification, and enthronement. Such a Spirit who is all-inclusive, comprising all these things, is mingling Himself with my spirit making me and Him one and making Him and me one. I just need to behave and act and live according to this mingled spirit. If I do, I am living in the Body. I simply need to set my mind on the spirit. Then I have life and peace. Then I am under the leading of the Spirit. Step by step I am being led by the Spirit.
This is the picture in Romans 8. I hope we all could see something here. It does not mean that I am simply cooperative and not individualistic, that I am not a hard person, so I am in the Body. It does not mean that I am flexible, so I am in the Body. You are so flexible, but you are in the body of flexibility, not in the Body of Christ. You have to be so Christ, not so flexible. Where is Christ? And what is Christ? And who is Christ? He is the Spirit mingled with our spirit. It is here that we live Christ, and it is here that we live the Body of Christ. When we have entered into this stage, we are right away in chapter 12. We are in the Body. This is altogether not a superficial teaching. Superficiality can never make it. We must see. We have two spirits, and we have three facts. We have been regenerated, the Spirit is indwelling our spirit, and these two are now just one. These three facts have been fully accomplished. Now we just need to act and walk according to this mingled spirit. In other words we need to set our mind on this mingled spirit. Do not care for circumstances or situations. Only care for the inner mingled spirit.
