Because we have been born of God and because His life as a divine seed abides in us, we can abide in Him. As we abide in Him, He saturates us. Of course, John does not use the word “saturates.” But if we experience what is written in this section of 1 John, we shall realize that what John speaks of actually involves being saturated with the Triune God. The Triune God is not a theory or theology; He is the living Spirit, the anointing. Therefore, when we abide in the Triune God, He as the all-inclusive, compound, indwelling, life-giving Spirit will saturate us, and we shall be soaked with Him.
The more we are anointed with the Triune God, the more we are saturated with Him. Let us use as an illustration a piece of cloth that has paint applied to it. The more the paint is applied to the cloth, the more the cloth soaks the paint in until it is saturated with it. Eventually, the entire cloth will be saturated with the paint. The anointing is a divine painting. We have seen that the anointing is the moving within us of the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling Spirit, who is the processed Triune God. Just as paint is composed of different elements, so this anointing, the processed Triune God, includes a number of different elements: divinity, humanity, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. All these elements have been compounded into the all-inclusive Spirit, who is the divine paint with which we are being painted. Now this Spirit is within us anointing us, painting the elements of divinity, humanity, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection into our being until we are saturated with them.
My burden is to show the children of God that the Christian life is not a matter of religion or doctrine. The Christian life is altogether a matter of being saturated with the all-inclusive Spirit. This saturation cannot be accomplished by doctrine or theology. This is possible only through the processed Triune God, who is the all-inclusive Spirit.
Many Christians do not have a proper understanding of the Spirit. Some regard the Spirit merely as a force; others claim that the Spirit is in the believers to represent the Father and the Son. Such an understanding of the Spirit is far off from what is revealed in the Bible. In this kind of teaching concerning the Spirit there is no place for the elements that are included in the life-giving Spirit. According to this kind of understanding, at most the Spirit is merely a force or power or a representative of the Father and the Son. Those who hold this concept concerning the Spirit do not realize that according to the Bible the Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God. Many elements have been compounded into this one Spirit. Hence, when this indwelling Spirit anoints us, He saturates our being with all the elements of the processed Triune God. It is in this way that we are regenerated, transformed, and glorified.
Doctrine cannot regenerate us, and theology cannot transform us. Doctrine may be compared to a menu. When you go to a restaurant, you may read the menu. However, your purpose is not to study the menu—your purpose is to eat a nourishing meal. The menu cannot transform you by nourishing you. Only the food you eat can do this.
Suppose a person is undernourished and as a result has a pale complexion. The way to improve his complexion is not to apply cosmetics. To do this would be like doing the work of a mortician. The proper way is to feed him with nourishing food day by day. Eventually, this food will cause an inner transformation, an organic, metabolic change, that will be expressed in a healthy complexion. In the same principle, our transformation can be brought about only by the Spirit, not by doctrine. However, many Christians today care for doctrine and not for life in the Spirit. There are not many Christians who care for the experience of the divine life in the regenerated spirit. We need to be impressed with the fact that in this section of 1 John the experience of the divine life is a matter of the Spirit of God in our spirit.
In 2:28—3:10a we see that we have a divine birth. Through this divine birth we have received the divine seed. Now it is possible for us to dwell in God, and we need to dwell in Him. When we dwell in the Triune God, He saturates us. This is not a matter of correction or regulation—it is a matter of saturation. Referring to the illustration of the cloth and the paint, our being saturated with the Triune God is like the cloth having paint applied to it until it is thoroughly saturated with the paint. Our God today is the anointing, the divine paint. What we have within is not only the ointment but the anointing, not only the paint but the painting. As this painting takes place within us, it saturates us until we are soaked with the paint. Eventually, we shall be thoroughly saturated and permeated with the paint. This certainly is not a matter of religion, doctrine, theology, or teaching. This is a matter of the Triune God as the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling Spirit in our spirit continually anointing us. Through this anointing the very fibers of our being will be saturated with all that the processed Triune God is.
As the result of being saturated with the Triune God, we become His expression. Because we have been saturated with Him, we express Him. In a sense, after the cloth has been saturated with the paint, it becomes the paint and expresses not itself but the paint with which it has been saturated. Likewise, as the result of being thoroughly saturated with the Triune God, we shall express Him. In particular, because God is righteous, when we express Him, we shall express His righteousness.
We have seen that the word “practices” in 2:29 means to do something habitually and continually. In 2:29 John speaks not merely of doing righteousness but of practicing righteousness, that is, of doing righteousness continually and habitually as a way of life. A dog, for example, habitually, continually, and unintentionally stands on four legs. For a dog to try to stand upright on two legs and walk like a man would not be a practice but an attempt to act like a human being. Likewise, an unbeliever may do something righteous for a particular purpose. However, as children of God, we practice righteousness spontaneously, habitually, automatically, continually, and without a purpose. This means that we do not purposely intend to do righteousness; rather, we practice righteousness because this is the living of the divine life that is within us. Because we abide in the righteous God and He is saturating us with what He is, we express His righteousness by living a righteous life unintentionally and habitually.
May we all be deeply impressed with the fact that through the divine birth we have received the divine seed. Now through this divine seed we can dwell in our God. As we dwell in Him, He will saturate us with what He is. Because He is righteous, we shall continually express the divine righteousness by practicing righteousness habitually and unintentionally. This is to practice the divine righteousness by virtue of the divine birth.