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Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:2, 6
We have already seen three points: first, God is Spirit, and those who worship and serve Him must be in spirit; second, ultimately God comes into our spirit as the Spirit to receive our service to Him; and third, we can contact God only in the spirit.
In this chapter we will look at a fourth point, which is how to know the spirit. I believe that, after reading the previous three chapters, many brothers and sisters naturally will have such questions as: What really is this thing called the spirit? How can we know the spirit? And how can we touch the spirit? I admit that such questions are not easy to answer. To explain what the spirit is like is rather difficult. To speak of the body is very easy, because we can see it and touch it. To speak of the soul is also not difficult, because though the soul is abstract, we can feel it and know it by its functions and actions, such as thinking, considering, determining, decision making, and being pleased, angry, sorrowful, and joyful. Only when we speak of the spirit is it truly difficult. To speak about the spirit is not easy; even to understand the spirit is not easy. Nevertheless, we will attempt to speak of it. We can know the spirit through four things.
Romans 8 speaks of the spirit. It is difficult to find another place in the Bible that speaks of our condition in the spirit as clearly as this one. Therefore, if we want to know the spirit, it is imperative that we pay attention to this passage. In speaking of the spirit, the apostle Paul uses four things.
The first thing is life. In verse 2 he refers to “the Spirit of life.” In so doing, he shows us that the Spirit he speaks of here is the Spirit of life, the Spirit that is related to life, contains life, and belongs to life. Then in verse 6 he says that “the mind set on the spirit is life.” This means that life is the issue of the spirit, and the spirit is the source of life; therefore, by touching the spirit we touch life. Life and the spirit are mutually related; hence, we can know the spirit through life. Although it may be difficult to know the spirit, it is relatively easy to apprehend life.
The second thing is law. In verse 2 the apostle Paul speaks not only of “the Spirit of life” but even of “the law of the Spirit of life.” This tells us that the Spirit he speaks of here not only belongs to life but also has a law. Therefore, when he speaks of the Spirit, he speaks of life, and he speaks likewise of the law. He joins the three—life, Spirit, and law—together. Life and the Spirit cannot be separated; law and the Spirit likewise cannot be divided. Life is the content and issue of the Spirit, whereas law is the function and action of the Spirit. By contacting life, we touch the spirit; by sensing the law, we also sense the spirit. Though the spirit is hard to find, the law is not difficult to seek. Therefore, by the law we can find the spirit.
The third thing is peace. In verse 6 Paul says that “the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” This means that the result of setting the mind on the spirit is not only life but also peace. Therefore, life is the issue of the spirit, and peace is also the issue of the spirit. When we touch the spirit, we touch life and we likewise touch peace. Just as life can make us apprehend the spirit, so also peace can cause us to realize the spirit.
The fourth thing is death. In verse 6, before Paul says that “the mind set on the spirit is life and peace,” he says that “the mind set on the flesh is death.” Here he uses something negative to bring forth by contrast the positive. Flesh and spirit are opposites and so are death and life. Life is the issue of the spirit and is derived from the spirit. Death is the issue of the flesh and is derived from the flesh. Life causes us to know the things derived from the spirit, thus enabling us to know the spirit from the positive side. Death causes us to know the matters derived from the flesh, thus unveiling the spirit from the negative side. Therefore, just as life enables us to know the spirit from the positive side, so death also enables us to understand the spirit from the negative side. To know the spirit we need to know life, and we need to understand the opposite of life, which is death.
Thus, according to what Paul says regarding these four things—life, law, peace, and death—we see that they are closely related to the spirit both positively and negatively. If we thoroughly understand these four things, we can clearly know the spirit, which is decidedly related to them.
All these four things contain or convey a certain kind of consciousness. Except for the lowest plant life, every life definitely has a certain consciousness. The higher the life, the richer is its consciousness. The life of the Spirit of life spoken of here is the life of God Himself, which is the highest life; therefore, it is the richest in consciousness. This life within us causes us to be full of spiritual consciousness, enabling us to sense the spirit and the things of the spirit.
