Message 64
Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 7:8-14; 10:5; Lev. 18:5; Gal. 3:21; John 5:39-40; Ezek. 36:26-27; Gal. 3:2-5; 5:2, 4, 6; 6:15
God’s eternal purpose is to work Himself into us as our life so that we may take Him as our person, live Him, and express Him. This is the desire of God’s heart; it is also the focal point of the Bible. In order to fulfill this purpose, God created man in His image and after His likeness. God’s intention in creating man was that man would receive God into him and take Him as his life and everything to him. For this reason, after God created man, He placed him in front of the tree of life. This indicates that God wanted man to eat of this tree, which is a symbol of God Himself as life. To eat of the tree of life is to take God into us as our life and life supply.
The tree of life is seen both in Genesis 2 and Revelation 22. From eternity to eternity, God’s intention is for man to partake of this tree. Our destiny in eternity future is to eat the tree of life and thereby to live God and express Him. This is God’s eternal intention.
In Genesis 3 the serpent tempted man to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a result of eating of this tree, man became fallen. Instead of partaking of the tree of life, man ate of the tree of knowledge.
The principle of life is dependence, whereas the principle of knowledge is independence. For example, after a student of mathematics learns all his instructor has to teach him, he can be independent of his teacher. Because the student knows mathematics for himself, it is no longer necessary for him to depend on this teacher. Knowledge leads to independence, but life requires constant dependence. We can never afford to become independent with respect to the means of life. In fact, the more life we have, the more dependent we are. To maintain our physical life we must breathe, drink, and eat. If we want to stay alive, we cannot graduate from breathing, drinking, and eating.
If man had not fallen, man’s living would not be independent from God, but man would continually take God in and live by Him. Man would depend on God, and there would be no separation between God and man. Man would be able to receive God directly as life, live by Him, and even live Him. What a wonderful situation that would be!
At the time of man’s fall a wedge was driven between man and God, a wedge that caused a separation between them. The knowledge of good and evil made man independent from God.
Another consequence of eating of the tree of knowledge is that man tries to do things for God on his own. In a sense, man realizes that he has displeased God. Because of this realization, he makes up his mind to do something to please God. With fallen human beings, therefore, there are two striking characteristics: independence and efforts on his own to please God.
God is not willing to give up His original purpose for man. In order to deal with man in his fallen situation, God gives commandments to him. By giving man commandments, God seems to be saying, “You want to do something to please Me, but you don’t realize how fallen you are, how incapable you are, and how far you are from Me. The very fact that you try to please Me proves that you don’t know where you are. Let Me now give you some commandments to test you, to prove whether or not you can fulfill them.”
The law decreed by God functions in at least three ways. First, the law portrays God and defines Him. As God’s testimony, the law is actually a portrait of God; it shows us what He is like. All the commandments given by God both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament reveal who God is and what He is. Leviticus 19:2 gives this commandment: “Ye shall be holy: for I Jehovah your God am holy” (lit.). The Lord Jesus issued an even higher commandment: “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). In both cases the principle is the same: the law presents a picture of God. According to the law He has given, God is perfect, holy, and righteous; He is a God of love and of light. His law presents a picture of what He is.
The second function of the law is that of exposing us. This function is presented in a full way in Romans 7. In Romans 7:7 Paul declares, “But I had not known sin except through the law; for I had not known coveting except the law had said, You shall not covet.” Until the law came, sin was dormant. In Romans 7:8 Paul says that “without law sin is dead.” Then in the next verse he goes on to say that “when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Using the law as a knife, sin put Paul to death. In verse 11 Paul tells us that sin killed him by taking occasion through the commandment. Thus, in his experience Paul found that the commandment was death unto him. God used the law to expose him.
A third function of the law is the function of subduing us. After we are exposed, we need to be subdued. Once the law has subdued us, it can then bring us to God.
The rich young man in Matthew 19 was defeated in his contact with the Lord; however, he was not subdued. This was the reason he went away sorrowful. If he had been subdued and had said, “Lord Jesus, I cannot fulfill Your requirement to sell all I have and give to the poor,” the Lord would have told him, “Since you cannot do it, simply let Me fulfill this requirement for you.” The Lord wants to come into us, be our life, and fulfill every requirement for us.
