If we would thoroughly understand and apprehend the law of life, we must understand the basic concept of the divine revelation in the Bible. The basic and central concept in the Bible is that God intends to work Himself into us in order to make us His living expression. God desires to work Himself into His chosen people that they may be born of Him and have Him as their life and thus become His expression. This is God’s desire and intention. The only way for God to have such a living expression is for Him to work Himself into us. Although this basic concept is found throughout the Bible, it has nearly been lost by fundamental Christianity. Fundamental Christianity mainly stresses redemption. But redemption is not the goal; it is a way, a procedure, to reach the goal. The goal is to have God wrought into our being that we might be born of Him and that He might become our life. He is our Father and we are His sons. Being His sons, we all have Him in us as our life. Eventually, this life will transform us and conform us to His very image, making us His living expression in the universe.
Although this basic concept has nearly been lost, we thank God that now, in these last days, He has opened up to us this matter in His Word. For more than forty years, we have been burdened to minister this basic concept to God’s people. It is for this reason that we have been falsely accused of teaching heresy, of preaching and teaching something that is not according to the Bible. Our opposers say this because their understanding of the Bible is lacking and inadequate. A little knowledge is dangerous, for it makes people short-sighted and even kills them. We praise God that under His mercy we have seen the basic revelation in the Scriptures. This is not simply a matter of redemption. No, it is something deeper and higher than this. God is now working Himself into us that we may have His life, that we may be one with Him, and that He may be one with us.
I say again that the way in which God accomplishes His intention is by coming into us, causing us to be born of Him. In order that we might be born of Him, God comes into us in the Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God and God Himself, is God’s image. Col. 1:15 says that Christ is the image of the invisible God. The Son is the image, the expression, of the Father. Thus, when you see the Son, you see the Father. At the moment we believed in Him, the Son of God came into us. This does not mean that He gave us something; it means that He Himself came into us. We need to discard the concept that when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, God gave us His life. This understanding is incorrect. It was not that we believed in the Lord Jesus and that God in heaven gave us something and put it into us. No, it was that we believed in the Lord Jesus and that the Son of God, the very God Himself, came into us as life. God did not give us His life; He came into us as life. What a great difference!
When God comes into us, He comes in the Son and as the Son, not as the Father. This involves the Trinity. It is at this point that we are accused of teaching heresy. But we do not teach heresy — we speak the truth according to the pure word of God. The very person who has come into our being is God Himself. But when He comes into us, He does not come as the Father but as the Son. The Father is the source, and the Son is the expression of the source. The expression and the source are one.
Because God comes into our being as the Son, we have been born of God in the Son and have the sonship. This means that we all have become sons of God. We are not simply saved sinners but also sons born of God. This is not a small thing. Before Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, God had only one Son, the One whom the Bible calls the Only Begotten Son (John 3:16). Before His resurrection, Christ was the unique Son of God. But after His resurrection, He was no longer the unique Only Begotten Son of God, for in resurrection He became the Firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29).
How many sons does God have? On the one hand, John 3:16 speaks of the Only Begotten Son. But Hebrews 2:10 says that God is leading many sons into glory, and Romans 8:29 says that Christ is the Firstborn among many brothers. Does God have two kinds of sons? No, He has just one kind. In China, the Fukienese like to have many sons. If they cannot beget enough sons, they may buy some others. A certain man may beget only two sons and later buy another ten sons, giving him a total of twelve. These twelve sons, however, are of two kinds, the born sons and the purchased sons. Deep in his heart, this man feels that only two of his sons are sons in life, sons in reality, while the other ten are merely sons in term. Does God have two kinds of sons, the Only Begotten Son being one kind and the many sons being the other kind? No, the Bible reveals that the Only Begotten Son of God has become the Firstborn among many sons, proving that God has just one kind of son. The Firstborn is the Son of God, and the many sons are also sons of God. The Firstborn Son and the many sons are all of the same one Father (Heb. 2:11).
In saying that God has only one kind of son, are we saying that we, the many sons, are exactly the same as Jesus Christ? If God has only one kind of son and if we also are the sons of God, then are we not the same as Jesus Christ? How can we answer this question? Are you exactly the same as Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Jesus Christ has come into our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17). According to our spirit, we are exactly the same as Christ. But, as a human being, we also have a soul composed of the mind, the emotion, and the will. Although in our spirit we are the same as the Son of God, in our mind, emotion, and will we are not yet the same as He.
