Thank the Lord, in Romans 8 the mind enters into another stage. It is no longer an independent mind but rather a trusting mind, a dependent mind. A person who has such a mind constantly sets his mind on the spirit and no longer strives by himself. Even when he is very touched after hearing a good message or reading an excellent portion of the Word, his mind is not set on the message. Rather, his mind is set on the spirit. His mind is not an independent mind but a dependent mind, a mind that trusts absolutely in the spirit. At this time his mind is completely joined to the spirit. In other words, he is in union with the spirit, and his soul is completely dependent on the spirit.
This is very different from the story of man’s fall. In the fall of man, his soul became independent of his spirit. Putting the spirit aside, the soul acts and chooses on its own. Romans 8 is a real salvation because the soul is no longer independent but rather is dependent, relying, and set on the spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the secret to our experiencing the Lord Jesus as the Spirit of life and His subjective salvation in life. We need to set our mind on the spirit, continually be joined with the spirit as one, and never be detached from the spirit.
Many Christians have the concept that our prayer is to receive power from the Lord so that the Lord’s power can help us to overcome. This concept is wrong. Prayer is not for you to ask the Lord to give you His power objectively. Rather, prayer is for your independent mind to become a dependent mind. The more you pray, the more your mind is turned back; hence, it becomes less an independent mind and more a dependent mind. Our prayer is the calling back of the mind. The more you pray, the more your mind, which represents you, is turned and set on the spirit. Once your mind is set on the spirit, it is like an electric appliance being plugged into the electrical socket and being connected to the source of electricity. Once you are “connected to the source of electricity,” salvation comes. The Spirit within you begins to carry out the saving work for you to be set free, sanctified, transformed, conformed, and blended. Therefore, the key to experiencing the subjective salvation of the Lord as the Spirit of life within us is to set our mind on the spirit.
It is a pity that throughout the years none of the many who expounded the book of Romans and who spoke about the pathway to spirituality were able to point out this matter. We ourselves also could not point this out ten or twenty years ago. Today, however, we have seen clearly that the key to our cooperating with the Lord is to learn to set our mind on the spirit continually. As an illustration, certain brothers are true experts at operating tape recorders. If I were to operate them, I might act foolishly. I might try to turn the reels by hand, but that would be a human work. I might try to clean them and make them look very nice, but regardless of how nice they would look, they still would not turn. Yet these brothers, being very smart, simply put the plugs in the sockets, and the machines begin to operate. It does not matter if the machines are a little dirty; as long as they are connected to the electricity, they work. Brothers and sisters, it is the same way with us today. Regardless of how much you try to make yourself proper and well-behaved, even to the extent of not saying one wrong word, this may be due only to your inborn nature or your good upbringing. Anyone who is experienced can immediately tell that you are not connected to the Lord inwardly. Whether or not you are connected with the Lord does not depend on your broad-mindedness or magnanimity. Rather, it depends on where your mind is set. If it is set on the spirit, that is sufficient.
In these years in the United States, especially in Los Angeles, I pointed out this matter strongly. The light shone so intensely that many brothers and sisters were delivered in this matter. On the objective side, the messages we released in the recent years deal with how God wants Christ to be our life and the church to be the expression of Christ. On the subjective side, they first deal with the exercise of our spirit, and second, with setting our mind on the spirit. Countless brothers and sisters were blessed and set free in these two points.
Our co-workers must pay sufficient attention to this matter and have sufficient experience of it, and then you should go and help the brothers and sisters to know it in a real way. We have already enjoyed objective redemption, but today we still need to experience subjective salvation, that is, to experience Christ as our life. By what way? In brief, it is by setting the mind continually on the spirit. You simply must set your mind continually on your spirit, then the two are connected, and once the connection is made, salvation is here. Therefore, setting the mind on the spirit is the way for us to cooperate with the Lord’s salvation.
Today the Lord has already prepared everything for us, and He is also in our spirit. All that is required is our cooperation, which is to set our mind on our spirit. Praise and thank the Lord, it is enough if you practice this. You do not need to strive or to exert effort. It is enough just to set your mind on your spirit. Henceforth, you simply walk according to the spirit.
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