Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:2, 4-6, 11, 13-16, 23, 34-39
Ⅰ
John 8 reveals that the need of those under the bondage of sin is life's setting free; this chapter reveals that the Lord Jesus is the One who is without sin, who can condemn and forgive sin, and who can set people free from sin:
A
The One who sets people free from the bondage of sin is Christ, the light of the world and the Giver of the light of life (vv. 12-20); Christ, the I Am (vv. 21-27); Christ, the Son of Man lifted up (vv. 28-30); and Christ, the Son as the reality (vv. 31-36).
B
When the Lord as the great I Am comes into us as life, He shines within us as light, bringing the divine element as truth into us; this truth, which is the divine element imparted into us and realized by us, sets us free from the bondage of sin by the divine life as the light of man—vv. 12, 32, 36.
C
Christ as the truth who sets us free, "free indeed," is the law of the Spirit of life who frees us from the law of sin and of death—v. 36; Rom. 8:2.
Ⅱ
Paul made a great discovery in receiving the revelation of the Triune God being processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, to become the law of the Spirit of life installed in our spirit— vv. 3, 11, 34, 16:
A
The law of the Spirit of life is the spontaneous power of the divine life; it is the natural characteristic and the innate, automatic function of the divine life.
B
There are three different laws in the three different parts of our being:
１
The law of sin and of death in our corrupted, polluted, and transmuted body, is Satan as sin dwelling in our flesh; the flesh is the "meeting hall" of sin, Satan, and death—6:6, 12, 14; 7:11, 24, 18, 23.
２
The law of good in our mind, that is, in our soul, is our natural human life—v. 23.
３
The law of the Spirit of life in our spirit is the processed Triune God, who as the Spirit, is installed in our spirit for our enjoyment—8:2, 16; Gal. 6:18.
C
These three laws represent the three parties present in the garden of Eden (God, man, and Satan); in addition to the three laws within the believer, there is the law of God outside of him—Rom. 7:22, 25:
１
The old covenant of the law is a portrait of God, but the new covenant of grace as the law of the Spirit of life is the person of God—John 1:16-17.
２
The law makes demands upon man according to what God is; grace as the law of the Spirit of life supplies man with what God is to meet what God demands.
３
When we believe into Christ, the person of this portrait comes into us as the law of the Spirit of life, and He fulfills in us the righteous requirements of the law as we walk according to the spirit and set our mind on the spirit—Ezek. 36:26-27; Rom. 8:2, 4, 6, 10-11; Psa. 23:3.
Ⅲ
A Christian should not live by the power of his will but by the power of the inner law of the Spirit of resurrection life in his spirit; this law possesses the greatest power; it overcomes death, transcends death, and is not bound by death—Rom. 7:19; Matt. 26:41; Eph. 1:19-23; Col. 1:28-29; 2 Cor. 1:8-9; John 11:25; Heb. 7:16; Acts 2:24; Rev. 1:18:
A
In Romans 7 Paul described the wretchedness of his trying to do good under the law; he needed the Lord as the compassionate Samaritan-Neighbor to care for him as a fallen and law-stricken sinner by dispensing Himself into him as the law of the Spirit of life for the reality of the Body of Christ—vv. 24-25; Luke 10:25-37.
B
We must see that sin and death are a law in us and that our will power cannot overcome this law—Rom. 7:15-16, 18-21.
C
If you have not seen that sin is a law and that your will can never overcome this law, you are trapped in Romans 7; you will never arrive at Romans 8.
D
Every life has a law and even is a law; God's life is the highest life, and the law of the Spirit of life is the highest law—Prov. 30:19a; Deut. 32:11-12; Isa. 40:30-31.
E
The divine birth has transferred us into a new realm, the realm of the divine life with its law in our spirit, a realm in which there is no sin, world, or flesh:
１
In this realm all victories are unconscious and effortless because the law of the Spirit of life is upholding us, not our own will.
