The second obligation we have toward the Triune God is to love Him. Paul said, “That you being rooted and grounded in love” (Eph. 3:17b). Everyone who genuinely believes in the Lord will love the Lord. If someone has helped us, it is reasonable that we would love him. Because he has done us a favor, this favor stirs up our love toward him. At the Lord’s table we often hear the saints pray, “O Lord, You gave up Your life for our sins, shedding Your blood and enduring the suffering of the cross.” This kind of prayer is good, but not only should we see that the Lord died for us, we should also see that He lives in us. This is the subjective aspect. At the Lord’s table our heart should be touched by His grace to praise Him that He lives in us and is united with us.
The Lord not only died for us, but He also lives in us. He died for us so that He may enter into us. Without the shedding of blood, a lamb or an ox cannot enter into us as our food to become our element. It is not enough to see only the Lord’s love in dying for us; we should also see the purpose of His love in dying for us. What is this purpose? It is that He may enter into us to be our food, our life, and our element. If we see this, we will praise the Lord at His table, saying, “O Lord, without Your death and the shedding of Your blood, I would not be able to receive this bread and cup into me today. Lord, I thank You.”
If we realize this, we will sense from within that the Lord is really lovely. We will not only adore Him and be affectionate toward Him, but we will truly love Him. He is so wonderful and so precious! If we genuinely know Him, we will surely love Him. We cannot experience Him unless we believe in Him and love Him. Only those who believe in Him and love Him can experience Him. Love is a strict requirement. The Lord has not turned away from us; rather, we are the ones who do not love Him. If we do not love Him, it is impossible for us to experience Him. We must have both faith and love toward Him. Faith and love are the factors for us to experience Him.
We need to spend some time and effort to understand our practical experience. We know that God fills us by indwelling our spirit. Man not only has a body and a soul, but he also has a spirit in the deepest part of his being. The Bible tells us that man has three parts. Speaking from the inside out, we have the spirit, the soul, and the body (1 Thes. 5:23). Speaking from the outside in, we have the body, the soul, and the spirit. The outermost part is the body, the innermost part is the spirit, and in between the spirit and the body is the soul.
Our body is our outward part, our outward organ. Our soul is our self, which includes three parts-mind, emotion, and will. When we think, we use the thinking organ, which is our mind, our brain. The word brain is a biological term, while the word mind is a psychological term. Our thinking and our consideration are functions of our mind, which is the leading part of our soul. Our emotion is the organ of our joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. We may like something, we may be happy, or we may be angry. These are functions of the emotion, the second part of our soul. Making decisions and choices are functions of our will, the third part of our soul. These three parts-the mind, emotion, and will-added together constitute the soul. What is the soul? The soul is our “I,” our personality, our self. We often say “I,” and this “I” refers mostly to our soul. Most people know only that man has a body, which is physical, and a soul, which is psychological. Their analysis of man ends here.
The Bible tells us, however, that man not only has two parts-body and soul-but that man also has a spirit deep within him. All saved ones can comprehend the condition that our spirit is in and the need that our spirit has. For example, sometimes we do not have any problem physically and we are happy psychologically, but inwardly we still feel depressed. Even though we have material enjoyment and are not lacking psychological entertainment, inwardly we still feel unhappy. As a result, our seeking of God and praying to God come out of our inmost and deepest part-our spirit.
We all know that God dwells in our spirit. However, how can the God who indwells our spirit be manifested in us? When we speak about man, our emphasis is not on man’s body; rather, we are referring to man’s soul. When God is manifested in us, He is manifested in our soul. This means that God is expressed through our soul-our mind, emotion, and will. When we say that God is seen in us, we mean that God’s element is seen in our mind, emotion, and will. We think as God thinks, and we make decisions as God makes decisions.
Although many people are saved and have God in their spirit, they do not have God’s element in their mind, emotion, and will. Some zealous Christians may be moved when they kneel down to pray and touch God, but after they rise up, they are the same as they were before. Their thoughts are still their thoughts, their will is still their will, and their emotion is still their emotion. Such a one is genuinely saved and God truly dwells in his spirit, but God is surrounded by his soul and is not able to move. Outside the spirit is the soul, and outside the soul is the body. The spirit, soul, and body are three layers, and each layer is deeper than the next.
For example, consider a lightbulb. Outwardly it has a shade, and inwardly it has a filament. In addition, there is electricity passing through the filament. If the filament has some problems, the electricity will not be able to pass through it. These three layers-the filament, the lightbulb, and the shade-may be likened to our spirit, soul, and body. The lampshade may be likened to our body, the lightbulb to our soul, and the filament to our spirit in which God dwells. If we put many colors on the lightbulb, the light within will not shine forth. Similarly, today God is dwelling in us, but if our mind, emotion, and will are filled with our self, the world, and sins, He is not able to be expressed through us.
Now the question is, how do we allow God, who is in our spirit, to be expressed through our soul-our mind, emotion, and will, so that when people see us, they see that we have God in us? How do we become those whose thoughts, emotions, decisions, likes, and inclinations all have God’s flavor, those who have God within us?
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