Let us study something further. Two of these three facts have factors. The body is dead has a factor, and the spirit is life has a factor also. There is a reason that the body is dead, and there is a reason that the spirit is life. The body is dead because of sin, and the spirit is life because of righteousness. There are two things here: sin and righteousness. Sin is the factor that our body is dead, and righteousness is the factor that our spirit is life. One verse in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 5:21, covers sin and righteousness clearly, definitely, correctly, and accurately. It says, “Him Who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf, that we might become God’s righteousness in Him.” Christ was made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness. This means that God made Christ sin on our behalf, that we might become God’s righteousness in Him, that is, in Christ. This verse covers two crucial things-sin and righteousness-and if we would experience Romans 8:10 we must get into this verse. Our body is dead because of sin, and our spirit is life because of righteousness. And Christ was made by God to be the sin which is the factor of our body being dead. And we become the righteousness which is the factor of our spirit being life. This is not easy to apprehend.
What is sin? And what is righteousness? Although we cannot cover these two matters thoroughly at this time, still I would tell you that sin is Satan, and righteousness is God. We have to realize that sin is the embodiment of Satan. When sin is personified it is Satan, because sin is the very embodiment of Satan, the totality of Satan. In the same principle, righteousness is just the totality of God. When righteousness is personified, it is God. Jeremiah 23:6 speaks of “the Lord our Righteousness.” This means that the Lord God Himself, not just some kind of virtue in His divine nature, is our righteousness. In the New Testament, especially in 1 Corinthians 1:30, we are told that Christ today is our righteousness. Righteousness is a person, a unique person-God Himself. It is not an angel that is righteousness, and it is not a man which is righteousness. Righteousness is a person; so sin must also be a person.
We are captives either of God or of Satan. You have to realize that when Satan seduced man and entered into man, he became sin. What is sin? Sin is the very rebel of God who seduced man and entered into man. This is sin. Now we need to read Romans 7:17 and 18: “So now it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to do the good is not.” By reading these two verses in Romans 7 we can see that sin must be a person because it can deceive me, it can kill me, and it dwells in me. No doubt, this sin, this person, is Satan. Of course, we have already pointed out that righteousness is the very divine Person of God. God Himself is our righteousness. When man got fallen, sin, or Satan, entered into him, into his body. This is why Romans 7:23 speaks of the sin in the members of our body. Because sin is in our body, sin corrupts our body, making our body no more a pure body, but flesh. God never created a flesh. God created a body. But sin has made our God-created body a fallen flesh.
But now we have gotten saved, and God has entered into us. When God entered into us. God became our righteousness. Into what part did God enter? Into our spirit. Sin entered into our body, and sin brought in death, or issued in death. According to Romans 5:12, sin entered into the world and death followed. Sin brought in death. In the same principle, when righteousness entered into our spirit, righteousness brought in life. So both Romans 5:17 and 21 speak of righteousness issuing in life. This righteousness is just God Himself. We all have to realize that we have one person in our body, who is termed sin, and we have another person in our spirit, who is called righteousness. Sin in our body makes our body dead. Righteousness in our spirit makes our spirit life. It is not only living but even the source of being living, that is, life.
According to your Christian discovery, haven’t you realized that in your body there is nothing good, that in your flesh there is nothing good? All the things there are bad. Also in your Christian discovery, haven’t you seen that in your spirit there is life? Not only are many good things there, but life is there. Even while you were doing something sinful, within there is a part that is vigorous. Nothing can quench it, and nothing can put it down. Even if you try to put it down, it still jumps up. Something vital and something vigorous is in your being, and that is your spirit being life through righteousness. And this righteousness is just God.
Still you may ask concerning the definition of sin and concerning the definition of righteousness. It is not so easy to give a satisfactory definition of these two things. According to my experience righteousness means to be right with God. Why is telling a lie sin? And why is telling the truth righteousness? It is because telling the truth is right with God, and telling a lie is rebellion against God. What is righteousness? It is to be right with God. What is sin? It is to rebel against God. Even if you give a gift to a person, if that is against God, it is sin. You may tell the truth to someone, yet if that telling of the truth is against God, it is sin. Sin is rebellion against God. Righteousness is to be right with God. In the whole universe the standard is not any kind of regulation or law; the standard is God Himself. When you are right with Him, that is righteousness. When you are against Him, that is sin. Do you realize that even a good thing such as the preaching of the gospel could be sin? Your preaching of the gospel might be something not according to God’s will. It might be according to your preference and your choice. This would mean it is not right with God. Instead of being righteousness, it would be rebellion against God.
We have to realize that in our flesh, in our body, there is nothing but just the totality of rebellion against God. Not only when your body does bad things, but even when your body does good things, it is still in rebellion against God. It is not right with God. But what is right with God is in your spirit. What is in your spirit is always right with God; even that is God Himself, because God Himself is in your spirit. As long as you have God, as long as you live God, and as long as you go along with God, you are right with God. So you have the righteousness of God, and this righteousness is the factor causing your spirit to be life.