In Philippians 2:12 Paul says, “So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only as in my presence, but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” We need to be subdued by Paul’s word and admit that we simply cannot work out our own salvation. Then we shall appreciate Paul’s word in the following verse: “For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” Although we cannot work out our own salvation, God is operating in us both the willing and the working. This enables us to work out our salvation according to God’s operating within us.
After we have been subdued by the law and tell the Lord that we cannot fulfill His requirements, that we simply cannot be holy as God is or perfect as the Father is, the Lord will say, “Simply open and receive Me. Let Me come into you and fulfill these requirements for you. I want to be your holiness and your perfection.” We cannot be holy, but we can be sanctified. Likewise, we cannot be perfect, but we can be perfected. God’s desire is to come into us to be our life and our person. In this way, He becomes one with us, and we become one with Him. Then as He lives in us, we live Him. This is the basic principle of the divine revelation in the Bible.
It is true that both in the Old Testament and in the New, God commands His people to do many things. In addition to the Ten Commandments, there are numerous precepts, ordinances, and regulations. Chapters twenty-one through twenty-three of Exodus are filled with such ordinances, precepts, and regulations. All these are used by God to expose and subdue the children of Israel. His intention is to use the law to portray Himself and then to expose us and subdue us so that we may open to Him and allow Him to come into us to be our life and everything to us. Then He will live in us, and we shall live Him.
We have seen that with the giving of the law there are two sides, the “day” side and the “night” side. If we think that we are able to fulfill the requirements of the law and then try to do so, we shall find ourselves in the “night.” We shall make the commandments of the law separate from God, who is the fountain of life. As a result, the commandments will become killing letters to us. But if we let the law do its work to portray God, expose us, and subdue us, and if we tell the Lord that we are not able to fulfill His requirements, but that we put our full trust in Him, we shall be in the “day.” Then the Law-giver, the fountain of life, will enter into us to be our life, live in us, and do everything for us. Eventually, the result will be even better and higher than the requirements of the law.
When the law was given, Moses was on the mountaintop being infused with God. The law could only give a picture of God, but the infusion Moses received on the mountaintop actually made him one with God. God is holy, and as a result of that infusion Moses became holy also. God is perfect, and through the divine infusion Moses also was perfected. When he came down from the mountain, the skin of his face shone. Moses’ shining face portrayed much more than the law portrayed. Moses was not striving or working to fulfill the requirements of the law. He was infused with God and reflected Him. His glowing face was simply a reflection of what God is. Which do you prefer, the Ten Commandments or the glowing on the face of Moses? I definitely prefer the glowing. The commandments are words, but the glowing face of Moses is a living picture. God does not want a people who strive to keep the law; He wants a glowing people to express His glory.
The more we try in ourselves to keep the law, the more pitiful we shall become. I can testify of this from my own experience. When I was young, I often fought with my older brothers. After I was saved and began to read the Bible, I discovered the Lord’s new commandment to love one another. I received that word and made up my mind that from that time onward I would love not only my brothers but everyone. However, the more I tried to love others, the less loving I became. I became more critical instead of more loving. Have you not had similar experiences? Are you able to fulfill the Lord’s commandment to love others? Although in ourselves we cannot fulfill the Lord’s new commandment, this commandment can perform a wonderful work to describe the Lord and expose us. It proves to us that we are not able to love others. Furthermore, this commandment subdues us. If we love the Lord and are subdued by this word, we shall say, “Lord, I love You, but I cannot fulfill Your commandment to love others. I need You, Lord, and I am wholly dependent on You.” This is what the Lord wants to hear from us. If we would speak to Him in this way, He would reply, “I have been waiting for you to say this. You cannot fulfill My requirement, but I can do it in you and for you. Open to Me and let Me come into you to live in you.” Then the Lord Himself within us will fulfill the requirement to love others.
Moses on the mountaintop received the infusion from without, but we today can receive a marvelous infusion from within. If we are right with the Lord, we shall be continually under His infusion. The more we are infused, the more we glow. Because the Lord lives within us, moving, working, and operating in us, it is easy for us to be infused with Him and to glow with the divine element which has been infused into us. As we are infused with the Lord, we shall shine spontaneously. We shall not work or strive; we shall simply glow.
