We have emphasized the fact that our spirit has become life because Christ dwells within us. But what about our soul and body? Consider verse 6: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” Here we see that our mind can also be zoe.When we set our mind on the spirit, our mind, which represents our soul, becomes zoe. We do not need to follow the way of Confucius to cultivate the bright virtue. Instead, we simply set our mind on the spirit and our mind becomes zoe. This is the dispensation of the divine life into our soul.
In our daily living, we need to practice turning our mind to the spirit. Are you about to gossip? Turn your mind to the spirit. Are you tempted to lose your temper? Turn your mind to the spirit. Drop the ethical and religious teachings and come back to God’s living Word, which reveals that the life of the Triune God is dispensed into our spirit to make our spirit life and also reveals that the mind set on the spirit is life. We have something higher than bright virtue, ethics, and morality—we have the Triune God dispensed into us. What can compare with this? This is not philosophy or religious teaching. It is the zoe life dispensed into our spirit and into our mind.
Verse 11 reveals even more of God’s dispensation. Here Paul says, “But if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from among the dead dwells in you, He Who raised Christ Jesus from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who indwells you.” I marvel at the indirectness of this verse. This verse reveals that zoe can be imparted through the Spirit into our mortal bodies. Therefore, not only are both our spirit and our mind zoe, but even our body can be full of zoe.
We all need to see the vision of the dispensing of the life of the Triune God into the three parts of our being. If we see this divine vision, our natural concept of ethics and morality will be shattered. We need to say to the Lord, “Lord, I thank You. Since You came into me, my spirit has become life. Now if I set my mind on my spirit, my mind also will be life. O Lord, how I praise You! Through Your indwelling Spirit, Your zoe life can be dispensed even into my mortal body. Lord, I worship You for this, I enjoy this, and I am one with You in this dispensation.” This is the dispensation of the life of the Triune God into the tripartite man. Through such a dispensing the Triune God becomes one with the tripartite man, and the tripartite man becomes one with the Triune God. It is through this dispensation of the divine life that we become sons of God. Furthermore, it is by this dispensation that we are transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. This is the Christian life and the church life.
Let us turn from religious, ethical, and philosophical teachings and come back to the simple yet profound revelation in the holy Word concerning God’s economy. Our God is the Triune God who has passed through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Now He is the all-inclusive Spirit to be the divine zoe for our participation, experience, and enjoyment. Firstly He dispenses Himself into our spirit, the center of our being. From the center, He spreads into our mind and saturates it with zoe. Then He expands into our mortal body and thereby makes our whole being zoe. In this way, we become men of zoe. Hallelujah, we are not men of religion, morality, or ethics—we are men of life!