In Ephesians 4, concerning the living and responsibility needed for the church life, Paul said, “Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace” (v. 3). This shows us that to have the proper Body life, we first need to care for the oneness. This is crucial and vital to the Body of Christ. Strictly speaking, oneness differs from unity. Unity is the state in which many people are united together, whereas oneness is the one entity of the Spirit within the believers, which makes them all one. This oneness is a person, the Spirit Himself, who dwells within us. It is similar to the electricity flowing within many lamps, making them all one in the shining. In themselves, the lamps are separate, but in the electricity they are one. To keep the oneness of the Spirit is to keep the life-giving Spirit. If we act apart from the Spirit, we are divisive and lose the oneness. If we stay in the life-giving Spirit, we keep the oneness of the Spirit, and we also keep the oneness of the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:4 goes on to say, “One Body and one Spirit.” The Spirit is the essence of the one Body, and He is also the life of the Body. Apart from the Spirit, the Body could not exist as a living organism. Without the Spirit, the Body would be empty and have no life. Furthermore, the Spirit is for the Body and in the Body. Therefore, the Body and the Spirit are not two separate entities; they are one. As we remain in the divine fellowship through the Spirit, we are kept by the Spirit in the unique oneness of the Body, a oneness that is the indwelling Spirit Himself.
Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This verse shows us that after finishing all the processes, the Lord became a life-giving Spirit in resurrection. The Spirit not only gives us the divine life but also frees us from the bondage of the law.
At Paul’s time the Old Testament law was a great bondage to the Jews. They were under the bondage of circumcision, the bondage of dietary regulations, and the bondage of the Sabbath. Today, however, since Christ has come, it is no longer the Old Testament age of the law in letters, but the New Testament age of the pneumatic Christ. Moses, with the letter of the law, put the people under bondage, but the Spirit frees us from religious regulations, rituals, and traditional doctrines. We must turn our heart to the Lord, who is the Spirit, and set our mind on the mingled spirit; then the Spirit will free us that we may enjoy the full freedom in grace.
Hebrews 9:8 says, “The Holy Spirit thus making this clear, that the way of the Holy of Holies has not yet been manifested while the first tabernacle still has its standing.” By the Holy Spirit’s making clear, we know that the way of the Holy of Holies had not yet been manifested in the Old Testament. When Christ was crucified, the way to the Holy of Holies was freshly cut for us. Here, the first tabernacle, the Holy Place, signifies the old covenant, and the second tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, signifies the new covenant. The veil that closed off the Holy of Holies was split in two (Matt. 27:51) by the death of Christ, which crucified the flesh (Heb. 10:20; Gal. 5:24), and now the way of Holy of Holies has been manifested. Hence, we do not need to remain in the Holy Place, that is, the old covenant, the soul; we must enter into the Holy of Holies, that is, the new covenant, the spirit. Now that the Spirit within us is making clear to us the way to enter the inner chamber of God’s dwelling place, we should not remain either in the outer court or in the Holy Place. We should enter into the Holy of Holies, that is, our spirit, to draw near to God and enjoy Him as love, light, and every divine thing.
Hebrews 10:15-17 says, “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after having said, ‘This is the covenant which I will covenant with them after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws upon their hearts, and upon their mind I will inscribe them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawlessnesses I shall by no means remember anymore.’” In this chapter the writer of Hebrews was seeking to prove to the believers that there was no longer any need to offer the sacrifice for sin, because Christ has accomplished the putting away of sins. The problem of sin has been solved. Now in these verses the writer emphasizes this fact by further pointing out the inward law of life, that the Holy Spirit also testifies to this effect. The Holy Spirit quotes the word in Jeremiah 31:33-34, saying that God would put His laws upon the hearts of His people and that He would not remember their sins anymore. This proves that the Holy Spirit testifies that our sins have been taken away.
According to Hebrews 8, the new covenant which God made with us includes four things: the law of life which is imparted into us, God being our God and we being His people, the inner ability of knowing God, and God’s forgiveness of our sins. These four things are focused on the law of life. When we are in the Holy of Holies, that is, when we are in our spirit, the Spirit testifies to us that God has imparted His divine life with its law into our spirit. This law will spread into our inward parts, such as our mind, emotion, and will, and will become several laws. This law of life differs from the law of letters. It does not regulate us from without by and according to dead letters; rather, it regulates us from within by and according to its life element. Since we all, great or small, have the law of life, we should not walk according to the knowledge of the law of letters but according to the inward consciousness of the law of life.
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