If we would examine our experiences according to the Bible, we would realize that all of us who serve the Lord need to continually pay attention to three fundamental matters. This does not mean that there are only three matters that we must pay attention to but that these three matters are the most fundamental. The first matter is building up our character, the second matter is being equipped with the truth, and the third matter is being filled with the Holy Spirit.
In 1953 while I was holding a training, I used an illustration to explain the matter of character. Almost all textile products, whether cotton or silk, must be put into dyeing tubs to be dyed. The dye, when used on the coarsest and worst fabric, does not appear beautiful, but when the same dye is used on the best Chinese silk, the outcome is beautiful and shiny. There is no difference in the dye. Rather, the result or manifestation of the dyeing is altogether related to the quality of the fabric. Today the Spirit is like the dye. We all have been put into the Spirit, yet our manifestations are different. These differences are not due to the Holy Spirit whom we have received, because we all have the same Holy Spirit. Rather, the differences are due to us who are being dyed. This is related to the matter of our character.
The reason the apostle Paul could enjoy the Spirit of God as much as he did was because he had a good character and was diligent in all things. The brother in 1 Corinthians who had committed fornication undoubtedly had less enjoyment of the Holy Spirit because he had a poor character and was indifferent toward everything. The difference between these two people was not due to a difference in the Holy Spirit they had received but due to a difference in their character. The reason a person commits a fallen act is somewhat related to his character. Hence, those who truly love and pursue the Lord, not to mention those who serve and work for the Lord full time, must pay attention to the matter of character if they desire to live the Body life.
Many of the teachings of the Lord Jesus and of the apostles in the New Testament, beginning with Matthew, reveal the matter of our character, even though the word character is not used. You cannot inspire a piece of stone or motivate a piece of wood because neither has a living character. Character is a serious matter. The measure of grace we receive of the Lord and the degree to which the function of that grace is manifested are determined by the kind of character that we have. Therefore, the building up of our character is the most crucial matter in our service.
Second, we need to be equipped with the truth. No one can serve the Lord without a proper knowledge of the truth. Paul said that we need to cut straight the word of the truth (2 Tim. 2:15). If we do not know the truth, how can we cut straight the word of the truth? Therefore, in order to serve the Lord we must pursue to know the truth and be equipped with the truth.
The third fundamental matter in serving the Lord is having the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit—the ultimate consummation of the Spirit of God and the ultimate expression of the processed, all-inclusive Triune God. This is a matter that Christianity has not seen. God is triune. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, yet They are not three separate persons. In eternity past, before He had passed through the process of incarnation, death, and resurrection, God was already triune. Using human words, we may say that in eternity past God was in His original state. For God to reach man, He must be triune. The Father is the source, the Son is the course, and the Spirit is the flow, the arriving, and the reaching.
The Holy Spirit is God reaching man. In the past God hid Himself in unapproachable light as the eternal Father (1 Tim. 6:16; James 1:17). When He was expressed, He was expressed as the Son (John 1:18). Now when He reaches man, He reaches man as the Spirit. This does not mean that there are three Gods or that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three separate persons. According to the teaching and revelation in the Scriptures, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct but not separate. Distinction is a matter of being, whereas separation is a matter of person. Theologically, it is difficult to determine the exact distinctions among the three of the Triune God. The question of how great the distinctions are among the three has never been easy to answer.
Hence, when we speak the truth concerning the Trinity, we have to be particularly cautious. We should avoid speaking too much lest we become presumptuous. In John 14 Philip asked the Lord to show them the Father. The Lord answered, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, Show us the Father?” (vv. 8-9). This indicates that when the disciples saw the Son, they saw the Father. Where the Son was, there was the Father. The Lord Jesus’ answer indicates that He was surprised by Philip’s question. Suppose I am meeting with you, and you say to me, “Brother Lee, we would like to see Witness Lee.” I would be shocked and would reply, “What are you talking about? Since I have been meeting with you, how could it be that you have not seen me? I am Witness Lee.” This is what the Lord meant by His answer.
