Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:17; 2:22; 3:5, 16; 4:23; 5:18; 6:18
In 4:17 Paul says, “This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the nations also walk in the vanity of their mind.” The nations are the fallen people, who have become vain in their reasonings (Rom. 1:21). They walk without God in the vanity of their mind, controlled and directed by their vain thoughts. Whatever they do according to their fallen mind is vanity. Hence, the basic element in the daily life of fallen mankind is the vanity of the mind.
If you study the Bible from Genesis 6 through Revelation 20, you will see that all of fallen mankind lives in the vanity of the mind. Mankind has fallen from the spirit into the mind. God purposely created man with a spirit with the intention that man would live and walk in the spirit. But through the fall man’s spirit was deadened, and man began to live according to the vanity of the mind. Those who are fallen have all their living directed by their thoughts. Every fallen person without exception is under the dominion of his thoughts. Before we were saved, our words and deeds were according to the thoughts of the fallen mentality.
In the church as the new man, we should live not according to the vanity of the mind, but according to the spirit of the mind (4:23). This is the key to the daily living of the corporate one new man. Formerly, our mind was filled with vanity; now it must be permeated with the spirit. We need to walk according to the spirit that is spreading into our mind and filling it. In this way the daily walk of the new man will be in the spirit of the mind. This is the secret of the church life.
The human spirit is mentioned in every chapter of Ephesians. Ephesians 1:17 says, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.” The spirit here is the regenerated human spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. Such a spirit is given to us by God so that we may have wisdom and revelation to know Him and to know His economy.
In relation to the church, we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation. As far as the church is concerned, a naturally keen mind is of no avail. Rather, the spirit is of primary importance. Just as we must use the proper organs to see, hear, and taste, so we must use the proper organ — the spirit — in dealing with the church.
Furthermore, our spirit must be a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Wisdom is in our spirit so that we may know the mystery of God, whereas revelation is of God’s Spirit to show us the vision by opening the veil. We firstly have wisdom, the ability to understand, that we may know spiritual things. Then the Spirit of God reveals the spiritual things to our spiritual understanding. Knowing that the spirit is of crucial importance in relation to the church, Paul prayed that the Father of glory would grant us such a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
In 2:22 Paul says, “In Whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” This refers to our human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is the dweller, whereas our spirit is His dwelling place. Therefore, the dwelling place of God is in our spirit.
If we want to practice the church life, we need to be in the spirit. The natural mind is of no use in the church life as the one new man. In school or in business we need to rely on our mind, but in the church we must depend on the spirit, realizing that in the natural mind there is nothing but vanity. According to 2:22, God’s dwelling place among His people today is in their spirit, not in their mind.
Speaking of the mystery of Christ, Paul says in 3:5, “Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.” Once again the spirit here refers to the human spirit regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Thus it can be regarded as the mingled spirit, the human spirit mingled with God’s Spirit. Such a mingled spirit was the means by which the New Testament revelation concerning Christ and the church was made known to the apostles and prophets. We need the same spirit to see such a revelation today.
The “sons of men” in this verse are represented by the “holy apostles and prophets.” When God revealed the mystery of Christ to these representatives of mankind, He revealed it to their spirit. By this we see that the spirit, not the mind, is the crucial organ with respect to God’s economy.
In 3:16 Paul goes on to speak of the inner man: “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man.” The inner man is our regenerated spirit with God’s life as its life. In order to experience Christ as the embodiment of God, we need to be strengthened into our inner man. However, by nature the brothers are strong in the mind and in the will, whereas the sisters are strong in the emotion. May the Lord cause us to become strong in the spirit, in our inner man!
We all need to be strengthened into our inner man so that Christ will be able to make His home in our hearts. Our heart is composed of all the parts of the soul — the mind, emotion, and will — plus the conscience, the main part of our spirit. These are the inward parts of our being. Through regeneration, Christ came into our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). Subsequently, we should allow Him to spread Himself into every part of our heart. Since our heart is the totality of all our inward parts and the center of our inward being, when Christ makes His home in our heart, He is able to control our entire inner being and supplies and strengthens every inward part with Himself. The secret of Christ making His home in our heart is the strengthening of our inner man. Because Paul knew this secret, he prayed that the Father would grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power into the inner man.
As we go on to chapter four, we see that the strengthened spirit must become the renewing spirit in our mind. In 4:23 Paul says, “And are renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Once again, the spirit here is the regenerated spirit of the believers mingled with the indwelling Spirit of God. Such a mingled spirit spreads into our mind and thereby becomes the spirit of our mind. It is in such a spirit that we are renewed for our transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Our strengthened spirit is the means for our entire being to be renewed. When our spirit has become strong, it will spread into our mind and cause it to be renewed. When our spirit renews our mind, it proceeds to renew our emotion and our will. By such a renewing spirit the church has the proper living as the one new man.
