In the past few chapters we have entered into several vital points. The law of the Spirit of life has been installed into us. This law is just the Triune God, who, after being processed and becoming the life-giving Spirit, indwells our spirit. We have such a processed God and such an indwelling God who is now the law of the Spirit of life.
In a recent conference we had three messages telling us that God is the positive law within us, and Satan is the negative law within us. God is the law of the Spirit of life, and Satan is the law of sin and of death. Two laws have been installed into our being. The negative law came first. Satan as the law of sin and of death was installed into our being first. Then God, after passing through all the processes, became the life-giving Spirit and was installed into our being. In that conference we also pointed out that these two laws are very much related to the two trees in Genesis 2. The law of the Spirit of life is the operation of the tree of life. The law of sin and of death is the operation of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The law of the Spirit of life has been installed into us, and this law is just God Himself. But this is not the “raw” God but the processed God. This is not the God in Genesis 1 but the God at the end of Matthew 28. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The God into whom we have been baptized is the very God who is now in us as the law of the Spirit of life.
Another vital point that we have covered in the past chapters is this: since God as the processed God who became the indwelling Spirit has been installed into our being, He works within us not by activities but by law. You must realize that this is one of the biggest discoveries, even recoveries, in God’s economy. Since God, the processed God, has been installed into our being, He works within us not by any activity but by law. This makes a big difference. Through all the centuries few Christians have seen that God is working in His chosen and redeemed people not by activity but by law. Nearly all Christians pray that God would do something in them by activity. If they have a bad temper, they pray that the Lord would help them to overcome it.
Let me illustrate once again with the matter of electricity. One day electricity was installed into this building. Since that day, if we need any heating or cooling or power to operate certain kinds of appliances, all we need to do is flip the switch, thus fulfilling the law. To kneel down and pray, calling on the power plant or calling on the mighty God in the heavens, does not work. Regardless of how earnestly you may pray, you are praying in a foolish way. All you need to do is to fulfill the principle of the operation of electricity. The principle of the operation of electricity is a law. There is a law in the installed electricity. You simply need to go to the switch and fulfill the law. Once you fulfill the law, the electricity works. So electricity works not by activity but by law. The power plant serves you not by activity but by law.
By this illustration you can understand that since God has been installed into us, He works in us not by activity but by law. We can all testify that it seems God did not answer our prayers concerning our temper and other things. Rather, the more we prayed, the worse we became. Many Christians have prayed to overcome their besetting sins. But it seems that the more they pray to overcome their besetting sins, the more they get beset and entangled. There is little result in this kind of prayer because this kind of prayer is against the principle of the law.
Although we are spending much time on Romans 8, and some of you are very familiar with this chapter, do not think that we can exhaust it. It is too, too rich!
Do not forget that these items are in Romans 8, not in Romans 1. Romans 1 tells us that we were sinners—dirty, sinful, evil, condemned. There in chapter 1 you could never have the experiences revealed in Romans 8. Although you were once there, you are there no longer. Are you then in Romans 2? There it speaks of the hypocrites, the Jewish religionists. Romans 3 speaks of God’s condemnation upon the whole world and also begins to define justification. Are you there? Are you in Romans 4, justified by faith? Are you following in the steps of Abraham, walking in line with him? If you are merely in Romans 4, you still do not have Romans 8. For sure, Abraham never had Romans 8. But Paul had the experience of Romans 8.
What about Romans 5? You must realize that to enter into Romans 5 is not so easy. Romans 4 may be considered as the graduation chapter of the Christian high school. When you have finished Romans 4, you have graduated from high school and are at the threshold of college in Romans 5. Romans 5 may be considered as the threshold of Christian college. The first year of Christian college work is Romans 5. The second year is Romans 6. The third year of Christian college work is Romans 7. Romans 8 is the graduation chapter. This Perfecting Training is in the fourth year of our Christian college training.
