A third verse that speaks of the two spirits is Romans 8:16. This verse says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.” According to this verse we know that we are children of God because there is an inner witness within us. This inner witness is the Holy Spirit within us, who bears witness with our spirit. In the past when someone asked me, “Brother Lee, how do I know that I am a child of God?” I told him, “Just say, ‘I am not a child of God.’” The person would invariably answer, “I cannot say this.” When I asked him why, he would tell me that he had no peace to say this. I would go on to ask, “If you say, ‘I am a child of God,’ how do you feel?” He then would tell me that he felt restful. Based on this, I would point out to him that he had the assurance within and that this was sufficient to prove that he was a child of God.
It means nothing for others to bear outward witness that we are children of God. However, we have an inner witness which testifies that we are children of God, and nothing in the universe can ever take this away from us. The inner witness is personal and beyond human expression. The Holy Spirit of God is now in our spirit, bearing witness with our spirit. These two spirits work together as one to bear witness to the fact that we are children of God.
Once a brother who had committed a serious sin told me that he did not think he was a child of God. He thought that a child of God could never commit such a sin. I told him to declare that he was not a child of God and to tell this to God, to the angels, and even to Satan. He responded that he could not do this because something within him troubled him. He had to admit that he was a child of God. According to his mind, he thought that he was not a child of God, but another part of him gave him the sense that he was a child of God. Then I advised him to go along with God according to this other part.
We all have the inner assurance that we are children of God. This inner assurance is the witnessing of the Holy Spirit of God with our regenerated spirit. It is something very precious and wonderful, something that no one can take away. Therefore, Romans 8:16 is a verse that shows us the two spirits, the Spirit of God and our spirit, working together as one.
In 1 Corinthians 6:17 we see that the two spirits, the divine Spirit and the human spirit, become one spirit. This verse says, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We must realize that today we are one spirit with the Lord. The Lord is Spirit, and we have a spirit. When the Lord Spirit came into our spirit to enliven our spirit and to regenerate our spirit with Christ as life, the two spirits, the Lord Spirit and our spirit, were mingled as one and were joined as one spirit. Since we are joined to the Lord, we are one spirit with Him. This is a wonderful, accomplished fact. On the day we were regenerated, we became one spirit with the Lord.
Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The last Adam undoubtedly is Christ. According to this verse Christ today, that is, Christ in resurrection, is a life-giving Spirit. The Christ who has entered into our spirit is the life-giving Spirit. He is a Spirit, and He enters into us to give life to our spirit. At the time that He enters into us, He joins Himself with our spirit and makes our spirit and Himself as the Spirit one spirit. The two spirits are mingled together as one.
Whereas Adam was a living soul, Christ is a life-giving Spirit. A living soul cannot give life to others. Christ is a Spirit who not only is living but also can give life to others. Hence, He is a life-giving Spirit, and when He comes into us, He gives us life. He enlivens our spirit, and He causes our spirit to be mingled with Himself as the Spirit. Our spirit and the Lord Spirit mingle together as one spirit, with the result that we become one spirit with the Lord.
The fact that the Lord is the Spirit is also clearly seen in 2 Corinthians 3:17, which says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” Based on 1 Corinthians 15:45 alone we may think that Christ is only a life-giving Spirit, not the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit referred to in 2 Corinthians 3:17 is the Holy Spirit, the unique Spirit of God, the same Spirit as mentioned earlier in the chapter (vv. 3, 6, 8). From its beginning this chapter speaks much about the Holy Spirit, and in verse 17 it tells us that the Lord is the Spirit. Therefore, the Lord, who is Christ (4:5), is the Holy Spirit. We must realize that the Holy Spirit is simply the Lord Christ Himself. We should not think that the Holy Spirit and the Lord Christ are two separate persons. According to the pure word of the Scriptures, Christ and the Holy Spirit are one.
The second part of 2 Corinthians 3:17, and verse 18, continue, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” On the one hand, the second part of verse 17 refers to the Spirit as “the Spirit of the Lord,” and on the other hand, verse 18 refers to the Spirit as “the Lord Spirit.” These two titles both confirm that the Lord Himself is the Spirit. According to verse 18, we can be transformed into the image of the Lord by the Lord Spirit, and this Spirit is the Lord Himself. This indicates that we can be transformed into the image of the Lord only by the Lord Himself, who is the Spirit.
We need to be concerned about two things. The first thing is that God is Spirit. In order to worship Him, to contact Him, we must exercise our spirit. We must contact God and worship Him in our spirit. The second thing is that we have a spirit, and this spirit has been enlivened and regenerated by the Lord. Today the Lord Himself is in our spirit, and we are one spirit with Him.
If we are asked where the Lord is today, we should answer not only that He is in us but also that He is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). To say that the Lord is in the heavens is to answer from the standpoint of the universe. As far as we are concerned, the Lord is within us, and He is not merely within us; He is also in our spirit. As regenerated persons, we must locate the Lord within us. We need to be simple and realize that we are regenerated persons with a regenerated spirit, and the Lord is now in our spirit and is one spirit with us. We should forget about everything else. If we do this, we will know the Lord in a much more definite way.