The Bible is a book of mystery, containing at least five main mysteries—God, the universe, man, the church, and the future. Any thoughtful person would be puzzled by these five mysteries. Many have wondered, “Does God exist? Who is God? What are God’s attributes?” The universe is a mystery, for its dimensions are immeasurable. Man is a mystery in more than one sense. Corporately, human beings throughout the earth are busy doing various things, but very few know the real meaning, the purpose, of human existence. Individually, each person is a mystery. Even husbands and wives do not understand one another, nor do parents understand their children. The church is a mystery as well, especially in its definition and purpose. Finally, the future of the universe, mankind, the church, and even God is a mystery. The answer to all these mysteries is in the Bible. The Bible reveals the mystery of God, the mystery of the universe, the mystery of man, the mystery of the church, and the mystery of the future. Within the Bible, Romans 8 is the mystery of all the mysteries, for it particularly unveils and explains these five mysteries.
Romans 8:3 says that God, referring to the Father, sent His Son. Furthermore, Romans 8 mentions the Spirit in at least ten verses (vv. 2, 5, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 23, 26, 27). Thus, this chapter reveals the Triune God. However, Romans 8 is not a doctrinal chapter but an experiential chapter. It speaks not about the doctrine of the Trinity but about the Trinity in the experience of the Christian life. God is triune to be experienced by us. We are able to experience God because He is triune as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Romans 8 reveals that the Triune God is dispensed into the tripartite man. In other words, the Triune God is imparted into the three parts of our being. Verse 10 says, “If Christ is in you...the spirit is life.” Verse 6 says, “The mind set on the spirit is life.” Our mind is the leading part of our soul. Verse 11 says, “He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Thus, our spirit, soul, and body all receive the divine life. This is the infusion of the Triune God into the three parts of man.
Romans 8 also reveals that the Spirit is all-inclusive. Verses 9 and 11 mention the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead. These are not three separate Spirits but three aspects of the one Spirit. Eventually, at the end of the Bible the Spirit becomes sevenfold. Revelation 4:5 and 5:6 mention the seven Spirits of God, which are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne and the seven eyes of the Lamb. God the Spirit is one and also seven. Like the Triune God, the all-inclusive Spirit is a mystery that our mind cannot fully comprehend. Nevertheless, we need to know the various aspects of the Spirit for our experience.
There are many riches in Romans 8. When we read the Bible, we should not take any verse for granted. Romans 8:2 mentions the law of the Spirit of life, which is not the Mosaic law or any written law but a natural law, a natural power that works automatically. The law of gravity is an example of a natural law. According to our perception, it is our standing that keeps us firmly on the earth, but it is actually gravity that keeps people fixed to the globe on every side. Almost two thousand years ago, before the development of science, the apostle Paul received a revelation from God of the law of the Spirit of life and was able describe it in scientific terms. Within us is the powerful law of the Spirit of life.
According to New Testament Greek, the English word of in phrases such as the law of the Spirit of life indicates apposition. This means that the nouns are identical, referring to one another. Accordingly, the law is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the law. Similarly, the Spirit is life, and the life is the Spirit. In the same principle, the phrases the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead indicate that the Spirit is God, Christ, and the resurrecting One. Altogether, four persons and two things are in apposition in Romans 8:2, 9, and 11—God, Christ, the Spirit, the resurrecting One, the law, and life. We must see that the Spirit is God, Christ, the resurrecting One, the law, and life. Furthermore, because the resurrecting One is resurrection itself, the Spirit is resurrection. The reality of resurrection is the Spirit. The Lord said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Thus, resurrection and life are a person, and now this person is the Spirit. Moreover, today this person is also a law—the law of the Spirit of life.
The law of the Spirit of life, which is uniquely revealed in Romans 8, is nothing less than the Triune God in motion. When the Triune God moves within us, He is the law of the Spirit of life. The Triune God works in us not by accident or activity but as a law. Once electricity is installed in a building, it works as a law, not by activity or accident. When the people in a building need light, they do not need to petition the power plant. Instead, they need only to switch on the light. Some Christians believe that in order to receive the Spirit, they must fast and pray for a long time. They hope that God will suddenly send a great outpouring of the Spirit, as He did at Pentecost. However, today the Spirit functions according to a law. We do not need to pray that God will have mercy to send the Spirit. As long as we have believed in the Lord and called on His name, the Triune God as the heavenly “electricity” has been installed in us and works automatically and powerfully as the law of the Spirit of life.
We should not think that we have many problems. As believers, we have problems only when we do not apply the law of the Spirit of life. If I try to move and work in a building without applying electricity, I will have trouble. This is like the regrettable situation of many Christians today. Those who know the law of the Spirit of life are much blessed. If I know about electricity, I will not worry about anything when I go into a building. As long as the electricity is installed in a building, the electricity will work automatically as a law to provide light, sound, air conditioning, and many other things. As such a law, the all-inclusive Spirit is life to every believer.