D
The renewing of the inner man takes place as the inner man is nourished with the fresh supply of the resurrection life of Christ—John 11:25; Phil. 3:10:
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As our outer man is being consumed by the killing work of death, our inner man—our regenerated spirit with our inward parts—is being metabolically renewed day by day with the supply of resurrection life—Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 7:22, 25; 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:16; Eph. 4:23.
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The more our inner man is renewed, the more the functions of our soul are also renewed—Rom. 12:2.
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Our mingled spirit spreads into our mind and becomes the spirit of the mind; it is in such a spirit that we are being renewed for our transformation—Eph. 4:23; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2.
E
Because we have been born of God to be children of God with the life and nature of God, we all have the divine element energizing in us—John 1:12-13; 3:15; 1 John 5:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:3-4:
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In this divine element is the renewing capacity—Rom. 12:2.
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In the resurrection life of Christ, the divine life has the renewing capacity—John 11:25; Phil. 3:10; Rev. 21:5a.
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The capacity in the divine life is renewing us in all our actions—Rom. 6:4; 7:6.
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We need to experience and enjoy the renewing capacity in the resurrection life of Christ so that we may be renewed in our inner man day by day—2 Cor. 1:9; 4:16.
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 12:2 And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.Rev. 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said, Write, for these words are faithful and true.
The divine element is very active. It is energizing, it works, and it is organic….Within the divine life that we are enjoying today, there is a renewing capacity….When I use the word capacity, I mean the ability of the divine life in its nature. In God’s divine nature there is the ability that is energizing all day. Once the divine life with the divine nature gets into us, it energizes within us. We all have the divine element energizing in us, and in this divine element there is the renewing capacity.
We may use soap as an illustration because it has the capacity to wash away dirt. There is the ability to wash away dirt in the nature of the soap. Likewise, in the divine life that we have received and that we are enjoying, there is a renewing capacity according to its nature….We need to enjoy the renewing capacity of the divine life in resurrection day by day. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed DAY by Day,” p. 361)
Today’s Reading
Every morning we should contact the Lord. First, we have to confess our sins. Second, we have to reject ourselves. In rejecting ourselves, we pass through the death of Christ, and the death of Christ kills us. In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul talks about “the putting to death of Jesus” (v. 10). This means that Jesus, in a positive sense, is always killing us. In many medicines today there is a healing element and a killing element that kills the bad germs and bacteria within us. In Jesus there is the killing element…. In this dose there is the killing power. Morning after morning we need to come to the Lord and take Him as our… daily antibiotic. When we take Him as our medication, we enjoy the killing of Jesus, or the putting to death of Jesus. This killing is the process of renewing. Furthermore, this killing brings in resurrection…. In the resurrection of Christ the divine life has the renewing capacity. When we reject ourselves in the morning to receive God into us, we have the sense during the day that a killing process is going on within us. Also, there is a capacity in the divine life that is renewing us in all our actions.God’s intention is altogether to make us new. This is not an overnight matter…. It requires us to contact God, to receive God, and to get God added into us all the day. It requires us to pray, confessing our sins and rejecting ourselves to take the cross of Christ. To take the cross of Christ is a killing, and this killing is death. This death brings in resurrection, and in this resurrection the divine life in us will carry out its renewing capacity. Then we will be changed metabolically.
Moment by moment we have to receive God so that He can be added into us, and we have to reject ourselves to receive the death of Christ so that we can cooperate with the Lord within us. Then we will enjoy not only the renewing capacity but also the renewing result, which is a metabolic change in our behavior, in our character, in our disposition, and even in our habit. The most difficult thing to renew is our habit. When we experience God in Christ daily, we will see that God’s intention is to renew us bit by bit, especially to renew our habit.
God desires us to be the new creation. When all of the Lord’s children pass through the process of renewing to become the New Jerusalem, they will be in a state of being fully renewed. The holy city is called the New Jerusalem because it has no old element of God’s old creation. As we pass through afflictions, there needs to be a continual renewing taking place in us day by day so that God can accomplish His heart’s desire. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed DAY by Day,” pp. 361-363)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1966, vol. 2, “The Divine Spirit with the Human Spirit in the Epistles,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “The Spirit in the Epistles,” ch. 2