The believers enjoy the dispensing of the divine Trinity in the divine transformation for the divine conformation by being filled in their spirit with the processed Triune God and letting the word of Christ dwell in them richly (Eph. 5:18b; Col. 3:16a). When we are filled in our spirit with the Spirit and allow the word of Christ to make home in us, we automatically live a life that matches the new man in grace and truth and that matches the wife of Christ in love and light. In this message we shall see that as the result of being filled in our spirit with the Spirit and of being saturated with the word of Christ, we shall also speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ to live a proper human life.
When we are filled in our spirit with the processed Triune God and let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, we speak to one another, teaching, admonishing, in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing, psalming to the Lord, and giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. After charging us to be filled in spirit (Eph. 5:18) Paul goes on to say in verse 19, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are not only for singing and psalming but also for speaking to one another. Such speaking, singing, and psalming are the outflow of being filled in spirit. However, they may also be the way for us to be filled in spirit. Psalms are long poems, hymns are shorter ones, and spiritual songs are the shortest. All are needed in order for us to be filled with the Lord and to overflow with Him in our Christian life.
Whereas singing may be short, psalming is always long. Sometimes just by singing we cannot express what is in us to the Lord; we need psalming to pour out our praise to the Lord adequately.
In 5:20 Paul goes on to say, “Giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father.” We should give thanks to God the Father not only at good times but at bad times, and not only for good things but for all things. Even at the worst times, we should give thanks for all things to God our Father.
This verse tells us to give thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The reality of the name of the Lord is His person. To be in His name is to be in His person, in the Lord Himself. This implies that we should be one with the Lord in giving thanks to God.
Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” Here the infilling of spiritual life that overflows in praising and singing is related to the Word, whereas in the parallel passage, Ephesians 5:18-20, the infilling of spiritual life is related to the Spirit. This indicates that the Word and the Spirit are identical (John 6:63b). A normal Christian life should be one that is filled with the Word that the Spirit may bubble from within in lauding melodies.
According to Colossians 3:16, when the word of Christ dwells in us richly, we shall teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to God. Teaching, admonishing, and singing are all related to the verb “dwell.” This indicates that the way to let the Lord’s word dwell in us richly is by teaching, admonishing, and singing. We should teach and admonish not only in words but also in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Colossians 3:16 also indicates that when we are filled with the word of Christ, we should be filled with joy. If we receive the Lord’s word and yet have no joy, something must be wrong. When we receive the word of Christ, we actually receive the Spirit. Receiving the Spirit should stir us up and cause us to be joyful and to sing.
In Colossians 3:17 Paul continues, “And in everything, whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” This is the result of allowing the word of Christ to inhabit us. Doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus is related to letting the word of Christ saturate us and permeate us. The word of Christ is actually the embodiment of Christ. Thus, when the word as the embodiment of Christ is mingled with our inner being, inwardly we are one with Christ. It is at such a time that we can spontaneously do things in the name of the Lord. Because the Lord has saturated us, permeated us, and mingled Himself with us, making us one with Him, we can do all things in His name.
To do things in the Lord’s name is to do things in Him. The name denotes the person, and the Lord’s person is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17a). Therefore, to do things in the name of the Lord is to act in the Spirit.
In the past, many of us did not exercise our whole being when we came to the Word. Often we used only our mind to study the Bible. We did not even exercise our emotion adequately to love the Word, or exercise our will strongly to receive the Word. But if we exercise our whole being to take in the Word, eventually we shall be filled, occupied, and saturated with the living Word. Because the Word is the embodiment of the Spirit and because the Spirit is the reality of Christ, we shall automatically be filled with Christ. Then whatever we do or say will be in the name of Christ. This is to live Christ. We live Christ automatically when we are saturated with the word of Christ through the Spirit.
Home | First | Prev | Next