The work of the indwelling Spirit is of three categories: to impart life to our mortal body, to slay the practices of our body, and to lead us. You have to realize, though, that of these three times the Spirit was the instrument for the work twice. Twice He was not the worker, but the instrument or the means. In the last category, that of His leading, He is the worker. Yet it is strange that even in this third category Paul didn’t use the active voice. Paul didn’t say the Spirit leads you. Rather he said, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God” (v. 14). He leads you, yet it depends upon whether you are willing to be led. In the first category of work the Spirit is not the worker. The worker is the resurrecting God, the very God who raised Jesus Christ from among the dead. This resurrecting God works in you to impart life into your body. In the second category the worker is we ourselves. We slay, we put to death, the practices of our body. So in the first two kinds of works, the Spirit is not the worker but the instrument. One of the two workers is God, and the other is we ourselves. The Spirit is indwelling you, yet God works in you through Him. Second, you also do something by Him. This is very meaningful. Paul doesn’t say that the indwelling Spirit imparts life to our mortal bodies. Rather he says, “He Who raised Christ Jesus from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who indwells you” (v. 11). Nor does he say that the Spirit kills the practices of our dead body. Rather he says, “If by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live” (v. 13). Why does Paul write in this way? Based upon doctrine alone, you have no way to explain. You must come to the matter of experience. Some condemn us because we stress experience so much, but if you are going to understand spiritual things, you surely need the experiences.
Let me explain it in this way: Yes, it is the indwelling Spirit working in you, but suppose you don’t contact God. Suppose you don’t have any fellowship with God. Suppose you just forget about God. Suppose you consider that since the indwelling Spirit is within you working, He bears every responsibility and takes care of everything. If you take this way, the Spirit does not work. But when you come to God through the Lord Jesus, whenever you have some fellowship with God, whenever you spend just a little time with God through Jesus Christ, the Spirit works! By this the Spirit works. The Spirit is the Spirit of life, but don’t forget this life-working Spirit is the Spirit of God. You can never separate Him from God. Without God, you don’t have the life-working Spirit, and of course without the life-working Spirit, you don’t have God. When God works in you, that is the Spirit working in you. But you have to realize that the Spirit in these instances is the instrument, and God Himself is the very worker. If you are going to enjoy the work of the Spirit, you must have something to do with God. If you are not having anything to do with God, there will be no work of the indwelling Spirit at all.
Furthermore, not only does God impart life through the Spirit, but you also must do something through the Spirit: you must slay the practices of your body. This is to coordinate with God. God may be imparting life to you while you are fellowshipping with Him, yet if you wouldn’t slay the practices of your body, nothing will happen. This requires teamwork. God is working within you, and you have to work with God. Both you and God must work through the Spirit as a team. Many times God is working within us, but we are not slaying. We must be willing to be led. Whether God is really imparting life into you or not and whether you are really slaying the practices of your body or not depends upon whether you are willing to be led by the Spirit. Now He is the Leader, taking the lead. Are you willing to be led? Very few are willing to be led, and even these very few are willing to be led very seldom. We are just not willing to be led. It is easy to say, “Praise the Lord! God is working within me, imparting life to every part of my being, and I am willing to slay the practices of my body.” But when the actual action is needed, you are not willing to be led by Him. These three things must be mingled into one: God’s imparting, your killing, and the Spirit’s leading. Actually, it is your willingness to be led. If you have these three things, then you will have the real experience of the indwelling Spirit. I feel burdened to spend so much time on these details because we talk a lot about the Spirit, but we don’t have much experience. We talk a lot about life being imparted into our dead body, and we talk about killing the practices of our body, and we talk about being led by the Spirit, but we don’t have much experience. We are still under our own direction. Actually, we don’t even have the willingness to be led by this indwelling One.