Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” Spirit in this verse refers to the mingled spirit, that is, our regenerated spirit mingled with the divine Spirit. We should set our mind constantly on this mingled spirit. If our mind is set on the flesh, our mind is death. But if we turn our mind to the mingled spirit and set it on the spirit, our mind is life and peace. Our spirit becomes life through regeneration (v. 10); then our mind becomes life by being set on the spirit.
To set our mind on the mingled spirit is a great protection to us. This enables us to walk according to the spirit in our daily life and also preserves us in the divine dispensing. By setting our mind on the mingled spirit, we enjoy the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
When the believers set their mind on the mingled spirit and walk according to this spirit, they are freed from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:2 says, “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.” The law in this verse denotes an automatic and spontaneous principle, an unchanging rule. Every kind of life, including the satanic life and the divine life, has a law which is the innate ability of that life. This ability comes with birth; it is natural, automatic, constant, and instant. God’s life is the highest life with the highest characteristics and abilities. These topmost characteristics and abilities constitute the law of the life of God, making it the highest law.
In Romans 8:2 Paul does not speak simply of the law of life but of the law of the Spirit of life. The law of the Spirit of life is nothing less than the processed Triune God becoming the life-giving Spirit dwelling in us. The Triune God, after being processed, was dispensed into us to become the law of the Spirit of life; this law frees us from the law of sin and of death, the law of the satanic life. Because the highest law, that is, the law of the Spirit of life, operates in us, we do not need to endeavor to overcome the law of sin and of death; we only need to let the law of the Spirit of life work in us.
When we remain in the death of Christ, the resurrection life which issues from death becomes the empowering element for us to walk according to the mingled spirit and to set our mind on the spirit. Spontaneously we are freed from the evil law of Satan’s life, that is, the law of sin and of death. Then in our experience the evil law is defeated, and in Christ we enjoy another law, the highest law, that is, the law of the Spirit of life.
Romans 8:4 indicates that when we walk according to the spirit, the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. If we walk according to the mingled spirit, the righteous requirement of the law will spontaneously be fulfilled. We do not need to endeavor to obey the law, because the law of the Spirit of life automatically fulfills the demands of the law.
When we walk according to the spirit, we will spontaneously keep the law. Our heart’s desire is to live to Christ and to walk according to the spirit, but the end result is that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. Actually, the standard of this kind of living far surpasses the Ten Commandments; such a living is the standard of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens revealed in chapters 5 through 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. Therefore, when we walk according to the spirit, we have a moral standard that far surpasses the demands of the Mosaic law.
When the believers walk according to the spirit, they do not satisfy the lust of the flesh; rather, they bring forth the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). When we live to Christ and walk according to the spirit, we do not have an interest in the flesh and are unwilling to satisfy the lust of our flesh. On the contrary, we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit as the issue of walking by the spirit.
The issue of walking by the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit. We do not need to endeavor to love others or to maintain peace or joy. We only need to live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit, and then the Spirit will automatically bring forth the fruit of many virtues. These virtues are different expressions of the unique fruit of life produced by walking by the Spirit. These virtues, far superior to our human moral virtues, are divine yet human and are manifested in our human living through the divine resurrection power.