The Son of God is in us, not partially but wholly. The complete Person of the Son of God is in us. He did not cut Himself into pieces and then put a small piece of Himself into us. Christ, the Son of God, has come into us as a whole, perfect Person. Although the whole Person of Christ is in our spirit, time after time our thinking does not originate with Christ in our spirit but with our ugly mind. Perhaps even today you were thinking about a certain brother, saying to yourself, “I don’t like Brother So-and-So. He should be excluded and cut off.” But as long as he is a brother, whether he is good or bad, you should not say that you do not like him. This thought comes from your ugly mind, not from Christ in your spirit.
What about your emotion? When you love, do you love from the spirit where the Son of God is, or do you love from your emotion? I do not ask what you love, but from where you love — from your natural emotion or from the indwelling Christ. If we, like Christ, are sons of God, then why is our emotion different from His? Because Christ is only in our spirit. He has not yet spread into our emotion, and thus our emotion is still independent of Him.
Let us say a word about our will. Whether your will is wild or tame, it is still your will. When you go shopping, you must examine the source of your going shopping. Is the source the indwelling Christ in your spirit, or your own natural will? Sisters, when you decide to go shopping, how often do you decide from Christ and how often from your will? Out of ten times, perhaps hardly once have you decided to go shopping from the indwelling Christ. This shows that your going shopping is not pure. It is a mixture, coming mostly out of your own will. What about the decisions you make day after day? How many times do you make a decision by Christ and not by your own will? As a son of God, what is the source of your decisions — Christ or your own will? I am not talking about being good or bad, nor about anything religious. I am asking whether you make decisions from your spirit, the place where the Son of God is, or from your own will. Although we are sons of God, we must admit that most of our decisions are made from our will, not from the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in our spirit. When we sing hymns in the meetings we take one way, but when we make decisions in our practical living we take another way, the way of using a source other than Christ. Therefore, although we have Christ in our spirit, we cannot express God, because Christ is confined within us. After coming into us, He has been imprisoned within us, for He does not have the freedom to spread out from our spirit.
This again brings us to the law of life. In the previous message we pointed out that the law of life is just Christ Himself. The Christ who indwells our spirit is our life. What then is the law of life? It is life functioning. A law is an unchanging, automatic regulation. Whenever you throw an object into the air, the object will fall to the ground. This is the law of gravity which is an unchanging, automatic law.
Every life has its own law. I have often used the illustration of a peach tree. If you have a peach tree in your back yard, there is no need for you to worry that it might bring forth watermelons, or to say, “I love the form and beauty of peaches. I don’t want this tree to bring forth melons. Since I’m concerned that the fruit of this tree might not have the form of a peach, I’ll make some peach molds, put them on the branches of the tree, and command the tree to fit into this pattern and not to change its form.” To do this would be ridiculous. But this is exactly what Christianity does. The ministers and teachers in Christianity make molds, put them on people, and charge them to live in a certain way. This is foolish. If you did this to a peach tree and the peach tree could talk, it would say, “Take your molds away from me. I don’t need any outward regulations. I have a living regulation by which I grow and bring forth fruit in the shape of peaches. The life will form the shape of the fruit.” This is a law. Every year the peach tree produces fruit with a peach shape. The same is true of an apple tree. The apple life has the apple law. As an apple tree grows, it spontaneously produces fruit in the shape of apples. This is the result of the regulation of the law in the life of an apple tree. This matter, however, is missed by Christianity.
Both in Jer. 31:33-34 and in Heb. 8:10-11 we are told that we do not need anyone to teach us. If you would attempt to teach a peach tree to bring forth peaches, the tree would say, “No one is as stupid as you are. You can’t teach me. Besides, I don’t need your teaching.” Since coming to this country, especially during the first two years I was here, I told people wherever I went that they did not need to be taught. I said, “You don’t need teaching because you have life in you, and life needs no teaching.” Tell me, who taught you to breathe? Did you attend a breathing school and graduate from it? No mother teaches her children to breathe, for breathing is a matter of life. In like manner, no one instructs an apple tree to bring forth apples, because producing apples is the function of the life of an apple tree. When the apple tree functions, apples are produced. During my first two years in this country, I was burdened to tell people wherever I went that they should drop their teachings and let life work. Without one exception, I was rejected in every place. Many came to me with their Bibles, saying, “Brother Lee, in your message you said that we don’t need any teaching. Isn’t the word teaching found in the Scriptures?” I did not care to argue with them. I simply said, “If you like teaching, you may have it. But I don’t like teaching — I like life. Praise the Lord that I have life and that life is growing within me. If you like the teaching, go to the dead letters.” In some places I even boldly told people, “You are as dead as a door nail. The teachings have killed you. Because you are filled to the brim with teachings, you are dead.”