Although the law of an unconscious object does not belong to the realm of consciousness, the law of a conscious life does belong to the realm of consciousness. For example, if I hit a brother, he immediately feels pain; if I stretch out my hand toward his eyes, his eyelids immediately blink. He reacts in this way because in his body there is the law of life that compels him to do so. The moment I strike him, he feels pain—this is a law. The moment I stretch out my hand toward him, his eyes blink—this is also a law. Though these are laws, if you ask him what they are, he will say they are a matter of consciousness. This proves that the law of the physical life belongs to the order of consciousness. Since the life of the Spirit of life is the life of God, which is rich in consciousness, the law of the Spirit of life naturally is also full of consciousness.
The peace spoken of here is, of course, the peace within us. The peace within is entirely a matter of consciousness. It is not likely that we could have peace within and yet not feel it. Therefore, the peace spoken of here is also a matter of consciousness.
Moreover, even the death spoken of here is a matter of consciousness. Death causes man to lose his consciousness. When a man dies, he loses his consciousness. Therefore, when a man has no consciousness, it is proof that within him there is the working of death; though he may not have died completely, he is nearly dead.
Furthermore, in spiritual matters death causes us not only to lose the sense of life but also to have the sense of death. When we set our mind on the flesh, death becomes active in us. On the one hand, it causes us to lose the sense of life within, and on the other hand, it causes us to have the sense of uneasiness, discomfort, depression, and oppression. This kind of uneasy, uncomfortable, depressed, and oppressed feeling is the sense of death and causes us to sense death.
Thus, these four matters—life, law, peace, and death—all have a consciousness related to them. The consciousness of these things enables us to touch the sense of the spirit and thereby know the spirit. Therefore, we should spend some time to examine the consciousness of these four things.
Let us first look at the sense of life. The life spoken of here is the life of the Spirit of life. Therefore, this life is of the Spirit, from the Spirit, and rests with the Spirit. The Spirit with which this life rests is not only the Spirit of God but also our spirit. This Spirit is the Spirit of God and our spirit mingled as one spirit. In the Old Testament time the Spirit of God only fell upon men so that men received the power of God from without. He did not enter into man so that man could receive the life of God from within. Thus, in the Old Testament time the Spirit of God was only the Spirit of power; He was not yet the Spirit of life. Not until the time of the New Testament did the Spirit of God enter into man as the Spirit of life so that man received the life of God from within. Today in the New Testament time the Spirit of God is not only the Spirit of power but also the Spirit of life. He not only descends upon man, causing man to obtain the power of God outwardly, and He not only moves man, convicting man and causing man to confess, repent, and believe in the Lord. He further enters into man so that man may have the life of God inwardly, and He also dwells within man as the Spirit of life. When upon being moved by Him, we repent, believe, and receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior, He then enters into us and puts the life of God in us. At this time He enters into us as the Spirit of life, the Spirit of the life of God. The life of God is in Him; thus, He is the life of God. Therefore, when He enters into us, the life of God enters into us. He enters into us with the life of God as the Spirit of life. When He enters, He enters into our spirit, not into our mind, emotion, or will. He enters into our spirit, puts the life of God in our spirit, and dwells in our spirit. Thus, the Spirit of life is mingled together with our spirit. Now the Spirit of God together with the life of God (He is the life of God itself) dwells in our spirit so that the three—He Himself, the life of God, and our spirit—may be mingled as one and never be separated.
We may use an illustration of a glass that originally had plain water within it. We can blend into it some concentrated fruit juice that contains sugar so that it becomes a glass of sugar-juice-water, a three-in-one drink. The water signifies our spirit, the fruit juice concentrate represents the Spirit of God, and the sugar stands for the life of God. The Spirit of God containing the life of God mingles with our spirit, thus making these three—the Spirit of God, the life of God, and our spirit—a three-in-one spirit of life. This is what Romans 8:2 speaks of.
