Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” The spirit in this verse refers to the mingled spirit, our regenerated spirit mingled with the divine Spirit. We should continually set our mind on this mingled spirit. If our mind is set on the flesh, the mind will be death. But if we turn our mind to the mingled spirit and set it on the spirit, our mind will be life and peace. First, our spirit becomes life through regeneration (Rom. 8:10). Then by being set on the spirit our mind can also become life.
It is a great protection for us to set our mind on the mingled spirit. This enables us to walk by the Spirit in our daily living and to keep ourselves in the divine dispensing. By setting our mind on the mingled spirit, we enjoy the divine dispensing of the divine Trinity.
As the believers set their mind on the mingled spirit and walk according to this spirit, they are freed from the law of sin and of death. In Romans 8:2 Paul says, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” In this verse “law” denotes a principle, an unchanging rule, that operates automatically and spontaneously. Every kind of life, including the satanic life and the divine life, has such a law, which is the innate ability of that life. This ability is inborn, spontaneous, automatic, constant, and instant. The life of God is the highest life with the highest characteristics and capabilities. Because these highest characteristics and capabilities constitute the law of the life of God, this law is the highest law.
In Romans 8:2 Paul speaks not merely of the law of life but of the law of the Spirit of life. The law of the Spirit of life is nothing less than the processed Triune God becoming the life-giving Spirit to dwell within us. After being processed, the Triune God has been dispensed into us to become the law of the Spirit of life in us, and this law now frees us from the law of sin and death, the law of the satanic life. Because the highest law, the law of the Spirit of life, is operating within us, there is no need for us to strive to overcome the law of sin and of death. Instead of striving, we should simply allow the law of the Spirit of life to work within us.
As we remain in the death of Christ, the resurrection life that issues from this death will become the element that energizes us to walk according to the mingled spirit and to set our mind upon this spirit. Spontaneously we are freed from the evil law of the satanic life, the law of sin and of death. Then in our experience the evil law is defeated, and we are in Christ enjoying another law, the highest law, the law of the Spirit of life.
Romans 8:4 indicates that when we walk according to spirit, the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us. If we walk according to the mingled spirit, all the righteous requirements of the law will be fulfilled spontaneously. There will be no need for us to try to keep the law, for the requirements of the law are fulfilled automatically by the law of the Spirit of life. For this reason, Paul gives us a unique commandment-to live, walk, and have our being according to the mingled spirit.
When we walk according to spirit, we spontaneously keep the law, even though that is not our intention. Our intention is to live to Christ and to walk according to spirit, but the outcome is that all the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us. Actually, we live a life with a standard higher than that of the Ten Commandments, a life with the standard of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens revealed in Matthew 5 through 7. Therefore, when we walk according to spirit, we have a standard of morality much higher than that required by the Mosaic law.
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