In this message we shall cover the attributes of the Spirit. We use the word “attributes” to denote the virtues of God’s being. God has a nature, and this nature is for His being. In God’s being there are many excellencies, and these excellencies are the virtues of the divine being. We may consider these virtues the divine attributes. Therefore, when we speak of the attributes of God, we mean the excellencies of what God is. Likewise, the attributes of the Spirit are the excellencies, the virtues, of what the Spirit is.
The first attribute of the Spirit is life (Rom. 8:2). This life, of course, is the divine, eternal, uncreated life of God. In the New Testament physical life and psychological life are indicated by the Greek words bias and psuche respectively. When Paul speaks of life in Romans 8:2, however, he uses another Greek word, the word zoe. In the Bible zoe denotes God’s life, the divine, infinite, uncreated, eternal life. This is the life we receive by believing in the Lord Jesus: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36). Paul uses this Greek word for life in Romans 8 to indicate the dispensing of the divine life into our being. God desires to dispense Himself as life into us. This dispensing began when we were regenerated, for at that time we received eternal life.
The life which is an attribute of the Spirit is eternal. The word “eternal” denotes not only the duration of time, which is everlasting, without end, but also the quality, which is absolutely perfect and complete, without any shortage or defect. Moreover, the life which is eternal is eternal with respect to its sphere. Therefore, the word eternal denotes three things: time, space, and quality. As to the element of time, this life will last forever. As to space, to sphere, this life is vast, unlimited. As to quality, eternal life is perfect and complete, without defect or shortage. The sphere of eternal life encompasses the whole universe. Eternal life is neither temporary nor limited; rather it is everlasting with respect to time and unlimited with respect to space. Furthermore, eternal life has no defects or shortages.
The Spirit is the Spirit of such a life. The Spirit and life are one and cannot be separated. He is of life, and life is of Him. Life is His content, and He is the reality of life. Speaking more accurately, the Spirit is not only the reality of life but also life itself. Life is of the Spirit and issues from the Spirit. The Spirit is the source, whereas life is the current, or flow, that comes from the Spirit.
The Spirit is the Spirit of life because God and Christ being life hinges on Him. The Father is the source of life, the very life itself. Because the Son is the manifestation of the Father (1 Tim. 3:16), He is the manifestation of life (1 John 1:2). And because the Spirit is the entering of the Son, He is the entering in of life. Life originally is in the Father, in the Son it is manifested among man, and as the Spirit it enters into man for man to experience. Thus, the Spirit becomes the Spirit of life. Because the Spirit is the Spirit of life, we can receive life through the Spirit. Because the Spirit is the Spirit of life, when we exercise our spirit to touch the Spirit, we touch life. When we contact the Spirit, we contact life.
The book of Romans speaks of having life (1:17), of being saved in life (5:10), of reigning in life (5:17), of walking in newness of life (6:4), and of being sanctified in life (6:22-23). Because the Spirit is of life, the way to have life is the Spirit. The way to be saved in life is the Spirit. The way to reign in life is the Spirit. The way to walk in newness of life is the Spirit. The way to be sanctified in life is the Spirit. Life belongs to the Spirit, and the Spirit is of life. If we have the Spirit, we have life. If we do not have the Spirit, we do not have life. If we walk in the Spirit, we walk in life. If we do not walk in the Spirit, we do not walk in the newness of life. Therefore, the way to experience the divine, eternal, uncreated life is the Spirit.
Because the Spirit has the attribute of life, the divine life is being dispensed into us in a threefold way. First, our spirit becomes life. “If Christ is in you...the spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10). Christ is the Triune God who has become the indwelling Spirit. As the life-giving Spirit, Christ dwells in our spirit, and His indwelling makes our spirit life. Second, “the mind set on the spirit is life” (Rom. 8:6b). The mind is the leading part of our soul and represents the soul. Thus, when the mind becomes life, our soul becomes life. Finally, life is imparted to our mortal bodies. According to Romans 8:11, He who raised Christ Jesus from among the dead gives life to our mortal bodies through the indwelling Spirit. Therefore, life is imparted into us in a threefold way: our spirit becomes life, our mind becomes life, and life is imparted to our mortal bodies. All this is through the Spirit of life.
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