In Romans 7:12 and 14 Paul uses four words to describe the law: spiritual, holy, just, and good. The word spiritual denotes the nature of the law. The law of God is the same in nature as God. God is Spirit (John 4:24); therefore, the law of God is spiritual. Moreover, just as God is holy in His expression, so the law also is holy. The word “just” denotes relationships. In relation to everything and everyone, God is just. The same is true of the law. Finally, as a whole, the law is good. As a portrait of God, the law is spiritual, holy, just, and good.
We have pointed out that the law has a threefold function: to testify of God, to expose us, and to subdue us. When Paul was Saul of Tarsus, he was exposed by the law. Paul says, “For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am fleshly, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14). Paul came to see that the law is holy, but he was common and defiled; that the law is just, but he was unjust; that the law is good, but he was evil. He was the opposite of all that is portrayed by the law. Because the law is so high, it not only exposes us, but also subdues us. We are exposed and subdued by the law as the word of God in that it is spiritual, holy, just, and good.
Romans 7:10 says, “And the commandment which was unto life, this was found to me to be unto death.” This verse indicates that the law was intended to be unto life. The word “unto” here means resulting in. Although the law was intended to result in life, it is not able to give life of itself (Gal. 3:21). However, there is no contradiction between Romans 7:10, which says that the law was unto life, and Galatians 3:21, which indicates that the law cannot give life. In nature the law itself does not have life. Thus, it cannot give us life. Nevertheless, the intent of the law is to result in life. Paul’s word in Romans 7:10 is based on Leviticus 18:5, a verse which says that those who do God’s commandments will live in them. This indicates that the law was meant to result in life. If we keep it, we shall have life.
However, in Romans 7 Paul makes it very clear that although the law was intended to result in life, he could not fulfill the requirements of the law. Therefore, what was supposed to result in life actually resulted in death. Because we cannot keep the law, in our experience the law results in death. But it was given with the intention that it result in life. However, it cannot give life. To give life is one thing, and to result in life is another.
We need to be impressed that the law is spiritual, holy, just, and good, that the law was given with the intention that it result in life, and that the law cannot give life by itself. What then should be our attitude toward the law? By no means should we despise it. Rather, we should be thankful to the law for exposing us, subduing us, and bringing us to the Lord as the source of life. We should say, “Law, I wish to thank you for exposing me and subduing me and bringing me to the One who can give me life. I wish to thank you for leading me to the Life-giver.”
Instead of thanking the law for its function, many Christians today are still trying to keep it. They are at one extreme, using the law in an improper way. At the other extreme are those who actually despise the law. In presenting a full picture of both the “day” aspect and the “night” aspect of the law, Paul used some negative terms to describe the law. In Galatians he even regards the law as Hagar, a concubine, and says it produces slaves (Gal. 4:21-25). Those who read Paul’s Epistles without a full understanding may come to despise the law and think that it is not good. This should not be our attitude. In Galatians, the very book where Paul regards the law as a concubine and speaks of slaves, Paul also uses positive terms to describe the law. For example, he speaks of the law as a child-conductor: “So the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). The law guards us, keeps us safe, and eventually conducts us to Christ. On the one hand, the law is a concubine; on the other hand, it is a guardian and a child-conductor unto Christ. Although the law brings us unto Christ that we may be justified by faith and have life, the law in itself is not able to give us life.
Whenever the law is separated from the living God as the source of life, it becomes the condemning and killing element to sinful people (11, Rom. 7:13). To separate the law from God Himself is to be in the “night” with respect to the law. If we rise up to attempt to keep the law of God, we shall automatically separate the law from God Himself. Then in our efforts to keep the law, we ourselves shall be separated from Him. As a result, the law will become letters which kill us. We shall be like the children of Israel at the bottom of Mount Sinai. Simply by saying they would do whatever the Lord required, they separated themselves from God, the source of life. Then the law became in their experience a killing element.
The case of the Judaizers exemplifies the fact that the law becomes killing letters when it is separated from the living God. The Judaizers loved the law and were zealous to keep it. But their love and zeal were apart from God. In John 5:39 and 40 the Lord Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that testify concerning Me; and you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” The Judaizers thought that there was life in the black and white letters of the Scriptures. However, to come to the Scriptures without coming to the Lord Himself may even be superstitious.
