As the Spirit works in the believers by helping them in their weakness and by interceding for them with groanings, He infuses His according-to-God mind into them in their prayer. “He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes for the saints according to God” (Rom. 8:27). Whereas Ephesians 4:23 speaks of the spirit of the mind, this verse speaks of the mind of the Spirit. The spirit of the mind is for renewing, and the mind of the Spirit is for interceding.
Actually, it is difficult to say to whose mind Paul is referring in Romans 8:27, because the Spirit is mingled with our spirit and the Spirit is interceding within us. In our groaning there is the groaning of the Spirit. The Spirit groans in our groaning. We may even say that it is the Spirit’s groaning groaned by us, expressed by us. Thus, it is actually our groaning. In the same principle, in verse 27 we have the Spirit’s mind, but now the Spirit’s mind is one with our mind because our mind is set on the spirit (v. 6).
Sometimes we are burdened to pray, but do not know what to say. At such times we may groan, “O Lord, O Lord.” This is our groaning because it is uttered by us, yet that groaning begins from the mingled spirit. It begins in our spirit and comes out of the depths of our being. This is not merely a sound of groaning. Within our groaning there is a mind because there is a thought or meaning in this groaning. This means that the mind is involved, but whose mind is it? It is not merely the Spirit’s mind; it is the Spirit’s mind mingled with our mind. Our mind is set on the spirit, making our mind one with the mind of the Spirit.
Romans 8:27 says that He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit. Whose heart is mentioned here? Surely this is not the heart of the Spirit; this must be our heart. God searches our hearts, yet He knows what is the mind of the Spirit. This proves that the mind here is not the independent mind of the Spirit; it is the mind of the Spirit mingled with our mind and becoming a part of our heart. It is our heart and the Spirit’s mind. God searching our heart knows the mind of the Spirit. This indicates that our mind is one with the Spirit. The Spirit’s mind is one with our mind, and our mingled mind even becomes a part of our heart. The New Testament revelation gives us a clear view of such a mingling. Our mind can be set on the spirit, making our mind one with the Spirit. Hence, the Spirit’s mind is one with our mind, and this mingled heart, this mingled mind, becomes a part of our spirit. Now when we groan, our groaning is not a religious prayer but an aspiration from the depths of our being, where the mingling of divinity with humanity is. This is the result of the Spirit’s work of infusing His according-to-God mind into us.
The Holy Spirit working in us is the means for us to guard the good deposit. Paul charged Timothy: “Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us” (2 Tim. 1:14). This deposit consisted in that which was committed and entrusted to Timothy, the healthy words which he received from Paul, not only for himself but also for others. During the years Timothy was with Paul, many truths were deposited into him by Paul. As a result, there was within Timothy a good deposit, a deposit that he was to guard by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
From the time we were saved we have received many things from God as a deposit, like a deposit in a bank. Within us, and especially within our spirit, we have a divine deposit. God’s life, God’s Spirit, and all the precious truths we have seen in the Lord’s recovery have been deposited into our being. How can we guard this deposit? We can guard this deposit only through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. If we act, behave, and have our life in the Spirit, all that has been deposited into us will be guarded. But if we neglect the Spirit and walk in the flesh and according to our mind, we shall be the same as the nations, who are apart from God (Eph. 4:17-18). If this is our situation, there will not be any guarding of the good things that have been deposited into our being. We need to guard the good deposit by the Spirit, who is working within us to keep us in the divine fellowship. As we are preserved in fellowship with the Triune God, we shall have an intensified care for all the truths that have been deposited into our being. Because the Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit, guarding the good deposit through the Holy Spirit requires that we exercise our spirit.
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