Concerning the Spirit, there are two extremes, one found among fundamentalists and the other among Pentecostalists. Because they are afraid of the experience of the Spirit, certain fundamental Christians care primarily for Bible doctrine. But to have only the doctrine of the Bible without the Spirit is to have a lifeless body. The Spirit is embodied in the Word. Hence, the Word may be called the body of the Spirit. To separate the Spirit from the Word is to have a lifeless body. Nevertheless, fundamental Christians are often afraid to hear about the experience of Christ, the Spirit, and the inner life. They represent one extreme.

The Pentecostalists represent another extreme. They may neglect the Word and emphasize the Spirit in an abnormal, unbalanced way.

God’s New Testament economy avoids both extremes. In the economy of God the Spirit is the ultimate and consummate reaching of the Triune God to man. When the Spirit comes to us, the Triune God comes. Along with the Spirit, God gives us the Word. On the one hand, we have the Spirit as the ultimate and consummate reaching of the Triune God; on the other hand, we have the Word as the embodiment of the Spirit. Just as our life and our physical body are one entity, one complete living organism, so the Spirit and the Word are one. As human beings, we must have both a visible and tangible body and also an invisible and intangible life. In like manner, as believers, we need both the Word and the Spirit. Furthermore, just as it is the invisible life within our body which makes our body vigorous and active, it is the Spirit who causes the Word to be living. This indicates that the Spirit and the Word are one. God’s New Testament economy depends on both the Word and the Spirit. We need the Word as the body and the Spirit as the life.

Since the Word and the Spirit are one and since we should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly and should be filled in our spirit with the Spirit, we should avoid the two extremes of the fundamentalists who care for the Word but often neglect the Spirit and the Pentecostalists who care for the Spirit but often neglect the Word. We should not be at either extreme, but should be balanced, caring both for the Spirit and the Word. Within, we have the Spirit, and in our hands we have the Word, the Bible.

Now, in order to enjoy the dispensing of the divine Trinity in the divine transformation for the divine conformation, we need to be filled in our spirit with the processed Triune God who is now the all-inclusive Spirit, and we need to let the word of Christ dwell in us, make home in us, richly. In the two following messages we shall see the kind of living that issues from being filled in our spirit with the Spirit and allowing the word of Christ to dwell in us richly.
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