The second aspect of the Christian walk revealed in Colossians 3 is the renewing of the new man. In 3:10 Paul says, “And having put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him.” On the one hand, Paul speaks of the creation of the new man; on the other hand, he refers to the renewing of the new man. Since the new man has already been created, why is there still the need for the new man to be renewed? How can the new man be both created and renewed? We have seen that the creation of the new man took place in our spirit. When our spirit was regenerated, the new man was created. Hence, the regeneration of the spirit is actually the creation of the new man. However, as far as the soul is concerned, the new man still needs to be renewed. It is crucial that this renewing take place especially in our mind, the leading part of the soul. Before we were regenerated, our human spirit was part of the old creation. Then at the time of our regeneration, God the Spirit came into our spirit with the divine life and divine nature. This means that the Spirit of God regenerated our spirit with the elements of the divine life and divine nature. In other words, when we were regenerated, God the Spirit brought the divine life and nature into our spirit. Before regeneration we did not have anything divine. But at the time of regeneration, something divine—the life and nature of God—was added into our spirit. By receiving the life and nature of God, we were born of God and became sons of God. Now we are not merely sons of man, but we are also sons of God. Moreover, we are not God’s sons-in-law; we are His sons in life.
Because the divine life and nature have been added to our spirit, our regenerated spirit has become part of the new creation. The difference between the old creation and the new creation is that the old creation has nothing of God in it, but the new creation does have something of God added to it. The reason the regenerated spirit is part of the new creation and of the new man is that the life and nature of God has come into it. In our spirit we have something divine—God’s life and nature.
At the time of regeneration the life and nature of God were added into our spirit, making it the new creation; nevertheless, the soul with its faculties of mind, emotion, and will remains in the old creation. Thus, there is the need for the divine life and nature to spread from our spirit into our soul and to saturate the soul. This process of spreading and saturating is what we call transformation. In Romans 12:2 Paul charges us to “be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Since the mind is the leading part of the soul, the renewing of the soul depends on the renewing of the mind. As the divine life and nature spread from our regenerated spirit into the mind, emotion, and will, our soul will be renewed. This renewing of the soul is actually the renewing of the new man.
Even though we have been regenerated, we are often inclined to live according to the old man, that is, to live according to the old creation. However, deep in our spirit we have the aspiration, the desire, to live in newness of life. This desire comes from the new man in our spirit seeking to spread the divine life and nature into our soul. This spreading is the renewing of the new man.
Not many Christians have seen that the renewing of the new man depends on our seeking the things which are above. If we do not seek the things above and set our mind on them, it will be difficult for us to be renewed in soul. But whenever we set our mind on the things above, our inner being is renewed spontaneously. Our experience testifies of this.
Paul admonished the Colossian believers to seek the things which are above because they had been distracted to earthly things, to the elements of the world such as Judaism, Gnosticism, mysticism, and asceticism. As long as they were distracted by these things, they could have nothing to do with the things above. This was the reason Paul charged them to forget Judaism, Greek philosophy, Gnosticism, mysticism, and any kind of culture and to seek the things above and set their mind on them. The things above do not include any religion, philosophy, or culture. Instead, they include Christ’s priesthood, ministry, and administration with all His activities. It is crucial for us to realize that Christ is our Head and that we are the members of His Body. Christ and we together form a universal man. As the One in heaven, He is the Head, and as those on earth, we are the Body. As the Head is working in heaven by interceding, ministering, and administrating, we, the Body, are working on earth responding to the heavenly ministry of Christ and reflecting what He is doing in heaven. What a tremendous matter this is! Instead of caring for earthly religion, worldly philosophy, and the other elements of the world, we should seek the things above and set our mind on them. If we turn to the heavenly Christ with all His activities and set our mind on these things, the renewing of the new man will take place automatically.
What we think about day by day indicates where our mind is set. At the time Paul wrote to the Colossians, the mind of the Judaizers was set on their religion, and the mind of the Gnostics was set on their philosophy. Our mind, however, should be set not on religion, philosophy, or culture, but on Christ and His heavenly ministry. The more we set our mind on the things above—on Christ and His heavenly ministry—the more the divine elements in our spirit will saturate our soul and renew our soul. All that is in our spirit will have free course to spread throughout our inner being. Through this saturating and spreading, the soul is renewed.
If we had only Romans 12:2 but not Colossians 3, it would be rather difficult to understand what it means to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. But as Colossians 3 makes clear, this renewing is related to seeking the things above and setting our mind on them.
Let us not care for earthly things such as religion, philosophy, ethics, or culture. These things are needed by society and are helpful in society. However, they are a hindrance to God’s economy and a frustration to its accomplishment. In God’s economy there is no need for religion, philosophy, or culture. God’s economy is His dispensation of Himself into us. As long as we in the Lord’s recovery have God’s dispensation, we do not need religion or culture. Just as those in the New Jerusalem will not need either natural light or man-made light, we in the church today do not need religion or culture. However, religion and culture are necessary in society. Outside the church they are definitely needed for the preservation of society. But in the church we have God’s dispensation and therefore have no need for religion or culture. Day by day, God is dispensing Himself into us. How wonderful!
The Christians at Colosse were not clear about the difference between culture and God’s economy. This lack of clarity opened the way for religion, philosophy, and culture to creep into the church life and frustrate the accomplishment of God’s economy. In principle, the situation is the same among Christians today. Consider how much religion, philosophy, culture, and all manner of isms have hindered God’s dispensation! Therefore, it is crucial for us to see that in the Lord’s recovery we have a unique need—our need is for the living God to dispense Himself into our being continually.
During the years the Lord’s recovery has been in this country, many saints have experienced God’s dispensation. At first, the messages concerning God’s economy were like a foreign language to them. But now the truth and experience of God’s economy are part of their living. In fact, many are now able to minister along the same line. There has been considerable progress even among the young people because of the renewing by the divine life and the divine nature. The divine elements have been saturating the saints. This saturation makes a real difference. Years ago, a brother may have lost his temper in a certain way. But now when he loses his temper, he is different. In many respects the behavior may be the same, but there is a difference in nature. Something divine has been wrought into the inner being of the saints. This is not a mere change in behavior; it is a change in nature. Through such an inward change, the new man spreads from our spirit into our soul and actually increases within us. May the Lord preserve all the saints in the way of life that the new man may increase more and more.
I wish to emphasize the fact that even though the new man has been created in our spirit, there is still the need for the new man to be renewed throughout our whole inner being. This requires that the new man spread in the divine life with the divine nature throughout our being. Then we shall be fully renewed.