We have already seen three points: First, God is Spirit, and those who worship and serve Him must be in spirit; second, ultimately God comes into our spirit as the Spirit to receive our service to Him; and third, we can contact God only in the spirit.
In this chapter we will look at a fourth point, which is how to know the spirit. I believe that, after listening to the previous three messages, many brothers and sisters naturally will have such questions as: What really is this thing called the spirit? How can we know the spirit? And how can we touch the spirit? I admit that such questions are not easy to answer. To explain what the spirit is like is rather difficult. To speak of the body is very easy, because we can see it and touch it. To speak of the soul is also not difficult, because though the soul is abstract, we can feel it and know it by its functions and actions, such as thinking, considering, determining, decision-making, and being pleased, angry, sorrowful, and joyful. Only when we speak of the spirit is it truly difficult. To speak about the spirit is not easy; even to understand the spirit is not easy. Nevertheless, we will attempt to speak of it. We can know the spirit through four things.
Romans 8 speaks of the spirit. It is difficult to find another place in the Bible which speaks of our condition in the spirit as clearly as this one. Therefore, if we want to know the spirit, it is imperative that we pay attention to this passage. In speaking of the spirit, the apostle uses four things.
The first thing is life. In verse 2 he refers to “the Spirit of life.” In so doing he shows us that the Spirit he speaks of here is the Spirit of life, the Spirit which is related to life, contains life, and belongs to life. Then in verse 6 he says that “the mind set on the spirit is life.” This means that life is the issue of the spirit, and the spirit is the source of life; therefore, by touching the spirit we touch life. Life and the spirit are mutually related; hence, we can know the spirit through life. Although it may be difficult to know the spirit, it is relatively easy to apprehend life.
The second thing is law. In verse 2 the apostle speaks not only of “the Spirit of life” but even of “the law of the Spirit of life.” This tells us that the Spirit he speaks of here not only belongs to life but also has a law. Therefore, when he speaks of the Spirit, he speaks of life, and he speaks likewise of the law. He joins the three—life, Spirit, and law—together. Life and the Spirit cannot be separated; law and the Spirit likewise cannot be divided. Life is the content and issue of the Spirit, whereas law is the function and action of the Spirit. By contacting life we touch the spirit; by sensing the law we also sense the spirit. Though the spirit is hard to find, the law is not difficult to seek. Therefore, by the law we can find the spirit.
The third thing is peace. In verse 6 the apostle says that “the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” This means that the result of setting the mind on the spirit is not only life but also peace. Therefore, life is the issue of the spirit, and peace is also the issue of the spirit. When we touch the spirit, we touch life and we likewise touch peace. Just as life can make us apprehend the spirit, so also peace can cause us to realize the spirit.
The fourth thing is death. In verse 6, before the apostle says that “the mind set on the spirit is life and peace,” he says that “the mind set on the flesh is death.” Here he uses something negative to bring forth by contrast the positive. Flesh and spirit are opposites, and so are death and life. Life is the issue of the spirit and is derived from the spirit. Death is the issue of the flesh and is derived from the flesh. Life causes us to know the things derived from the spirit, thus enabling us to know the spirit from the positive side. Death causes us to know the matters derived from the flesh, thus unveiling the spirit from the negative side. Therefore, just as life enables us to know the spirit from the positive side, so death also enables us to understand the spirit from the negative side. To know the spirit we need to know life, and we need to understand the opposite of life, which is death.
Thus, according to what the apostle says regarding these four things—life, law, peace, and death—we see that they are closely related to the spirit both positively and negatively. If we thoroughly understand these four things, we can clearly know the spirit, which is decidedly related to them.