THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine and Eternal Life
Message Four—The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man
Scripture Reading: Rom. 1: 3-4; 8:2-3, 6, 10-11; 9:21, 23; 10:13; 12:4-5
I. The deep thought in Romans is that God became man so that, in God’s complete salvation, sinners may be redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, renewed, transformed, conformed, and glorified to become the sons of God, who are the same as God in life and nature, to be the members of the Body of Christ—8:3; 1:3-4; 3:24; 5:10; 8:14, 29-30; 12:2, 4-5:
A. God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and condemned sin in the flesh so that sinners—serpentine beings, children of the devil—could be reconciled to God and justified by Him in order to receive eternal life and thus become children of God—8:3,16.
B. Jesus Christ our Lord, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead—1:3-4.
C. The firstborn Son of God, the first God-man, is the prototype for the production of the many sons, the many God-men, who, as members of the Body of Christ, are exactly the same as the firstborn Son in life, nature, and expression—8:14, 29.
D. The purpose of God’s salvation is to have Christ reproduced in millions of believers so that they may become the members of His Body—12:4-5.
E. Through God’s organic salvation carried out by the divine dispensing of the Triune God as life to the tripartite man, the children of God are growing in life to become sons of God led by the Spirit—5:10; 8:2, 6, 10-11, 14.
II. We are one Body in the organic union with Christ—vv. 4-5:
A. The will of God is to obtain a Body for Christ to be His fullness, His expression—Rev. 4:11; Eph. 1:5, 9; Rom. 12:2, 4-5.
B. We are one Body in Christ, having an organic union with Him; this union makes us one in life with Christ and with all the other members of His Body—vv. 4-5:
1. The Body is not an organization or a society but is altogether an organism produced by the union in life that we have in Christ—John 15:1.
2. The actuality of the Body is in our remaining in the organic union with Christ—Rom. 12:4-5.
C. If we would live the Body life, a life in the reality of the Body of Christ, we need To live a grafted life—a life in which two parties are joined and grow organically—6:5; 11:17.
III. The divine intention, as conveyed in the deep, divine thought in Romans, is carried out by the divine dispensing of the Triune God as life into the tripartite man—8:2, 6, 10-11:
A. The Triune God created a tripartite man to be a living vessel to contain Him as life so that He may express Himself in humanity—Gen. 1:26; 2:7; Rom. 9:21, 23.
B. Man was created in the image of God to receive God as life and contain God as life for the reproduction, the duplication, of God in life—Gen. 1:26; 2:7, 9; John 12:24.
C. The basic teaching of the Scriptures is that we are vessels created in the image of God to receive and contain God as our unique content—Gen. 2:7; 2 Cor. 4:7; Rom. 9:21, 23:
1. We need to be vessels open to the Lord, continually receiving the divine dispensing; if the vessel is open, God can fulfill His purpose, but if the vessel is closed, God’s purpose is frustrated—2 Cor. 13:14.
2. We need to love the Lord and keep ourselves open to Him, giving Him every opportunity to do everything He wants to do—Mark 12:30; 1 Cor. 2:9; Eph. 3:16-17a.
IV. Romans 8 unveils to us how the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—dispenses Himself as life into our tripartite being—spirit, soul, and body—to make us His sons for the constituting of the Body of Christ—vv. 2, 6, 10-11; 10:9-13:
A. In verse 11 we have the Triune God, the process required for His dispensing, and the dispensing of Himself as life into the believers.
B. Through the dispensing of the Triune God as life, our spirit is life—v. 10.
C. Through the dispensing of the Triune God as life, our soul (represented by the mind) becomes life—v. 6.
D. Through the dispensing of the Triune God as life, the indwelling Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies—v. 11.
E. The way to experience the dispensing of the Triune God as life into our tripartite being is to call upon the name of the Lord:
1. In the Christian life nothing is more crucial than the constant receiving of the Spirit by opening to the Lord and calling upon His name—Gal. 3:2, 5.
