The Triune God, who has been processed and who has dispensed Himself into us as tripartite human beings, is Himself the law of the Spirit of life. When Paul speaks of law in Romans 8, he uses this term in a scientific way, even though, when the book of Romans was written, science had not yet developed. By law in 8:2 Paul denotes a working principle which operates spontaneously.
This concept of law is also found throughout chapter seven. For example, in 7:21 Paul says, “I find then the law that, at my willing to do the good, the evil is present with me.” Here law denotes a principle which works automatically and naturally. This understanding of law is scientific.
In Romans 7 and 8 there are two scientific laws: the first, an evil law, is called the law of sin and of death; the second, a good law, a marvelous law, is called the law of the Spirit of life. These two laws are mentioned in one verse, in 8:2, where Paul says, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” These two laws are actually two persons. The law of sin and of death is the person of Satan, and the law of the Spirit of life is the Person of the Triune God.
In order to become the law of the Spirit of life operating in us, the Triune God had to be processed and dispensed into us, and then He had to dwell, reside, in us. The Greek word for dwells in 8:9 and 11 comes from a root which means house. The Triune God has been processed and dispensed into us, and now He houses Himself in our tripartite being. Now this One is a wonderful, positive law, the law of the Spirit of life. The negative law, the law of sin and death, is also a person— Satan, the Devil, the one who has the power of death. He is the evil law. Therefore, these two laws are two persons.
In order for Satan and the Triune God to become, respectively, the negative and positive laws operating in us, it was necessary for both persons to enter our being. If Satan had not come into man, he could not be the law of sin and death within man. In the same principle, if the Triune God had remained outside of us, He could not be to us the law of the Spirit of life. Praise Him that because He has been processed and dispensed into us, and He houses Himself in us, He has become to us the law of the Spirit of life! Hallelujah, we have such a marvelous law within us!
As living beings, we all live according to definite laws. For example, breathing is a law. Do you breathe by a deliberate activity or by the law of breathing? Do you say to yourself, “I realize that I need air; therefore, I must exercise myself to breathe”? This would be to breathe by activity. However, we breathe by the law of breathing, not by activity. This means that we breathe without even being conscious of what we are doing. We are breathing continually, day and night, no matter where we may be. We do not make up our minds to breathe, and neither do we call attention to the fact that we are breathing. Furthermore, parents do not command their children to breathe. On the contrary, breathing is an automatic principle which works spontaneously in our physical bodies. As long as we are alive, we shall continue to breathe. Breathing is a law.
Likewise, digestion is a law. After you eat a meal, do you make a decision to digest the food you have eaten? Do you make a certain effort to digest your food? No, digestion is not an activity; it is a law. Like breathing, it is a natural, spontaneous, automatic principle that works in our physical bodies. These examples of breathing and digestion should help us to understand what we mean by a law.
Sinning is also a law. This means that we commit sin because of the automatic working of the law of sin. No one has ever attended a school called the school of sin. Likewise, no one needs to be taught to steal or lie. Parents know that as children grow up, they lie without being taught to lie. Lying comes from the automatic function of the law of sin and death. Sins such as hatred and jealousy also come from the working of this law.
We praise the Lord that another law, the Triune God as the law of life, has been installed into us! How wonderful that, after being processed, the Triune God has been installed in us and works within us not by activity, but by law! He is now a law operating within us. He is working in us not merely as the mighty God, but as a law which operates automatically.