Now let us go on to consider from Romans 8 the various aspects of the blessed work of the Spirit. First, the Spirit is the indwelling Spirit (vv. 9, 11). It is a great matter to have the Spirit indwelling us. Suppose the President of the United States came to your city and stayed for a while in your home. That would be considered a great honor and privilege. But we have someone much higher than the President dwelling in us—we have the Spirit of God dwelling in our spirit!
The second function of the Spirit is to give life. As the Spirit indwells us, He is not idle. Rather, He is active to impart life to us. The indwelling Spirit is the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit who gives life.
The third function of the Spirit is found in verse 13: “For if you live according to flesh, you are about to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.” According to this verse, the Spirit not only gives life, but also kills, puts to death. Positively, the Spirit gives life; negatively, He kills and clears away all the negative things within us.
Fourth, in verse 14 we have the function of the Spirit’s leading: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” The indwelling Spirit leads us, and His leading is so sweet. Many of us can testify that it is the Spirit who leads us to the church meetings when we may be inclined to do something else. Praise Him that He is the One leading us!
Romans 8:15 gives us the fifth function of the Spirit: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery to fear again, but you have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father.” The Spirit cries, “Abba, Father,” in a very sweet way. Whenever we cry, “Abba, Father,” we sense sweetness and comfort. Truly the Spirit is the crying Spirit.
As we have already pointed out, according to verse 16, the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. Hence, He is the witnessing Spirit. Because of the witness of the Spirit, we have the confirmation and testimony within us that we are children of God. There is a living One, the indwelling Spirit, witnessing in us that we are children of God.
Seventh, verse 26 says, “And in like manner the Spirit also joins in to help us in our weakness; for we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Here we see that the Spirit functions by joining in to help us in our weakness. If we were not weak, the Spirit would not join in to help us. But simply because we are weak, He becomes our partner helping us in our weakness and sharing our weakness. This is a wonderful blessing which human words cannot explain adequately.
Eighth, in verse 27 we have the interceding of the Spirit: “But He Who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes for the saints according to God.” The interceding of the Spirit is also mentioned in verse 26, where we are told that the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. According to these verses, the Spirit’s interceding takes place not in the heavens, but within us. Notice that verse 27 says that God searching our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit. This indicates that He has mingled Himself not only with our spirit, but even that He has mingled His mind with our heart. God searches our heart to know the mind of the Spirit. This means that the mind of the Spirit is one with our heart.
At this point let me ask a question: Is it the Spirit who groans, or are we the ones groaning? Verse 26 says that the Spirit intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered. Surely we are the ones groaning. But our groaning is the Spirit’s interceding. This indicates once again that we and the Spirit, the Spirit and we, are one. Our groanings become the Spirit’s interceding. Furthermore, the Spirit’s mind is involved with our heart. How wonderful that the Spirit is not only mingled with our spirit, but His mind is mingled with our heart and His interceding is in our groaning! How marvelous that He is one with us in this way!
Eventually, according to verse 23, we have “the firstfruit of the Spirit.” What we are enjoying today is just the firstfruit, not yet the full harvest. The firstfruit is an example, a foretaste, a guarantee, of the full taste which is coming. As verse 23 indicates, this full taste is related to the redemption of our body. Today we are enjoying the Triune God in our spirit and, at most, also in our soul. Our body has not yet been brought into the full enjoyment of the Triune God. Therefore, we need the redemption of our body. While we are enjoying the firstfruit of the Spirit, we are expecting in the future to enjoy the full taste, the redemption of our body.
It is not an insignificant matter to remain in the spirit. When we stay in the spirit, we enjoy the Spirit’s indwelling, life-giving, killing, leading, crying, witnessing, joining in to help in our weakness, and interceding. Eventually, we enjoy Him as the firstfruit of the Triune God, who will become our full taste. This is not a mere teaching; it is an unveiling and also a proclamation of the facts for our enjoyment.
When you read of all these aspects of the work of the Spirit, there is no need to fast and pray. Instead, just say amen to each function of the Spirit: “In the spirit, amen. Indwelling, amen. Life-giving, amen. Putting to death, amen. Leading, amen. Crying, amen. Witnessing, amen. Joining in, amen. Interceding, amen. Firstfruit, amen. Amen, I am in the spirit, enjoying the work of the Spirit in me.” I encourage you to amen every verse in Romans 8, especially the phrase “in the spirit.” If you proclaim the fact that you are in the spirit and say amen to each aspect of the work of the Spirit, you will experience a change in your Christian life. This will transform you, build you up, and give you the growth in life.