２
We have the law of the Spirit of life indwelling our spirit as the presence of God, the speaking of God, the meeting with God, and the dispensing of God—Heb. 8:10; Rom. 3:25; Exo. 25:22.
Ⅳ
We can cooperate with the installed and inner operating law of the Spirit of life by exercising our spirit to "switch on" this law so that we can enjoy Christ as the freedom and living of the jubilee—Phil. 2:12-13; Rom. 8:2, 4-6, 13-16, 23; 5:10, 17; 1 Tim. 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:22:
A
Apart from the "switch" of our spirit, we have no way to apply the processed Triune God as the "heavenly electricity" in us, but praise the Lord that we have a switch and that we know where it is!—Prov. 20:27; Zech. 12:1; Rom. 8:16.
B
The best way to switch on the divine and mystical current of the flowing Spirit in our spirit is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus—1 Cor. 12:3b; Rom. 10:12-13.
C
When we contact the Spirit through the exercise of our spirit, we enjoy Christ as all the myriad and rich aspects of the jubilee—8:4:
１
"Freed within the spirit / From self-righteousness, / From self-condemnation / And self-consciousness."
２
"Freed within the spirit / From self-will and pride, / From self-love and glory, / All to override."
３
"Exercise the spirit, / Victory to claim / By the blood which cleanses / And the mighty Name."
４
"Exercise the spirit / Thus to touch the Lord; / Ever by the spirit / Take Him thru His Word."
５
"It is by the spirit / Christ is testified; / It is by the spirit / Man is satisfied."
６
"Exercise the spirit! / This is what we need! / Exercise the spirit! / May the Lord so lead!" (Hymns, #866, stanzas 5-10).
D
Paul was a person who switched on the law of the Spirit of life by serving God in his spirit out of his first love for the Lord—Rom. 1:9; 5:5; 8:35-39; Rev. 2:4:
１
To love the Lord with the first love is to give Him the first place in all things and in all matters, regarding Him as everything in our life—Col. 1:18b, 10.
２
When God comes into us and comes out of us, that is our service to Him; we work together with Christ in the churches, where we render our first love to Him—S. S. 7:12; 2 Cor. 6:1a; Phil. 3:3; Mark 12:30.
３
When we love the Lord with the first love, we do the first works—works that issue from and express the first love; only those works that are motivated by the first love are gold, silver, and precious stones—Rev. 2:4-5; 1 Cor. 3:12; 15:10, 58.
４
Christ's love of affection constrains us to live to Him and to die to Him—2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 14:7-9.
E
By setting our mind on the spirit, we enjoy Christ as the jubilee—"the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace"—8:6:
１
"In the flesh I need no effort to express / Marks of Adam's nature and its sinfulness; / In the spirit I need not to strive or strain, / I can live as He is and in spirit reign."
２
"Minding just the spirit, is God's saving way, / Minding just the spirit, Christ we will display; / Minding just the spirit, we can overcome, / Minding just the spirit, we the race may run."
３
"Minding just the spirit, we the cross will know, / And His resurrection pow'r thru us will flow; / Minding just the spirit, Christ will live thru me, / And His life within will reach maturity."
４
"In the spirit Christ is life and all to me, / Strengthening and blessing allinclusively; / Living in the spirit, holiness I prove, / And the triune God within my heart doth move" (Hymns, #593, stanzas 3, 5-7).
Ⅴ
The jubilee in Romans 8 is the reality of the Body of Christ—the corporate living of the perfected God-men—displayed in Romans 12 through 16:
A
God accomplishes His economy by dispensing Himself into us as the law of the Spirit of life—8:2, 6, 10-11; Rev. 22:1-2a.
B
The law of the Spirit of life constitutes us to be the members of the Body of Christ, with all kinds of functions—Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:11, 16; Rom. 12:4-8.
C
Through the spontaneous, automatic function of the law of the Spirit of life within us, we are enabled to know God, gain God, and thereby live God, causing us to be constituted with God that we may become His increase and His enlargement to be His fullness for His expression—Eph. 1:22-23; 3:19-21.