In 5:18 Paul goes on to speak about being filled in spirit. This verse says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled in spirit.” To be drunk with wine is to be filled in the body, whereas to be filled in our regenerated spirit is to be filled with Christ (1:23) unto all the fullness of God (3:19). To be drunk with wine in the body causes us to be dissipated, but to be filled with Christ causes us to overflow with Him in speaking, singing, psalming, and giving thanks to God (5:19-20). It also causes us to subject ourselves one to another (v. 21). What we need for the church life is not to be filled in our minds with objective knowledge, but to be filled in our spirit with the riches of Christ unto all the fullness of God.
The last reference in Ephesians to the regenerated human spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God is in 6:18. Here Paul charges us to pray “at every time in spirit,” that is, to pray in our spirit mingled with God’s Spirit. This reference to the spirit is in the context of spiritual warfare. When the church has become the new man with the normal functions and the proper daily living, and when the spots and wrinkles have been removed by the nourishing and cherishing of Christ, the church becomes a mighty warrior, a soldier to fight the battle for God’s interests. In order to engage in spiritual warfare, we need to pray in the mingled spirit.
I hope that we all are impressed with the place of the human spirit in the book of Ephesians. In chapter one we have the spirit of wisdom and revelation; in chapter two, the spirit as the place of God’s dwelling; in chapter three, the spirit as the means of receiving revelation and as the organ that needs to be strengthened; in chapter four, the renewing spirit that spreads into our mind to renew all our inward parts; in chapter five, the spirit being filled with Christ unto all the fullness of God; and in chapter six, the mingled spirit as the organ in which we pray to fight the battle for the Lord. As we consider all these references to the spirit in this short book, we see that the church life is altogether a matter in the spirit. In order to practice the church life, we need to turn to our spirit and remain there. The daily living of the corporate new man is absolutely in the spirit of the mind.
A number of times we have spoken about the importance of having a clear sky. Actually, to have a clear sky is simply to have a clear spirit. Spiritually speaking, our spirit is our sky. Therefore, when our spirit is clear, our sky is clear as well. However, if our spirit is cloudy, our sky also will be cloudy.
In 4:17-19 Paul says that those who walk in the vanity of the mind are darkened in their understanding and estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them. He points out that their hearts are hard, that they have ceased from feeling, and that they have given themselves over to lewdness. Therefore, to be in the vanity of the mind is to be in thick darkness. By contrast, the believers, who were once darkness, are “now light in the Lord” (5:8). Therefore, we should “walk as children of light.” In 5:14 Paul says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from among the dead, and Christ shall shine on you.” Whenever we are in the spirit, we are in the light, under the Lord’s shining. As a result, we have a clear sky. The more clear our spirit is, the more clear our sky becomes.
If we exercise the mind instead of the spirit, the sky within us will be cloudy. The same is true if we are strong in our emotion or will instead of in our spirit. However, if we deny our natural mind, emotion, and will and take a definite stand with the Lord in our spirit, our sky will immediately and spontaneously become clear. When we hesitate in following the Lord, our sky is cloudy. But when we are definite and absolute in following Him, it is clear.
The reason we hesitate to follow the Lord is that we consider too much in the mind or care for our emotional concerns. Possibly you are afraid of offending someone. A brother may be concerned about his wife’s reaction to his decision to take the way of the church. Such considerations and concerns cloud our spirit. But if we set aside our considerations and concerns and make a firm decision to follow the Lord absolutely, our sky will be clear. There will be no clouds in our spirit. In our spirit we have no worries and no concerns, only the indwelling Holy Spirit.
If we walk according to the vanity of the mind, we shall be in darkness and estranged from the life of God. But if we turn to the spirit of the mind, Christ will shine upon us, and we shall have a clear sky. The reason certain ones who have been with us for a number of years have not improved much is that they live in the vanity of the mind. Rarely do they turn to the spirit of the mind. If such brothers and sisters turn from the vanity of the mind to the spirit of the mind, they will undergo a great change. Listening to messages is of little help unless we are in the spirit of the mind instead of in the vanity of the mind. We cannot receive spiritual help from messages if we exercise the mind rather than the spirit. We need to leap out of the vanity of the mind and walk according to the spirit of the mind.
As we walk according to the spirit of our mind, we are renewed. To be renewed is not to be adjusted, corrected, or improved in a mere outward way. It is to have a new element, the divine element, wrought into us. This means that in the church life we should not care for outward correction or adjustment; we should care for inward renewing.
If we would be renewed, we need to put off the old man and put on the new man. Notice that Paul does not say that we should try to improve the old man. Many saints do not have the intention of putting off the old man and of putting on the new man. Instead, their intention is to improve themselves, even to perfect themselves. They may try to adjust themselves in order to adapt to the church life. This is a mistake. In the genuine church life there is no adjustment or correction; there is simply the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man. Actually, this putting off and putting on is the renewing.
