The Holy Spirit testifies to the believers the law of life of the new covenant. “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after having said, This is the covenant which I will covenant with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their hearts and upon their minds I will inscribe them; then He says, And their sins and their lawlessnesses I will by no means remember any more” (Heb. 10:15-17). In this chapter the writer of Hebrews is seeking to prove to the believers that there was no longer any need of offering the sacrifice for sin, because Christ has accomplished the putting away of sins. The problem of sin has been solved. Now the writer emphasizes this fact by pointing out that in Jeremiah 31:33 and 34, which is quoted in chapter eight for the inward law of life, the Holy Spirit also testifies to this effect. In Jeremiah 31:33 and 34, after the Holy Spirit said that God would put His laws upon their hearts, He then said that God would not remember their sins anymore. This proves that the Holy Spirit testifies that our sins have been taken away and that the problem of sin has been solved. Not only in Isaiah 53:6, 11 and 12 was there the prediction that Christ would bear our sins, but in Jeremiah 31 there was the testimony of the Holy Spirit that our sins would be taken away and that God would no longer have any remembrance of them.
According to our natural understanding of the new covenant, the forgiveness of sins is the first item. However, it is the last item, even a supplementary one. The new covenant is mainly concerned with three things: the law of life which is written into our being, God being God to us and us being a people to Him, and the inner ability of knowing God. These three things are eternal. But because we may still remember our sins, we need a supplement telling us that God will by no means remember our sins and lawlessnesses. The crucial point here, however, is that the Spirit testifies to us the law of life of the new covenant. When we are in the Holy of Holies, that is, when we are in the mingled spirit, we realize that there is such a thing as the law of life. We are freed from the regulation of the law in letters, and now the law of life of the new covenant is real to us in our fellowship with the Triune God.
Philippians 3:3 says, “We are the circumcision, who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Here we see that the Spirit is the means for the believers to serve-worship- God. The Greek word rendered “serve” here means to serve as a priest. All New Testament believers are priests to God (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6). Hence, our ministry to the Lord, in whatever aspect, is a priestly ministry, a priestly service. Furthermore, those who are the circumcision here are the New Testament believers, the ones genuinely circumcised by Christ’s crucifixion. They are absolutely different from the Judaizers. They serve as priests by the Spirit of God, not by the ordinances of law; they boast in Christ, not in the law; and they have no confidence in the flesh, but have their confidence in the Spirit.
In Philippians 3:2 and 3 there is a threefold contrast: believers who serve by the Spirit of God in contrast to the dogs; believers who boast in Christ in contrast to evil workers; and believers who have no confidence in the flesh in contrast to the concision. The Judaizers lived by their fallen nature, whereas the believers in Christ serve by the Spirit of God. Thus, the Spirit of God is in contrast to the nature of the “dogs.” According to the revelation in these verses, anyone who tries to do something for God without being in the Spirit opposes the genuine worshippers of God in spirit. In the eyes of God such a person is a dog.
The flesh in verse 3 comprises all that we are and have in our natural being. The fact that the Judaizers had confidence in their circumcision was a sign that their confidence was in their flesh. They trusted in their natural qualities and qualifications, not in the Spirit. By contrast Paul says strongly that we who believe in Christ serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh.
The last aspect of the work of the Spirit in the believers in the third stage is the Spirit’s resting upon them as glory when they are reproached. First Peter 4:14 says, “If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” “In the name of Christ” is actually in the person of Christ, in Christ Himself, because the name denotes the person. The believers, having believed into Christ (John 3:15), and having been baptized into His name (Acts 19:5), that is, into Himself (Gal. 3:27), are in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30) and one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). When they are reproached in His name, they are reproached with Him, sharing His sufferings, in the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil. 3:10).
If we are reproached in the name of Christ, the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us. Literally, the Greek says “the Spirit of glory and that of God.” The Spirit of glory is the Spirit of God. The Spirit of glory is the One through whom Christ was glorified in His resurrection (Rom. 1:4). This Spirit of glory, being the Spirit of God Himself, rests upon the suffering believers in their persecution for the glorification of the resurrected and exalted Christ, who is now in glory. The more we suffer and are persecuted, the more glory there will be upon us. This is truly a blessing. Therefore, we should rejoice when we are reproached in the name of Christ, because the Spirit of glory is resting upon us.
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