Thus, the spirit, in which rests the life of the Spirit of life of which we are speaking, includes the Spirit of God and our spirit. It is a spirit that is a mingling of the Spirit of God with our spirit. Bible translators have understood the Spirit mentioned in Romans 8 as the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they have written Spirit with a capital S. Many readers of the Bible have also thought that the Spirit mentioned here refers only to the Holy Spirit. Yet spiritual fact and spiritual experience tell us that the Spirit mentioned here is the mingling of the Holy Spirit with our spirit. In verse 16 of this chapter the apostle Paul sets forth this spiritual fact, which is also our spiritual experience. He says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit.” By speaking in this manner, he clearly tells us that the spirit he mentioned before is the one spirit, which is the mingling of “the Spirit...with our spirit.” To say that this spirit is the Holy Spirit is all right, and to say that it is our spirit is also not wrong. It is like the water in the glass with concentrated fruit juice. You may say that it is fruit juice, and you may also say it is water. This is because the two have become mingled as one. Likewise, the Holy Spirit and our spirit are also mingled as one spirit. Within this one spirit, which is the mingling of the two, there is the life that God bestows on us. Thus, it becomes the spirit of life. Simply speaking, the life of God is in the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God enters into our spirit. Thus, the three are mingled as one and become the spirit of life.
Originally, our spirit was merely the spirit of man, and it was dead. Now when the Spirit of God enters, He not only enlivens our spirit but also adds the life of God into our spirit. Now not only is our spirit alive, but it also has the life of God. Moreover, it is not only the spirit; it is the spirit of life. All the consciousness of life in the spirit enables us to know this spirit. When we walk by setting the mind on the spirit, and when our actions and deeds are according to this spirit, the life in this spirit causes us to have the consciousness of this life. Since this life is of God and is therefore fresh and lively, strong with power, bright and holy, real and not empty, the sense of this life makes us sense the presence of God. Thus, we feel fresh and lively, strong with power, bright and holy, real and not empty. When we have such feelings, we know we are setting our mind on the spirit, walking according to the spirit, and living in the spirit. Such feelings are the sense of life in our spirit, or the consciousness of our spirit of life, leading us from within to walk according to the spirit and live by the spirit. When we touch such feelings, we touch the spirit, and when we heed such feelings, we heed the spirit. The spirit itself is relatively difficult for us to sense, but we can easily sense such feelings of life in the spirit. If we follow such feelings closely, we can then know the spirit and live in the spirit.
The life of God in our spirit can be said to be God Himself. Therefore, the sense of this life surely will make us sense God Himself. If we live in the spirit and walk by setting our mind on the spirit, the sense of this life will cause us to feel that we are in touch with God and that God is in us as our life, our power, and our all. Thus, we will be happy, restful, comfortable, and satisfied. When we thus touch God in the inner sense of life, we touch life. Thereby we know we are living in the spirit and setting our mind on the spirit.
Since the spirit, in which rests the life of the spirit of life, is the mingling of God’s Spirit with our spirit, then whatever this sense of life causes us to feel must be the “story” of the Spirit of God in our spirit. The Spirit of God in our spirit reveals Christ to us, imparts God in Christ to us, and causes us to experience Christ and touch God in the spirit. Thus, it causes us to experience Christ—that is, to experience God—as our life. This also means that it causes us to experience life, that is, to experience the life of God in our spirit. When we thus experience this life, it causes us to feel the satisfaction of life, the power of life, the brightness of life, the freshness of life, and the liveliness and transcendence of life. When we have such a sense of life within us, we know we are living in the spirit and touching the spirit.
In the spirit of life within us, there is not only the life of God but also a law. This law is the law of the life of God. Every life has its law and is also a law in itself. The life in our body has its law within our body and is also a law in itself within our body. The law of this life, or we may say this life itself as the law, approves and accepts whatever agrees with the nature of this life. Anything that is otherwise, this law or this life as the law opposes and refuses. Likewise, the life of God in our spirit also has its law, and it is also a law in our spirit. It is of the Spirit and rests with the Spirit; therefore, its nature is entirely and absolutely spiritual. If what we are and do agrees with the spiritual nature of God’s life, the law of God’s life in our spirit, or we may say God’s life as the law in our spirit, approves and accepts it. Otherwise, this law or God’s life as the law opposes and refuses it. All that it approves and accepts is definitely from the spirit, because only that which is from the spirit can agree with its spiritual nature. Therefore, all that we are and do must be from the spirit and in the spirit. Then the law of life in our spirit will approve and accept it.
