The Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). The words are spirit. Christ became the life-giving Spirit, who is the word mentioned in Romans 10:8. There it says, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” This is very real. The word is just like air, which is in our mouth and inside us. When we breathe, air comes into us. We can call, “O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!” This is like taking a deep breath in the open air, and it is truly refreshing. Then, Romans 10:12 shows us that the Lord is rich to all who call upon Him. Verse 13 says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Greek word for calls upon mainly denotes “crying out.” Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord by crying out shall be saved.
Today our Lord is wonderful in that He has become the life-giving Spirit. This Spirit is life-giving; He gives life to man. Therefore, Romans 8:2 refers to this Spirit as the Spirit of life. Of all the wonderful items of what the Lord is, the most wonderful one is that He is the life-giving Spirit who has come into us to be our life and to carry out salvation in us.
Concerning the Lord Jesus’ coming into us as our life, someone may ask, “Since we human beings are so small, how can we contain this great Savior? Besides, the Bible says that the Lord Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God in the heavens. How can you say that He is in us?” In 1968 when I was preaching in a city in Indiana, an American woman asked me this question on the spot. At that time I was speaking on Romans 8. I told her that Romans 8:34 says that the Lord Jesus today is sitting at the right hand of God, yet verse 10 of the same chapter says that Christ is in us. In the same chapter of the Bible, one verse says that the Lord is at the right hand of God in the heavens, while another verse says that the Lord is in us. I know that it is not easy for Christians to accept such a word today because most of them have been influenced by traditional teachings. Therefore, I used an illustration, saying, “Don’t we have lights in this meeting place? This tells us that there is electricity here. However, electricity comes from the power plant. Therefore, the electricity is here and in the power plant at the same time.” The electricity is one. Its source is in the power plant, while its application is in this meeting place. We may say that when the electricity is applied to this meeting place, it “dwells” in this meeting place, and we may call it the “indwelling electricity.” This “indwelling electricity” is closely related to the meeting place. Our Lord has become the life-giving Spirit as the spiritual electricity today. On the one hand, He is the “power plant” in heaven, and on the other hand, He is the “indwelling electricity” in us.
Christ is at the right hand of God in the heavens, and He is also in us. This is just like the electricity being both in the power plant and in the meeting place causing the lights to shine. The lights can shine and illumine because they have been “electrified.” Our salvation is not merely a matter of saying that we have believed; rather, we must also be “electrified” in our spirit. Only this can be counted as the genuine believing in the Lord and being saved.
The Lord Jesus has already accomplished God’s redeeming work. Doctrinally speaking, once we believe, we are saved. However, this is merely to be redeemed. The Bible says, “With the heart there is believing unto righteousness” (Rom. 10:10a). Unto righteousness here refers to redemption. We must still call upon the name of the Lord with our mouth and be “electrified” in our spirit. The Bible goes on to say, “With the mouth there is confession unto salvation” (v. 10b). Unto salvation here refers to our being saved. With the heart there is believing unto righteousness; this is a matter of being redeemed. With the mouth there is confession unto salvation; this is a matter of being saved. Even though some have believed into the Lord in their heart, they do not dare to confess before men that they are believers. Have such people really been saved? We cannot say no, but they have merely obtained righteousness; they have not yet received the salvation in life. Believing in the heart is for justification, whereas confessing with the mouth and calling upon the name of the Lord are for salvation. Justification and salvation are indeed distinct and different.