Romans 8 is not trying to stir people up. Nor is it trying to bring some backsliders back to the Lord. This chapter is for those who are desperate to be freed. We can see this by the last part of chapter 7. Paul cries, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” Paul is desperate; he is seeking to the uttermost. He has nothing else in his heart, except such a freedom. He had tried this way and that way, but he could not get through. He found out that all the ways he tried did not work. To will to do good was present with him, but to do it was not. He was a desperate person. Romans 8 is for such a person. It is not for the one in chapter 1, nor for the one in chapter 2, but it is for the one at the end of chapter 7 and the beginning of chapter 8. After such a desperate cry the answer came: “There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” It then gives the reason why there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus: “For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.” Why was there now no condemnation in Christ? Because the law of the Spirit of life had been installed into Paul.
Again I say, in chapter 8 of Romans there is no stirring up and no bringing back. All those who are qualified for this chapter must be the ones who are desperate. After being saved, after seeking the Lord, and after being defeated along the seeking way, they are desperate. Unless you are desperate, even this Perfecting Training from tonight and onward will not be a real help to you. You must be a desperate one. This chapter does not try to stir you up because you do not have a heart toward the Lord. It does not try to bring you back because you have been backsliding from the Lord. No. This chapter gives you a clear view of what you have within you. Because you are so seeking, because you are so desperate, you need such a view. You do not need a “way”; you need a view. You need to see what has been done with you, what has been installed into you. You need to see what you have already. You do not need just a kind of instruction, but you need a view to see what you have.
After this chapter shows us a clear view of what we have already, spontaneously in this view you could see how to enjoy what you have. For example, you may at one time have been ignorant about the installment of electricity into this building. But one day you got a clear view about electricity being installed into the building. Spontaneously, there was no need to instruct you. After you have a clear view about the installed electricity in this building, spontaneously you know how to enjoy the installed electricity. If you want to enjoy the heating, you simply go to a certain switch. If you want to enjoy the cooling, you go to another switch. If you want to enjoy the light or something else, you go to the proper switch. This means that you cooperate with the operation of the electricity by law.
Have you noticed that Romans 8 does not seem to give us any definite instructions? There is no instruction but a kind of description. To say, “There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” is not an instruction; this is a description. “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.” Neither is this an instruction; this is a description. Another description is in verse 4: “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.” 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.” Verse 6 goes on to say, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” Again these verses are not a kind of instruction but a kind of description. A description is just a view. You have to have a clear view. In Romans 8 there is a clear view of the processed God who, after being installed into us, becomes the law of the Spirit of life. This God now is the law that operates in us not by activities but by natural principles. You need to see such a view.
Do not just try to learn the way. I have mentioned many times before that when I was young, I read a lot concerning the way to do certain things. Eventually, I discovered that none of those ways worked. We have a small booklet entitled A Simple Way to Touch the Lord. We need this way. We do not need another way. We need the way of contacting the Lord. But Romans 8 does not give you a way; it gives you a clear view. You must be desperate for a clear view. You must believe me that you do not yet have such a clear view. I too was like this for years, and even now sometimes I am still like this. Although I got the view some time ago, occasionally it seems as though suddenly the view is lost. When you are in the view, everything is fine. When you lose the view, you become another person. You need a view. You need a view to see that God has gone through all His processes.
Today we are not in the age of Abraham. At that time God had gone through nearly no process. By Abraham’s time God was not incarnated; He simply was God. At David’s time it was nearly the same. But today we are even much later than Paul. We have to realize that God has gone through all the processes. Not only has God done everything needed for our redemption, but He has also gone through all the processes. He has gone through incarnation, through human living, through crucifixion, through the tomb, through Hades, and through all the things related to death, and He has entered into resurrection. Today He is still in resurrection. He is now the very God whom we serve and in whom we believe and who is now dwelling in our being. We have such a God indwelling us as a law working by principles and not by activities. He is within us as the law of the Spirit of life. The law within us is not the law of letters or the law of commandments but the law of the Spirit of life. Life and Spirit are the elements, the constituents, of this law because this law is God Himself. Many things are included within this law: God’s divinity, humanity, death, and resurrection.
