How do we know the Spirit? When Romans 8 speaks of the Spirit, it indicates that life is related to the Spirit—“the Spirit of life” (v. 2) and “the mind of the Spirit is life” (v. 6, ASV). Life is the first thing that is related to the Spirit. The Spirit of life shows that life is the content of the Spirit. The Spirit becomes the Spirit of life because life is the content of the Spirit. When we touch life, we touch the content of the Spirit, and we also touch the Spirit Himself. The mind of the Spirit is life also proves that life is the issue of the Spirit. As long as we set our mind on the Spirit and touch the Spirit, the issue will be life. Therefore, in order to know the Spirit, we need to know life.
Sugar water is water that has sugar as its content, its element; this is why it is called sugar water. Likewise, the Spirit of life is called the Spirit of life because the element of the Spirit is life; life is the content of the Spirit. Since life is the content of the Spirit, life is also the issue of the Spirit. Since sugar is the content and element of the water, when we drink the water, sugar also comes into us. Sugar is the content as well as the issue of the water. Hence, life is the content of the Spirit, and life is also the issue of the Spirit. Whenever we touch the Spirit and set our mind on the Spirit, the issue is life.
“The law of the Spirit of life” in Romans 8:2 shows that the Spirit is not only related to life but also to law. These three things—life, the Spirit, and law—are linked together. The Spirit is called the Spirit of life, and this Spirit has a law. Life is the content and issue of the Spirit; law is the function and operation of the Spirit.
Since the Spirit is as abstract as electricity, some wonder how we can know the Spirit. Scientists tell us that we can know electricity only by its manifestations. We see electric lamps emitting light, but the light is not electricity itself; it is a manifestation of electricity. No one can see electricity. We cannot open a fluorescent lamp to get some electricity and examine it. Even an expert scientist cannot produce electricity for us to see.
We cannot see electricity, but we can see light, which is an expression of electricity. Likewise, we cannot touch the Spirit, but we can touch the manifestations of the Spirit. Life is a manifestation of the Spirit, and the law of the Spirit of life is also a manifestation of the Spirit. For instance, when we see an electric fan that is motionless, we know that there is no electricity in the fan because the fan is not turning. When the fan turns and moves, we know that electricity is present because of its manifestation. We cannot see electricity because it is invisible. Likewise, it is difficult for us to know the Spirit by the Spirit Himself because the Spirit is invisible.
People in the world acknowledge that there is electricity because they have seen, experienced, and enjoyed the various manifestations of electricity. For example, electricity causes lamps to emit light, radios to produce sound, fans to turn, cars to move, and machines to operate. All of these are manifestations of electricity. For many years we have said that we need to follow the Spirit and live in the Spirit, but in reality, we felt that these sayings were too abstract. We did not know how to follow the Spirit and how to live in the Spirit. Therefore, we only had sayings about living in the Spirit but not the reality of following the Spirit. Gradually, we realized that the Spirit, like electricity, is intangible, so we can know the Spirit only through the manifestations of the Spirit.
When Romans 8 speaks of the Spirit, it also speaks of four things related to the Spirit. The first is life; the second, law; the third, peace; and the fourth, death, which is in contrast to life and peace. These four items are manifestations of the Spirit. There is not another chapter in the sixty-six books of the Bible which speaks of the Spirit in such a practical, rich, and thorough way as Romans 8. It particularly speaks of the Spirit and shows these four manifestations of the Spirit. Although we cannot know the Spirit by the Spirit Himself, we can know the Spirit through these four manifestations.
We all know that because life is in the Spirit, the Spirit is the Spirit of life. The Spirit is not merely the Spirit of God but the Spirit of God who has entered into our spirit, and the two spirits have been mingled as one; that is, the Spirit of God has been mingled with the spirit of man. Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit; this means that the two spirits have been mingled together. Life is in this spirit, and this spirit is the mingling of the two spirits.
