Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:4; 2 Cor. 3:18; 8:2, 6, Rom. 8:9, 16; 10:12; 14:17; 15:13; Psa. 3:4; Rom. 5:5, 13, 19; 15:30; 7:6
In the foregoing message we considered seven significant words: designation, resurrection, sanctification, transformation, conformation, glorification, and manifestation. We are designated sons of God by resurrection. The process of resurrection includes sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. This glorification will also be our manifestation.
All these seven items take place by the Spirit and with life. God designates us and causes us to undergo the process of resurrection by means of His Spirit and with life. Also, God sanctifies us, transforms us, conforms us, glorifies us, and brings us into the full manifestation of sonship by the Spirit with life. In the book of Romans both the Spirit and the divine life are covered.
In 1:4 why does Paul speak of the Spirit of holiness and not of the Holy Spirit? There is a distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of holiness. Holiness is the divine essence, the substance of God. Hence, the Spirit of holiness is the Spirit of the divine substance, whereas the Holy Spirit is the Person of the Spirit. As fallen ones, we are constituted with sinfulness. But as the Son of God, Christ is constituted with holiness. Holiness is His very element. Here holiness does not mean sinless perfection or positional separation; it denotes the divine essence, the very substance of God’s being. It was according to the Spirit of holiness that Christ was designated the Son of God.
Once again we may use the plant life as an illustration. When a carnation and a lily have just sprouted, they may look very much alike. But as these plants grow, they are gradually designated according to the life-essence within them. In the same principle, the Spirit of holiness is the life-essence within the Lord Jesus. When He was living on earth in the flesh, He had this divine life-essence within Him. Because this life-essence was according to God’s being, it was also the essence of holiness. According to our understanding, the word holiness refers to being separated, distinct, from all common things. Because God’s essence is unique. God is separate from all things other than Himself. The holiness spoken of in verse 4 is the divine essence that was in the Lord Jesus when He lived on earth. Just as a carnation flower is designated according to the life-essence within it, so the Lord Jesus was designated by resurrection through the divine life-essence within Him.
We have pointed out that we all need to serve God in the gospel of His Son. To serve God in the gospel is to serve Him not only in the matters of redemption, justification, and forgiveness, but especially in the matter of sonship. All the service in the local churches should be the service in the gospel of sonship. According to this gospel, sinners in the flesh can be transformed into sons of God in the Spirit. What glad tidings!
In this message we need to see that designation, resurrection, sanctification, transformation, conformation, glorification, and manifestation are all realized by the Spirit of holiness. In order to understand this, we need to know that God’s economy is to dispense Himself into man. The fact that God is triune — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is related to His economy, to His dispensing of Himself into us. God the Father is embodied in God the Son, and God the Son is realized, transmitted, experienced and gained by us in God the Spirit. The Spirit as the third in the Godhead is God being our realization and experience. This means that the application of the Triune God to us comes by the Spirit of God. For this reason, in our experience the Triune God is the Spirit.
Electrical current is an illustration of the Spirit as the application of the Triune God. Apart from the current of electricity, electricity cannot be applied. In its application, electricity needs to become an electrical current. The current, however, is not something different from electricity itself. The current of electricity is simply electricity in motion. In the same principle, the application of the Triune God to us is the Spirit. The Spirit is the current of the Triune God for us to apply; He is the Triune God in motion.
The New Testament clearly reveals that Christ today is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This means that Christ is the Spirit who is the current of the Triune God for us to apply in our experience. This understanding may differ from traditional theology, but it corresponds to the pure Word of God. The New Testament reveals that Christ, God incarnated as a man, died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected from among the dead, ascended to the heavens, and has been glorified and enthroned as the King, the Head, and the Lord over all. This very Christ is also the life-giving Spirit.
All the objective items of who Christ is and of what Christ is are recognized and taught by fundamental Christians today. However, the matter of Christ as the life-giving Spirit has been grossly neglected. This is due to Satan’s subtlety. A person may talk about what electricity is and what it can do, but he may neglect the current of electricity. What good is it to discuss electricity without applying it? I do not know very much about electricity, but by applying it I enjoy its benefits. In the same principle, our need today is not mainly the objective knowledge of doctrines; it is the subjective experience of the current of the Triune God.
