The Christian life is not a story of a single person. The Christian life is a story of two persons living together. This is marvelous! These two live not only by co-existence, but by co-inherence. The Three of the Godhead co-exist and co-inhere. They exist simultaneously, and each is in the other. When the Lord Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?” (John 14:10), He indicated the co-inherence of the Father and the Son. The preposition “in” indicates the co-inherence.
Even with the believers and the Lord Jesus there is the co-inherence. In John 15:4 the Lord Jesus said, “Abide in me and I in you.” This is co-inherence. The Christian life is a wonderful story. But this wonderful story has been neglected by today’s Christians. Very few Christians apprehend this matter of the co-inherence of God and man. Of course, some do not even believe in the co-inherence of the Three of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
We must see this matter of the co-inherence for the sake of the Lord’s recovery today. We are in a time which is very crucial to the Lord, and the crucial point of this time is not related to outward activities such as a big work or miracles. It is altogether related to the matter of life within us, and this has very much to do with our apprehension of this matter of the co-inherence of the believers and the Lord Jesus. The story of a proper Christian life is just a story of co-inherence. Once we are saved, we are not merely one person. We are in the co-inherence with the divine One. He lives in us, and we live in Him, and we two live together.
We must see that the leading of the Spirit of God is His residing and God’s giving life and your putting to death of the practices of the body. When this is your experience, it is at that time that you are evidenced as the son of God. Your life will evidence that you are a son of God. You will not need to designate yourself or wear a name tag. You will have a life of leading which will evidence the fact that you are a son of God.
This kind of seeing, this kind of vision, will help you to set your mind upon the spirit and to walk according to the spirit. When you have the leading of the Spirit, then you would set your mind upon the spirit. When you have the leading of the Spirit then you would walk according to the spirit. But the leading is not initiated by you. “Are led” is in the passive voice. The leading is initiated by the Spirit, yet the setting of your mind upon the spirit and the walking according to the spirit are initiated by you. Firstly, you put to death, and then you have the leading of the Spirit. Then you will set your mind upon the spirit and walk according to the spirit. This sequence is according to our fine experience. Without the leading of the Spirit it might be very difficult for you to set your mind upon the spirit and even more difficult for you to walk according to the spirit.
As a person who has been regenerated and saved, you have the Spirit of God residing in you. This is basic. If you don’t have this residing Spirit, you have not been regenerated yet. But if you have believed in Him and called upon His name, your sins have been forgiven and your spirit has been regenerated. You have the Spirit of God residing in you. This residing is the factor, the base, and the source of God giving life to your mortal body. Even the matter of giving life to your mortal body is an issue of the giving life into our spirit and the giving life into our mind. The giving life to our mortal body includes the giving life to our spirit and our mind. This means God is giving life to our entire being, not only to the spirit, and not only to our mind, but also to our body. God is giving life; He is supplying you with the life essence into your entire being.
What then is our responsibility? Our responsibility is just to cooperate by putting to death the practices of our body. To put to death the practices of the body means to put our natural living to death. A person who has been regenerated and who has the residing Spirit within him giving life should not live any longer in a natural way. The way to put the practices of the body to death is simply not to live in a natural way. If naturally you like to talk, put that to death. If naturally you like to eat a lot of dessert, put that to death. If naturally you love sports, put that to death. To put to death all the natural living is to put to death the practices of the body.
When you have the residing of the Spirit, the life giving of God, and your putting to death, you will have the leading of the Spirit. At that time it would be so easy for you to set your mind upon the spirit and to walk according to the spirit. Within, you will have a lot of life supply; without, you will have the righteousness of the law. When you walk according to the spirit, the righteousness of God will be fulfilled in you. You don’t need to fulfill it; it will be fulfilled in you. Within you have the life supply, and without you have the life expression. The life supply within you is the Spirit, and the life expression without is righteousness. According to 2 Corinthians 3:6 and 9 this is the ministry that ministers the Spirit and righteousness to people, so it is the ministry of the Spirit as well as of righteousness. This is the new testament ministry. This is the new covenant ministry, ministering the Spirit within and righteousness without. Within you will be filled with life supply, and without you will have a full expression of righteousness.