What then is the Spirit of life? There are three elements in the Spirit of life: the Spirit of God, the spirit of man, and the life of God; the three are one. We can use juice made from concentrated fruit syrup as an illustration. Water can be likened to the human spirit; the syrup, which closely resembles water, can be likened to the Spirit of God; and the sugar in the syrup can be likened to God’s life. When we mix syrup into water, the sugar element in the syrup is also mixed into the water; thus, the syrup becomes sweetened fruit juice. Similarly, when the Spirit of God enters into our spirit, the life of God in the Spirit of God also enters into our spirit; thus, a three-in-one spirit of life is formed.
This three-in-one spirit is the mingling of the Spirit of God, the spirit of man, and the life of God. When this life gives us certain feelings, we sense the presence of God; that is, we sense freshness, liveliness, strength, power, brightness, holiness, and reality. When this life in the three-in-one spirit gives us the sense of the presence of God, it gives us a sense of the Spirit. When this life gives us a sense of freshness, liveliness, strength, power, brightness, holiness, and reality instead of vanity, it gives us a sense of the Spirit. When we touch these positive feelings and conditions, we touch the Spirit.
We have said that the soul is a distraction to the spirit. Each of the three parts of the soul—the mind, emotion, and will—can be a distraction to the spirit. Since fellowship is of life and life is in the spirit, we must be in the spirit if we desire to learn the lesson of fellowship, because fellowship is only in the spirit. If we desire to have the fellowship of life, we need to be in the spirit.
After the fall, man has been living in the mind, emotion, or will but not in the spirit. We do not live in the spirit. The majority of those who are saved, not to mention the unbelievers, still live in the mind most of the time. We are dominated by our mind; we say and do whatever our mind thinks. Our walk is under the domination of our mind, and our entire person is living in the mind. Thus, we are not in the spirit. Hence, our mind is a distraction to the spirit. When we live in our mind rather than our spirit, we lose the fellowship, because fellowship is only in the spirit.
Some saints live in their mind most of the time, and sometimes they live in their emotions, that is, in their joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, not in their spirit. They live according to their emotion, not according to their spirit. Therefore, our emotions also can be a distraction to the spirit. When we live in our emotion, we are not in the spirit and therefore lose the fellowship.
There are a good number of people who live in their will, deciding and determining according to their will. Such people cannot live in their spirit. Therefore, the will can be a distraction to the spirit. Those who live in their will certainly lose the fellowship. We must not live in any of these three places—the mind, emotion, or will. Once we are in our mind, we lose the fellowship; once we are in our emotion, we lose the fellowship; and once we are in our will, we also lose the fellowship. Only by living in our spirit can we touch the fellowship, because fellowship is of life, and life is in the spirit.
We must learn the basic lesson of turning from the mind to the spirit, from the emotion to the spirit, and from the will to the spirit. We must learn these three “turnings”: turning from the mind, turning from the emotion, and turning from the will to the spirit. This means that when our mind is taking the lead, we need to turn to our spirit in order to allow the spirit rather than the mind to take the lead and have the first place. When our emotion is active and wants to control our being, we need to turn to our spirit so that our emotion loses its ground. We should not allow the emotion to have the first place. Instead, we need to turn to our spirit rather than being subordinated and controlled by the emotion. In the same way, when our will takes the lead to control our being, we immediately need to turn to our spirit and allow the spirit to have the first place.
This is a basic lesson which requires our constant learning and exercise; we need to turn our being from the mind, emotion, and will to the spirit. Whenever our mind is activated, we need to turn to our spirit. Whenever our emotion begins to operate, we need to turn to our spirit. Whenever our will makes a decision, we need to turn to our spirit. We must bear in mind that if we are in our mind, emotion, and will, we definitely are not in our spirit. Once we are not in our spirit, we lose the fellowship. If we desire to live in the fellowship constantly, we need to turn to our spirit all the time. This is to continually live in the fellowship.