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Transformation transfers us from one form, the form of the old man, to another form, the form of the new man; the Lord accomplishes this transformation work by the killing of Christ’s death—2 Cor. 4:10-12, 16-18:
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In 2 Corinthians 4:10 Paul says that we are always bearing about in our body the putting to death of Jesus; putting to death means killing; the death of Christ kills us—1 Cor. 15:31, 36; John 12:24-26; 2 Cor. 1:8-9.
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The death of Christ is in the compound Spirit; the Spirit is the application of the death of Christ and its effectiveness—Exo. 30:22-25; Rom. 8:13.
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The Christian life is a life that is all the time under the killing by the compound Spirit; this daily killing is carried out by the indwelling Spirit with the environment as the killing weapon.
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Under God’s divine and sovereign arrangement, everything works for our good, for our transformation, through the killing of Christ’s death; the “good” in Romans 8:28 is not related to physical persons, matters, or things; only One is good—God—Luke 18:19:
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All persons, all matters, and all things related to us are the means of the Holy Spirit to work good for us so that we can be loaded with good (Psa. 68:19a), with the Triune God Himself (cf. Gen. 45:5; 50:20).
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All persons and all situations related to us are arranged by the Spirit of God to match His work within us so that we may be transformed and conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God—cf. Matt. 10:29-31.
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Transformation is carried out in us as we experience the discipline of the Holy Spirit—Rom. 8:2, 28-29; Heb. 12:5-14:
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The work of the Spirit within us is to constitute a new being for us, but the work of the Spirit without is to tear down every aspect of our natural being through our environment—cf. Jer. 48:11.
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We should cooperate with the inner operating Spirit and accept the environment that God has arranged for us—Phil. 4:12; Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 6:20; 1 Cor. 7:24.
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.16 Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
Through regeneration,…the second birth, we all became a new man. Now outwardly we are old [by our natural birth], but inwardly we are new. However, God is not satisfied to leave us in the old man. He wants our old man to be renewed by transformation. Transformation transfers us from one form, the form of the old man, to another form, the form of the new man….The Lord accomplishes this by the killing of Christ’s death.
Putting to death here [in 2 Corinthians 4:10] means “killing.” The death of Christ kills us. His death is the killing capacity within us. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” pp. 479-480)
Today’s Reading
We should not forget that His death is included in the all-inclusive, compound Spirit…, typified by the compound ointment in Exodus 30:23-25. This compound Spirit has God as the base, typified by one hin of olive oil. This oil is compounded with four spices—myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. These spices typify the elements of Christ’s death and resurrection. Furthermore, the number four typifies the created man. Thus, the Spirit, typified by the ointment, is a compound of God and man. The God-man, Jesus, has been compounded together with the elements of His death and resurrection.Within today’s antibiotics there is some element that is very active to kill the germs. In like manner, within this compound Spirit as a big dose, there is the element of Christ’s death, which is active in killing all the negative things within us.
Under God’s divine and sovereign arrangement, our entire environment is a killing….The wives, the husbands, the children, the brothers, and everything in our environment are used by the Lord as knives to kill us.
The killing of the cross, the killing of Christ’s death, ushers in resurrection. When we are willing to suffer and be killed, we live Christ, we magnify Christ, and Christ is manifested in us. Then we are transformed. We enjoy Christ under the killing of His death.
Everything related to us is under the Lord’s sovereign arrangement. What kind of job we have and whom we marry are altogether not up to us. A brother may choose a sister to be his wife, but later this brother may think that he made a mistake. This is why the Lord charges the husbands to love their wives (Eph. 5:25). Under the Lord’s sovereign arrangement, we are like lambs brought to the slaughter every day…. Every day we are under the killing of Christ’s death that His life may be manifested in our body in the renewing of our inner man. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” pp. 480-483)
Whatever we are by birth, whether good or bad, whether useful or not, is natural and altogether a hindrance to the Holy Spirit in constituting the divine life into our being. For this reason our natural strength, natural wisdom, natural cleverness, natural disposition, natural shortcomings, natural virtues, and natural attributes, plus our character and habits, must all be torn down in order that the Holy Spirit may form in us a new disposition, new character, new habits, new virtues, and new attributes. In order to accomplish this work of reconstitution, the Holy Spirit of God moves within us to enlighten, inspire, lead, and saturate us with the divine life. He also works in our environment to arrange every detail, person, matter, and thing in our situation to tear down what we are naturally. (Watchman Nee—a Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p. 115)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” chs. 9, 14-15; CWWL, 1967, vol. 2, “An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” chs. 1-2