The Spirit is also related to peace. The mind set upon the spirit is not only life, but peace as well. Peace is not only a matter of rest, but even more a matter of enjoyment. Without enjoyment we cannot have genuine peace. Silence without enjoyment is not peace. The Spirit is peace to us. When we contact the Spirit, we have a living and genuine peace.
Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This verse indicates that the Spirit is related to joy. When we are in the Spirit, we are joyful, so joyful that we may shout praises to the Lord. At times we may be beside ourselves with joy, and praises spontaneously flow out from within us.
Romans 15:13 says, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.” There is no need for us to be without hope, for whenever we touch the Spirit, we have hope. Psalm 3:3 says, “But thou, O Lord, art.…the lifter up of mine head.” The Lord is the One who lifts up our head. This means that He gives us hope. When we are in the Spirit, our heads are uplifted, and we are filled with hope.
Romans 5:5 indicates that the Spirit is also related to love: “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.” Furthermore, in 15:30 Paul speaks of “the love of the Spirit.” As we contact the Spirit, we experience love.
In 15:13 and 19, Paul mentions the power of the Spirit. This power is like a dynamo energizing us from within. When we are in the Spirit, we are spontaneously energized by the power of the Spirit.
Romans 7:6 says that “we should serve as slaves in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.” This verse points to the relationship between the Spirit and service. If we are not in the Spirit, we cannot serve the Lord. In 1:9 Paul said that it was in his spirit that he served God in the gospel. The more we are in the spirit, the more we serve the Lord as willing bondslaves. We shall say, “Lord Jesus, as Your bondslave, I am willing to serve You.”
Finally, the genuine preaching of the gospel is in the Spirit. This gospel includes the entire content of the book of Romans.
Perhaps you have never seen before that holiness, life, law, peace, joy, hope, love, power, service, and the preaching of the gospel are all related to the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit Himself is the reality of all these items to us in our experience. If we have the Spirit, then we also have all these marvelous items. When these items are added together, they equal sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. All this is the reality of resurrection. The more these ten items become our experience, the more we enjoy resurrection by the Spirit and with life. What we need today is not the objective teachings, but the practical contact with the Lord by turning on the switch. As we call upon the name of the Lord, we touch the Spirit, who is the realization and application of the Triune God. In this way we experience being designated the sons of God by the Spirit and with life.