1. “The mind set on the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither can it be. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8).
In each of our three parts—spirit, soul, and body—there is a different life and a different law with a different operation. When our living comes out of a certain part, the law of the life of that part causes us to live out the nature of its life. Of our three parts, only the body is indwelt with the evil satanic life. Our body sins, and it is a body of sin because it has been mixed with Satan’s evil life (which is sin). Consequently, the law of sin comes out of this life. Romans 6:6 clearly refers to our body as “the body of sin.” Furthermore, sin brings in death. Thus, Romans 7:24 also refers to our body as “the body of this death.”
We have mentioned previously that our body was transmuted into the flesh because of its mixture with the evil life of Satan. Therefore, if we live by the flesh, the life of Satan will cause us to sin. When we set our mind on the flesh and walk by the flesh, we spontaneously sin. This is an experiential fact. Since the sinful life of Satan dwells in the flesh and operates according to a law that causes people to sin, when we live in the flesh and set our mind on the flesh, the law of sin causes us to oppose, contradict, and offend God. According to the Bible, the mind set on the flesh is enmity with God because it is not subject to the law of God and cannot be subject to it. Furthermore, those who set their mind on the flesh, who are in the flesh, cannot please God.
2. “That which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh” (Rom. 8:3).
The outward law of God places demands on us to act according to God’s holiness, righteousness, and goodness. This law, however, is weak through our flesh; that is, it cannot help us attain to the holiness, righteousness, and goodness that it proclaims. Our flesh is full of the evil life of Satan, which frustrates us from matching the outward standard of God’s holiness, righteousness, and goodness. Therefore, the flesh prevents the law from enabling us to reach the standard of God’s holiness, righteousness, and goodness. If we live by the flesh, we will do things that are contrary to the holiness, righteousness, and goodness of the law, making the law weak through the flesh.
3. “If you live according to the flesh, you must die” (Rom. 8:13).
If we live according to the flesh, we will not only sin but also die. Sin brings in death, and death follows sin. Wherever there is sin, there will be death. Sin corrupts us, and death weakens us. The ultimate expression of weakness is death. If we live according to the flesh, we will not only be corrupted by sin but also invaded by death to the extent that we will be dirtied, weakened, condemned, and ultimately deadened. On the one hand, we will be condemned, and on the other hand, we will taste death.
1. “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me...from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2).
Although the body causes us to sin because the law of sin is in our body, we also have two other parts—the soul and the spirit. However, only the operation of the law in one of these parts can free us from the power of sin. This part is our human spirit, not our soul. The life in our soul cannot free us from the life that produces sin, because the good, created human life in our soul was corrupted by Satan and stained by sin due to the fall. Although our soul still has the good element of its created human nature, it was stained and corrupted by Satan and his sinful life. Consequently, it is weak and powerless against sin. Although the law of good in our soul comes out of our good, created life, this life is weak, impotent, and incapable of freeing us from sin. Consequently, this law cannot free us from sin. The law of good in our soul is related to the weakest of the three kinds of life, the created human life, and it cannot overcome the stronger life of Satan. The law in our fallen soul, even though it is related to our good, created life, cannot free us from the power of sin.
Of our spirit, soul, and body, freedom from sin can come only from our human spirit because the law of the Spirit of life is in the spirit. It is divine and strong. Only it can overcome the law of sin in our body. The law of the Spirit of life comes out of God’s life, which is the strongest and most powerful life. Furthermore, God’s Spirit is the base and even the application of this law. This law is in our spirit. If we set our mind on the spirit and live by the spirit, this law will rule from our spirit with its power of salvation and free us from the bondage of sin.
2. “The mind set on the spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6).
God saves us from sin through the Spirit of life, and the Spirit of life is in our spirit and one with our spirit. Thus, if we want to be free from sin, we must set our mind on the spirit and live in the spirit. When we set our mind on the spirit and live in the spirit, the Spirit of life within us manifests its divine power, freeing us from sin and empowering us to live out God’s divine life. Thus, we are filled with life and peace, which is to be filled with satisfaction and rest.
3. “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who...walk...according to the spirit” (Rom. 8:4).
When we set our mind on the spirit and live according to the spirit, the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit brings us into a living that lives out the holiness, righteousness and goodness of God. This fulfills the righteous requirement that the law of God places upon us. We cannot fulfill the righteous requirement of the law if we set our mind on the flesh and live by the flesh. When we set our mind on the spirit and live according to the spirit, we are freed from sin on the negative side, and we can fulfill the righteous demands of the law of God on the positive side.
