The dispensing of the Triune God into man is altogether related to the Spirit. The processed God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is waiting for our spirit to respond to Him and to cooperate with Him. To be saved is not merely to understand the gospel. It is to open ourselves from the depths of our being to respond to the Spirit. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we must call from our spirit, from the depths of our being. If we do this, we shall be saved, even if we do not adequately understand the gospel.
Consider the case of Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus (Acts 9). He was saved by saying the words, “Who art Thou, Lord?” At the time he was saved, Saul was not so clear about the gospel, nor even about the Lord Jesus. However, simply by saying the words, “Who art Thou, Lord?” he was captured by the Lord. This shows that to be saved is not mainly a matter of understanding the gospel, but of contacting the life-giving Spirit, who is the processed God waiting for an opportunity to come into us. Contacting the life-giving Spirit is much like breathing. The important thing is not to understand the air, but to breathe the air into us. By breathing in the air, we receive all the benefits of the air.
This principle applies to our whole Christian life. Take holiness as an example. We become holy not by learning the doctrine of holiness, but by contacting the Spirit who Himself is the essence of holiness. The doctrine of holiness is not holiness itself. Holiness is a living Person, the processed God as the life-giving Spirit. It is possible to know the doctrine of holiness without having the reality of holiness. The way to be holy is to contact the life-giving Spirit. We may read a book on holiness, but have nothing of holiness as a result of our reading. However, if we spend the same amount of time calling on the name of the Lord as we would reading that book, we shall certainly experience God’s holiness.
In the book of Ephesians there is great emphasis on the mingled spirit, the human spirit mingled with the divine Spirit. Ephesians 1:17 says, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.” There is disagreement among scholars concerning the translation of the Greek word for spirit in this verse. Some insist on capitalizing the word spirit, because they think that the spirit here is the Holy Spirit. Others believe that the spirit here must refer to the human spirit. Actually, the spirit in this verse is our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. It is the human spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit. Such a spirit is given to us by God so that we may have wisdom and revelation to know Him and His economy. Without the Holy Spirit, our spirit cannot be a spirit of wisdom and revelation. But as soon as the Holy Spirit is mingled with our spirit, our spirit becomes a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
In 2:22 Paul again refers to the mingled spirit: “In Whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” Translators differ about this verse also, with some arguing that the spirit here is the divine Spirit and others, that it is the human spirit. Actually, it is the mingled spirit, the believers’ human spirit indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is the indwelling One, not the dwelling place. The dwelling place is our spirit. God’s Spirit dwells in our spirit. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, the indwelling One, not the indwelt One. The dwelling place of God is in our spirit, the human spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit.
In 3:5 Paul says that the mystery of Christ “has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.” The spirit here is once again the mingled spirit. When our spirit is mingled with the divine Spirit, our spirit becomes the organ in which the mystery of Christ is revealed.
In 3:16 Paul speaks of the inner man. The inner man is our regenerated spirit. The only way man’s spirit can be regenerated is through having the Spirit of God come into it. Hence, the inner man in this verse also denotes the human spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit.