Ⅲ
“I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them”—Heb. 8:10; Jer. 31:33a:
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The center, the centrality, of the new covenant is the inner law of life; the law of the divine life, the law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), is the automatic principle and the spontaneous power of the divine life.
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The Triune God has been processed through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to become the law of the Spirit of life installed in our spirit as a “scientific” law, an automatic principle—vv. 2-3, 11, 34, 16.
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God’s relationship with us today is based fully on the law of life; every life has a law and even is a law; God’s life is the highest life, and the law of this life is the highest law—cf. Prov. 30:19a; Isa. 40:30-31.
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Romans 8, the subject of which is the law of the Spirit of life (v. 2), may be considered the focus of the entire Bible and the center of the universe; thus, if we are experiencing Romans 8, we are in the center of the universe:
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God is in us now as a law that operates automatically, spontaneously, and unconsciously to free us from the law of sin and of death; this is one of the biggest discoveries, even recoveries, in God’s economy—7:18-23; 8:2.
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We enjoy the dispensing of life into our being for the accomplishment of God’s economy by the working of the law of the Spirit of life—Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 8:2-3, 10, 6, 11.
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The enjoyment of the law of the Spirit of life in Romans 8 ushers us into the reality of the Body of Christ in Romans 12; this law operates within us as we live in the Body and for the Body—8:2, 28-29; 12:1-2, 11; Phil. 1:19.
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By imparting His divine life into us, God puts the highest law (singular—Jer. 31:33) of this highest life into our spirit, whence it spreads into our inward parts, such as our mind, emotion, and will, and becomes several laws (plural—Heb. 8:10):
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The spreading of this law in us is the imparting (Rom. 8:10, 6), and the imparting is the inscribing (2 Cor. 3:3); while the Lord is spreading, imparting, and inscribing, He reduces the old element of Adam from us and adds into us the new element of Christ, accomplishing metabolically the transformation of life for us—v. 18.
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By the working, the spreading, of the law of life within us, God makes us the same as He is in life, nature, and expression; we are conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God by the working of the law of life—Rom. 8:2, 29.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 8:10 For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them; and I will be God to them, and they will be a people to Me.Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.
The center, the centrality, of the new covenant is the inner law of life [cf. Jer. 31:33a]….This law is not an outward law but an inward law. In its essence, this law refers to the divine life, and the divine life is nothing less than the life-giving Spirit, the all-inclusive Christ, and the processed and consummated God….We may say that the law is with us. But this law is the divine life, and the divine life is the processed and consummated Triune God—the marvelous source as the Father, the wonderful element as the Son, and the excellent essence as the Spirit. This is the center, the content, and the reality of the new covenant. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 183-184)
Today’s Reading
A law is a natural regulation, a constant and unchanging rule. A law is not necessarily derived from a life, but a life is definitely accompanied by a law. This law that accompanies life is called the law of life. The law of a particular life is also the natural characteristic, the innate function, of that particular life. For example, cats can catch mice…; or, our ear can hear, our nose can smell, our tongue can taste….All these abilities are the natural characteristics and innate functions of a life. As long as any particular life exists and is free, it can naturally develop its characteristics and manifest its abilities….Such natural characteristics and innate capabilities in a life constitute the law of that life.The life of God is the highest life; it is the surpassing life; therefore, the characteristics and capabilities of this life must definitely be the most high and surpassing. Since these highest and surpassing characteristics and capabilities constitute the law of the life of God, this law naturally is the most high and surpassing. Since by regeneration we have received the life of God, we have naturally received from the life of God the most high and surpassing law of this life. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Knowledge of Life,” pp. 102-103)
How wonderful that, after being processed, the Triune God has been installed in us and works within us not by activity, but by law! He is now a law operating within us. He is working in us not merely as the mighty God, but as a law which operates automatically. (Life-study of Romans, p. 699)
In Jeremiah 31:33, the source of [the quotation in Hebrews 8:10], the word laws is singular, proving that it is one law that spreads into a number of laws. The one law that eventually develops into many laws is the law of life (Rom. 8:2)….The higher the life, the higher is its law….By imparting His divine life into us, God puts this highest law into our spirit, from whence it spreads into our inward parts, such as our mind, emotion, and will, and becomes several laws….When we called on the name of the Lord, the divine life came into our spirit. Gradually, as we have been growing in this life, this life has had the opportunity to develop from our spirit into all of our inward parts. When this life develops into our inward parts, in every part there will be a law to regulate us. Many laws develop out of that one law of life….The law of life regulates us from within by and according to its life element, while the law of letters regulates us from without by and according to its dead letters. The law of dead letters depends upon outward teachings, but the law of life depends upon the inward consciousness, the inward sense of life. Since we all, great or small, have this law of life, we do not need outward teachings according to the law of letters (Heb. 8:11). (Life-study of Hebrews, p. 411)
Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 26; CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Knowledge of Life,” ch. 10; Life-study of Romans, msg. 67; Life-study of Hebrews, msgs. 36-38, 64, 69