Message Six

The Key to Being an Overcomer—
the Law of the Spirit of Life for the Body Life

Scripture Reading: Rom. 7:15—8:2, 4, 6

1. The key to being an overcomer is the law of the Spirit of life in Romans 8, a chapter for desperate seekers—7:24—8:2, 28-29:
   1. Romans 7 is the experience of being “in the flesh”; Romans 8 is the experience of being “in the spirit” (the divine Spirit dwelling in our human spirit and these two mingled together to be one spirit)—vv. 4, 9-10, 16; 1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Tim. 4:22.
   2. The enjoyment of the law of the Spirit of life in Romans 8 ushers us into the reality of the Body of Christ in Romans 12; this law operates within us as we live in the Body and for the Body—8:2, 28-29; 12:1-2, 11; Phil. 1:19.
   3. The whole key to our living and service in the Body of Christ is the law of the Spirit of life, which operates within us:
      1. The law of the Spirit of life makes us God in life, nature, and expression but not in the Godhead, shaping us into the image of the firstborn Son of God so that we may become His corporate expression—Rom. 8:2, 29.
      2. The law of the Spirit of life constitutes us the members of the Body of Christ with all kinds of functions—Eph. 4:11-12, 16.
2. In order to experience the indwelling Christ as the law of the Spirit of life, we must see the three lives and four laws in Romans 7 and 8:
   1. The created human life with the law of good is in our soul; this law derives from the natural human life, that is, from man himself—7:21-23; Gen. 1:31; Eccl. 7:29.
   2. The evil satanic life with the law of sin and of death is in our flesh; this law derives from Satan, who as sin dwells in the believers’ flesh—Rom. 6:6; 7:15-20, 23-24; 1 John 3:10; John 8:44; Matt. 13:38; 23:33; 3:7; Rom. 3:13.
   3. The uncreated divine life with the law of the Spirit of life is in our human spirit; this law derives from God, who as the Spirit dwells in man’s spirit—8:2, 9-10, 16; John 1:4; 10:10b; 14:6a; 1 Cor. 15:45b:
      1. Every life has a law and even is a law; God’s life is the highest life, and the law of this life is the highest law—cf. John 1:4-5; 12:24; 14:6a; 10:10b; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
      2. The Triune God has been processed through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to become the law of the Spirit of life installed in our spirit as a “scientific” law, an automatic principle—Rom. 8:2-3, 11, 34, 16.
      3. The law of the Spirit of life is the spontaneous power of the divine life; it is the natural characteristic and the innate, automatic function of the divine life—12:2; Phil. 2:13; Ezek. 36:26-27; Isa. 40:28-31; Heb. 12:2a; Phil. 4:13; Col. 1:28-29; cf. Prov. 30:18-19.
   4. These three parties with the three laws are now present in the believer in much the same way that they (God, man, and Satan) were present in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3).
   5. In addition to these three laws within the believer, there is the law of God outside of him—Rom. 7:22, 25.
3. While we remain in touch with the Lord, staying in contact with Him, the law of the Spirit of life works automatically, spontaneously, and effortlessly:
   1. We must cease from our own struggling and striving—Gal. 2:20a; cf. Rom. 7:15-20:
      1. If we have not seen that sin is a law and that our will can never overcome this law, we are trapped in Romans 7; we will never arrive at Romans 8.
      2. Paul willed again and again, but the result was only repeated failure; the best that a man can do is to make resolutions—7:18.
      3. When sin is dormant within us, it is merely sin, but when it is aroused in us by our willing to do the good, it becomes “the evil”—v. 21.
      4. Instead of willing, we should set our mind on the spirit and walk according to the spirit—8:6, 4; Phil. 2:13.
   2. We must cooperate with the indwelling, installed, automatic, and inner-operating God by prayer and by having a spirit of dependence, calling upon the Lord to maintain our fellowship with Him—Rom. 10:12-13; 1 Thes. 5:17; Eph. 6:17-18.
   3. We must care for the sense of life in our spirit in order to remain in the fellowship of life, the flowing of the divine life, for the operation of the law of the Spirit of life—Rom. 8:6, 16; 1 John 1:2-3, 6-7:
      1. The sense of life, on the negative side, is the feeling of death—weakness, emptiness, uneasiness, restlessness, depression, dryness, darkness, pain, etc.
      2. The sense of life, on the positive side, is the feeling of life and peace—strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, livingness, watering, brightness, comfort, etc.