2. The Spirit is the heavenly air for us to breathe; by exercising our spirit to call upon the name of the Lord, we breathe in the Spirit and thereby receive the Spirit, experiencing the dispensing of the Triune God as life into our tripartite being—John 20:22; Gal. 3:2; 1 Thes. 5:17.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
Romans 8:2 speaks of the Spirit of life. “The Spirit of life” is a phrase of apposition, and actually means that the Spirit is life. In the Bible there are a number of phrases like this. When the Bible says “the Spirit of God,” that means the Spirit is God; when the Bible says “the life of God,” that means the life is God; when the Bible says “the Spirit of Christ,” that means the Spirit is Christ; and when the Bible says “the love of God,” that means love is God.
Of course, we know that if there is no Spirit of God, surely there is no life. Life is the Spirit. In Revelation 22:1 there is a picture of the river of the water of life, and that river is the Spirit. This river flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. This shows how God in Christ as the Spirit flows Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply. The river is the flow of life; it is life in motion.
This is like the current of electricity. Actually, the current itself is electricity. It is not something separate from electricity; it is electricity itself in motion. When electricity flows and is in motion, that is the current of electricity. The current of electricity can be compared to the Spirit of life. The Spirit of life means the Spirit is life. The Spirit is life in motion, the Triune God in motion.
DISPENSED INTO OUR SPIRIT
Such a divine life is first dispensed into our spirit. Romans 8:10 says that since Christ is in us, our spirit is life. This is because Christ Himself is this life, and this life is in our spirit. Therefore, our spirit is life. This is a very strong point. Verse 10 does not say that since Christ is in us, the life is in us. Instead, it says that our spirit is life. Today our regenerated spirit is life.
The contrast presented in verse 10 is very interesting. It says if Christ is in you, your body is dead. It does not say your body is death. The opposite of being dead is being living. Based upon this, it would seem that verse 10 should say our body is dead and our spirit is living. But here Paul made the contrast different. He said our body is dead and our spirit is life. Since Christ is in our spirit, our spirit is not only living but also life.
We may read Romans 8:10, which says that our spirit is life, but we understand that either life is in our spirit or that our spirit is living. We read this verse in one way but we realize it subconsciously in another way, in a natural way. We do not realize that our fallen spirit, after being regenerated with Christ, becomes life. It is not only living and does not only have life; it is life itself.
Paul did not use all these words and phrases in a light way. He wrote Romans just as an attorney would write a legal document. In Romans 8 every word, every phrase, every clause, and every sentence should have been thoroughly considered by Paul. Paul was very careful about the experience of life and about the truth. All the things in Romans 8 are greatly involved with life and truth. Paul said that since Christ is in us, our spirit is life. Now that we have been saved, we have a part of our being that is life itself.
DISPENSED INTO OUR MIND
Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the spirit is life. Not only our spirit is life; even our mind can be life. But this mind must be set upon the spirit. This means that this mind must be flooded, saturated, and infused with the spirit to become the mind of the spirit. Eventually, the spirit becomes the spirit of our mind. This is mentioned in Ephesians 4:23. Because our mind is set upon the spirit, our spirit saturates our mind and makes our mind a mind of the spirit. Eventually, our spirit becomes the spirit of our mind. The renewing is by this spirit that saturates our mind. We always have to tell the saints this spirit is the mingled spirit. It is our spirit mingled with Christ as the life-giving Spirit.
Because our mind is one with our spirit, connected, joined, saturated, and infused with our spirit, our mind is also life. Such a mind can function to minister life to others. By our natural mind we cannot minister life to others. This mind is not life. But when our mind is joined to our spirit and is saturated with our spirit that is life, our mind at this time also becomes life.
The Mind Set on the Spirit
For this point we have to say that the mind set on the spirit means the mind is joined to the spirit and is relying on the spirit. The spirit can be likened to the husband and the mind to the wife. The mind as the wife should always rely upon the spirit as the husband. The mind should always depend upon the spirit. Just as the wife and the husband are really one couple, the mind and the spirit are really one unit. They are no longer separated.
