LESSON FORTY-SEVEN

THE EXPERIENCE AND ENJOYMENT
OF THE DISPENSING
OF THE DIVINE TRINITY
IN THE DIVINE TRANSFORMATION
FOR THE DIVINE CONFORMATION

(5)

OUTLINE

7. By living to Christ:
   1. No longer living to self.
   2. Constrained by the love of Christ who died for us.
   3. In Christ’s resurrection—the issue of His death.
   4. Proving that we are the Lord’s and that Christ is our Lord, who died to purchase us to Himself.
8. By walking according to the Spirit and walking by the Spirit:
   1. According to the mingled spirit—the believers’ spirit mingled with the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ.
   2. Setting the mind on the mingled spirit.
   3. Freed from the law of sin and of death.
   4. Fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law.
   5. Not satisfying the lust of the flesh but bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit.
9. By sowing unto the Spirit in the believers’ living:
   1. Not sowing unto the flesh to reap corruption of the flesh.
   2. Sowing unto the Spirit to reap eternal life of the Spirit.

TEXT

In this lesson we will consider more aspects of the believers’ experience and enjoyment of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the divine transformation for the divine conformation.

VII. BY LIVING TO CHRIST

Second Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “The love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised.” Here Paul does not speak of living for the Lord, by the Lord, or with the Lord; instead, he speaks of living to the Lord. To live to Christ is to take Him as the aim of our living. In everything we do—at home, at work, or in the church life—Christ should be our unique aim.

Galatians 2:19 says, “I through law have died to law that I might live to God.” To live to law means that we are under the law, led by the law, ruled by the law, and obligated to follow the law. To live to God or to the Lord means that we are under the leading and constraint of the Lord to fulfill His demand and to satisfy and accomplish His desire.

The entire text of 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 shows that to live to the Lord means to live the kind of life that the Lord Jesus lived. In chapter 4 we see that the apostle experienced the putting to death of Jesus. When we experience the putting to death of Jesus, we can live the kind of life Jesus lived. Therefore, to live to the Lord is to live a crucified life. Such a living always puts the outer man to death. The Lord Jesus lived this kind of life, and those who live such a life today are living to the Lord. If we would live to the Lord, we must deny our outer man, that is, our flesh. When we live to Christ, we do not live by our outer man, by our flesh; rather, we live by the inner man, by our regenerated spirit. The Lord does not want us to be so active for Him; rather, He wants us to experience the putting to death of Jesus so that our natural man and our active being may be terminated.

We must understand the difference between living for Christ and living to Christ. To Christ implies that we are the Lord’s possession, that we already belong to Him. For Christ implies that we are still our own and are according to our pleasure and convenience. We may be active and aggressive for the Lord in a natural way, doing things for the Lord by our natural aggressiveness. This offends the Lord, and it distracts us from enjoying Him. Since we belong to the Lord, the Lord desires that we be to Him. It is not enough to say that we are for Him; saying that we are for Him indicates that we still have things under our control and that we could leave Him. However, if we are to the Lord, we cannot leave Him and are even one with Him.

Living to the Lord is based upon the fact that we are the Lord’s (Rom. 14:8). We live to Him because we belong to Him. We must realize that the Lord bought us with the great price of His precious blood (1 Cor. 6:19-20; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). Now He is our Lord and Master, and we belong to Him. All that we have, all that we do, and all that we are is unto Him; everything is wholly unto Him. We should not say that we are doing certain things for Him, because we already belong to Him. Since every believer has been bought by the Lord with a great price, he should have one living to the Lord.