The focus of God’s revelation in the New Testament is sonship. Sonship is God’s desire. God can only satisfy His desire for sonship by having His Son become the model and prototype. This prototype must be wrought into our being. What is being wrought into us is not only the Savior or the divine life, but also the prototype of the sonship, the Firstborn Son of God. As we have pointed out, there is a great difference between the Only Begotten Son of God and the Firstborn Son of God. With the Only Begotten Son, there was no humanity. He was divine, but He was not human. With the Firstborn Son, on the contrary, there are both divinity and humanity because He is not only the Son of God but also the Son of Man. The Son of Man has been brought into sonship through His resurrection. Now this Firstborn Son, constituted with both divinity and humanity, has been wrought into our very being.
Eph. 1:5 says that we have been predestinated unto sonship. Sonship is our destiny. Our destiny is not to be saved. Salvation is a process; it is not the goal but the way to reach the goal. God’s goal is sonship. God’s forgiveness, justification, salvation, and regeneration are all focused on sonship. God has forgiven us, justified us, saved us, and regenerated us that we might be His sons.
Sonship has both a beginning and a completion. It begins with regeneration and it will be completed with glorification. Between regeneration and glorification there is the process of sanctification, transformation, and conformation. Many Christians have heard about sanctification. However, the concept of sanctification in Christianity is much different from that found in the Bible. The vocabulary, the terminology, is the same, but the understanding is vastly different, because the dictionary of today’s Christianity differs from the dictionary of the Bible. According to the pure word of the Bible, the meaning of sanctification is to be saturated with the element of the prototype. The more we are saturated by the element of the Firstborn Son as the prototype, the more we are separated unto God from the world. Through sanctification we are separated from the world, not by teachings or miracles, but by being permeated with the element of the divine and human nature of the prototype.
Our whole being is like a black spot. One day, the wonderful element of the prototype came into our spirit and sanctified it. What about the remainder of our being? We must admit that it is still very dark. Although you may consider yourself to be good, moral, ethical, and even “spiritual,” you are still dark. Perhaps you are in a dark grave. Whether you are good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral, ethical or unethical, “spiritual” or unspiritual, your being is still dark. Whenever others contact you, they sense your opaqueness. You dwell in the gloomy dungeon of your religion and ethics, and there is nothing transparent about you. Because you are so dark and non-transparent, you need to be sanctified by having the wonderful element of the prototype saturate your being. The more Christ spreads into you, the more you will be sanctified and separated from the world. This is sanctification.
Transformation is related to sanctification. The more we are saturated with the element of Christ, the more we are sanctified, and the more we are sanctified, the more we are transformed. As we have pointed out several times, transformation is not an outward change, adjustment, or correction. It is an inward metabolic change, a change in life, nature, and form. Sanctification is for transformation and transformation is for conformation. We must be transformed in order to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29). By the Lord’s mercy, we are in the proper church life being sanctified, transformed, and conformed to the image of God’s Firstborn Son. This is deeper, higher, and more profound than being moral, ethical, or even “spiritual.” Some teachings regarding so-called spirituality are merely vanity. Genuine spirituality is conformation. Being spiritual depends upon being conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. No human effort, labor, or imitation can manufacture this. It can only be produced by the indwelling prototype, the real and living Firstborn Son of God, who automatically works in us. As He works in us by the law of life, He continually anoints us from within.
Because we are sons of God according to the law of life and the anointing, we are God’s people. God is our God according to the law of life and the anointing. In ancient times, God called His people, the children of Israel, out from among the Gentiles and gave them the law. God was their God and they were His people according to the outward law of letters. If they were right with the law, then they were right with God. Since the people went astray from the law, the prophets came in. Hence, the Old Testament is composed of the law and the prophets.
The law corresponds to God’s unchanging nature. For time and eternity, God’s nature will remain the same. Although the law does not change, the prophets do change. A prophet of God may tell you one thing today and the opposite thing tomorrow. If you consult a prophet about going to a certain place today, he may say that it is all right to go, but if you ask him the same question tomorrow, he may tell you not to go. God is living. As the living God, He is the highest Person, having the full right to tell us one thing today and another thing tomorrow. Due to this, the word of the prophet may change. The law is according to God’s nature, but the prophets are according to God’s activity, God’s move. God may want you to stay where you are today, but tomorrow He may want you to go elsewhere. The law is always the same for everyone. For example, the law commands you to honor your parents. God will never tell you to honor your parents today and then command you to hate them tomorrow. No, the law remains constant. However, if you read the Old Testament, you will see that the prophets differ from one another. In ancient times, God was a God to His people according to the law and the prophets, and God’s people were a people to Him also according to the law and the prophets.