      3. The sense of life is related to the consciousness of the conscience according to the life of God—Eph. 4:18-19.
   4. We must take heed to our spirit and guard our heart; the spirit is the organ to contact the life of God, and the heart is the key, the switch, the strategic point, which allows the life of God to be dispensed into us and freely operate in us—Psa. 78:8; Mal. 2:15-16; Prov. 4:23; Ezek. 36:26; Eph. 3:17; cf. Ezek. 14:3.
   5. We must walk according to the spirit—live in the spirit—Rom. 8:4, 16; cf. 1 Cor. 2:14:
      1. The secret of experiencing Christ is to be in Him, the One who empowers us to do all things, and the secret of being in Him is to be in our spirit—Phil. 4:12-13, 23.
      2. In order to live in our spirit, we must take time to behold the Lord, praying to fellowship with Jesus to bathe in His countenance, to be saturated with His beauty, and to radiate His excellence—2 Cor. 3:16, 18; cf. Matt. 14:23.
      3. In order to live in our spirit, we must pray without ceasing—1 Thes. 5:17; cf. John 20:22; Lam. 3:55-56; Rom. 10:12-13.
      4. In order to live in our spirit, we must remain in the fellowship of the divine life to walk in the divine light—1 John 1:2-3, 6-7.
   6. We must mind the things of the Spirit—set our mind on the spirit—Rom. 8:5-6:
      1. We must pay attention to the sense of our spirit in order to not grieve the Spirit and not quench the Spirit—Mal. 2:15-16; Eph. 4:30; 1 Thes. 5:19.
      2. We can set our mind on the spirit by setting our mind on God’s words, which are spirit and life—John 6:63; Isa. 55:8-11.
      3. To mind the things of the Spirit, that is, to set our mind on the spirit, is also to be one with the Lord to care for the church with all the saints in the inward parts of Christ Jesus—Phil. 1:8; cf. 2:21.
   7. We must put to death by the Spirit the practices of our body—Rom. 8:13; Zech. 4:6; Gal. 5:16:
      1. We must allow the Spirit to inhabit and reside in our inward being—Rom. 8:9, 11.
      2. We must remain in the church life, where the God of peace crushes Satan under our feet—12:1-2, 11; 16:20.
   8. We must be led by the Spirit as the sons of God—8:14:
      1. To be led by the Spirit is to take care of the inner anointing, the moving and working of the indwelling, compound Spirit—1 John 2:20, 27.
      2. To be led by the Spirit is to care for the rest in our spirit, that is, to be led as a captive in Christ’s triumphal procession—2 Cor. 2:12-14; 7:5-6.
   9. We must cry to the Father in the spirit of sonship—Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6:
      1. When we cry “Abba, Father!” (Rom. 8:15), “the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God” (v. 16).
      2. To cry “Abba, Father!” expresses the sweetness of our intimate relationship with our God—cf. Matt. 18:3.
   10. We must groan in the interceding Spirit for our full sonship, which is the redemption of our body—Rom. 8:23, 26-27:
       1. In our groaning the Spirit groans also, interceding for us.
       2. The interceding Spirit prays for us that we may be conformed to the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God—vv. 28-29.
   11. We must love God and be constrained, restricted, and motivated by the love of Christ to more than conquer in all things—vv. 31-39:
       1. By loving God, we participate in all the riches contained in God—1 Cor. 2:9-10.
       2. We must be constrained by the love of Christ to love God and the saints with Christ as our love—2 Cor. 5:14.
4. The processed and consummated Triune God, as the spontaneous and automatic power of the law of the Spirit of life, accomplishes the following things within us:
   1. This power inclines our heart toward God—Prov. 21:1; Psa. 119:36.
   2. This power makes us submissive toward God—Phil. 2:13.
   3. This power causes us to do the good works which God has ordained for us so that we may live the church life and bear the testimony of Jesus—Eph. 2:10.
   4. This power causes us to labor for the Lord with all our heart and strength—1 Cor. 15:10; Col. 1:28-29.
   5. This power causes our service to be living and fresh—Rom. 6:4; 7:6; 2 Cor. 3:6.
5. Ultimately, our enjoyment of the indwelling Spirit as the automatic law of the divine life is in the Body of Christ and for the Body of Christ with the goal of making us the same as God in life, nature, and expression but not in the Godhead to accomplish the goal of His eternal economy—Rom. 8:2, 28-29; 12:1-2; 11:36; 16:27; Phil. 1:19.