THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Consummated Spirit

Message Four
 The Focal Point of God's Economy—the Mingled Spirit

Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:4, 16; Eph. 1:17; 2:22; 4:23; 6:18; John 4:24; 15:4-5; Phil. 2:1

I. The focus of God's economy is the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit; whatever God intends to do or accomplish is related to this focus—Eph. 3:9, 5; 1:17; 2:22; 4:23; 5:18; 6:18: 

A. The union of God and man is a union of the two spirits, the Spirit of God and the spirit of man; the union of these two spirits is the deepest mystery in the Bible—1 Cor. 2:11-14; Eph. 5:32.

B. The essence of the New Testament is the two spirits-the divine Spirit and the human spirit-mingled together as one spirit—1 Cor. 6:17.

C. The mingled spirit is a spirit that is one spirit with God and that is the same as God in His life and nature but not in His Godhead—1 John 5:11; 2 Pet. 1:4.

D. The divine Spirit and the human spirit are mingled as one within us so that we can live the life of a God-man, a life that is God yet man and man yet God—Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a.

E. The God-man living is the living of the two spirits, the Spirit of God and the spirit of man joined and mingled together as one—Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:4.

F. To be proper Christians, we must know that the Lord Jesus today as the embodiment of the Triune God is the Spirit indwelling our spirit and mingled with our spirit as one spirit—2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17.

II. All our spiritual experiences, such as our fellowship with the Lord, our prayer to Him, and our living with Him, are in this mingled spirit—John 4:24; 15:4-5; Rom. 1:9; 8:4, 16; Eph. 1:17; 2:22; 4:23; 6:18; Phil. 21:

A. Romans 8 speaks of the Spirit of life, the spirit of the believers, and the mingled spirit—vv. 2, 9, 11, 15-16:

1. Through the Spirit of life the eternal, only wise God, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden through the ages, dispenses Himself in His processed and consummated Spirit into the believers to be their consummated salvation as their life and everything—16:25; 8:11; 5:10.

2. Through the regenerated human spirit the believers participate in God's dynamic salvation as their living—8:10, 16.

3. "The Spirit…with our spirit" (v. 16) is the most crucial secret in Romans for God to execute His dynamic salvation and for the believers to participate in it—v. 16.

4. We need to know these two spirits in the divine enlightenment so that, by the Spirit of life mingled with our regenerated spirit, we may enter into the intrinsic significance of the dynamic salvation of God in Christ, which is the Triune God processed and consummated to be our eternal inheritance for our enjoyment—vv. 2, 10, 16; 2 Cor. 13:14; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:13-14.

B. The spirit of faith in 2 Corinthians 4:13 is the mingled spirit-the Holy Spirit mingled with the regenerated human spirit:

1. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit—1:24; 5:7.

2. We must exercise the spirit of faith to believe and to speak the things that we have experienced of the Lord, especially His death and resurrection—4:13.

3.  It is by the mingled spirit as the spirit of faith that the apostles live da crucified life in resurrection for the carrying out of their ministry—3:8-9; 4:1, 10-12; 5:18.

C. To abide in the Lord as the true vine is to be one spirit with Him and to live in the mingled spirit—John 15:1, 4-5; 1 Cor. 6:17:

1. The Christian life is a life of abiding in the Lord as the true vine—John 15:1, 4-5; 1 John 2:24, 27-28; cf. 4:1.

2. The mutual abiding in John 15:4-5 is the practice of being one spirit with the Lord.

III. Ultimately, the Bible requires only one thing of us—that we walk according to the mingled spirit—Rom. 8:4; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45: 

A. The key to experiencing and enjoying the processed and consummated Triune God through the divine dispensing is found in the wonderful Spirit who is in our regenerated spirit and who has become one spirit with our spirit— Phil. 1:19; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17.

B. By living in the mingled spirit, we can experience Christ as everything to us—1:2, 9, 24, 30; 2:8, 10; 3:11; 5:7-8; 10:3-4; 11:3; 12:12; 15:20, 45b, 47.