Many Christians use the Bible in a superstitious way, thinking that the Scriptures can actually protect them. Feeling that something evil may happen during the night, some put a Bible underneath their pillow. This is superstitious. Others think that if a person places his hand on the Bible when taking an oath, it will not be possible for him to lie. This also is superstitious.
In the black and white letters of the Bible there is no life. We cannot receive life from the Word if we come to it without coming to the Lord. In order to receive life from the Word, we must contact the Lord as we read it. Life actually is not in the Bible itself; it is in Christ. For this reason, we should never separate the Bible from the Lord Himself. The Bible is intended to be the tree of life. But if we separate it from the Lord as the fountain of life, it will become to us the tree of knowledge. Whether the Bible is the tree of life or the tree of knowledge to us depends on our condition and our standing. If we stand one with the Lord, the Bible will be life to us. But if we separate ourselves from the Lord and still attempt to use the Bible, it will become the tree of knowledge to us. Whenever we stand apart from the Lord in using the Word, the Bible becomes killing letters. Thus, if we stand with the Lord in reading the Word, we shall be in the “day.” But if we stand apart from Him, we shall be in the “night.”
God gave the law with the intention that it would result in life. However, the majority of the children of Israel did not come to God and receive Him as life. Instead, they tried in themselves to keep the law. As the history recorded in the Old Testament indicates, the result was a great failure. Eventually, in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel God came in to speak about establishing another covenant, a new covenant. In this covenant God would give the people a new heart and a new spirit. Furthermore, He would even give them His Spirit. The new heart, the new spirit, and the Spirit of God would enable them to keep all of God’s commandments. This is the New Testament.
When many read Ezekiel 36:26 and 27, they have the impression that these verses teach exactly the same thing as the New Testament concerning a new heart, a new spirit, and the Spirit of God. We must admit that this is true. In these verses we see the reconstitution of our inner being. To have a new heart and a new spirit involves regeneration, reconstitution, and a rearrangement of our being. Furthermore, God’s Spirit comes into us to join us with Him. Surely this is identical with Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 6:17: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” If we do not separate ourselves from God but remain one with Him according to the new covenant, we shall automatically have the ability, strength, and power to carry out God’s commandments.
When Moses was on the mountaintop experiencing a divine infusion, did he receive a new heart and a new spirit? Did he receive the Spirit of God? I have no doubt that Moses received a new heart and a new spirit and that God’s Spirit was given to him. Does this mean, then, that Moses was regenerated? It is difficult to answer this question. The point here is that the principle is the same both in the Old Testament and in the New. After man’s fall, God’s intention is to change our heart and our spirit, and then to put Himself as the life-giving Spirit into us. Then we shall have a life with the ability to fulfill God’s requirements, and we shall be able to live in a way that corresponds to what God is. I do not presume to say whether Moses was regenerated or not. But I do know from the Scriptures that God’s economy is to work Himself into us, to reconstitute us by changing our heart and spirit, and to come into us as the life-giving Spirit that we may live Him.
At this point, we need to look into the case of the Galatians. Their case differs from that of the Judaizers. In contrast to the Judaizers, the Galatians had received the Lord and had entered into the sphere of grace. However, they were distracted from Christ to the law. They took in the concept that since the law is good, they should try to keep it. But in striving to keep the law, they cut themselves off from Christ and fell from grace. This was the reason Paul said to them, “If you are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal. 5:2). He went on to tell them, “You have been brought to nought from Christ, you who are justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (v. 4). By turning to the law, the Galatian believers had cut themselves off from the enjoyment of Christ and from the profit of being in Christ. The case of the Galatians shows that whenever believers neglect their union with Christ and turn to the law and strive to keep it, they cut themselves off from Christ and from grace.
In dealing with the situation among the believers in Galatia, Paul found it necessary to point out that what was needed is faith for an organic union with the living God, the source of life, that we may be the new creation. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith operating through love.” It seems as if Paul was saying, “Don’t go back to the law and separate yourselves from God. Instead, exercise your faith to maintain the organic union with Christ. If you preserve this union, you will enjoy life.” Then in Galatians 6:15 Paul says, “For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” The new creation consists of human beings who have been constituted of the Triune God in order to live Him. To stay in the new creation is to stay in this constitution. If we exercise faith to enjoy the organic union with the living God that we may live the new creation, it will not be necessary for us to keep the law. Spontaneously we shall live a life that fulfills the requirements of the law and even surpasses them.