What do we have in the New Testament which corresponds to the law and the prophets in the Old Testament? For the law, we have the law of life, and for the prophets, we have the anointing. Today, God is our God according to the inner law of life and according to the anointing, and we are His people according to the inner law of life and according to the anointing. The inner law of life corresponds to God’s nature, and the anointing corresponds to God’s move. The law of life always remains the same. As far as the law of life is concerned, there is no change either with you or with others. If you attempt to go to a movie tonight, the inner law will forbid you. It will also forbid you tomorrow and at any other time. The anointing, however, may change. Tonight the anointing may not allow you to go to the department store, but tomorrow the anointing may encourage you to go. While the law of life will never allow you to buy a fancy lamp, the anointing may or may not allow you to go to the department store. Furthermore, the anointing may permit one brother to go shopping, but it may forbid another brother to do the same thing. By this we see that the anointing changes. If I intend to speak to you in a condemning way, the law of life will always say, “No, don’t do that.” But whether or not I should speak on Hebrews in the meeting tonight depends on the anointing. Tonight the anointing may encourage me to speak on Hebrews for forty-five minutes, but in the next meeting the anointing may say, “Don’t speak anything in this meeting. Be at rest.” By all these examples we see that the law remains the same but the anointing constantly changes. It is according to this law and this anointing that we are a people to God and God is a God to us. How different this is from religion! Here there are no outward regulations, forms, rituals, or controls. There is only the law of life and the anointing.
Approximately fourteen years ago, I was invited to the home of a Jewish brother in New York. His background was that of a typical orthodox Jew. He told me that the orthodox Jews do everything according to a verse in the Old Testament. When they go to bed at night, they must even place their shoes in a certain direction according to a verse in the Old Testament. They are very “scriptural” and religious. There are many regulations among them, but no life. These orthodox Jews think that they are the people of God and that God is their God according to their religion. Actually, God is far away from them. He is not their God and they are not His people according to their way. But today God is our God according to the law of life and the anointing.
Although we may be clear about these matters doctrinally, we may not be clear about them experientially. In the church life we should live according to the law of life and move according to the anointing, but we have gradually come to live according to regulations and move according to organization. In the beginning, the church life was not like this. It was living, and we lived according to the inner law of life and moved according to the anointing. Gradually, however, our living according to the law of life developed into a habit, and the habit became a regulation. Thus, today we live according to regulations and move according to organization. Because we have become organized, we neglect the anointing. How I long to see the dear ones coming to clean the meeting hall according to the anointing, not according to any arrangement or organization. If in the service groups we care for who is first, second, and last, we shall have an organization. In an organization there is no need to pray, to contact the Lord, and to move according to the anointing, because everything is arranged, and we are told what to do and when to do it. A brother who is not a leading one may say, “I am neither the first nor the last. Whatever I do will be all right. I don’t need to look to the Lord about what time to clean, because the time has already been announced. If I am a few minutes late, it will not make any difference.” When this brother arrives, he will stand around waiting to be told what to do. If the leading one does not come, he will not know how to function. This is not the service we see in the New Testament.
According to the New Testament, the law of life is written into our being. In fact, even the writer Himself is in us. By coming into us, He brings both His nature and His Person into us. The nature works and the Person moves. Hence, we must live according to His nature and move according to His Person. We must clean the meeting hall according to His moving. Do not care about your rank in the church service. Only care for the living Person within you. This is the living found in the New Testament. Compared with the Old Testament, the New Testament is quite short. The Old Testament may have over a thousand pages, but the New Testament has less than three hundred pages. Christianity has become a religion of teachings and miracles. I hope that in the Lord’s recovery we shall realize that we do not need the teachings and miracles found in religion. We simply need to live according to Christ’s wonderful nature and move according to His wonderful Person. Do not depend upon regulations, arrangements, or organization. Move and act according to the living Person within you. If we do this, we shall enjoy God and become His people, and God will become so living, rich, and enjoyable to us. He will be our God, not according to regulations, but according to the inner law of life and the anointing. This is the working of the divine and human nature of the wonderful One.
You may wonder why I am against religion. It is because I have passed through so many things, especially the teachings and speaking in tongues. In the past, I taught many people how to speak in tongues. But after a period of time, I saw that speaking in tongues only stirred people temporarily and that the result was not much of life. I was also in fundamental Christianity where I learned the teachings of the Bible. More than forty-five years ago, I became familiar with all the types, teachings, and prophecies. These teachings made me dormant for seven and a half years. Due to this, I have the sure standing to declare that we do not need the teachings in letters. After a certain time, I became involved with the Pentecostal movement. Now I have been commissioned and burdened by the Lord to minister Christ as life to His people. Only when you have been wholly rescued from the other things will my burden be discharged. The Spirit knows how much you need to be delivered. Not only those in Christianity but even the church people need to know the sonship. We must see that life is the only way the sonship can be brought to completion within us. The working of the law of life within us is for the carrying out of the sonship.
