Romans 8:2 says, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” This reveals that the believers’ life in God’s salvation is a life freed from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life. The two laws in Romans 8:2—the law of sin and of death and the law of the Spirit of life—are principles, not commandments. These laws operate by nature. The divine life is the strongest life, and the law of the divine life is the strongest law. As believers, we have a law operating in us which is the strongest law in the universe. This law of the Spirit of life has freed us from the law of sin and death.
Life is the content and the issue of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the ultimate and consummate manifestation of the Triune God after being processed through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection and becoming the indwelling, life-giving Spirit who is life to the believers in Christ. The law which has freed us from the law of sin and death is of this Spirit. It is this law, not God nor the Spirit, that works in us to deliver us from the working of the law of sin and death. Therefore, the life of the believers in God’s salvation, a human life mingled with the divine life, is a life freed from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life.
Furthermore, the life of the believers in God’s salvation is a life uplifted in Christ’s resurrection and transformed by the pneumatic Christ as the life-giving Spirit. First Peter 1:3 reveals that we have been regenerated through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here we have two matters: regeneration and resurrection. Regeneration and resurrection make us different persons. It is a fact that, as believers, we have been regenerated through the process of the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, our entire tripartite being—spirit, soul, and body—has been uplifted, having passed through the process of the resurrection of Christ.
We need to believe that our life is now a life uplifted in Christ’s resurrection. The process of the resurrection of Christ has uplifted our whole being. Instead of trusting our feelings, we should believe the fact according to the pure word of the divine revelation. First Peter 1:3 says that we have been regenerated through the resurrection of Christ. We have passed through the resurrection of Christ, and we have been uplifted by it. If we believe God, we should also believe His word which says that our life as believers has been uplifted in the resurrection of Christ.
Not only is our life uplifted in Christ’s resurrection; it is also transformed by the pneumatic Christ as the life-giving Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6b, 17-18). Romans 12:2 speaks of our being transformed by the renewing of the mind. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we are transformed into the same image, the image of the resurrected and glorified Christ, from glory to glory. Our human life needs to be transformed, and the Lord is working in us concerning this. We need to cooperate with Him, offering Him a proper coordination. As we cooperate with the Lord, He will have a free way to transform our human life with the element of the divine life.
The One who is transforming us is the pneumatic Christ, that is, Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Derived from the Greek word pneuma, “pneumatic” means spiritual. However, the pneumatic Christ is not a spiritual Christ; the pneumatic Christ is the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit. The Christ who gives life is the pneumatic Christ. He is not Christ in the Spirit; He is the Christ as the pneuma, as the Spirit.
When we describe the Christ who lived on earth, we may speak of Christ in the flesh. As we have pointed out, the term “pneumatic Christ” refers to Christ as the Spirit. Due to traditional teaching concerning the Trinity, we may regard the Spirit as a person separate from Christ and then go on to speak of Christ being in the Spirit. Although it is commonly understood that the phrase “Christ in the flesh” refers to Christ Himself while He was on earth, not many understand the term “Christ in the Spirit” to mean that Christ is the Spirit. This has made it necessary for certain teachers to adopt the term “pneumatic Christ” to denote the Christ who is the Spirit. Because of the influence of tradition, if we speak of Christ in the Spirit, others may think that Christ is separate from the Spirit. They do not realize that Christ is the Spirit.
The word “pneumatic” means spiritual. However, if we use the term “spiritual Christ” instead of “pneumatic Christ,” there may be misunderstanding. The New Testament reveals that the resurrected Christ became the Spirit. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” This is the pneumatic Christ, the very Christ who in resurrection has become the life-giving Spirit.
It is crucial for us to see that it is the pneumatic Christ, not merely the doctrinal or historical Christ, who is real and practical to us in our daily life. It is the pneumatic Christ, the actual and practical Christ in our experience, who is transforming us. Our life in God’s salvation is a life of transformation by the pneumatic Christ as the life-giving Spirit.
We have seen that as believers we have three different lives—the created life of man, the fallen life of Satan, and the uncreated life of God. Though we have all three lives within us, yet we obtain them at three different junctures due to three different occurrences. First, at the time of creation and through creation we obtained the created life of man. Second, during the fall, due to our contact with Satan and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we obtained the fallen life of Satan. Third, at the time of our salvation, because we believed in the Son of God and received Him, we obtained the uncreated life of God. Due to the fact that these three events—creation, fall, and salvation—occurred in us, we obtained the three lives, the lives of man, Satan, and God, each life differing from the others in nature.
Because we have three lives—the created life, the satanic life, and the divine life—we are in a triangular situation comparable to that of Adam in the garden of Eden. Adam was in a triangular situation involving himself, Satan (signified by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), and God (signified by the tree of life). The believers are in a triangular situation involving the created human life, the satanic life, and the divine life, each of which has its own law, a principle that works automatically. If we would grow in the divine life, we need to know these three lives; that is, we need to know the life of the believers in the three stages of creation, fall, and salvation.