For something to be renewed means that the old element is replaced by a new element. Our spirit is a renewing spirit because it is indwelt by the living Christ as the renewing element. Because we have the element of newness in our spirit, we can be renewed in the spirit of the mind as the renewing spirit spreads into our mind. The more we turn to the spirit of the mind and walk in the spirit of the mind, the more our mind will be renewed. Then in a practical way the old element is replaced by the new element. In this way we put off the old man and put on the new man.
The result of such a daily living is that we have the image of God. This means that our life becomes the expression of God. In 4:24 Paul says that the new man is according to God. This means that the church life is according to God Himself and is God’s expression. God’s goal is to gain a people through whom He can express Himself. In the church as the new man according to God, this divine goal is fulfilled. This is altogether different from religion, which teaches people to behave themselves outwardly. God’s intention is not simply to get a people who are outwardly kind, gentle, and humble. His intention is to have a Body, the new man, for His expression. In order for this goal to be attained, the new man must firstly be created in Christ. Paul speaks of this in chapter two. Then, according to Paul’s word in chapter four, the new man must grow and live by walking in the spirit of the mind and must be renewed daily. The result is that the corporate new man will become the image of God, His expression. In this way God’s intention is fulfilled.
In 4:24 Paul says that the new man was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Righteousness is a matter of being right with God and man according to God’s righteous way; holiness is a matter of being separated unto God from anything common and of being saturated with God’s holy nature.
In this verse the Greek word rendered holiness is hosiotees. It denotes a genuine piety. Hence, some versions adopt the rendering “piety.” If we consider this verse in context, we shall see that the church life is a life of genuine piety. Unfortunately, this word has been damaged by traditional use and given a religious meaning. In the New Testament, this word sometimes translated piety is virtue according to the divine character expressed through humanity. On the one hand, it involves human virtue; on the other hand, it expresses the divine nature and character. We need to have a daily walk in which the divine character is expressed through our virtue.
This kind of living is very different from mere human virtue. As human beings, we have certain virtues. But these virtues need to become the expression of the divine character. For example, the New Testament teaches wives to submit to their husbands. Confucius also taught this. Actually Confucius taught a threefold submission: to the father, to the husband, and, if the husband should die, to the son. What is the difference between submission according to the teaching of Confucius and submission according to the teaching of the Bible? The submission that is according to the teaching of Confucius is nothing more than a human virtue. In this kind of submission there is nothing of the flavor of Christ and nothing of the divine character. But if a sister in the Lord is filled in spirit and submits to her husband out of this filling, there will be in her submission some amount of the flavor of Christ. This means that in her submission there will be the expression of the divine character.
Let us take another example, the matter of honoring our parents. The Bible surely teaches us to honor our parents. Confucius taught the same thing. But the difference between the honoring of parents that is in accord with the teaching of Confucius and that which is in accord with the Bible is that in the former there is no flavor of Christ, whereas in the latter there is both the flavor of Christ and the expression of the divine character. When we are filled in spirit unto all the fullness of God and honor our parents out of such an infilling, there will be the expression of God in our relationship to our parents. Our behavior will not be a mere human virtue; it will be a virtue with the divine character and with the flavor of Christ. As we honor our parents, there should be the sweet savor of Christ. This is the expression of God through human virtue. Suppose a young man honors his parents from a spirit filled unto all the fullness of God. In this virtue there will be the divine character. This is the expression of God in humanity.
This expression of God is absolutely different from mere ethical behavior. Although the followers of Confucius may attain a high ethical standard, there is no flavor of Christ in their virtue. I repeat, in our virtue there needs to be the character of God and the flavor and taste of Christ. Such a divine expression through human virtue is conveyed by the Greek word for holiness in 4:24. The church life must be filled with such an expression of divine character through human virtue.
In our honesty and generosity there needs to be the expression of the divine character. There are two kinds of honesty and two kinds of generosity: an honesty and a generosity that are mere human virtues, and an honesty and a generosity that express the character of God. In the church life our honesty and generosity must have the flavor of Christ. As others contact us, they should not only have the sense that we are virtuous; they should be able to sense in our virtue the flavor of Christ and see the expression of the divine character.
The key to the church life is the spirit of the mind. If we live according to the spirit of the mind, there will be in the church life the expression of the divine character. Then we shall be a corporate people with the flavor of Christ and the expression of God. If we simply give others the impression that we are good, righteous, and kind, our church life is a failure. There must be in our goodness, righteousness, and kindness the expression of the Triune God. The church life must be filled with the aroma and flavor of Christ and with the character of God. Such a living is the living of the Triune God through our humanity. For centuries, God has been longing for such a church life. We pray that before long this kind of church life will be fully practiced among us in the Lord’s recovery. May the Lord be satisfied by seeing such an expression of Himself through the corporate new man on earth!
