In this message we have a “high mountain” to climb. In expression or in terminology, it may not sound that high. But in actuality, in biblical doctrine, very few points are so high, so deep, so difficult to explain, so difficult to get. The “high mountain” is this: What is the main function of the law of the Spirit of life? What is the main work, the major work, that the law of the Spirit of life does within us? The terminology is very simple, but it is very hard to tell and to explain. Let us read Romans 8:2: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” If you come to this verse without so much knowledge, you can see the major function easily. The major function of the law of the Spirit of life is to free us from the law of sin and of death. Its major function is to free us from another law.
You have to remember that while Romans 8 is on the law of the Spirit of life, its major work is to free us from another law. That law is the law of sin and of death. If we could be freed from that law, we would have no problems. We would be regulated, we would be conformed, we would be spiritual, we would be victorious, we would be holy. The main thing is that we need to be freed from another law, the law of sin and of death. Here we have two laws. One is the law of the Spirit of life. The law of the Spirit of life is nothing less than the Triune God processed to be the indwelling Spirit within us. This title means a lot. Don’t think this is merely my teaching. This is exactly what Paul is teaching in Romans 8. Paul doesn’t say that just God dwells in us. He didn’t write in such a simple way. This is why very few Christians can understand Romans 8. Paul uses many terms: God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, Christ Jesus, the One who raised up Christ Jesus from among the dead. Furthermore, you have God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Paul used so many complicating or implicating expressions. Why was Paul so troublesome, so complicating, in his writing? He had a strong purpose. Moreover, Paul said that God sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Three things are here: likeness, flesh, and sin. This was Paul’s way of expression. Consummately speaking, He is the indwelling Spirit. And the indwelling Spirit is not merely the Spirit of God as mentioned in Genesis 1 where the Spirit of God was brooding over the darkness upon the water. Romans 8 is not that simple. We have to realize that all of the complicating, implicating expressions indicate that God is triune and that this Triune God has been processed. This Triune God after being processed is now ultimately the indwelling Spirit. This very God is the law. He is the law of the Spirit of life. We have to see this. What is the law of the Spirit of life? The law of the Spirit of life is such a Triune, processed, indwelling God as the Spirit within us. Within us, He is the law. I don’t believe many Christians have ever considered God in this way. Mostly we were taught that God is powerful, merciful, faithful. Whatever God says, He will do. He will help us. But we all can testify that He didn’t help us so much. We wanted to get rid of our temper, but God didn’t help us. It seems the more I pray asking God to kill my temper, the more temper I have. As a husband, the more you endeavor to love your wife, praying that the Lord would help you to love her, the more you may be disgusted with her.
In school you have been educated, and in the church you have been edified. Many wives like to see their husbands coming to the so-called church to be edified, hoping that their husbands would love them more. Likewise, the husbands like to see their wives going to the so-called church so that they will be edified and not trouble them so much. This is the situation among so many Christians today. But who knows the law of the Spirit of life? Very few! Hardly any Christians know that this law is the very God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He is the Creator, the One who was incarnated, the Redeemer, the Savior, the processed One, and consummately He is the Spirit indwelling us. Some would even oppose our saying that the Triune God is such a Spirit. They have forgotten that even the Lord Himself said that God is Spirit (John 4:24). Does this mean that only the Creator God is Spirit? That the Father is not the Spirit and the Son is not the Spirit? Does this indicate that only the Spirit is the Spirit? This is the traditional teaching of the Trinity. Is God in John 4:24 only God the Spirit? Is He not God the Son? Is He not God the Father? Of course, the Triune God is there—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. If the Spirit is the Spirit, is not the Son the Spirit? Is not the Father the Spirit? The Lord Jesus said that God, meaning the Triune God, is the Spirit. Most Christians today only know the so-called traditional, theological terminology concerning the Triune God. They say God the Father is one, God the Son is one, and God the Spirit is one. They say these are three separate and distinct Persons, that you cannot say that the Father is the Spirit, and the Son is the Spirit. You can only say the Spirit is the Spirit. We have to ask them about John 4:24 which says God is Spirit. Christians today have never been told and never been taught properly what is the law of the Spirit of life.