The doctrine concerning the Trinity is very mysterious and is not easy to preach. Most theological students do not study the Bible in a fine and thorough way. Instead, they are taught according to the traditional theological teachings. They receive the doctrine of the Trinity that was presented in the creed that was put out by the Council of Nicea. We cannot say that this kind of teaching in the seminaries is wrong, but such teaching is too rough and general. It is not detailed enough. The Nicene Creed was formulated in A.D. 325 at the Council of Nicea. Throughout the more than one thousand six hundred years since then, a great deal of research and development has been done concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, and this research and development has become a body of learning. With this learning as our foundation, we have studied this matter in a finer and deeper way.
When we released the result of our study in the United States, some theologians and professors came to us to debate with us, but in the end, they lost the debate because they had not studied thoroughly enough. They thought that they knew the truth well since they had received a theological education and had obtained doctoral degrees in theology. Actually, they did not understand the profound truths in the Bible at all. For example, some of them said that God is three and that the three of the Trinity are distinct and separate. In Orange County, Southern California, the opposers put out an unofficial pamphlet that clearly pointed out that according to their theology the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct and separate. Therefore, I simply put out a message telling them that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct but not separate.
I pointed out that in the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus implicitly said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me” (14:10-11). He also said, “I and the Father are one” (10:30). Furthermore, He said, “He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone” (8:29). Thus, how could They be separate? After I put out such an article, none of the opposers would humbly admit their mistakes. Nevertheless, they were enlightened and were taught a lesson. Therefore, since that time, they have begun to say that the Three of the Trinity are distinct and no longer say that They are separate.
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit, though distinct, are not separate. When the Lord Jesus said that he who had seen Him had seen the Father, what He meant was that the Son is the Father. His word also implied that the Son is in the Father, the Father is in the Son, and the Father and the Son are one. Since the Father and the Son are distinct, this indicates that They are two. We cannot say that since the Father and the Son are one, They are exactly the same. If They were exactly the same, there would not be any distinctions among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. God would simply be one and would not be the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
This is the most mysterious point concerning the person of God. Our God is God, yet He is also the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He is one, yet He has the aspect of being three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Even though He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, They are inseparable. Hence, over one thousand eight hundred years ago, those who studied the Bible were forced to invent the word coinhere to describe the Divine Trinity. The word coinherence is not emphasized in today’s theology. Today’s theology pays attention only to the word coexistence, because theologians used this word along with the Bible to defeat the heresy of modalism.
Modalism is also called Sabellianism. Because Sabellius was the leading exponent of modalism, his name was used to represent modalism. Modalism denies the coexistence of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It claims that God is one but not three. According to modalism, in the past God was the Father, and when He was manifested in the flesh, He became the Son. Once the Son came, the Father no longer existed, that is, once the Father became the Son, the Father ceased to exist. The Son existed on the earth for a period of time and then became the Holy Spirit, and once He became the Spirit, the Son also ceased to exist. Hence, according to modalism the Father, the Son, and the Spirit do not coexist. This is definitely a heresy. Today all the fundamental theologians believe in the Trinity, but the problem is that their speaking causes people to think that there are three Gods. This is because they focus on the aspect of God being three and neglect the aspect of God being one. Therefore, their understanding leans toward tritheism. Modalism emphasizes the aspect of God being one and neglects the aspect of God being three, thus becoming an extreme. Fundamental theology pays attention only to the aspect of the coexistence of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and overlooks the aspect of Their coinherence, hence becoming another extreme.
Coinherence implies not only a simultaneous existence but also a simultaneous and mutual indwelling. It implies that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit do not exist separately but that They exist in the way of mutually indwelling one another simultaneously. The Son is in the Father, the Father is in the Son, the Father and the Son are in the Spirit, and the Spirit is also in the Father and the Son. This is the genuine Divine Trinity. An overemphasis of coexistence may lead to tritheism, and an overemphasis of God being one may lead to modalism. Both are extremes and are wrong. We believe in the Divine Trinity revealed in the Scriptures.