This working of the Triune God as a law within us can be illustrated by the electricity which has been installed in our homes. Since electricity has been installed in our homes, there is no need for us to call the power plant when we need electrical energy to operate a certain appliance. Would it not be foolish to telephone the power plant and beg someone to turn on the lights or operate our appliances? If we did this, the people at the power plant would say that there is no need for us to call them. Instead, we should simply turn on the power that has already been installed. No one who has even the most elementary knowledge of electricity would ever call the power plant and beg for electrical power. Those who have the knowledge that electricity has been installed will simply turn on the switch and apply the power.
Often we Christians are like persons who call a power plant for electricity when all that is needed is to turn on the switch. The Triune God has been installed into us. Nevertheless, when we are bothered by our temper, we may cry out, “O God, merciful Father, have mercy on me and help me not to lose my temper. I don’t want to lose my temper again. Please deliver me from this.” This kind of prayer is never answered. In fact, the more you pray in this way, the more trouble you will have with your temper. If we continue to pray such prayers, the Lord may say, “Foolish child, don’t you know that I have been installed into you and that I am working in you as a law? There is no need for you to cry to Me or even pray about this.”
Our God today is not only the mighty One, the Redeemer, and the Savior. He is even more than just our life and our life supply—He is a law working within us. Now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. How wonderful that such a law is working within us! Therefore, instead of crying to the Lord about certain things, we should simply “switch on” and be at rest.
Let us again use electricity and electrical appliances as an illustration. Suppose it is very hot when you go to bed at night, and you need the air conditioner to cool the room. You do not pray for cool air. You simply switch on the air conditioner and go to sleep, enjoying the cool air supplied by the air conditioner. In like manner, we may enjoy the wonderful law of the Spirit of life, the very law who is the Triune God who has been processed and dispensed into us and who now dwells in us. As such a law, He is seeking the opportunity to work for us. The problem is that we are not knowledgeable concerning this law. We do not know that we have this law within us, and we do not know how to cooperate and coordinate with it. As we shall see, the way to cooperate with this law is to walk in the spirit and simply be in spirit.
In a message to come we shall point out that since we are already in the spirit, there is no need for us to get into the spirit. Rather, we should simply remain in the spirit. Thus, instead of turning to the spirit, we should stay in the spirit. Many times we have sung, “Turn to your spirit.” It is better to change the words of this hymn and sing, “Stay in your spirit.” Hallelujah, we have the processed Triune God as a law within us, and we have a regenerated spirit! As long as we stay in the spirit, this law works in us automatically.
To be in the spirit is to have the divine electricity turned on. By staying in the spirit we keep the switch on; we never turn it off. This is the way to cooperate with the processed Triune God who is the law operating in us. As the life-giving Spirit, He has been dispensed into us and He dwells in us. By His indwelling, He has made our spirit life, He is causing our soul to become life, and He is imparting life to our mortal bodies. We are now enjoying life in a threefold way by the working of this wonderful law, the law of the Spirit of life.