We need to see the riches that we have within our spirit. In Romans 8, verse 2 and verses 9 through 11 show us the unsearchable riches of the indwelling Spirit. Verse 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 of the Spirit of life is not a written law. It is mysterious and abstract, but it is real. This law is within every genuine believer in Christ. Romans 8:2 does not mention the Spirit of power or of gifts but the Spirit of life. Life is much more mysterious than power or gifts. Life in this verse refers to God’s eternal, uncreated life—the divine life. It is difficult to explain or define the physical life, yet the divine life is a higher life. This life is of the Spirit. Because the Spirit is in us, the divine life and the law of the Spirit of life are in us as well.
In Romans 8 Paul refers to three laws. Verse 2 mentions the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and of death. Verse 7 mentions the law of God, which was given through Moses and inscribed on stones. The law of God is not a natural law but a law in letters. However, the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and of death are natural laws. We know from science that a natural law is very powerful. Gravity is such a law. Because gravity is so strong, it takes much power to lift an airplane off the ground. Furthermore, although the earth is round, the power of gravity keeps people safely on the ground on every side of the globe. However, we are usually not conscious of gravity. Thus, a law is a power that operates without our being conscious of it.
Every life has a law. The peach life has a law. We do not need to be concerned that a peach tree will produce peaches and not bananas. As long as the tree is living, peaches will come forth, because with the peach life there is the peach law. Nor do we need to teach a peach tree the proper shape and color of fruit that it should produce. The law of the peach life will shape its fruit. Likewise, the form of our physical features is shaped by the law of the human life. A pregnant woman does not need to be concerned that her child will have the face of another creature. As a human being, the child has the human life, and that life takes care of the proper shape. We may say that it is God who shapes the child's face, but God does it through a law, the law of the human life. The law of the Spirit of life is a law in the divine life. God’s divine life, the highest life, has a law, and this law is of the Spirit. The law of the divine life, which is carried out by the Spirit, is in us. Nineteen centuries ago, before the development of science, the apostle Paul wrote of the law of the Spirit of life not as a written law of outward regulations but as a natural law, a law of life. This law is more powerful than the law of gravity or any other law, and it is far more precious. We experience the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and this law frees us from the law of sin and of death.
Romans 8:9 says, “You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” In verse 2 we see the Spirit of life, and in verse 9 we see the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. The same one Spirit is of life, of God, and of Christ. This Spirit also has the most powerful law. This shows us the unsearchable riches of the Spirit.
We need to see that this rich Spirit dwells in us. The verb dwells in verse 9 is a strong Greek word, meaning not merely to abide, remain, or stay but to make home, to reside. When I travel, I may temporarily stay in the home of some saints, but it is not my home. The Spirit does not stay in us temporarily; instead, He dwells in us, permanently making His home in us. Once He moves in, occupying our inner being, He will never move out. By this rich Spirit dwelling in us, God, Christ, the divine life, and the most powerful law also dwell in us.
Romans 8:10 says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.” The mention of Christ at the beginning of this verse reveals that the Spirit in verse 9 is Christ Himself. Furthermore, the title the Spirit of God in verse 9 means that the Spirit is God, because the Spirit and God are grammatically in apposition. The Spirit and God are one. The title the Spirit of life similarly indicates that the Spirit is life. Thus, the Spirit, God, Christ, life, and the law of the Spirit of life are all one. The Spirit includes the entire Triune God, who is life and who as life is the powerful law of the Spirit of life. This Spirit resides in us.
Our body, which is a troublesome part of our being, is dead because of sin, but our spirit is life. Not only is the Spirit life, but our spirit is also life because the Spirit dwells in us. Without the Spirit’s indwelling, our spirit could not be life. Since the Spirit who dwells in us is life, our spirit also becomes life. The righteousness mentioned in verse 10 is yet another item of the riches in the Spirit.
Verse 11 says, “If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” The Spirit not only is in us but even indwells us; He is the indwelling Spirit. In verse 11 we see that the Spirit who is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ Himself is also the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead. The One who raised Jesus from the dead is God, but here Paul uses this title to indicate that the Spirit is the Spirit of the resurrecting One. Thus, He is the Spirit of resurrection.
We need to see a vision of the riches of the indwelling Spirit. To see this vision is to realize what the Triune God has invested in us. Just as people may invest money in a business, the Triune God has invested Himself into our being. When we realize that we have a great divine investment within, there will be a change in our living. God does not want His children and sons to live a natural life. Regardless of how good our natural life may be, God wants us to live not our natural life but the life that is the Triune God Himself. We can live by this life because the Triune God has been invested into us.
At the time of Abraham, God had created the universe and promised Abraham that He would accomplish many things, including incarnation. We are living four thousand years later, and God has accomplished all that He promised. God was incarnated by being born as a child in a manger. The incarnated God lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years as the man Jesus. For thirty years He lived in the home of a poor carpenter, and for three and a half years He ministered. Then He was crucified and buried in a tomb. He traveled through death and Hades and came out in resurrection. Afterward, He ascended and was glorified, enthroned, and crowned. Furthermore, in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Now He is the Creator and the incarnated One who lived on the earth, passed through death, and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit. In ascension He has been glorified, crowned, enthroned, given the highest name, and made Lord and Head over all things. He has crushed Satan, subdued death, annulled sin, and terminated all the old creation, including our old man, our flesh, and our self. He has accomplished everything. As such a One, He has entered into our spirit. As the Spirit who is God, Christ, life, resurrection, and the law of the Spirit of life, He now resides in us.
We may feel that although we enjoy the law of the Spirit of life in the meetings, when we go home, this law vanishes or is no longer powerful. Perhaps we have a disagreement with our spouse, and our temper begins to rise up. Because the devil is always looking for an opportunity to defeat us, he will stir up the conflict with our spouse until we lose our temper. In such a situation, we may think that the law of the Spirit of life is not as powerful as our natural life, or we may wonder whether the law of the Spirit of life is even in us at all. However, we can be assured that the law of the Spirit of life is in us. We are defeated by our temper because we do not use the key to remain in this powerful law. The key is simply to call on the Lord or to cry, “Abba, Father!”
Romans 8:15 says, “You have not received a spirit of slavery bringing you into fear again, but you have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father!” God does not want us to do anything but live Him. Living Him is like breathing—it is not something that we learn by studying but rather something that we do as a result of being alive. As believers in Christ, we have been saved, redeemed, washed by the blood, and regenerated by the Spirit. The Spirit within us makes us alive. We breathe spiritually by crying, “Abba, Father!” According to verse 15, we have a crying spirit. Just as we breathe automatically because we have a breathing organ, so we should spontaneously cry to the Father because we have a spirit of sonship. When we cry, the spirit is activated, and we live by the spirit. This is what God wants us to do. We do not need to constantly make decisions about what to do and what not to do. That is to live by the Mosaic law. In the New Testament age there are no regulations but only the breathing, crying spirit. When we cry, “Abba, Father,” the spirit may lead us to do something. Then we will live not by the self but by the spirit. If we have a problem with our temper, we should forget about our temper and simply cry, “Abba, Father!” Then the spirit will lead us to live God.