We must have a clear view that such a God today is this law within us. Such a God as a law does not work in us and for us by activities. He does not work in that way. Today He is the processed God as a law to you. Have you ever had a specific prayer to thank Him that He is now the law to you? We need to have such a kind of prayer. I am afraid we still pray in the old way, asking the Lord for His help in our weakness. We still ask the Lord to help us not to lose our temper. This means that we still do not have the view. The “electricity” has been installed, so there is no need to kneel down and pray to the “power plant” to do something for us. We need a view. Of course, our habit is a big problem. We are used to praying in that old way. Since we became Christians, we have been charged and taught and even disciplined to pray in everything. But it is so strange that although this chapter tells us that there are two Intercessors—the Spirit and Christ—it does not charge us to pray. But it shows us that we have two marvelous Intercessors praying for us. Because we have two such marvelous Intercessors within us, we surely do not need to pray so much in that old way. Do you really realize that you are in Christ? And do you really realize that God has been installed into you as the law of the Spirit of life? Do you have such a clear view? If we could see such a view, we would realize that we do not need to pray that much. He is working within us by a law, not by activity. What we need to do is to cooperate with Him.
In verses 3 and 4 God has passed through the processes so that there can be an issue—that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk according to the spirit. To cooperate with this law is to walk according to the spirit, and to walk according to the spirit is the way to cooperate with this working law. The law has been installed, but the law’s function and the law’s operation need your cooperation. And your cooperation is just to walk according to the spirit.
Now we come to the burden of this chapter. There is a special word in verse 5. Verse 4 speaks of walking according to the flesh, but in verse 5 the word walk is changed to the word are—those who are according to the spirit. Have you ever noticed the change in these two words? You have to realize that you may walk according to the spirit and yet not be according to the spirit. Actually, in Greek the word walk really means to have your being, but in English walk may be different from being. In English you may walk one way and be another way. But in the Bible to walk is to be. Walking is your being. So verse 4 says that we walk according to the spirit, and verse 5 says that we are according to the spirit. This is not just some doings or some activities according to the spirit. It means that the entire being is according to the spirit. You do not need to pray that much. You need to see that the law is working within you, and this law is nothing less than the Triune God who, after being processed, is indwelling your being. You need to have a clear view about this law. Then you simply need to be a person who is according to the spirit. Why do we need to be according to the spirit? Because this law who is the Triune God and who is the indwelling Spirit is a Spirit. Not only is He a Spirit, but He as the Spirit is in our spirit. These two spirits are together in us. So we must be people who are according to the spirit. In a sense you need to forget about praying concerning your besetting sins and your temper. You just need to be according to the spirit. You need to be a person who is according to the spirit. You need to be a person who not only walks according to the spirit but who is according to the spirit. Even if you are not doing anything as far as walking, you are still according to the spirit. This means that you are a person, a being, according to the spirit. When you are such a person according to the spirit, what do you need? Surely you need nothing. When you are according to the spirit, this law works spontaneously because you are according to the spirit.
Sometimes before doing something we would practice something that is not so perfect. We would check whether this is according to the spirit. Before writing a letter or before buying something, we might check: Is this according to the spirit? This kind of practice is not perfect. Rather, we should check whether or not we all the day are according to the spirit. You must realize that to be according to the spirit is much more than to walk according to the spirit. You may be able to say that your reading of a newspaper or your shopping or your writing of some letters is according to the spirit, but probably you cannot say that your being, your entire being, is according to the spirit.
Many times after doing things according to the spirit, we would take a vacation for a few hours. Later, when we start to do something, we are reminded that we should do everything according to the spirit, and then we come back to the spirit. A little while later we may take a second vacation. Every day we have too many vacations. We may do this thing according to the spirit, and we may do that thing according to the spirit, but we ourselves are not according to the spirit. Our doings may be according to the spirit, but our being is not.
We all must look unto the Lord: “Lord, have mercy upon me! Just have mercy upon me! Lord, through Your mercy I have been brought into such a desperate state. I am here, Lord, and I am desperate. Have mercy upon me that I may have the grace to practice this one thing—that my entire being would be according to the spirit. Lord, grace me that my being may be according to the spirit. I do not want just to do things according to the spirit. I want to have my being, my entire being, according to the spirit!”
To have our being according to the spirit is the genuine walking according to the spirit. Otherwise, our walking according to the spirit is not so genuine, not so perfect. We must have our being according to the spirit. When we are according to the spirit, the law, that is, God Himself, works within us spontaneously, freeing us from sin and death. It frees us from the law of sin and of death. I encourage you to bring this matter to the Lord and ask Him to show you the view of these few verses at the beginning of Romans 8.
