At the end of Matthew 5 the Lord Jesus said, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48). This word concludes this section of the constitution, a section which is exceedingly high. After reading all these requirements, we all would say that we cannot possibly fulfill them. Then we come to verse 48 which tells us that we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. This verse is an indicator that we have the Father’s life and nature within us. We have been born of Him and we are His children. Because we are His children possessing His life and nature, there is no need for us to imitate Him or copy Him. As long as we grow in His life, we shall be the same as He is. Thus, all the requirements of the law of the kingdom of the heavens reveal how much this divine life and nature can do for us. Our only need is to be exposed so that we may give up all hope in ourselves, When we are exposed, we shall realize that our natural life is hopeless. Then we shall renounce our natural life, turn to the life of our Father, and stay with the divine nature. Spontaneously, this life will grow in us and fulfill the requirements of this highest law. Our need today is to turn to our spirit and walk in our spirit. Whenever we do this, we live by our Father’s life and nature; then spontaneously we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. It is crucial that we understand this matter, for it is altogether different from our natural concept.
From my experience I can testify that today I am not under the principle of the law. Hallelujah, I am under the principle of faith, and I have the life of my heavenly Father within me! This life is nothing other than the Father’s dear Son. I am now living by this life in my spirit and walking according to the spirit. By this life in my spirit I spontaneously fulfill the highest requirements of the law of the kingdom of the heavens. This is not my boast; it is my humble testimony to give glory to the Lord. This does not mean that I am able to do anything. It means that He is able, for He is in me as my life. He is able to do the same in you and for you. In order for this to be your experience, you need to have a vision of the hopelessness of your natural life. After your natural life has been thoroughly dug out and exposed, you will realize that it is a hopeless case, that you should have no trust in it, and that you must turn to the Father’s divine life and nature within you. Turn to the Father’s life, stay with the Father’s life, and live by the Father’s life. You can easily turn to the Father’s life because at this very moment it is in your spirit. Simply walk according to your spirit, and all the righteous requirements of the law will be fulfilled in you.
At this point we need to consider some verses in Romans 8. Romans 8:3 says, “For what is impossible to the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Due to the weakness of our flesh, it is impossible for us to fulfill the law. We can do nothing. As far as the law is concerned, our case is impossible. Therefore, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh, but according to spirit” (v. 4). Because it was impossible, due to the weakness of our flesh, for the law to be fulfilled, God sent His Son to keep the law on the positive side, and to die for our weakness on the negative side. His purpose in doing so was that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. The “us” in verse 4 refers to those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. God sent His Son to keep the law and to die for us that we may walk in the spirit to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law.
Romans 8:16 reveals how our spirit is formed: “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God.” This verse reveals that our spirit in which we walk to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law is formed through the witnessing of the Holy Spirit with our spirit. This indicates that the Holy Spirit of God has come into our spirit. This took place at the time of our regeneration. The Spirit of God came into our spirit to regenerate us. From that time onward, the Holy Spirit has been witnessing with our spirit that we are the children of God. Thus, verse 14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”