Ⅱ
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit”—Gal. 6:18:
A
The mark of God's economy is that Christ today is the grace of God in our spirit—v. 18:
１
Our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit is the focus of God's promised blessing—John 3:6; Rom. 8:10; 15:29; Eph. 1:3.
２
We need the grace of the Lord, which is the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit, to be with our spirit—Phil. 1:19; 2 Tim. 4:22.
B
The grace of Jesus Christ is the bountiful supply of the Triune God (who is embodied in the Son and realized as the life-giving Spirit) enjoyed by us through the exercise of our human spirit—John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Tim. 4:22; Philem. 25:
１
Grace is God the Father embodied in the Son who is realized as the Spirit; ultimately, the Spirit is grace—Heb. 10:29.
２
This grace, the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, now dwells in our spirit—Phil. 4:23.
３
Our spirit is the only place where we can experience grace—2 Tim. 4:22.
４
In order to receive and enjoy grace, we need to turn to our spirit and remain there, recognizing the Lord as the Head and the King, respecting His position, honoring His authority, and seeing that the throne of grace is in our spirit—Gal. 6:18; Heb. 4:16.
C
As children of God, we should be those who receive and enjoy the grace of our Lord in our spirit—2 Cor. 13:14; Philem. 25:
１
The receiving of Christ as the Spirit of grace is a lifelong, continuous matter—John 1:16; Rev. 22:21.
２
Day by day a marvelous divine transmission should take place as God supplies the Spirit of grace bountifully, and we receive the Spirit of grace continually—Gal. 3:2-5; John 3:34.
３
The way to open ourselves to the heavenly transmission in order to receive the supply of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit of grace is by exercising our spirit to pray and call on the Lord—1 Thes. 5:16-18; Rom. 10:12-13.
４
As we receive and enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God as our grace, we will gradually become one with Him organically; He will become our constituent, and we will become His expression—2 Cor. 1:12; 12:9.
Morning Nourishment
Gal. 3:5 He therefore who bountifully supplies to you the Spirit…2 …Did you receive the Spirit out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?
Galatians 1 and 2 are concerned with revelation and speak of the Son of God revealed in us and Christ living in us. But when we turn to experience, as seen in 3:2, we realize that the One we receive is the Spirit. The Spirit is the very Person of Christ, the Son of God.
Receiving the Spirit does not take place once for all. Like breathing, it is a lifelong matter. This is the reason that in 3:5 Paul uses the present tense … Here Paul does not say that God supplied the Spirit or that He shall supply the Spirit; he says that God is supplying the Spirit. Because God is continually supplying the Spirit, we need to receive the Spirit continually. (Life-study of Galatians, p. 367)
Today’s Reading
The grace of Christ is with our spirit (Gal. 6:18). However, many Christians know only of the Holy Spirit; they do not know anything of the human spirit. For this reason, whenever they see the word spirit in the New Testament, they assume that it refers to the Holy Spirit. They are ignorant of the fact that besides the Spirit of God, the Bible speaks of the human spirit. Three verses in the New Testament mention these two spirits. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit”; 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit”; Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit.”The Spirit of God and our spirit are both crucial for God’s economy today. The Spirit is the very Triune God who has passed through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This life-giving Spirit now dwells in our spirit and witnesses with our spirit that we are sons of God. First Corinthians 6:17 tells us that he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
This is a clear indication that the two spirits have become one. Grace [in Galatians 6:18] is Christ Himself as our enjoyment. Today Christ as the Spirit is in our spirit for our experience and enjoyment. This enjoyment of Christ is the very grace that is with our spirit.
We may enjoy the Lord in our spirit simply by calling on His name. Do you know why we enjoy the Lord when we call on Him? We enjoy Him in this way because by calling on the Lord we automatically exercise our spirit. For example, even though I may not have the intention to exercise my legs and feet, I spontaneously exercise them whenever I walk. In like manner, whenever we call on the Lord from deep within, we automatically exercise our spirit. Anywhere and at any time we may enjoy the riches of Christ by calling on the Lord’s name. By calling on the Lord in this way we walk by the Spirit. Calling on the Lord also defeats the negative things within us.
Suppose a young married sister has a problem with her temper. She earnestly desires to be a good wife and mother, and she loathes her temper. However, she has no way to overcome it. Years ago, I did not know how to advise someone plagued by the problem of temper. Now I know that the best cure for this plague is to call on the name of the Lord with the exercise of the spirit. By calling on the Lord in this way we breathe in a spiritual element which subdues our temper. After more than fifty years of experience and after having contacted many different aspects of organized Christianity, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to enjoy the Lord is to call on Him.
Just as we cannot stay alive if we “graduate” from breathing, so we cannot live spiritually if we stop calling on the name of the Lord …Oh, how we need to call on the Lord Jesus that we may enjoy Him as our grace… I encourage you to breathe spiritually by calling on the Lord Jesus. (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 384-386)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Law and Grace of God in His Economy,” chs. 1-3