The law of life is called the law of the Spirit of life in the Bible (Rom. 8:2). With regard to this designation, there is a special relationship between this law and God’s life and the Spirit. God’s life is the source of this law, and the Spirit is the Executor of this law. The life of God is the inner content of God, and the Spirit is the person of God. When referring to God’s life the stress is on His nature, and when referring to His person the stress is on the Spirit. Hence, the law of life has God’s life as its source and the Spirit as its Executor. The law of life is very strong because both God’s life and the Spirit are strong.
Human beings consist of three parts. In addition to the body without, there are also the spirit and soul within. In the spirit, there are the conscience, intuition, and fellowship, and in the soul, there are the mind, emotion, and will. Therefore, simply stated, our inner being consists of two parts—the spirit and soul. Stated in more detail, our inner being consists of six parts—conscience, intuition, fellowship, mind, emotion, and will.
Our heart is composed of four parts: the mind, emotion, will, and conscience. The mind is the thinking part of the soul, the emotion is the feeling part of the soul, and the will is the deciding part of the soul. Moreover, the heart also includes a part of the spirit, that is, the conscience. According to the record in the Bible, these four parts—the mind, emotion, will, and conscience—are related to the heart (Prov. 2:10; Psa. 139:14; 1 Sam. 18:1; S. S. 1:7; Job 7:15; Heb. 10:22; 1 John 3:20).
The heart is a combination of the soul and the spirit, including all the parts of the soul and one of the three parts of the spirit. The three parts of the soul—mind, emotion, and will—are related to man’s behavior, living, and actions. The conscience of the spirit is also related to man. The other two parts of the spirit—intuition and fellowship—are related to God, not to man. The parts related to God are not included in the heart. Only the part related to man, that is, the conscience, is included in the heart. Because the three parts of the soul are related to man, they are also related to the heart. The heart, therefore, is the representative of man. The major part of the heart is the soul, but only a small part of the heart is related to the spirit. These four parts together equal the heart, which is the representative of man.
Where in us did God put His life? God put His life into our spirit. When His life enters into our spirit, it produces a law, and this law spreads out from our spirit into every part of our being. When this law spreads to a certain part, it becomes the law of that part. Thus, there is a law in our conscience, in our mind, in our emotion, in our will, in our fellowship, and in our intuition. In each of the six parts of our inner being there is a law. Therefore, when the Bible speaks of the law within us, it often uses the plural form laws.
There is only one law, but when this law operates and reaches a certain part of our inner being, it becomes the law of that part. This may be compared to electricity. When electricity, which is uniquely one, is transmitted into a microphone, it becomes the electricity of the microphone. When it is transmitted into a fan, it becomes the electricity of the fan. When it is transmitted into many rooms, it becomes the electricity of each room. On the one hand, the electricity is one, and on the other hand, it seems to be many. There is a law of life within us, and when this law operates and reaches the different parts of our being, it becomes the law of each individual part. These many laws, however, are only one law in actuality.
When the law of life enters into our mind, how does it become the law of our mind? When it enters into our emotion, how does it become the law of our emotion? When it enters into our will, how does it become the law of our will? God’s work of salvation is accomplished by renewing us. When God regenerates us, He renews our spirit. He desires to spread outward from our spirit into our soul to renew the soul; this renewing work is carried out by the law of life. The law of life is the operation of the Spirit, a function of the Spirit; it is a function of the operation of the Spirit in us.