This law of life in our spirit belongs to the order of consciousness and has its own consciousness. All that it approves and accepts or opposes and refuses is made known by what it feels and what it desires us to feel. If what we are and do is in the spirit and is in agreement with the nature of the spirit of life in us, this law will make us feel that it approves and accepts it. Otherwise, this law will cause us to feel that it is opposing and refusing. Thus, by the sense of this law, we can know whether or not we are living in the spirit and walking by the spirit. Since this law is the law of the spirit of life in us, the sense of this law is the sense of the spirit of life in us. Therefore, the sense of this law can cause us to know the spirit within.
Law is a natural thing; therefore, the sense it gives us is also natural. For example, when we drink a glass of fruit juice, we naturally feel that it is sweet. This is because there is a law of the physical life in our body that naturally causes us to feel this. As soon as our lips touch the juice, we immediately taste the sweetness. This natural sense is the law of life in our body. This law naturally causes us to taste the flavor of the juice. The law of life in our spirit is also like this. We do not need others to tell us whether what we are and do as Christians is in the spirit or whether we are mindful of the spirit and pleasing to God. The law of life in our spirit naturally makes known our situation by giving us a certain sense. This natural feeling given to us by this law of life is a natural function of the spirit of life in us. By this we may easily discern whether or not we ourselves are living in the spirit.
The sense that this law of life gives us is natural; not only so, it also causes us to feel natural. The more we live in the spirit and the more what we are and do agrees with the nature of the spirit of life within us, the more this law of life in our spirit will cause us to feel natural. If we as Christians are not natural, it proves we have some problem and that we are not living in the spirit. Since the spirit of life in us is a natural law of the spirit, only when our life and work agree with its spiritual nature can we feel natural within. When we feel natural within, it proves we are living in accordance with the law of life in our spirit. This natural feeling given to us by this law of life in us causes us to know we are living in the spirit and walking according to the spirit. Thus, if we follow the law of life in our spirit, or if we follow the natural consciousness given to us by this law of life, it means that we are following the spirit of life within us. To put it simply, following the sense of the law of life in our spirit is following the spirit, because the sense of the law of life in the spirit is the sense of the spirit itself.
The spirit of life in us is not only the place where the Spirit of God and the life of God dwell; it is also the place where the new man is. Furthermore, the spirit in us—the spirit mingled with the life of God—is also the new man within us. If in our outward action and behavior we mind the spirit of life within us, then we are living by the spiritual new man within us. In this way our inner man and our outward actions are in agreement; hence, they are natural and peaceful. We can say that this consciousness of being natural and peaceful is the result produced by the sense of the law of the spirit of life. If we mind the spirit of life within us, we will naturally walk and live according to the law of the spirit of life within us. This will cause us to feel natural within and have the sense of peace. This sense of peace and the sense of life go hand in hand. The sense of life is fresh and lively; the sense of peace is natural and at ease. The sense of life is satisfaction and fullness of vigor; the sense of peace is rest and comfort. If we mind the spirit and walk and live by the spirit, we will not only have the sense of life, feeling fresh, lively, satisfied, and vigorous but also have the sense of peace, feeling natural, at ease, restful, and comfortable. Such a sense is also the sense of the spirit. Once we have such a sense, we may know that we are living in the spirit. When we follow such a sense, we follow the sense of the spirit, which means that we follow the spirit. Such a sense enables us to know the spirit and recognize the spirit. The more we walk according to the spirit and live in the spirit, the richer and deeper this kind of sense within us will become.
There is a contrast in Romans 8:6. Paul says that the result of setting the mind on the flesh is death, and the result of setting the mind on the spirit is life and peace. This word reveals that just as the flesh is versus the spirit, so also the result of setting the mind on the flesh, which is death, is opposite to the results of setting the mind on the spirit, which are life and peace. Thus, Paul tells us here that death is not only the opposite of life but also the opposite of peace. Therefore, the sense of death is not only the opposite of the sense of life but also the opposite of the sense of peace. The sense of life makes us feel fresh, lively, satisfied, and vigorous; the sense of death makes us feel the opposite of these—old, deadened, empty, and powerless. The sense of peace makes us feel natural, at ease, restful, and comfortable. The consciousness of death makes us feel just the opposite of these—unnatural, uneasy, unrestful, and uncomfortable. Thus, whenever we feel inwardly deadened, depressed, empty, dry, weak and powerless, dark and dull, or unrestful, uneasy, uncomfortable, out of harmony, full of conflict, unnatural, sad, and bound, we should know we are not living in the spirit; rather, we are living in the opposite of the spirit, which is the flesh.