Satan, the subtle enemy of God, may allow people to know that Christ is the Son of God who was incarnated as a man, who died on the cross for our redemption, who was resurrected, and who has ascended to the right hand of God. But the enemy blinds the believers to the vital truth regarding Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Second Corinthians 3:6 says that the letter kills, but that the Spirit gives life. According to 2 Corinthians 3:17, the Lord is this very Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Verse 18 continues, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (Gk.). In this verse we see a compound title — Lord Spirit. Few Christians have paid attention to this title of the Lord. The understanding and experience of Christ as the Lord Spirit need to be recovered. I love to call on the name of the Lord Jesus, but I especially enjoy touching Him as the Lord Spirit. The Lord Jesus today is the wonderful life-giving Spirit.
This very point is also covered in Romans 8. In verse 9 of this chapter Paul speaks of the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Then he says, “But if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” This clearly indicates that today the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ. Furthermore, the next verse speaks of Christ being in us. The fact that these terms are used interchangeably indicates that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ and that the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. The Spirit spoken of in Romans 8 is Christ Himself.
This Christ who is the life-giving Spirit is in our spirit. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit.” This reveals clearly that the Holy Spirit is one with our regenerated human spirit. As the life-giving Spirit, Christ today is the application and realization of the Triune God. Furthermore, this application and realization is in our spirit.
Our being is like a building. In this building Christ as the heavenly electricity has been installed. We praise the Lord that in this building the divine electrician has placed a switch — the human spirit. Our spirit can be compared to a switch by which we apply the heavenly electricity. What a frustration it would be to us if electricity had been installed into this building, but there were no switch. Praise the Lord for the switch of our human spirit! Using this switch is the key to experiencing the Spirit as the application of the Triune God. Time and time again we need to remind ourselves that Christ as the realization of the Triune God is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit.
Many of us have been taught to meditate upon the Lord and upon spiritual things. In such meditation we may recall how the Son of God was incarnated, how He was born in a manger, how He worked as a carpenter, and how He was crucified, resurrected, and ascended. I do not oppose this kind of meditation. I wish to point out, however, that it is too objective. If we only meditate on the Lord, we shall not enjoy the practical, instant application of Him as the life-giving Spirit. A believer may enjoy a continual application of Christ, although he may not know much about Him in a doctrinal way. Consider the illustration of the electricity again. Do you wait until you understand electricity before you apply it? Of course not. Although it may be useful to understand electricity, the important thing is to apply it. Many Christians concentrate on obtaining a doctrinal knowledge of Christ, but they neglect the practical experience of Him. Many believers simply do not know how to apply Him. If we would apply Him, we need to see that today, as the life-giving Spirit, He is the divine electricity in our spirit.
The way to use this switch is given in 10:12. There it says, “The same Lord of all is rich to all who call upon Him.” This divine electricity is rich to all who “switch on,” and the way to “switch on” is to call on the name of the Lord. By calling on the Lord we exercise our spirit. If we simply think about what the Lord is to us, we do not have any practical contact with Him. Remember, 10:12 says that the Lord is rich to all who call upon Him. How simple this is! By calling on the name of the Lord Jesus we are released from the vanity of the natural mind, and we are kept in the spirit.
Designation is by resurrection, which includes sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. All these wonderful things are in the Spirit. By touching the Spirit, we enjoy resurrection and everything included in it. Resurrection is not a matter of doctrine; it is absolutely a matter of touching the Spirit. The most simple way to contact the Spirit is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. The more we touch the Spirit, the more we enjoy resurrection and the more we are sanctified, transformed, and glorified.
According to the book of Romans, the Spirit as the realization of the Triune God is related to at least ten items. All ten of these items are related to our experience of the reality of resurrection.
Firstly, the Spirit is related to holiness (1:4). We have pointed out that Paul even uses the term the Spirit of holiness in 1:4. If we would partake of God’s holiness, the essence of God’s being, we need to contact the Spirit.