Hebrews 2:10 says that God is leading many sons into glory. How will God bring the many sons into glory? Will all the Christians remain the same day after day until they are suddenly transported into glory? No indeed! In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says that the resurrection is like the growth of a plant. After a seed is sown into the earth, it dies and begins to grow. At first, the plant is a tender sprout. This tender sprout must grow until it reaches maturity and blossoms. The blossom is its glorification. The plant, unlike a mushroom, is not glorified suddenly. No, it is glorified by its gradual growth. Likewise, we all have been regenerated and are growing. Many are like tender sprouts which have a long way to go before they can be glorified. The distance between regeneration and glorification encompasses the process of sanctification, transformation, and conformation to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. A few among us who have grown in life throughout the years are on the verge of glorification. They are ready to blossom. How about you? If you are still a tender sprout, then you are not ready to blossom. You must continue to grow until you reach maturity. Then, at the time of your maturity, you will blossom into glorification. In this way God will lead the many sons into glory.
At this point, we need to read Romans 8:29 and 30: “Because whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He should be the Firstborn among many brothers; and whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Recovery Version). Verse 30 does not say, “And whom He justified, these He brings to heaven.” No, it says, “These He also glorified.” We must also read Romans 8:16 and 17: “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, heirs also; heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him.” Verse 17 does not say that we may be brought to heaven. No, it says that we “may be glorified with Him.” The goal is glorification. This glorification is the perfection, the completion, of conformation. In other words, glorification is the perfection and completion of sonship. The sonship has begun in us, but it has not been perfected and completed. Presently we are undergoing the process of sanctification, transformation, and conformation. Daily we are being saturated by the indwelling wonderful One. He is constantly seeking an opportunity to spread Himself into every part of our being. He desires to saturate us until we are sanctified, transformed, and conformed to His image and reach the perfection and completion of sonship. This is God’s desire today.
This is not a matter of being right or wrong, proud or humble, ethical or unethical. It is not even a matter of being “spiritual” or unspiritual. God does not care for these things. Thirty years ago, I was with some people who sought spirituality. But the more we pursued it, the more it eluded us. Even the pursuit of “spirituality” is vanity. God’s intention is to conform us to His Son. His Son, the prototype, has been wrought into us and is awaiting the opportunity to saturate us with His element. We must cooperate with Him by living according to His nature and moving according to His Person. We should say, “Lord, I don’t care for spirituality. I only want to live according to Your nature and move according to Your Person.” By the Lord’s mercy, I have been living and moving this way throughout the years. All I have received for it is condemnation. I have been condemned because I refuse to tolerate the religious things. Having passed through the teachings and the Pentecostal things, I can testify that they neither work nor supply us. Although they may help to a small extent, they do not supply us. But if you live according to the nature of this wonderful One and move according to His Person, you will be abundantly supplied and others will be supplied through you. This is what the church life needs today.
The church life in the Lord’s recovery is absolutely and wholly different from Christianity. Because we are different, we are condemned as being heretical. I admit that we are different, but I do not admit that we are heretical. Our understanding of the Bible is according to the pure Word with the light from the heavens. We do not care for traditional teachings. We only follow the pure Word of God in the Bible. Although we are absolutely different from tradition, we are absolutely according to the Bible.
The working of the law of life and the moving of the anointing will complete the sonship in us. We all have been destined to sonship and we are presently undergoing the process of becoming the full sons of God. Today our law is the law of life and our prophet is the anointing. As we have seen, this law is according to Christ’s nature and this prophet is according to His Person. We live according to His nature and move according to His Person. This is our standing. I look to the Lord that we all might see this. This must be ministered to all the saints in the church life. We do not care for the teachings in letters; neither do we care for the outward miracles. We only care for the inward law of life and the inward anointing.
Our God is real and living. He is real and living within us, not according to religion, nor according to our human thought. Having passed in the Son through incarnation and resurrection and having both divinity and humanity, He has come into us as a living Person with a wonderful nature. His nature is now functioning within us. We have seen that the function of His nature is the working of the law of life and that the moving of His Person is the anointing. In the church life we are not concerned with doctrine, teaching, miracles, and “gifts.” We are daily dealing with a living Person and His wonderful nature. His nature constantly remains the same, working within us to spread His element into our being. And His anointing continually guides us in our actions, movements, and behavior. It is by His nature and His Person that we live and move. In this way. He gradually works Himself into our being. The more He is wrought into us, the more we become the sons of God in perfection and glorification. If we see this, we shall not be distracted by other things. Christianity is a religion, but the church is a matter of life. This life is simply the wonderful One, the One who has passed through incarnation and resurrection and who is now the life-giving Spirit consisting of divinity and humanity. As we live according to His nature and move according to His anointing, we shall grow and be saturated, transformed, and conformed to His image until we are ripened in the sonship and prepared for the rapture. Then we shall be ready to meet Him.