The Mind Being Life
First our spirit becomes life and then our mind becomes life. This means that the divine life has spread from within our spirit into our soul to saturate our mind. Here we need to tell the saints that our mind actually represents our soul. It is not too much to say that the mind here is our soul. The mind here is the soul because it is the main part of our soul. When our mind is really married to our spirit, set upon our spirit, relying upon our spirit to be one with our spirit, such a mind becomes life.
DISPENSED INTO OUR BODY
Romans 8:11 says that the Spirit of the very God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead gives life to our mortal body, our dying body, through the Spirit who indwells us. The word mortal in this verse implies not only the thought of death but also the thought of weakness. A mortal body is a weakened body, a dying body. Romans 7 calls our fallen body the body of this death (v. 24). Even such a weakened, dying, mortal body, a body of death, can be given life.
Thus far, we can see that the divine life mentioned in Romans 8:2 is imparted, or dispensed, into our spirit in verse 10 and spreads into our mind in verse 6. Then it is dispensed into our mortal body in verse 11. Thus, the divine life is dispensed into all three parts of our being.
To Give Life to Our Mortal Body
We have covered this already, but when we give this message, we need to dwell upon this point. Very few Christians realize that the divine life can even be dispensed into our body. We should give the saints some illustrations of this. Sometimes after work in the evening, we are worn out and weakened and do not think we can attend the meeting. But if we would exercise our spirit to pray and contact the Lord, this will allow the indwelling Spirit to move in us. Spontaneously the divine life will be dispensed into our weakened body, and our weakened body will be vitalized. Then we will have the physical strength to go to the meeting. This is a proof that life can be dispensed into our weakened body.
Brother Watchman Nee practiced this. He had a very troublesome heart that was always weakening his body. Many times while he was speaking, the trouble came. He no doubt at that juncture exercised his spirit to let the indwelling Spirit vitalize, or enliven, his weakened body, so his body did not frustrate or delay his ministry. He surely experienced the divine life being dispensed from his spirit into his weakened body. We can also give testimonies of our own experiences in this matter. Our weakened, dying, or sick body can be vitalized by the divine life through the indwelling Spirit.
THE DISPENSING OF THE TRIUNE GOD
The final thing we need to stress in this message is the dispensing of the Triune God. We need to say repeatedly that in Romans 8 there is the dispensing of the Triune God. In verses 8 through 10 four titles are interchangeably used: God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ. God is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. Without God being the Spirit, God cannot reach us. In order for electricity to reach a building, it has to become a current. The current of electricity is the reaching of electricity. In like manner, the Spirit of God is God’s reaching us.
Also, for God to reach us and for the Spirit of God to reach us, He has to be the Spirit of Christ. This is because with Christ there are two main things: humanity and redemption. The Spirit of God has to be the Spirit of Christ because there is the need of humanity and redemption. His incarnation gave Him humanity, and His crucifixion accomplished redemption. Through humanity and redemption the Spirit became the reaching Spirit. The Spirit of God is now the Spirit of Christ with humanity and redemption for reaching us.
We should not read all these verses and take them for granted. We must say, “Lord, open our eyes. We must see something.” Romans 8 shows us the dispensing of the Triune God as the divine life into the three parts of man. Eventually verse 11 says that the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead gives life to our mortal body through the indwelling Spirit. This verse gives us a full picture of the Triune God dispensing life into our being from the center to the circumference. This dispensing comes from these four titles: God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ.
Romans 8:9-11 gives us a full picture of the dispensing of the Triune God for the purpose of imparting Himself into us as the divine life. First, He dispenses Himself into our spirit; then He spreads to our mind; and finally, He reaches our mortal body. Then our whole being is saturated with the divine life. Actually, this divine life is the dispensing Triune God Himself. We must be very clear about what life is. In the previous lesson we saw the dispensing function of the Triune God issuing in the sense of life. In this lesson we have seen the divine life dispensed into the three parts of man. (Basic Lessons on Life, lsn. 13)