C. When we live in the mingled spirit, we spontaneously bear the cross—Rom.8:4; 1 Cor. 6:17; Matt. 16:24.

D. Whether or not we are under Satan's authority is not determined by the things we do but is determined by whether we are in the spirit or in the flesh; if we remain in the mingled spirit, we will be kept from Satan, and the evil one will have no way to touch us—Gal. 5:16-17; 1 John 5:4, 18-21.

E. To live in the spirit is to let Christ fill and saturate us until He permeates our whole being and is thereby expressed through us—Eph. 3:16-20.

F. By living, walking, and having our being in the mingled spirit, we will be saved in life to the extent that God and we, we and God, will be completely mingled as one, having one life and one living—Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a; Rom. 8:6, 10-11.

IV. If we enter experientially into the depths of the truth concerning the mingled spirit, our inner being will be radically changed, and our life, ministry, and service in the church will be affected in a revolutionary way—1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:4; 1 Cor. 2:11-16. 

 


 

 

Ministry Excerpts:

 

THE FOCUS OF GOD’S ECONOMY
 BEING THE MINGLED SPIRIT,
 THE DIVINE SPIRIT MINGLED WITH THE HUMAN SPIRIT

The divine Spirit is in our human spirit. Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Now we have not only the divine Spirit in our spirit but also the mingling of the divine Spirit with our spirit. Thus, the two spirits are one. Some are opposed to the concept of mingling. Those who oppose this wonder how it is possible for the divine Spirit to be mingled with our spirit. If the divine Spirit and the human spirit can be one spirit, then why can they not be mingled? Without mingling, how could the two spirits become one? Praise the Lord that these two spirits have been mingled into one spirit! This is the reason that in the verses concerning our walk in the spirit, it is difficult for the translators to determine whether to render pneuma as “Spirit” or as “spirit.” Actually, to walk according to the spirit means to walk according to both the divine Spirit and the human spirit, according to the two spirits mingled as one. The two spirits are mingled not in the heavens or outside of us but within us. This is the focus of the divine economy. Whatever God intends to do or accomplish is related to this focus. If we would have certain basic spiritual experiences, we must have a clear understanding that the focus of God’s economy is the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh and the lusts of the flesh are the lowest type of people. Those who live according to the mind and the will are somewhat higher. Humanly speaking, those who live according to the conscience, which is part of man’s spirit, may be considered the highest type of people. But we are even higher than this, for we live not only according to the conscience but according to the mingled spirit. Therefore, we are on the highest level. Here, on this level, we have the Christian life and also the church life. This is the focus of God’s economy. We should walk according to this, that is, according to the mingled spirit. We should be a person in such a spirit as was the apostle John in Revelation (1:10). (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, "Basic Training," ch. 5)

The divine life and the mingled spirit produce a bride, the church. Genesis 1:1-2 mentions God creating the heavens and the earth and the Spirit of God brooding upon the surface of the waters. Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!” At the beginning of the Bible it was the Spirit of God brooding, but at the end of the Bible it is the Spirit and the bride as one. Between these two ends of the Bible, Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit.” This witnessing is the process that we are in today, which will bring us to the goal in Revelation 22:17. Thus, experientially speaking, the Spirit with our spirit is the focal point of the Bible.

CARING ONLY FOR LIVING AND WALKING
 ACCORDING TO THE MINGLED SPIRIT

Once we see that the Spirit with our spirit is the focal point of the Bible, we must begin to participate in it and practice it. God as the Spirit has come into our spirit and is one spirit with our regenerated spirit. The Spirit is constantly witnessing with our spirit that we are born of God, possessing God’s divine life, in order that we would live this life by the two spirits. Therefore, Romans 8:4 says that we need to walk according to the spirit. We need to have a daily walk and living that is always according to the mingled spirit.

We often do not walk according to the mingled spirit because of our nature, culture, ethics, religion, and habit. We were each born with a particular nature. Then we were raised according to a culture. Moreover, we have all been influenced by ethical thought and by religion. Eventually, we also become habitual. We live by nature, culture, ethics, religion, and habit. Actually, this is the best kind of human living apart from the mingled spirit. The worst kind of living is to commit gross sins. By the Lord’s mercy and through His redemption, we are through with such sins. However, we may be ethical, moral, proper, righteous, just, and good yet not live and walk according to the mingled spirit.

