The Christian life is not a life according to culture. It is not a life of religion, ethics, morality, tradition, or customs. The Christian life is a living that is out of the Holy Spirit and through the human spirit. It is also a living whose walk is according to the spirit. Unfortunately, you and I have not yet attained to that standard. Many brothers and sisters are very pious toward God. They are very strict toward themselves and very forgiving toward others. Their manner of life is very honest and faithful. We Chinese have been taught this way from our youth, and in our daily life we are very much controlled and governed by these teachings. As far as Confucius is concerned, this kind of behavior is good, and as far as morality and ethics is concerned, it is excellent. Such behavior is upheld by tradition and welcomed by natural reasoning. But as far as God’s economy is concerned, it is off the mark. God does not approve any of these things. He does not approve anything that is not according to His economy. As the New Testament apostles came to realize, even the ordinances that were given by God in the Old Testament have all been set aside (Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14).
Paul shows us in the book of Galatians that if a man desires to keep the law, he is severed from Christ and has fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4). Christ is made of no effect to him (Gal. 5:2). This does not mean that we have the liberty to break the law. It is not a matter of keeping the law or of breaking the law. To keep the law is a matter of good, and to break the law is a matter of evil. Both good and evil are from the same tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). But the tree of life is neither a matter of good nor a matter of evil. It is a matter of life, and this life is Christ (John 14:6).
In Romans 7:21 Paul said that whenever he desired to do good, evil was present with him. This is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Those who live in the realm of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are always in turmoil. Paul cried, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (7:24). Then in chapter eight he declared that the law of the Spirit of life had freed him (8:2). Here we have not the law of good nor the law of evil, but the law of life.
To most people, it is commendable to be able to differentiate between good and evil. To their way of thinking, it is right to be lawful, moral, and ethical. The Chinese classics say that the way of the higher teaching is in the development of the “bright virtue.” As long as a person will develop the bright virtue within him, he is good. But to the Christian this is not adequate. The teaching of life is not a matter of developing the bright virtue. The teaching of life is to walk according to spirit. The teaching of Confucius exhorts man to cultivate and develop the bright virtue within him. But we Christians are not here to develop that bright virtue. We are here to develop the spirit within us which is mingled with Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit. This mingled spirit within us is much higher than the bright virtue.
Actually, the bright virtue is simply the conscience. The bright virtue of Confucius is the conscience that Wang Yang-ming, another Chinese philosopher, spoke about. All the teachings concerning the development of the bright virtue are the result of the highest discoveries of the Chinese philosophers. They discovered that within man there is the noblest part, which is the conscience. But within us the believers is a spirit which contains the divine Spirit. This is much higher than the conscience. I hope that the brothers and sisters will hear this word. What many seeking Christians are doing today is simply developing their bright virtue. They are not walking according to the spirit within them which is mingled with God the Spirit.
The Bible does not teach us to develop our bright virtue. It does not tell us to cultivate our natural man. Rather, it teaches us to walk according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16a, 25). This spirit is the mingled spirit which is produced when the Spirit of God enters into our spirit. The Spirit of God is the life-giving Spirit who has passed through creation, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Today this Spirit has entered into the spirits of all those who are saved. God’s intention today is not for us to develop our bright virtue. Rather, He wants us to walk according to that inward spirit in which God’s presence dwells. The way of the higher teaching is in the development of the bright virtue; but the teaching of life is in walking according to the spirit.