In chapter 17 we saw that the divine life that we have received issues in the fellowship of life, or the current of life, and this current of life produces the inner feeling, the deeper consciousness, of life. Now let us consider the difference between the soul and the spirit.
We need to bear in mind that the tabernacle and the temple had three parts: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The New Testament definitely declares that we are the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). Therefore, the tabernacle and the temple are types not only of Christ but also of Christians. The human being consists of three parts: the body, the soul, and the spirit (1 Thes. 5:23). These three parts correspond with the three parts of the tabernacle: the body with the outer court, the soul with the Holy Place, and the spirit with the Holy of Holies.
In the type of the tabernacle, God’s presence, or the shekinah glory of God, and the Ark, which is a type of Christ, were in the Holy of Holies. Christ in our spirit is the New Testament application and fulfillment of this type. Today Christ is in the innermost part of our being, which is now the Holy of Holies.
Because of this fact, the book of Hebrews deals with this matter. As we have seen, Hebrews 4:12 sets forth the need to divide the spirit from the soul. In other words, we need to discern the spirit from the soul in order to realize in our experience the living Christ, who dwells in our spirit. This is consistent with the teachings of the entire New Testament. The four Gospels exhort us to deny and renounce the soul, and the Epistles encourage us to walk according to the spirit and live in the human spirit. It is in this spirit that the Lord Jesus as the divine Spirit dwells (2 Tim. 4:22). Therefore, we discern the human spirit from the soul by denying the soul and by following the Lord in our spirit.
Let us consider a problem in the application of this principle. A sister once came to me, saying, “If we are not in the spirit as the Holy of Holies, we are still in the body or the soul. How, then, can we exercise the spirit?” This question seems quite logical. If we are still in the body or the soul and have not entered into the spirit, how can we exercise the spirit? We cannot answer this question by any mental process. When we are still living in our body or our soul, it does not mean that we are wholly cut off from our spirit. When we exercise our hands or our feet, does that mean that our hands or our feet are cut off from our head? We are a whole being: body, soul, and spirit. We cannot cut this being into three parts. I told this sister that even when she repented and believed on the Lord Jesus, her repentance was an exercise of her spirit. Real repentance requires a contrite spirit (Psa. 51:17; Isa. 57:15; 66:2). If repentance is merely in our mentality, it is not a deep and real repentance. Repentance must be realized deep in our spirit. When we received the Lord Jesus, we exercised our spirit, although we had no conscious knowledge of the term spirit. Every stage in our experience of the Lord is something in our spirit.
When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we came to the cross, where we were redeemed. In the type of the tabernacle the cross is typified by the altar, which was located in the outer court. We repented and received the Lord Jesus at the cross. At the very moment we were saved, there was a real exercise of our spirit. Because we exercised our spirit, we touched God, sensed God, and had a living contact with God.
But perhaps after being saved, we did not live by the spirit or even by the soul, but by the ways of the world. Yes, we were saved at the cross, which meant that we passed by the altar in the outer court; but we did not subsequently live by the spirit, nor even by the soul; rather, we lived according to the worldly ways.
You may ask what the worldly ways are. Let me illustrate by telling about a brother by the name of Sun, who originally was a judge in a law court. One day he was brought to a gospel meeting where I was preaching. After the meeting this unbeliever came to me with a worldly question: “Mr. Lee, please tell me, is God a male or a female?” I answered by telling him a little bit about God and Christ. Then he said that he was very impressed by my preaching, but he did not know how to believe. I told him simply to open himself to receive Christ, for Christ is the Spirit and is everywhere. I said, “Go home and close your door; kneel down, confess your sins, and open yourself to Christ. Tell Him that you believe He died for you and that you receive Him as your Savior.” He promised that he would do it.
That night while he was with his family, who knew nothing about Christianity, he suddenly closed the door to his room. His wife and son asked him what he was going to do, to which he replied that he had some special business and that he had to close the door. He knelt down and prayed. His wife and son, spying through the window, wondered why he was kneeling and laughed at him. After he prayed, he thought something would suddenly happen to him, but nothing happened. The next morning after breakfast he had to go to court to take care of a case, and on his way, all of a sudden, something happened. He told me that the whole universe changed. How wonderful the heavens and the earth became! Even a little dog and a cat, which he formerly despised, were now very pleasant to him. He was so joyful that he began to laugh. He wondered, “What is this?” When he entered the courtroom and began his case, he could not control his laughing, and after the case was concluded, he came home laughing more and more. His wife asked, “What happened to you? Did you get a lot of money? What makes you so happy and joyful?” He replied, “I don’t know. I am simply joyful. Everything in the universe has changed.” The next day he met a young brother who helped him to realize that he was truly saved.
After this, however, although he was saved, he continued to act and live in a worldly way and look at things as worldly people look at them. In his experience he was still in the outer court under the sun; all his senses were the same as before. On the third day he was brought again to the church meeting. I was happy to see him there. After the meeting he said, “Mr. Lee, you are a good speaker and are quite eloquent. From what school did you graduate?” His remarks revealed the worldly way in which he looked at things. Then he conversed with me about many matters concerning the church. He said, “How did you bring in so many people? What means did you use? Did you advertise or use some kind of propaganda like a political party?” This is an absolutely worldly way of looking at things. Then he asked me, “Mr. Lee, I would like to be a Christian. Please tell me the procedure. Do I have to fill out some forms or sign some papers?” Of course, I helped him to have the right understanding. But then he asked me, “Suppose I become a member of your church; how much money do I have to contribute yearly? And what shall I do with my family? Will your church control my whole family? Will you give many regulations to my wife and child?” This is the worldly way. This person was truly saved, but all these things proved that he was still in the outer court and even still in Egypt. He had experienced the Passover, but he had not yet crossed the Red Sea. He was still in the physical world.