God does not want us to live in sin, nor does He want us to be ethical, moral, proper, righteous, just, and good persons. Instead, God wants us to be persons who live according to the mingled spirit at every time and in every place. Whether we are at home, work, or school, with our spouse, children, schoolmates, colleagues, neighbors, or relatives, God wants us to have a daily living according to the mingled spirit twenty-four hours a day. We should not care for whether we are right or wrong, just or unjust; instead, we should care only for whether we are continually living according to the mingled spirit. We need to pay our full attention to this one thing. This is sufficient.

LIVING AND WALKING
ACCORDING TO THE MINGLED SPIRIT
 PRODUCING THE PROPER CHURCH LIFE

Within our being, the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God, born of God to possess His life. Now God wants us to live a life and have a daily walk that are absolutely according to the mingled spirit. Whatever we say and do should be according to the mingled spirit. The issue of such a living will be the proper church life, and this church life will produce the bride. Eventually, the Triune God as the Spirit will marry the tripartite man as His bride, and these two will become one (Rev. 22:17). According to the principle in the Bible, the wife comes out of the husband (Gen. 2:22; John 19:34; Eph. 5:25-27), and the husband and the wife become one entity (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:31). The church as the wife of God comes out of God and returns to God to become one with God for eternity. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 1, "The Two Spirits in Romans," ch. 1)

ONE SPIRIT WITH THE LORD

Walking by the Spirit

In his Epistles Paul charges us not to walk by a particular doctrine or instruction, but to walk by the Spirit. Recently the Lord has shown that He does not want us simply to live in His presence, but to live Christ by being one spirit with the Lord. Many years ago I was helped by the well-known book by Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God. When I was young, I loved that book very much. However, I have come to see that the practice of the presence of God is actually an Old Testament matter. In the New Testament there is not a word about practicing God’s presence. Instead, in the New Testament it is revealed that we should live Christ by being one spirit with Him. In Genesis 17 we read that Abraham walked before God, that is, in the presence of God. But in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 6:17 Paul says, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” This is more than simply walking in God’s presence; it is to walk in oneness with Him. Paul’s word about being one spirit with the Lord is not an illustration; it is a statement of fact. Furthermore, Paul did not say, “To me to walk is to be in the presence of the Lord.” Rather, he said, “To me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). There is a tremendous difference between walking in the presence of God and living Christ!

During the last few years the Lord has shown me how much my practice has been the Old Testament way of walking before the Lord. I can testify that over the years I have been quite successful in walking before the Lord and living in His presence. But now I am practicing to be one spirit with the Lord. Again and again I confess my shortage to Him concerning this. Usually in the morning I pray, “Lord, I thank You for another new day to live You, another day for me to practice being one spirit with You. Lord, grant me this day’s portion of grace that I may live one spirit with You.” Although I may pray such a good prayer early in the morning, during the day I may fail again and again to be one spirit with the Lord. Sometimes I have asked myself how much time during the day I have spent truly one spirit with the Lord. I have seen how much I live according to ethics instead of according to the Spirit. But to be ethical is one thing, and to be one spirit with the Lord is another.

To Walk by the Spirit Meaning
 to Be One Spirit with the Lord

To walk by the Spirit simply means to be one spirit with the Lord. The first kind of walk by the Spirit, that mentioned by Paul in Galatians 5:16, is the walk in which we are one spirit with the Lord. From my experience I have learned that it is much easier to live in the presence of the Lord than to live one spirit with Him. Often in speaking with others I am in the Lord’s presence; however, I may have the sense that I am not one spirit with Him. Therefore, I need to pray, “Lord, forgive me. My speaking is before You, but it is not by You. It is simply my speaking carried out with a good intention. But I am the one speaking, Lord, not You.”

Living the Lord

In ministering to the saints, my desire these days is to point out that the requirement in the New Testament is that we live one spirit with the Lord. This is to walk by the Spirit. In all that we do and say we need to have the assurance that we are one spirit with the Lord. I can testify that when I ask myself how much of my living is actually one spirit with the Lord, I am defeated time and time again. Even as I am giving a message, I need to ask if I am truly one spirit with the Lord or just speaking with power from the Lord. I have given many messages on walking according to the Spirit. Now I wish to emphasize the fact that to walk according to the Spirit means to walk in one spirit with the Lord. As long as we are one spirit with Him, we are automatically according to Him. Paul could say, “To me to live is Christ,” because he walked in one spirit with the Lord. When we are one spirit with Him, we truly live Him.

