In 4:2 Paul says, “Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.” If we would stay in the spirit, we need to watch and pray, even to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17). Only by praying without ceasing can we stay in the spirit. Many years ago I did not appreciate the Lord’s word about watching and praying (Matt. 26:41). But in recent years I have come to see the importance of this word. We need to watch whether or not we are in the spirit and to pray that we may be preserved in the spirit. Are you tempted to exchange words with your husband or wife? Watch! Do you intend to go shopping for a certain item? Watch to see whether you are shopping in the spirit or in the flesh. We need to be on the alert that we may stay in the spirit.
We also need to pray, “Lord, grant me the preserving grace to remain in the spirit. Lord, keep me in spirit.” If we stay in the spirit, we shall experience the death of Christ in the all-inclusive, compound Spirit. There is no need for us to reckon or even to believe that we have been crucified with Christ. All we need to do is to abide in the spirit by watching and praying. In the spirit we experience the death of Christ and are released from all the elements of the world.
According to 2:20, we have died with Christ from the elements of the world. The elements of the world are the elementary principles of religion and philosophy. Both the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers tried to bring elements of the world into the church life. We also may be subject to such elements. Unconsciously we may still be under the influence of our religious background. The elementary principles we inherited from religion are elements of the world.
In Colossians Paul implies that anything we cling to other than Christ experienced by us is an element of the world. For example, a certain sister in the Lord may be nice, kind, and disciplined. She had such a character even before she was saved. Now that she has become a believer, she brings this character into the church life. Others may appreciate her character, not realizing that it is natural. But whenever this sister lives according to her natural character, she is living according to the elements of the world, not according to Christ. Another sister in the church may have a character that is rather unrefined. Compared to the first sister, she is crude and undisciplined. But day by day she exercises to watch and to pray and thereby to remain in the spirit. Gradually, others notice a change in her living. It is difficult to describe her way of living. It is not altogether accurate to say that she is nice, kind, or disciplined. She is not living according to the elements of the world, but according to Christ. There is a vast difference between this kind of living and living according to one’s natural character. The elements of the world are useful in society, but there is no place for them in the church. When we remain in our spirit, we spontaneously experience the death of Christ included in the all-inclusive Spirit. In this death we are dead to the elements of the world.
We need to see that such things as natural kindness are simply elements of the world. Under the light of such a vision, we shall hate even our kindness because it is not of Christ, but an element of the world. Then we shall seek to remain in our spirit to enjoy Christ and to participate in His death. We shall even be able to tell Satan, “I am no longer living according to natural kindness. Satan, you have been deceiving me for years, keeping me under subjection to the elements of the world. Now I see that in Christ I have died from all these elements. In the spirit I enjoy Christ, hold the Head, and participate in His death. In this death I am released from the elements of the world.”
When we hold the Head by remaining in our spirit, we absorb all the rich elements of the compound Spirit. One of these elements is our crucifixion with Christ. Only in the spirit are we free in a practical way from the elements of the world. Only when we are in the spirit can we declare that we have nothing to do with religion, philosophy, culture, or natural virtues. When we are in the spirit, we can hate these things, because we recognize that they are worldly and not of Christ. There is no way to abandon the elements of the world unless we are in spirit. If we try to do this apart from the spirit, our efforts will be in vain. When we stay in the spirit by watching and praying, we have the experience of being dead with Christ to the elements of the world.