For the church life, we must not only put off the old man, but also put on the new man. The new man is the practical church life, which is Christ as the life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit in a corporate way. To put on the church life as the new man is to put on this entity produced by the mingling of the divine Spirit with the human spirit. In this marvelous entity, the new man, there are no ordinances and there is nothing of the old man. There is only Christ as the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit.
In 4:30 Paul charges us not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Not caring for the church life is one of the main ways we grieve the Spirit. For example, if you do not attend the meetings of the church, you may grieve the Spirit. Many grieve the Spirit by refusing to function in the meetings. Often they have the sense in their spirit to speak or to call on the name of the Lord, but they refuse to do so. At such times they grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Furthermore, we may grieve the Spirit in many ways in our daily life. Our daily living should be part of the new man, part of the church life. We are not to pretend that we are humble or well-behaved, but to put on the church life in a practical way. How marvelous it would be if day by day we all experienced Christ as the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit mingling Himself with our spirit in a corporate way!
In 5:18 Paul says, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled in spirit.” In our regenerated spirit we need to be filled with the Triune God unto all the fullness of God. This will cause us to overflow with speaking, singing, praising, and submitting. This will not be the result of our efforts; it will come as the spontaneous overflow of the inner filling. If we are filled in spirit with all that God is, we shall certainly experience such an overflow.
In 5:26 Paul goes on to speak of the cleansing that is by the washing of the water in the Word. Today the Lord Jesus is cleansing, purging, and purifying His church by the water in the Word. The water in the Word is the living Word with the divine life energized by the Spirit. The water in the Word is actually the life-giving Spirit Himself. In our experience the Word of God must not be letters, but spirit and life. In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.” The Word as spirit and life is the water that cleanses us.
This cleansing does not wash away uncleanness; rather, it washes away all the spots and wrinkles. Wrinkles come from oldness, and spots come from wounds. The church needs to be washed both from oldness and from wounds. For this washing what is effective is not the blood of Christ, but the water in the Word. The blood deals with sin and uncleanness, whereas the water in the Word deals with wrinkles and spots, with oldness and hurts.
The way to have the washing of the water in the Word is presented in 6:17 and 18. In these verses Paul tells us to receive “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit.” This indicates that we need to pray-read the Word. We need to take the living Word into the depths of our being by praying in spirit. This is to exercise our spirit to pray the Word into us. If we do this, the Word will not only be food to nourish us, but also water to wash us and to cleanse us from all oldness and wounds.
In the church life it is necessary to have frequent contact with one another. However, the more we contact one another, the more we hurt one another. If a brother would stay with me for several days, no doubt he would be hurt by me, and I would be hurt by him. The only way to remove the spots caused by this mutual wounding is to experience the washing of the water in the Word. If you are not cleansed of your wounds by the water in the Word, you may be offended and discouraged and even consider giving up the church life. However, if you exercise your spirit to pray-read the Word and thereby take the Word into the depths of your being, you will experience the washing of the water in the Word and you will be cleansed of all spots. Furthermore, the washing of water in the Word will cause you to grow, and by this growth you will be built up with others.
The entire book of Ephesians reveals in a consistent way that the church is the mingling of the divine Spirit with the human spirit. Today the divine Spirit is the Triune God in the holy Word. The Triune God is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, and this Spirit is within the Word. Therefore, we should not only exercise our mind to study the Word, but also exercise our spirit to pray the Word. By pray-reading, we touch not only the Word, but also the Spirit. Then the Spirit will nourish us, water us, and wash us so that we may be purged of all wrinkles and spots. Eventually, through this washing, we shall be fully sanctified in a practical way. This is what the Lord is doing in the church today.
In the Lord’s recovery, there is no place for ordinances, doctrines, or the old man. If we still hold on to these negative things, we shall be finished with the church life. We are here only for the living Christ with the living Word. Our way to approach the Word is not just to exercise our mind to study it and to gain knowledge of it, but also to exercise our spirit to pray the Word and to take it in as the life-giving Spirit for nourishment and washing. In this way we shall grow in a corporate way and be built up together. It is by this process that the Lord Jesus will fulfill the prophecy He uttered in Matthew 16:18: “I will build My church.” Then we shall have the reality and the enjoyment of the full gospel, the gospel of Christ and the church.