Walking in the presence of God easily fits in with our natural concept. However, it is not according to man’s natural concept that believers would be one spirit with the Lord. It is easy to understand the word in Exodus about the Lord’s presence going with the children of Israel. We may apply this word to ourselves and realize that as we go to a particular place, the Lord’s presence will go with us. However, it is not according to our natural concept to think that we should live one spirit with the Lord. Some Christians have gone so far as to say that it is blasphemy to claim that we can be one spirit with the Lord. According to them, it is simply not possible for sinners ever to become one spirit with the Lord. Nevertheless, the Bible says clearly, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” Although we may read this word, we may have no response to it, because we are veiled by religious, natural, and traditional concepts. We may not even have any concern about such a vital matter. But recently the Lord has brought us to the point where we simply must pay attention to the New Testament requirement to be one spirit with Him. Yes, according to the Old Testament practice, Abraham could walk in the presence of the Lord. But we are in the New Testament. According to God’s New Testament economy, the Lord desires to come into us, to become one with us, and to make us one with Him. He wants us to be one spirit with Him. His economy today is that we walk in this one spirit with the Lord.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He walked in one spirit with the Father. When He spoke, the Father spoke in His speaking. He was one with the Father, and the Father was one with Him. The Lord lived by His Father. He wants those who believe in Him to live in the same way. Therefore, He said, “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me shall also live because of Me” (John 6:57). The Lord desires not simply that we live in His presence, but that we live by Him. To live by Him actually means to live one spirit with this living One. This is the New Testament requirement, and this is the first kind of walk by the Spirit covered by Paul in the book of Galatians.

I hope that many will be impressed with this word concerning living in one spirit with the Lord and will pray, “Lord, from now on I would not be satisfied simply with Your presence. Even if I could be as successful in practicing the presence of God as Brother Lawrence was, I would not be satisfied, because I know, Lord, that You would not be satisfied. You want to be one spirit with me. Lord, grant me the grace to be one spirit with You.” In all that we say or do we need to exercise to be one with the Lord. The more we are one spirit with Him in our daily living, the more we shall enjoy salvation, sanctification, and transformation. (Life-study of Galatians, msg. 38)

TO BE ONE SPIRIT WITH THE LORD IMPLYING
 THAT WE AND HE ARE A LIVING ENTITY

One of the greatest verses in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 6:17, says, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” The implications of this verse are marvelous and far-reaching. We, the believers, are one spirit with the Lord. How tremendous! This implies that we are in Him and that He is in us. It also implies that we and He have been mingled, blended organically, to become one in life. To be one spirit with the Lord implies that we and He are a living entity. We simply do not have words to explain the significance of this verse. To say that we are one spirit with the Lord definitely does not mean that we are deified. However, it certainly does imply the mingling of divinity with humanity. In the words of #501 in Hymns, “God mingled with humanity lives in me my all to be.” To be one spirit with the Lord means that we are blended with Him organically and mingled with Him in life. We urgently need more experience of this. We need to remain rooted in Christ and absorb all that He is into us. Then we and He, He and we, will be blended together in life organically to be one spirit. How profound! How wonderful!

When we are one spirit with the Lord, we cannot be affected by anything negative. Sin, the world, Satan, and Hades have nothing to do with us, for we are one spirit with the Triune God. This should not merely be a doctrine. In our experience this must be living and organic. Our spiritual being, our inner man, the regenerated spirit, must be permeated with the Lord and mingled with Him to form a single, living entity. This will result in growth and building. (Life-study of Colossians, msg. 52)

FORMING A MINGLED SPIRIT

God’s complete salvation is in one spiritual, practical, and experiential union of the Spirit of life with our spirit, forming a mingled spirit. The practical union is by the two divine transfers in one spiritual union for us to reign in life by enjoying the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. This union is of the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ (the pneumatic Christ), and the Spirit of resurrection indwelling our spirit. The one spiritual union is with our spirit, the regenerated spirit of the believers in Christ indwelt by the Spirit, forming a mingled spirit. The two spirits are not only united to be a union; they are also mingled to be a mingled spirit.

