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In this lesson we will continue to see the work of the Spirit in us.
In Philippians 1:19 Paul said, “I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The Greek word rendered bountiful supply refers to the supplying of all the needs of the chorus in ancient times by the choragus, the leader of the chorus. The choragus supplied all the needs of everyone in the chorus, the needs for food, lodging, and musical instruments. Once a person had joined the chorus, there was no need for him to be concerned about the necessities of life. In using this expression Paul likened the supply of the Spirit, which is so bountiful, to the supply of the choragus. In the bountiful supply of the Spirit are the rich items such as the Lord’s divinity, His humanity, His human living, His death and its effectiveness, and His resurrection and its power. In his suffering for Christ, the apostle Paul experienced and enjoyed such a bountiful supply so that he was able to live Christ and magnify Christ. We also need to experience and enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit today in all kinds of circumstances.
Because this verse speaks first of the saints’ petition, then of the bountiful supply of the Spirit, this reveals that the bountiful supply of the compound Spirit is upon the Body of Christ. Although Paul was imprisoned, the imprisonment did not isolate him from the Body of Christ or cut him off from the supply of the Body. We also must be joined to the Body of Christ today that we may enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit which is for the Body.
The Spirit also works in us by leading us to live a life as sons of God. Romans 8:14 says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” The leading here is not merely an action of the Spirit; it is the Triune God Himself becoming the leading in our spirit. If we would care for Him as a person who indwells us, we will spontaneously be led by Him. The leading by the Spirit is not outward but inward, and is composed of the law of the Spirit of life, the Spirit, and life. This verse speaks of our being led by the Spirit rather than of the Spirit’s leading us, indicating that although the Spirit is ready to lead us, we must take the initiative to be led by Him. This means that we must take Him as our life and everything and that we must put to death everything of the old creation in us. We do not need to seek after the Spirit’s leading, since it is already present within us, that is, in our regenerated spirit. As long as we live under this leading, we will walk and behave in a way that proves that we are God’s sons.
There is a great difference between the sons of God in this verse and the children of God in verse 16. Children are in the initial stage of sonship, the stage in which they are regenerated in their spirit. Sons are the children of God who are in the stage of the transformation of their souls. Not only have they been regenerated in their spirit and are growing in the divine life, but they are also walking by being led by the Spirit. Therefore, if we do not live and walk according to the leading of the Spirit, we may be the children of God concerning which the Spirit witnesses with our spirit (v. 16), but we do not have the mark that designates us as the sons of God. We may be God’s children, but we do not have the growth that comes by living and walking according to the leading of the Spirit in life. Therefore, we all need to go on in the growth in life from the initial stage of being children of God to the more advanced stage, showing that we are sons of God by receiving the leading of the Spirit in life and living the life as sons of God.
The Spirit works in us also to sanctify us. This is a very important aspect of the work of the Spirit. The Spirit’s sanctification in us is in three stages: first, the Spirit’s seeking us and convicting us at the time that He caused us to repent and believe (1 Pet. 1:2; John 16:8); second, His sanctifying us both positionally and dispositionally at the time we were saved (Heb. 13:12; 1 Cor. 6:11); and third, His sanctifying us dispositionally as we pursue the growth in life (Rom. 15:16). By these three stages of the Spirit’s sanctification, God’s salvation is applied to us that we may obtain and enjoy it fully. What we want to see in this lesson is the sanctification in the third stage.
Second Thessalonians 2:13 says, “God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Here, the sanctification of the Spirit is an all-inclusive revelation that consists of three stages. The three stages of the Spirit’s sanctification not only separate us from all old and negative things, making us holy unto God, but also sanctify us, making us a new creation that is full of the Lord’s essence and element, that we may obtain His glory (v. 14).
Romans 15:16 says, “That the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit.” According to the tone of this verse, the sanctification mentioned here is something accomplished gradually. This corresponds with what we saw earlier, that God’s sanctification in us is being carried out in three stages. Thus, sanctification here surely includes the third stage, the ultimate stage, of sanctification, which makes us acceptable to God by being transformed through sanctification. We must live in the Spirit, living and walking by Him and doing things and working according to Him, that we may enjoy the ultimate stage of sanctification.
