Ⅳ
In experience, to reign in life means to be under the ruling of the divine life:
A
Christ is a pattern of reigning in life by being under the ruling of the divine life of the Father—cf. 8:5-13.
B
Paul is an example of one who, in his life and ministry, was under the ruling of the divine life—2 Cor. 2:12-14.
C
There is the need for all the believers who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to practice the restriction and limitation in the divine life; a life under the kingdom’s rule is a life of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; to live in this way is to serve Christ as a slave, and such a life is well pleasing to God and approved by men—Rom. 14:17-18; cf. 1 Cor. 12:3.
Ⅴ
Deuteronomy reveals that a proper king first had to be instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God (17:14-15, 18-20); this principle should be the same with the elders in the churches and with all of us who aspire to reign in life (2 Tim. 3:14-17):
A
In order to administrate, to manage, the church, the elders must be reconstituted with the word of God (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17); as a result, they will be under God’s government, under God’s rule and control.
B
Then spontaneously, God will be in their decisions, and the elders will represent God to manage the affairs of the church; this kind of management is theocracy.
C
Under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, the returned people of Israel were collectively reconstituted by and with God through His word to be a nation as God’s testimony; to reconstitute the people of God is to educate them by putting them into the Word of God that they may be saturated with the word—Neh. 8:1-18.
D
The word of God is one with the Spirit (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17); through our daily reading of the divine Word, the word of God works within us, and the Spirit, through the word, spontaneously dispenses God’s nature with God’s element into our being, causing us to be constituted with God.
Morning Nourishment
Deut. 17:18 And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write out for himself a copy of this law in a book...20 So that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers and he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left; that he and his sons may extend their days over their kingdom in the midst of Israel.
To reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life... The Lord Jesus as the God-man in His humanity on the earth... was absolutely under the ruling of the divine life of the Father. Everything He did was under the Father’s ruling. As a man, He rejected His natural humanity and lived a human life under the restriction of the divine life of His heavenly Father. By practically being under the ruling of the divine life of the Father, He was reigning in life. This is the pattern that we should follow.
We must reign in life to live the church life. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans,” p. 450)
Today’s Reading
Paul set up a pattern of living the church life for the living of the Body life (Rom. 15:14—16:27)... When we are under the ruling of the divine life, we will spontaneously preach the gospel... Paul first preached the gospel to the Gentiles (15:14-24) and then brought them into the fellowship of the Body of Christ with the Jewish churches through their giving in love to provide for the necessities of the saints in Jerusalem (vv. 25-33). This was to bring the two into the fellowship of the one Body.By his recommendations and greetings in 16:1-24, Paul was blending together many saints and many churches under his ministry for the practical living of the Body of Christ in the universal fellowship of the Body... Today there is the need for all the believers who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to practice the restriction and limitation in the divine life. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans,” p. 451)
The king was to write out for himself a copy of the law in a book, out of that which was before the Levitical priests (Deut. 17:18). The law here refers to the Pentateuch... A proper king among the children of Israel was one who was instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God.
The principle should be the same with the elders in the churches today... In order to administrate, to manage, the church, the elders must be reconstituted with the holy word of God. As a result, they will be under God’s government, under God’s rule and control. Then spontaneously God will be in their decisions, and the elders will represent God to manage the affairs of the church. This kind of management is theocracy. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 121)
God’s intention with Israel was to have on earth a divinely constituted people to be His testimony... In order to be reconstituted, they needed to come back to God by coming back to His law, that is, His word. Under Ezra and Nehemiah the returned people of Israel were collectively constituted by and with God through His word to be a nation as God’s testimony.
In order to reconstitute the people of God, there is the need to educate them with the word that comes out of the mouth of God and which expresses God. To reconstitute the people of God is to educate them by putting them into the Word of God that they may be saturated with the word. The word of God is one with the Spirit (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17). Through our daily reading of the divine Word, the word of God works within us, and the Spirit, through the word, spontaneously dispenses God’s nature with God’s element into our being, causing us to be constituted with God. (Neh. 8:1, footnote 1)
Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 17; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans,” ch. 4