Is there then any law in the New Testament? There is, but it is not the law of letters. In the New Testament there is only the law of life. This is not an outward law but an inward law; it is not the law written on tablets of stone but the law written on the heart. What about prophets in the New Testament? Just as the law of life replaces the law of letters, so the inner anointing succeeds the prophets. For example, if I have my hair cut, should I seek the Lord’s guidance by praying, “Lord, show me if I should have my hair cut like a cowboy or like a movie star”? There is no need to seek guidance in matters such as this, for there is a law within me forbidding me to have my hair cut in the style of a movie star or a cowboy. The inner law of life regulates me in such matters. Suppose you are a sister in the Lord and you try to have your hair styled like the movie stars. Something deep within will regulate and check you. This is the inner regulating of the law of life. In more than a thousand chapters of the Scriptures there is not one word prohibiting stylish hairdos like those of the movie stars. The movie stars are not mentioned in the Scriptures. But there is an inner law regulating you from patterning yourself after the movie stars.
Suppose a brother is about to minister the word of the Lord. There is no need for him to ask, “Lord, should I wear cowboy pants?” If he proceeds to dress this way, the inner regulating law will check and prohibit him. This is a fixed principle of the law within him. Neither is there any need for him to seek guidance about cutting his hair like a cowboy. But when and where to get his hair cut are a matter of the Lord’s guidance. Therefore, he needs to pray, “Lord, is it Your will for me to get my hair cut today? Should I get it cut in the barbershop or in the home of a brother?” This is a matter not of the inner law but of the inner anointing. The anointing within is his indwelling Prophet, who gives him guidance. If he becomes careless and does not seek the guidance of the Prophet within, he may go hastily to a brother to get his hair cut and have some trouble. Because of his carelessness about the anointing within, he may suffer. Do you see the point?
Most women like to buy things. When they enter a department store, they have no limitation and no regulation except that of their checking account. But the dear sisters who love the Lord and learn to live and walk by the Lord have a different story. When they enter a department store and pick up an item, something within regulates them and says, “Put it down,” and they obey. When they pick up another item, again the inner regulating says, “Don’t touch it; put it down.” What is this inner protest? This is the inner law, the law of life. The worldly women can pick up anything they desire, regardless of design, color, and shape. If they like it, they buy it. But the sisters who love the Lord have an inner negative feeling when they pick up certain items. This is the regulating of the inner law.
On the other hand, if you need to purchase a certain item, you should seek the guidance of the inner anointing as to how much you should spend for it. You need to fellowship with the Lord, seeking His guidance through the inner anointing. No one else can tell you. If you brought the problem to me, I would say, “Don’t ask me; ask the indwelling One. You know how much you should spend by the anointing within you.” You may ask the Lord, “Lord, should I spend one hundred fifty dollars?” The inner anointing may say, “No.” Eventually, the inner anointing may give you the freedom to spend only fifty dollars.
A husband cannot even tell his wife what she should do. If the wife asks her husband whether she should buy a thirty-dollar hat, he had better say, “Dear, you must go to the Lord and seek His guidance by the inner anointing.” The inner anointing will tell her, but she needs time to pray and contact the Lord. She may pray, “Lord, I worship You. You are my life. You are my Lord, and You are dwelling within me. Lord, give me the proper feeling as to how much I should spend for a hat.” After praying in this way, she will sense the Lord within her. The inner anointing will give her a proper inner sense regarding how much she should spend.
If you do not have this kind of experience, I am afraid you may not be a child of God. Romans 8:14 says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” How does the Spirit of God lead us? He leads us by the inner anointing. Praise the Lord that we are the new creation in resurrection. In resurrection we have the Triune God Himself, we have Him as our life and as our nature, and we also have both the inner law of life and His Spirit as the ointment working within us, continually moving and anointing us with God Himself. The more we are anointed in this practical way, the more we will have the very essence of God within us. The anointing can be likened to a painter who paints a table. The more he paints the table, the more paint is added to the table. The more we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit within us, the more we will gain the substance of God Himself. If we are willing to be continually anointed by the Holy Spirit within us, after a certain period of time we will have more of God’s substance with God’s essence in our being. God Himself is the paint, the Holy Spirit is the Painter, and the anointing is the painting, the applying of the paint. The Holy Spirit is painting us inwardly with God Himself as the paint. This painting will give us the inner sense of the Lord’s will.
We need to have the inner regulating and the inner anointing. We are regulated by the inner law to be kept in the Lord’s way, and we are anointed by the inner anointing to know the Lord’s will in everything. In this way the very essence of God Himself is increased within us all the time. The more we are painted by the Holy Spirit with God as the paint, the more the substance of God Himself will be added within us. These are the riches of resurrection as our inward, practical experience.