The Spirit of life is the Spirit of Christ, and Christ corresponds with the law of God. This Spirit within us spontaneously fulfills all the righteous requirements of the law through us when we walk according to Him. The requirements that we must fulfill in order that the law of the Spirit of life (which has already been installed in us) may work are: (1) to walk according to the spirit (v. 4); (2) to mind the things of the Spirit—to set the mind on the spirit (vv. 5-6); (3) to put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body (v. 13); (4) to be led by the Spirit as sons of God (v. 14); (5) to cry to the Father in the spirit of sonship (v. 15); (6) to witness that we are the children of God (v. 16); and (7) to groan for the full sonship, the redemption of our body (v. 23).

Through Believing into the Lord

Being joined to the Lord refers to the believers’ organic union with the Lord through believing into Him (John 3:15-16). This union is illustrated by that of the branches with the vine (15:4-5). It is a matter not only of life but in life (the divine life). Such a union with the resurrected Lord can only be in our spirit. One spirit in 1 Corinthians 6:17 indicates the mingling of the Lord as the Spirit with our spirit. Our spirit has been regenerated by the Spirit of God (John 3:6), who is now in us (1 Cor. 6:19) and is one with our spirit (Rom. 8:16). This is the realization of the Lord, who became the life-giving Spirit through resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17) and who is now with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). This mingled spirit is often referred to in Paul’s Epistles, as in Romans 8:4-6.

Through This Spirit

It is by the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving Spirit (see footnote 4 on Phil. 1:19, Recovery Version) that we are born of God, we receive the divine life as the divine seed in us, we have the fellowship of the divine life, we are anointed with the Triune God, and we abide in the Lord. This wonderful Spirit is given to us as the promised blessing of the New Testament (Gal. 3:14); He is given without measure by the Christ who is above all, who inherits all, and who is to be increased universally (John 3:30-35). This Spirit and the eternal life (v. 15) are the basic elements by which we live the life that abides in the Lord continuously. Hence, it is by this Spirit, who witnesses assuringly with our spirit, that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16) and that we know that the Lord of all abides in us (1 John 4:13). It is through this Spirit that we are joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), and it is by this Spirit that we enjoy the riches of the Triune God (2 Cor. 13:14). (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, "Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans," msg. 3)

God Being Spirit for Man
 to Contact Him and Receive Him

God is Spirit for man to contact Him and receive Him, and man has a spirit for man to contact God and contain God so that God and man may have an organic union (John 4:24; 1 John 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:22a; 1 Cor. 6:17). If God were not the Spirit, He could not contact us, and we could not contact Him. God the Father is the source, God the Son is the course, and God the Spirit is the flow to reach us (2 Cor. 13:14). Thus, the Spirit is the reaching of the Divine Trinity to man. God reaches us in the Son as the Spirit. Ephesians 2:18 says, “Through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” The Spirit is the access for us to contact God, receive God, and contain God.

Our union with God is organic. It is a union not only of coexistence but also of coinherence. Today we are coinhering with God. He lives in us, and we live in Him. In John 15 the Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you” (v. 4a). First John 4:15 and 16 speak of God abiding in us and us in God. This is a mutual abiding, and this mutual abiding is coinherence. It is only after being regenerated to have God in us as our life and nature that we are in union with God organically. This union is a coinherence, a mutual abiding. This is the Bible’s revelation concerning God and man. We all have to know Him and know ourselves to such an extent. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, "The Spirit with Our Spirit," msg. 1)