In 8:2 the Spirit is called the Spirit of Life. Many Christians today talk about life without realizing that life is related to the Spirit. Life is extremely difficult to define. In speaking about life, it is best to speak from the standpoint of experience. Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the spirit is life. To be in life means that our inner being is living. By setting the mind on the spirit, we are living. However, if you set your mind upon your situation or your environment, you will be deadened. You will sense that your inner being is depressed. But if you turn your mind to the spirit and set it on the spirit, you will be living once again. This indicates that life is manifested as livingness.
Life also energizes us. The divine life within us is never exhausted. I can testify that as I speak in the Lord’s ministry, the life within energizes me.
Furthermore, this same life strengthens and satisfies us. When we experience life, we never have a sense of emptiness within. On the contrary, we are richly satisfied. Hence, by life we become living, energized, strengthened, and satisfied. The more we contact the Spirit by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, the more we become living, energized, strengthened, and satisfied.
According to 8:2, the Spirit is also related to law. This verse speaks of the law of the Spirit of life. Here Paul tells us that this law sets us free from the law of sin and of death. The law of the Spirit of life is versus the law of sin and of death. Because the law of the Spirit of life is higher than the law of sin and of death, it sets us free from that law.
We have spoken about the Spirit of holiness and the Spirit of life. Actually, the Spirit is holiness and life. In the same principle, the Spirit is the law that sets us free from the law of sin and of death. This law is a spontaneous, automatic power. Whenever we touch the Spirit, we touch this law, this spontaneous, automatic power. If we see this, we shall realize the vanity of expending our own effort to improve ourselves. Instead of striving, we should simply contact the Spirit and give place to the spontaneous working of the law of the Spirit of life within us.
The Spirit is also related to peace. The mind set upon the spirit is not only life, but peace as well. Peace is not only a matter of rest, but even more a matter of enjoyment. Without enjoyment we cannot have genuine peace. Silence without enjoyment is not peace. The Spirit is peace to us. When we contact the Spirit, we have a living and genuine peace.
Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This verse indicates that the Spirit is related to joy. When we are in the Spirit, we are joyful, so joyful that we may shout praises to the Lord. At times we may be beside ourselves with joy, and praises spontaneously flow out from within us.
Romans 15:13 says, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.” There is no need for us to be without hope, for whenever we touch the Spirit, we have hope. Psalm 3:3 says, “But thou, O Lord, art.…the lifter up of mine head.” The Lord is the One who lifts up our head. This means that He gives us hope. When we are in the Spirit, our heads are uplifted, and we are filled with hope.
Romans 5:5 indicates that the Spirit is also related to love: “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.” Furthermore, in 15:30 Paul speaks of “the love of the Spirit.” As we contact the Spirit, we experience love.
In 15:13 and 19, Paul mentions the power of the Spirit. This power is like a dynamo energizing us from within. When we are in the Spirit, we are spontaneously energized by the power of the Spirit.
Romans 7:6 says that “we should serve as slaves in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.” This verse points to the relationship between the Spirit and service. If we are not in the Spirit, we cannot serve the Lord. In 1:9 Paul said that it was in his spirit that he served God in the gospel. The more we are in the spirit, the more we serve the Lord as willing bondslaves. We shall say, “Lord Jesus, as Your bondslave, I am willing to serve You.”
Finally, the genuine preaching of the gospel is in the Spirit. This gospel includes the entire content of the book of Romans.
Perhaps you have never seen before that holiness, life, law, peace, joy, hope, love, power, service, and the preaching of the gospel are all related to the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit Himself is the reality of all these items to us in our experience. If we have the Spirit, then we also have all these marvelous items. When these items are added together, they equal sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. All this is the reality of resurrection. The more these ten items become our experience, the more we enjoy resurrection by the Spirit and with life. What we need today is not the objective teachings, but the practical contact with the Lord by turning on the switch. As we call upon the name of the Lord, we touch the Spirit, who is the realization and application of the Triune God. In this way we experience being designated the sons of God by the Spirit and with life.
