Before the Spirit enters into us to carry out these six things, He must first do one thing. John 16:8 shows that the Spirit causes man to repent, to rebuke himself, and to confess his sin. Verses 9 and 11 say, “Concerning sin, because they do not believe into Me; and concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father;...and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” Concerning sin, the Spirit shows people that they will be condemned if they remain in Adam and do not believe in the Lord. Concerning righteousness, the Spirit shows people that they can be justified by believing in Christ because God has accomplished redemption. Concerning judgment, the Spirit shows people that they will be judged in the future if they follow Satan because Satan has been judged by God.
When people see these matters concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, they are convicted to repent and receive the Savior. Then the Spirit enters into them to regenerate them, and from this time onward, the Spirit carries out these six things continuously within them.
At the end of the Gospel of John, on the first day of the week, the Lord in His resurrected body came into the midst of the disciples and breathed into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (20:22). This may be considered the last thing spoken of in the Gospel of John. The entire Gospel of John ends here: the incarnated Christ has been transfigured into the Spirit, becoming the Spirit of resurrection to enter into our spirit.
At the end of the Gospel of John there is a story of the Spirit. John begins with life and ends with the Spirit. From this we can see that the story of life is in the Spirit. In order to know life, we need to know the Spirit; if we do not know the Spirit, we cannot touch life. Today in the church life, many people know biblical teachings but do not know the Spirit. If we ask them to give some teachings, many can, but if we ask them to touch the Spirit, they cannot. Without even speaking of the Christians who are not among us, many saints who meet with us have a shallow and limited knowledge of the Spirit. Consequently, few saints live in the fellowship of life. This shows that it is very difficult to touch life without knowing the Spirit. Without touching life, it is not possible to live in the fellowship of life. If we would practice living in the fellowship of life, we must know the Spirit.
The Gospel of John speaks especially of God being our life and emphasizes the Spirit, because life can be received, experienced, and enjoyed by man only in the Spirit. Since the Spirit is life, we cannot know life unless we touch the Spirit. In the Gospel of John we can see that life and the Spirit, the Spirit and life, are one; they are joined together and cannot be separated.
In order to see the story of the Spirit, we must first know the Spirit. There are two portions in the Gospel of John which speak of the Spirit and the spirit: the first Spirit is the Spirit of God, and the second spirit is our human spirit. These two are involved in the Spirit begetting our spirit. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The first Spirit in this verse refers to the Spirit on God’s side, and the second spirit refers to the spirit on man’s side. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.” The first Spirit in this verse refers to the Spirit on God’s side, and the second spirit refers to the spirit on man’s side. This verse also speaks of two spirits.
The Spirit spoken of in Romans 8:16 is a mingled spirit, that is, the Spirit on God’s side and the spirit on man’s side mingled as one. It is hard to say whether the spirit in Romans 8 is the Spirit of God or the spirit of man because it is the Spirit of God mingled with the spirit of man to be one spirit. Hence, when we focus on the story of the spirit, we should not focus merely on the Spirit of God or the spirit of man. We should not focus on only one aspect of the spirit but on the one spirit from two viewpoints; that is, we must focus on the spirit which is the mingling of the Spirit of God and the spirit of man.
To experience life is to experience God, which is to experience Christ and the Spirit. Why do we say that to experience God, Christ, and the Spirit is to experience life? God is life, so to experience God is to experience life. Christ is life, so to experience Christ is to experience life. The Spirit is life, so to experience the Spirit is to experience life. God, Christ, and the Spirit are life.
What is the result of experiencing God, Christ, and the Spirit? Experiencing God causes us to touch God inwardly; therefore, to experience God is to touch God. To experience Christ is to experience His living in us and ultimately His being formed in us. When the element of Christ increases in us, He will be formed in us and expressed through us. Then we will have the stature of the fullness of Christ, and in the end, we will be transformed into His image. To experience the Spirit is to experience God in Christ as our life; in other words, it is to experience the Spirit operating in us.
To experience God is to touch God inwardly and to be touched by God. To experience Christ, in brief, is to experience Christ living in us. To experience the Spirit is to experience God in Christ as our life, that is, to experience the Spirit operating in us. This is the experience of life.