The flesh the apostle Paul speaks of here refers not only to the lusts of our flesh but also to our entire old man. All that belongs to our inward new man belongs to the spirit; likewise, all that belongs to our outward old man belongs to the flesh. Whatever is not from the spirit and does not belong to the spirit is from the flesh and belongs to the flesh. The soul differs from the flesh, yet because the soul has already fallen and become captive to the flesh, all that is from the soul or belongs to the soul is also from the flesh and belongs to the flesh. Thus, if we live by the soul, we live by the flesh. Whether we set the mind on the flesh or set the mind on the soul, we are in both cases setting the mind on the flesh. The result of setting the mind on the flesh is death. This sense of death causes us to feel either depressed and empty or unrestful and uneasy. Whenever we have such consciousness, we should know that we are mindful of the flesh and that we are living either in the flesh or in the soul. Such a sense causes us to know the opposite of the spirit, which is the flesh, and to recognize it. Thus, by knowing the opposite of the spirit, we may know the spirit itself.
Whatever we do, regardless of whether we think it is right or wrong, spiritual or unspiritual, if deep within us we feel restless, uneasy, empty, and depressed, it proves that we are walking by the flesh and not living in the spirit. Even in praying and preaching, not to mention doing other things, including things that are not good, if we feel empty and depressed within, dissatisfied or unhappy, then it is proof that we are praying or preaching by the flesh, not in the spirit. Many times, by our mind or by the flesh (because it is not in the spirit), we pray as if we are reciting from a book. The more we pray, the more we feel dry and depressed, without watering and joy. After praying, we only feel empty; we do not feel satisfied. Such prayer by our mind makes our spirit incapable of obtaining the supply of life. Instead, it only touches the sense of death. Although what we prayed may have been quite appropriate, it was not in the spirit. Therefore, we could not touch the watering and joy of life and peace, but sensed only the dryness and depression of death. Many times our preaching is also like this. When we preach not according to the spirit but by our mind, we feel empty and dry within, and we sense death. We do not feel satisfied or watered, and we do not have the sense of life. If we were in the spirit, and if we spoke by the spirit, we would feel satisfied and restful within, which means we would sense life and peace. Thus, by such a sense we can know whether what we do is in the flesh or in the spirit. Such a sense can cause us to know the flesh, and by knowing the flesh to know the spirit.
Death not only causes us to have such depressed, empty, uneasy, and unhappy feelings but also makes us lose the sense of life. Such feelings of death are warnings to us, urging us to be delivered from the flesh and live in the spirit. If we have such a sense of death, yet we continue to live in the flesh and act and behave by the flesh, after a continued period of time, death can cause our spirit within to lose consciousness and become numb. If our spirit within is numb and unconscious, it is because we have lived by the flesh for such an extended period that our spirit is damaged by death. Thus, we can and we should know how we are treating our spirit and whether or not we are living in the spirit.
All the senses of which we have spoken are those that the spirit of life within us causes us to have. Therefore, we may say that they are the senses of the spirit. If we want to know the spirit directly, it is somewhat difficult, but it is comparatively easy to know the spirit itself by such senses of the spirit. We cannot quite apprehend directly what the spirit actually is, but by the sense of the spirit, it is not difficult for us to know it. If we walk and live by closely following the sense of the spirit, then we are following the spirit and setting our mind on the spirit. If we follow the naturalness of the law of the Spirit of life, take care of the sense of life and peace, heed the warning given to us by the sense of death, and live in these senses, then we are living in the spirit. These senses are from the spirit; therefore, they can cause us to touch the spirit and thereby know the spirit.