MUTUAL ABIDING WITH THE LORD—
WE ABIDING IN THE LORD
 AND THE LORD ALSO ABIDING IN US

The Triune God was incarnated, passed through human living, died on the cross to accomplish redemption, and entered into resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. Today He enters into us to abide in our spirit with all that He has, all that He has gone through, all that He has accomplished, and all that He is. We must remember that He abides in us and that He very much desires that we abide in Him. Therefore, every day from morning to evening, in big things or in small things, in our home or outside our home, and in all our living and actions we must abide in Him. When we want to speak to others, unless we have the assurance that we are abiding in Him, we should not speak. We speak only when we have the assurance that we are abiding in Him. We speak from within Him, not outside of Him. Before we argue with others, we must examine to see if we are abiding in the Lord. We must first abide in the Lord and then argue. The Lord is already abiding in us; so before we do anything, we must first abide in the Lord. We act after we are abiding securely. It is easy to speak about abiding in the Lord, but it is not easy to live this out. Therefore, we must learn to practice abiding in the Lord in our daily life.

The Secret to Abiding in the Lord

The secret to abiding in the Lord is first to see that our Lord was God and therefore had the stories of God. Then He became flesh to be the last Adam and thereby had the stories of the last Adam. After this, He accomplished redemption through death and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit, so He has the stories of the life-giving Spirit. Today He is abiding in our spirit. At this time He abides in us not only as God but also as man, as One who passed through all the experiences of human living and who died and resurrected. Not only so, He is also the Spirit. In this Spirit there are the element of man, the element of God, and the elements of incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection. Now He wants us also to abide in Him. Before we do anything in our daily living and walk, we must first abide in Him. We abide and then live; we abide and then walk. All our living and our walk must be expressed in this abiding, in which all our problems are gone. In this abiding, He as the indwelling, all-inclusive Spirit solves all our problems, eliminates our preferences, and kills our lusts.

This Spirit Today Being in Our Spirit

Hence, we must abide in this Spirit. This Spirit today is in our spirit, and in Him there are different elements, including the killing effect of the cross and the power of resurrection. Thus, when we abide in Him, He kills our natural being, our flesh, our lusts, and our desires. As an illustration, your hands are covered with germs, but you may have a bottle of antiseptic solution. If you put your hands in the solution and allow them to abide there for five minutes, your hands will be clean. The preaching of disinfectants cannot kill the germs, nor can you shake off the germs from your hands. Only one thing will work, which is to let your hands abide for a while in the antiseptic solution. Before you do anything, you must abide for a while in your spirit. After you abide there for half a minute, all the “poison” will be killed.

If you are not in the Spirit, the word of the cross and of resurrection will be useless. It is this all-inclusive Spirit that contains the all-killing effect of the cross. It is this powerful Spirit that contains the power of resurrection. You must abide in Him for a while. If you abide for half an hour, you will be soaked with the Lord. If you abide for half an hour and then go to reason with others, your reasoning will be gone. The power of the Lord’s resurrection and also the effect of His death will have killed your natural reasoning. Having been saturated with the power of resurrection, you will have the ability to humble yourself and apologize to others instead. This is the Lord’s salvation. This is what Philippians 1:19 says: “This will turn out to salvation through…the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” This is the bountiful supply of God as the all-inclusive Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. When you abide in Him, you are soaked with Him. When you abide in Him, you give Him the condition to abide in you. Thus, you will enjoy all His riches. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 3, "A Living of Mutual Abiding with the Lord in Spirit," msg. 3)

BRINGING US BACK TO THE SPIRIT
AS THE ULTIMATE CONSUMMATION
 OF THE PROCESSED TRIUNE GOD

The way Paul deals with the problems among the Corinthian believers is not shallow or superficial. On the contrary, it is deep and profound. As Paul deals with the different problems, he brings us back to the central vision of God’s economy—to the Triune God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit. The Spirit today is the processed Triune God indwelling our whole being. All the problems among the believers are caused by the shortage of the experience of this indwelling Spirit. To repeat, Christians have problems because they lack the experience of the all-inclusive, life-giving indwelling Spirit. For this reason, Paul eventually brings us back to this Spirit in our spirit.

We should not think that 1 Corinthians is a shallow book dealing with problems in the church. Yes, in this book Paul does deal with many problems. But at the same time he brings us into the central vision of God’s economy, for he brings us back to the Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God.

If you get into the depths of these verses, your life, ministry, and service in the church will be affected in a revolutionary way. Your inner being and your entire church life will be radically changed. May we all pray about these verses until such a change takes place within us. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 40)