We have seen that Christ is in us. This Christ equals life, and this life has its law of life. Thus, within us, we have Christ, the life, and the law. The very Christ who indwells our spirit is life, and this life has a law. In Jeremiah 31:33 the Lord says, “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts.” But Hebrews 8:10, which is a quotation of Jeremiah 31:33, says, “I will impart my laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them.” Notice that the law in Jeremiah 31:33 becomes the laws in Hebrews 8:10. Furthermore, in 8:10 the word mind is used instead of inward parts, indicating that the mind is one of the inward parts. The inward parts include at least the mind, the emotion, and the will. What is the reason for these changes? Jeremiah 31:33 and Hebrews 8:10 say that God imparts His law, or laws, into either our inward parts or our minds, and that He inscribes His law, or laws, upon our heart. The heart is composed of the mind, the emotion, the will, and the conscience. Hebrews 8:10 does not say that God imparts His laws into our hearts and inscribes them on our mind. No, it says that God imparts His laws into our mind and inscribes them on our hearts. This means that Christ has firstly come into our spirit. This Christ is the law which must spread into our mind. The spreading of the indwelling law into our mind is the imparting of this law into our inward parts. This law must also spread into our emotion and will. By spreading into our inward parts, the one law becomes many laws. Whenever we give this law the opportunity, it will spread within us. This spreading is the imparting, and the imparting is the inscribing. Thus, the Lord imparts His law into our inward parts and inscribes it on our hearts. As the Lord continues to spread, impart, and inscribe, Christ’s image will be expressed in our soul, and we shall be conformed to the image of God’s Firstborn Son.
Now we know what answer to give whenever we are asked if we are the same as the Son of God. We should say, “The very Son of God is in my spirit. But my mind, emotion, and will have not yet been conformed to the Son of God. Although my mind, emotion, and will have not yet been conformed to His image, I thank God that I’m under the process of conformation. As the unique law spreads into my mind, my mind is being transformed and conformed to His image. After He spreads into my mind, my mind will be exactly the same as His. Also, He will spread into my emotion and will, making my emotion and will the same as His. Eventually, my whole being will be exactly the same as His. In this way, I shall be the image of God.”
Once we have received this vision, we shall hate the religious teachings. Do not teach me to do this and not to do that. I do not care for such teachings. I only know that Jesus Christ as the Firstborn Son of God is in my spirit waiting for the opportunity to spread Himself into my mind, emotion, and will. I simply want to open to Him again and again without trying to do anything. I just open myself and say, “Lord Jesus, spread Yourself into my mind, emotion, and will. Lord, cause the unique law to become the many laws in all my inward parts. I want You to spread in me until You possess every part of my being. I don’t want to love, hate, or do anything. I only want You to spread Yourself into me.” In this way, we shall be transformed and conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. This is God’s doing, the work which He is performing in us today. This is absolutely different from religion, for it is the work of life. This life is Christ Himself with the law working in us, regulating us, ruling us, and spreading Himself into every part of our inward being.
How much we need to see this vision and empty ourselves of every religious concept. I want to drop the teachings and only love the living Christ who is in me as my life and as the unique law spreading Himself into my being. I do not care for loving or hating, for being good or bad. I do not care for anything religious. I only care for the living Christ in my spirit. Praise Him that He is in our spirit! Now He is waiting for the opportunity to get into our mind, emotion, and will that He might saturate our being with His element, causing Himself to become the very element of our being. In this way, He makes us the same as He is. We may even say that He is making Himself us. This is the working of the law of life. This is God’s economy, the basic concept of the divine revelation in the Bible. May the Lord have mercy on us that we may see this vision.
How can this Christ spread within us? Only by our eating of Him as the hidden manna. The hidden manna which we eat will become the budding element in us. As this element buds out of our innermost being, it will bud into and through our mind. This is the working of the law of life to transform us and conform us to Christ’s image that we all might become His living expression.
