John 1 says that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word became flesh, and He was the Lamb of God on earth to be our Redeemer. Subsequently He was resurrected, and on the night of His resurrection He came into the midst of the disciples. The way He came was extraordinary. At that time, although the doors were shut, the resurrected Lord came into the room where the disciples were without having knocked on the door or having anyone open the door for Him. How did He get in? This is an unknown mystery. He stood in their midst and said to the disciples, “Peace be to you.” He also breathed into them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22). From that time onward this holy Breath, which was the Holy Spirit, entered into the disciples to be with them, never to leave them. When they were meeting in the house, He was there; when they went fishing in the Sea of Tiberias, He was also there because He was right within them.
Today the God in whom we believe, whom we worship and enjoy, is such a God. Not only did He create the heavens and the earth and not only did He give the revelation of the Bible, but also one day He Himself came to be a man. He passed through human living and died on the cross to accomplish redemption for our sins. Moreover, He was buried and then was resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit. As such a Spirit, He came to abide in us who believe into Him. This is the truth revealed to us through the pure word of the Bible.
In this life-giving Spirit are the element of God, the element of man, the element of human living, the element of the all-inclusive death, and the element of resurrection. The effectiveness of death is in this Spirit, and the power of resurrection is also in this Spirit. Thus, this Spirit has now become the all-inclusive Spirit. This is like a multipurpose medicine that contains various ingredients. Today this Spirit is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
This is our God, and this is also our Savior and Redeemer. In Him there are divinity, humanity, and the experience of human life. In Him there are also the redeeming death, the death that terminated the old creation and all its things, and the resurrection power. All these are in the life-giving Spirit. When we walk by the Spirit, this resurrection power operates in us.
Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” On the one hand, it says that the Lord is the Spirit; on the other hand, it speaks of the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord is the Lord Himself. This is like what is said in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” On the one hand, the Word was God, indicating that the Word and God are one. On the other hand, the Word was with God, as if to say that They are two. Actually the Word and God are still one. Therefore, the verse goes on to say that the Word was God.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says that when we all take away the veils of old doctrines and have an unveiled face without any covering, we behold and reflect like a mirror the glory of the Lord. It is then that we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the “Lord Spirit.” The Lord is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Lord. Therefore, He is the Lord Spirit. This is similar to saying, “Father God.” Father is in apposition to God. It means that the Father is God, and God is the Father. This One who is in us is the Lord Spirit, and He is transforming us day by day.
Romans 8:9-11 shows us that since the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are not in the flesh but in the spirit. Whenever we have the Spirit of Christ, we are of Christ. Furthermore, because we have Christ in us, though our body is dead because of sin, our spirit is life because of righteousness.
Philippians 1:19 shows us that the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit, has the bountiful supply. Divinity, humanity, the experience of human living, the effectiveness of death, and the power of resurrection are all in this Spirit.
Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” The Lord is with us not in an outward way; He is with us in our spirit. This is like what John 15:4 says: “Abide in Me and I in you.” How wonderful! The Lord is in us, and we are also in Him. Many Christians neglect this fact, thinking that the Lord is following them, overseeing them, and is by their side, or that He is observing them from above. However, the Lord is dwelling in us, that is, in our spirit.
A major part of our spirit is the function of the conscience. Sometimes what our mind thinks, what our emotion desires, and what our will resolves cannot obtain the approval of our conscience. Not to mention the saved ones, even those who are unsaved have the function of the conscience. People often say, “I speak with my conscience”; this means that they do not speak according to their mind, emotion, or will. This is what the unsaved ones say, and it is more so with those who are saved. As saved ones, we have our spirit regenerated and our conscience enlightened; therefore, we, even more, should live and walk according to the function of the conscience, which is in reality the function of the spirit, because the chief part of the spirit is the conscience.
Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Our every move and action and everything we say or do should be by the Spirit, not by our mind, emotion, and will. We have to listen to the voice of the Spirit; He is the indwelling Lord within us. Because He speaks the truth to us, He often disagrees with us.
Not only so, if we walk by the Spirit, out of our innermost being shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). This is our salvation. We can obtain the salvation of the life-giving Spirit every day. This life-giving Spirit is our living Savior, our life, and our resurrection.
Christ is both God and man; He is the Redeemer and the Savior, and He is life and resurrection. The totality of all these is in this life-giving Spirit. Today this life-giving Spirit has divinity, humanity, the effectiveness of death for our redemption, and the power of resurrection for our salvation. Every day this Spirit is saving us from the self, the natural constitution, the old creation, and the flesh. He is saving us from our passions, our lusts, and various kinds of sins. He is also saving us from the world, Satan, and the power of darkness. Of all these things, the most important is that He is saving us from our self, our natural constitution, the old creation, our old disposition, our old temperament, and our old preferences. We need the Lord’s grace every day, and we need to walk by the Spirit every day. If we walk by the Spirit in all things, all the problems will be readily solved. Then, for us to live will be Christ, life, and resurrection.