The Spirit also works in us to transform us. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” The Lord, as both God and man, passed through incarnation, human living, and crucifixion, entered into resurrection, accomplished full redemption, and became a life-giving Spirit. As the life-giving Spirit, He dwells in us to make Himself and all that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained real to us, that we may be one with Him and be transformed into the same image as the Lord from glory to glory.
In this verse “the Lord Spirit” may be considered a compound title like “the Father God” and “the Lord Christ.” This expression strongly proves and confirms that the Lord Christ is the Spirit and the Spirit is the Lord Christ. When our hearts are turned to the Lord, our faces are unveiled, we enjoy Him as the Spirit, and we are being transformed into His image by beholding and reflecting Him. Such transformation is a metabolic process. It is not an outward change, correction, or adjustment; it is altogether an inward replacing of the old element with the new element. The Holy Spirit is working in us to cause us to have a change in life, nature, essence, element, form, appearance, and every aspect of our being by dispensing the divine life, nature, element, and essence into us. This change is organic, for it is a change by the Lord Spirit. As the Lord Spirit works to transform us by the divine dispensing, He causes a metabolic, organic change to take place in our whole being.
Transformation is related to the Spirit’s work in sanctification. Transformation is the changing aspect of sanctification, and sanctification is the separating aspect of transformation. Before we were saved, we were in a fallen condition among sinners. One day the Holy Spirit came to find us and separate us unto God for His use to fulfill His purpose. However, our life, nature, element, essence, and even our whole being remained in the old creation. For this reason, when the Spirit separated us unto God, He also dispensed the divine life, nature, essence, and element—even the divine element—into us so that we may be transformed into the image of Christ. Therefore, we may say that transformation is an aspect of sanctification. Sanctification and transformation go together: Transformation depends on sanctification, and sanctification works for transformation.
The Spirit also indwells us for God’s multifaceted purpose in us. Romans 8:9 and 11 say, “But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.…And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” This shows us that if the Spirit dwells in us, we are not in the flesh but in the spirit. Furthermore, He will be able to spread from our spirit (v. 10) to our soul (v. 6) and even give life to our mortal bodies in order to saturate and transform our whole being.
First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Then 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” These two verses show us that the temple of the Holy Spirit is of two aspects: the corporate temple, which is the church, and the individual temples, which are the believers’ physical bodies. Both kinds of temples are for the Spirit’s indwelling so that He may dispense the Triune God into us individually and corporately.
Second Timothy 1:14 says, “Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” This shows us that we need to guard the good deposit, the deposit of healthy words which the Lord has stored in us (v. 13), through the Spirit who dwells in us.
James 4:5 says, “The Spirit, whom He has caused to dwell in us, longs to envy.” This shows us that the Spirit longs within us unto envy for God against worldliness that we not make friends with His enemy and be His lovers at the same time.
The above verses all show us that the Spirit dwells in us for the multifaceted purpose that our whole being may be saturated and transformed by Him, that we may become His dwelling place, that we may guard the Lord’s deposit in us, and that we may love God in singleness with our whole being.
The Spirit works in us to supply us with His bountiful supply. In this bountiful supply are the rich items such as the Lord’s divinity, His humanity, His human living, His death and its effectiveness, and His resurrection and its power. The bountiful supply of the Spirit is upon the Body of Christ. Therefore, we must be joined to the Body of Christ that we may enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit. The Spirit also works in us by leading us to live a life as sons of God. This leading is not outward but inward, and is composed of the law of the Spirit of life, the Spirit, and life. As long as we live under this leading, we will walk and behave in a way that proves that we are God’s sons. The Spirit also sanctifies us. He not only separates us from all old and negative things, making us holy unto God, but also sanctifies us, making us a new creation that is full of the Lord’s essence and element, that we may obtain His glory. The Spirit transforms us, causing us to have a metabolic, organic change in every aspect of our being, by dispensing the divine life, nature, element, and essence into us. The Spirit also dwells in us for God’s multifaceted purpose in us that we may be saturated and transformed by Him, become His dwelling place, guard the Lord’s deposit in us, and love God in singleness with our whole being.
