Romans 12:11 says, “Do not be slothful in zeal, but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord.” What we need is not to do many things but rather to be burning in spirit. This requires that we pray to stay in the presence of the Lord. First, we need to set our mind on the spirit, and second, we must walk according to the spirit. Third, our spirit must be burning. We need to be on fire with the Lord as the fire. We should pray to spend more and more time in the presence of the Lord. If we pray even for half an hour a day, we will be burning. We can compare our spirit to an electric iron. If we leave the iron plugged in for half an hour, it will be burning hot. To be burning in the spirit means that we are on fire in the spirit. The Lord Himself is the consuming fire, the holy and divine fire. Therefore, we need to stay in His presence.
If a Christian prays for an hour and a half daily, he will be spiritually “crazy.” Someone who prays for an hour and a half cannot be cold, clear, and clever. All the clever Christians are cold ones. To be too clever and clear means that we are too cold. When we are burning in spirit, we are not very clear; rather, we are “God-fools,” fools because of Christ (1 Cor. 4:10; 2 Cor. 5:13). When we are cold, we always know how to count the cost, but when we are burning in the spirit, we are foolish, forgetting about the loss. We all need to be burning. Judas, who betrayed the Lord Jesus, was very clear. He was the best accountant, calculating the cost, and eventually he calculated thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:6-9, 14-15). This kind of person has not only a cold spirit but also a dead spirit. When our spirit is living and burning, we will not be clear to count the cost.
In a certain sense, Christians should be foolish. If we have never done something foolish for the Lord, if we have never been beside ourselves, we have never been a good Christian (2 Cor. 5:13). A good Christian, at least sometimes, needs to be beside himself. We need to be burning in the spirit; we must not be so cold. There are many wonderful stories of people who were so burned by the Lord that they did something “foolish” for Him.
Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Righteousness is toward ourselves, peace is toward others, and joy is toward God in the Holy Spirit. We need to be joyful in the spirit. A Christian must be a joyful person. This does not mean that our circumstances will be wonderful. It may actually mean that we are in a “furnace,” like the three friends of Daniel (Dan. 3:19-20, 25). They were in the burning furnace, but they were still joyful. Our surroundings and circumstances may be miserable, but we ourselves must be joyful. If between us and God there is no joy, we are wrong. If we are right with God, there will always be joy, even if we are suffering. When the apostles Paul and Silas were put into prison, their surroundings were terrible, but they were joyful (Acts 16:23-25). To their feeling they were not in the jail but in God. To them, the jail was simply the representative of God, and they were in Him (Eph. 4:1). Therefore, they were joyful.
If we are not burning and joyful, we must be wrong in some way. When we are burning in our spirit and joyful in the Holy Spirit, we enjoy God, reign as kings in life, walk in newness of life, and serve in newness of spirit. In our service we will not give people a feeling of oldness. Rather, in our service and ministry we will always give others a feeling of freshness and newness. Our message may be the same, but the feeling will be new and fresh.
Our being new and fresh requires that we set our mind on our spirit, walk in the spirit and according to the spirit, be burning in spirit, and be joyful in the Holy Spirit. In this way we will boast in God and enjoy Him as our portion. We will spontaneously reign in life as kings, walk in newness of life, and serve in newness of spirit. This is what the book of Romans tells us. Then all the matters mentioned in the last portion of this book, from chapters 12 through 16, are the things we will enjoy in our spirit. When we enjoy God in a burning and joyful spirit, we have all these matters.
The book of Romans is of three sections. The first part tells us that we are justified in Christ, and the second part tells us to walk in the spirit. Then the last part tells us that as we walk in the spirit, we become related with one another to be the living Body of Christ expressing Him to the fullest degree. The Christ who was on the cross as the redeeming Lamb is within us today as the life-giving Spirit, mingling Himself with our human spirit. Now He and we are one spirit. Therefore, we must always regard this spirit, set our mind on the spirit, live and walk according to this spirit, and pray in the spirit, remaining there to spend time in the presence of the Lord so that our spirit will be burning and full of joy. We will enjoy the Lord, reign in life, walk in newness of life, and serve in newness of spirit. Then our whole being will be transformed by the renewing of the mind, and we will be conformed to the image of the Son of God. In this way we will be the real sons of God and the living members of Christ, who are related one with another and built up together as the living Body to express Christ. This is the message of the book of Romans. I look to the Lord that He would have mercy upon us so that we all may see these matters. The key point is that we need to turn to our spirit, remain there, and walk and live according to this spirit. Then all the good things in this book will be worked out.