We have seen what life is and what the experience of life is. We have also seen the first experience of life, which is regeneration, and the various things which are gained through regeneration. Now that we have seen these, we can come to the matter of the sense of life.
The sense of life, as far as we are concerned, is very subjective, personal, and practical. Therefore, if we are to have any pursuit in life, we must pay attention to this sense of life and know it well. All those who have the experience of life know the deep relationship which exists between the sense of life and the experience of life. Therefore, if we would investigate the subject of the knowledge of life, we must look into the matter of the sense of life.
Although the Bible does not mention explicitly the sense of life, yet it actually speaks of the matter. Romans 8:6 says, “For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.” This verse speaks to us very clearly concerning the sense of life, for the peace mentioned here is clearly a matter of consciousness. This peace does not refer to the outward environment, but the inward condition; therefore, it is definitely a matter of feeling. Since the peace mentioned here is a matter of feeling, the death and life mentioned here are also a matter of feeling.
The sense of death causes us to sense the element of death. The elements of death are: weakness, emptiness, depression, darkness, and pain. Death includes at least these five elements, and the sum total of these elements is largely equivalent to death. Death causes men to become weak; and when men become extremely weak, they die. Death causes men to become empty, because death ends everything. Death causes men to become depressed and down-hearted; the most depressed and silent ones are the dead ones. Death also darkens men; those in deepest darkness are those who have entered into death. At the same time, death causes men to suffer pain; one who suffers the most pain is one who has fallen into death. All these are the elements of death; therefore, when we sense these, we sense death.
These senses of death are results of our minding the flesh. Whenever we mind the flesh, we will immediately have these feelings of death. For example, if on the Lord’s day you mind the flesh a little in the afternoon, when you come to the breaking of bread meeting in the evening you will feel weak inside and unable to rise up. At the same time, you will feel empty, depressed, and perhaps even dark and in pain. All these feelings are the senses of death. Sometimes you sense one stronger than the other; sometimes you sense them all evenly. Nevertheless, it is due to our minding the flesh that we sense death.
The sense of life is just the opposite of the sense of death. The sense of death makes us feel weak and empty, whereas the sense of life makes us feel strong and satisfied. The sense of death makes us feel depressed, dark, and in pain. The sense of life makes us feel lively, bright, and comfortable. Because the sense of life makes us feel strong, satisfied, lively, bright, and comfortable, it causes us also to have the sense of peace, that is, to feel good and at ease.
We should realize that the things mentioned in Romans 8:6 are all in contrast with each other. The flesh is in contrast with the spirit, and death is in contrast with life and peace. The opposite of death is not only life, but also peace. Therefore, death includes not only weakness, emptiness, depression, and darkness, but it also includes pain. Weakness, emptiness, depression, and darkness are in contrast with life, while pain is in contrast with peace.
The sense of death is due to our minding the flesh, while the sense of life and peace is due to our minding the spirit. When we live in the spirit, follow the spirit, and mind the spirit, we feel strong and satisfied within; at the same time we also feel lively, bright, comfortable, and at ease. For example, if the Holy Spirit gives you a feeling, and you mind and obey it, you will feel strong and satisfied within; at the same time you will feel lively, bright, comfortable, and at ease. Thus, you will have the feeling of life and peace, because you mind the spirit.
The reason Romans 8:6 mentions the sense of life is that it has mentioned three things previously: the Spirit, life, and the law of life. The Spirit is in us and becomes one spirit with our spirit: life is included in the Spirit as the content of the Spirit; and the law is the natural ability and function of life. These three joined together become the law of the Spirit of life, which is responsible in us for all matters of life, giving us a certain sense anytime and anywhere. Whenever we mind the spirit and act and live according to the spirit, this law gives us the feeling of life and peace. To sense life is to feel strong, satisfied, lively, bright, and fresh. To sense peace is to feel comfortable, at ease, good, and natural. If we mind the flesh and act and live according to the flesh, this law will give us the sense of death, that is, we will feel weak, empty, depressed, dark, and in pain.
Therefore, what Romans 8:6 speaks of is wholly a matter of consciousness, and this consciousness is given to us by the law of the Spirit of life. Since the law of the Spirit of life belongs to life, the consciousness that it gives also belongs to life. Therefore, since the consciousness mentioned in Romans 8:6 is given to us by this law, it belongs to the sense of life.
The second place in the Scripture concerning the matter of the sense of life is in Ephesians 4:19, which says that the Gentiles “being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” This tells us that the reason the people in the world commit sin and do wickedness at will is that they have forsaken all feelings. Indeed, when man sins and does wickedness, he must have already forsaken the feelings within him. When a man sins and does wickedness, we cannot say that he has no feeling, but at least we can say that he has laid aside his feelings. If one does not lay aside the feelings, if one is restricted by the inner feelings, do you think he can still commit sin and do wickedness? All who sin and do wickedness are those who have laid aside their feelings. Anyone who commits sin and does wickedness must lay aside his feelings. When anyone cheats, steals, beats others, robs others, or does any other bad and evil deeds, he must lay aside his feelings. The more one commits sin and does wickedness, the more he must lay aside the inner consciousness. Therefore, an evil, wicked man is void of feelings, whereas a good and kind person is rich in feeling.
Now, whose inner sense is stronger, the Christian’s or the Gentile’s? If we compare the Christians and the unbelievers, is our consciousness stronger, or is theirs? We must answer that our feelings are much stronger, because, in addition to the feelings they have, we have the feelings of life within us, which they do not have. Therefore, if we sin and commit wickedness, we must have laid aside our feelings even more severely than they. For this very reason, the Scripture exhorts us not to cast aside all feelings as do the Gentiles. The Scripture thus beseeches us that we might take care of our inner sense. This of course emphasizes heeding the inner sense of life. After Ephesians 4 exhorts us not to be like the unbelievers who cast aside all feelings, it goes on to say that we are to put off the old man and put on the new man. This new man belongs to the life in the Spirit. In order to live in this new man, we must live in the life which is in the Spirit. Therefore, Ephesians 4 exhorts us not to forsake all feelings as the unbelievers do, but to live in this new man. This means that we must live in the life which is in the Spirit, take care of the sense of life in the Spirit, and live according to this sense of life.
Furthermore, almost all the Epistles of the apostles have words of blessing and greeting in which grace and peace are mentioned. Grace is God gained by us, and peace is the feeling of having gained God. God gained by us to become our life and for us to enjoy is grace. This grace within us results in peace; it causes us to have a feeling of peacefulness within. A person who experiences God, enjoys the life of God, and tastes the power of the life of God daily is bound to have peace within him. This peace is the feeling he has when he enjoys grace. Therefore, if we do not have peace within, or we do not quite feel the peace, it proves that we are short of grace. When we are short of grace, it means that we are short of God. Since we have not gained God sufficiently within us, have not obtained enough supply of the life of God, and have not sufficiently experienced the power of the life of God, we are short of peace within. If we have gained enough of God within us and have experienced God and the life of God sufficiently, we will have enough peace within. This peace is not peace in the environment, but a condition of peace within. We must believe that the peace mentioned in the greetings of the apostles is this kind of inner peace. Inner peace is a matter of consciousness. When the apostles wished that the people might have peace, it means that they wished the people might have the peace of the inner sense, or peace within. The inner sense of peace is the sense of life. Therefore, when they expressed their wish that the people might have the feeling of peace within, they wanted them to pay attention to the inner sense of life.