4. “If by the Spirit...you will live” (Rom. 8:13).
When we set our mind on the flesh and live by the flesh, we not only sin but also die. In the same way, when we set our mind on the spirit and live according to the spirit, we are righteous and also live. Just as sin brings in death, righteousness brings in life. Just as sin brings in death and weakens us, life brings in righteousness and strengthens us. When we follow the Spirit and live according to the Spirit, we are not only freed from sin and live out righteousness, but we are also kept from the weakness of death through the strength of life. We are kept from death and weakness by being freed from sin, and we gain life and strength by living out righteousness. We must follow the spirit and live by the spirit in order to obtain righteousness and life.
Whether we sin or enjoy freedom from sin depends on whether our mind is set on the flesh or on the spirit. If we set our mind on the flesh and live according to the flesh, the law of sin in our body will cause us to sin. If we set our mind on the spirit and live according to the spirit, the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit will free us from sin. The secret of being free from sin is to set our mind on the spirit and follow the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit. We should not focus on the law of good in our soul or even be concerned about the law of sin in our body. It is sufficient to live according to the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit. This is not a matter of striving or struggling to do good or reject evil; it requires us only to live in our spirit and to follow the spirit.
If our will is set on doing good and strives to reject evil, we will not be freed from sin. On the contrary, we will be hindered from living in the spirit and trapped in a pitiful condition; we will be impotent in doing good and powerless to reject evil. Therefore, we should not focus on trying to do good, just as we should not focus on rejecting things that are sinful and evil. Doing good should not be the goal of our living, just as avoiding evil should also not be the focus of our living. We should focus our attention on living in the spirit and following the spirit. We should have no other goal than God and His life. Our only desire should be to live out God and His life. This requires us to live by the life of God, not by our human life or by the satanic life in us.
In order to live according to God’s life, we must not live in our soul or in our flesh. We should live in our spirit and follow the spirit because God’s life is in our spirit. If we live in spirit and follow the Spirit, we will live out the life of God, not the life of our fallen satanic nature or the life of our good, created human nature. As a consequence, our living will not be out of either the evil life of Satan or the good life of man. Instead, we will live out the life of God. When we live out God and His life from our spirit, we are one with God and God is one with us. In this union with God, we are freed from the law of sin that binds us in our members. This is the secret to being freed from sin. This is the secret of overcoming.
1. “Walk...according to the spirit...the mind set on the spirit” (Rom. 8:4-6).
We need to be responsible to cooperate with God according to His way of salvation. If we do not cooperate, our experience of God’s salvation will be incomplete. Our first responsibility is to believe in Christ and in the redemption that He accomplished for us. When we believe, the Spirit of life is imparted into our spirit; this is the initiation of our salvation. After receiving the Spirit in our spirit, we must bear the responsibility to cooperate with the Spirit to experience the reality of our salvation. We must cooperate by walking according to the spirit and setting our mind on the spirit. Since we are one in spirit with the Spirit of life, we must bear the responsibility of walking according to our spirit and setting our mind on the spirit so that the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit can spontaneously enable us to live out the life of God.
We must learn not to be distracted by a life that is according to the flesh or according to the soul in order to bear this responsibility. We must not be distracted by either good or evil or by striving to do good. It is true that living according to the flesh hinders us from following the spirit and setting our mind on the spirit, but living according to our soul also hinders us from following the spirit and setting our mind on the spirit. Both our tendency to do evil and our desire to do good frustrate us from walking according to the Spirit of life in our spirit. There is truly no difference between the actions of the soul and the actions of the flesh in terms of their ability to hinder us from walking according to the spirit, setting our mind on the spirit, and living according to the Spirit of life in our spirit. We must not be distracted by the determinations of our soul or the inclinations of our flesh in order to turn to the spirit and live according to the law of the Spirit of life in the spirit. We should live absolutely in spirit and follow the spirit, set our mind on the spirit, and follow every sense that comes out of the operation of the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit. This is the responsibility that we must bear in order to be freed from sin and to overcome. It is also the responsibility that we must bear in order to live a normal Christian life.
2. “By the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body” (Rom. 8:13).
As we live in the spirit and follow the spirit, we must also bear the responsibility to put to death the practices of the body, which are the practices of the flesh. Since we live in the spirit, there should be no place for the practices of the body. Every practice of the body, whether good or bad, interrupts our living in spirit and makes us unable to live according to the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit; therefore, we must put these practices to death with the cross by the Holy Spirit. This is a responsibility that we must bear if we want to live an overcoming life.