Prayer: Lord, we need You. We need You Yourself every hour. Lord, anoint us with Your presence. Anoint the speaking and the listening with Your presence. Lord, apart from You we have nothing and we are nothing. Lord, we trust in You. Come in to meet our need. Amen.
In this message we want to continue our fellowship concerning Romans 8.
Romans 8:2, one of the most crucial verses in chapter eight, says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” The main topic in this verse is not the Spirit of life but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Although a law is not a person, the law of the Spirit of life here is personified. The law of the Spirit of life frees us from the law of sin and death.
The phrase “the law of the Spirit of life” is composed of three things: the law, the Spirit, and life. “The law of the Spirit” means that the law is the Spirit. Other phrases with a similar grammatical construction are “the life of God” and “the light of God.” The two nouns in such phrases are in apposition to one another. The life of God means the life is God, and the light of God means the light is God. When the Bible says “the Spirit of God” or “the Son of God,” it does not mean that the Son and God are two separate persons or that the Spirit and God are two separate persons. The phrase “the Son of God” means the Son is God. In the same way, “the Spirit of God” means that the Spirit is God.
“The law of the Spirit” means the law is the Spirit. Likewise, “the Spirit of life” means the Spirit is life. The law is the Spirit, and the Spirit is life. All three nouns in this phrase are in apposition to one another. They do not refer to three separate things; rather, they are three aspects of one thing. Three things are compounded together as one.
The Spirit today is a compound Spirit typified by the compound ointment in Exodus 30, which was compounded with four spices and olive oil (Exo. 30:22-25). This ointment typifies the all-inclusive, compound, indwelling, life-giving Spirit. Without such types in the Old Testament it would be difficult to understand the different aspects of the one Spirit in the New Testament. The Spirit today is not only the compound Spirit but also the consummated Spirit. The consummated Spirit is the very consummation of the Triune God.
In order to understand the Bible, we must learn many new biblical terms. According to biblical theology, many new terms such as God’s New Testament economy have been introduced in the recent years. When I studied the Bible as a young man, I was warned by books I read not to invent any new terms in order to avoid heresy. However, I often received new light, which caused me to realize the need of new terms. Language develops according to the development of human culture. The words vitamin and computer are new terms which were invented to express some development in human culture. Theology today also needs some new terms because some new discoveries have been made. Therefore, I invented a number of new terms. There are many new terms in our theology. Brother Nee invented some, and over the past thirty years, I invented more.
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