Both Romans 8:4 and Galatians 5:16 speak of walking according to the spirit. We must walk according to the regenerated spirit that is indwelt by Christ. According to the Greek, the word “walk” means to live, to do things, to behave ourselves, and to have our being. Thus, we must live, behave, and have our being, not according to culture, custom, or even according to the Bible in dead letters, but according to our spirit indwelt by Christ. Oh, how we need to see this!
How pitiful is the situation in the religion of Christianity! Week after week, people listen to messages, but they never hear a message telling them to live and have their being according to the spirit. When I was in Christianity, I never heard one message on Romans 8:4. The Scriptures tell us to be patient, and I tried my best to be patient. But after a few hours I failed. When my mother asked me what I was doing, I did not dare to answer her quickly. After a few hours, my patience was exhausted. The Bible also charges us to be humble. I took this word and tried to be humble. But I was born proud—how could I be humble? For someone whose name is pride, trying to be humble resembles a monkey attempting to behave like a man. When I was in Christianity, I never heard that the very Christ who is my life and my Savior is now in my spirit, and that when I walk according to my spirit, it means that I walk by Him, enjoying Him as everything to me. There is no need to try by ourselves to be patient or humble. We have a spirit according to which we can walk.
If you consult the people on the street, you will find that they do not have a spirit regenerated and indwelt by Christ. Their spirit is dead, and Christ is not there. But praise the Lord that our spirit has been quickened and regenerated with Christ as life and that the wonderful Christ who is the life-giving Spirit dwells in our spirit. I am a great person because I have such a wonderful spirit. We all need to walk according to this spirit. Do not try to be patient or humble. Simply walk according to the spirit. In Romans 8 we find no commands about husbands loving their wives or wives submitting to their husbands. We only have the wonderful spirit. The Spirit witnesses with our spirit (Rom. 8:16). This indicates that the two spirits have been mingled together to become one compound spirit. By this spirit we can be conformed to the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:29). No matter how hard we try, we could never by our self effort be conformed to the image of the Son of God. But this compound spirit can conform us to His image. There is no need for us to strive or exercise our self-effort to accomplish anything. We simply need to have our being according to this wonderful spirit.
Ephesians 3:5 says that the mystery, which was not made known to men in other ages, “has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.” God’s hidden mystery is not revealed in the human mind but in the spirit. Our spirit is the place and the organ in which and to which God’s mystery is revealed. If we remain in our mind, we shall be far away from God’s revelation. But if we turn to our spirit, we shall discover that the revelation of God’s mystery is here. If you stay in your mind to analyze the church, you will find yourself in a maze. But if you turn to your spirit, after a few minutes you will have the vision of God’s mystery.
In the New Testament we have an excellent example of a man in the spirit—the apostle Paul. He was a person absolutely living, walking, behaving himself, having his being, and working for the Lord in the spirit. In 1 Corinthians 2:4 he said, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of spirit and of power” (Gk.). Paul did not speak with enticing words, but with the demonstration of his spirit. Demonstrating our spirit does not mean that we approach people and say, “Praise the Lord! You must realize that I am now demonstrating my spirit!” Yes, demonstrating the spirit requires a release of the spirit, but it should not be done in such a peculiar way. I do not believe that the apostle Paul always spoke loudly or that he was constantly shouting. Demonstrating our spirit in our speaking means that we speak from our spirit and not from our mind. Every form of speech is a type of demonstration. If I speak out of my mind, my speaking will be a demonstration of my mind. But if I speak from my spirit, whether quietly or loudly, my speaking will be a demonstration of my spirit.
Do not think that in order to demonstrate our spirit we must shout. Sometimes, when we are under pressure or oppression, we must shout. But most of the time, there is no need for this. Some have approached people on the campuses saying, “Praise the Lord!” When they were asked what they were doing, they loudly said, “Amen!” When others said that they did not understand what they were talking about, the brothers replied, “Turn from your mind to your spirit.” If you behave like this on the campuses, the work will be killed. People will not understand who or what you are and will think that you are crazy. This kind of foolish activity will drive them away. Demonstrating our spirit means to speak from our spirit. Whenever we do this, people will realize that our speech is living and weighty. They will recognize that there is something of God in our utterance because as word after word comes from our spirit, Christ will come out of our spirit in our utterance. This is the demonstration of the spirit.
We all were born, trained, and educated to use our mind. Throughout our entire life, we have practiced using our mind. Thus, whatever we say comes out of the mind.
We do not have the habit of speaking from our spirit. Now that we have been regenerated in our spirit, Christ is living in it. But we are still not accustomed to using our spirit. In our speaking we express our mind, but we do not demonstrate our spirit. Frequently, the sisters cry when they speak, indicating that their speech issues from their emotions. Whenever a sister weeps in this way, she demonstrates her emotions. There is no need for the sisters to demonstrate their emotion by speaking loudly, for by their tears it is easy to tell that they are speaking from their emotions. When these sisters calm down and cease demonstrating their emotions, they can begin to speak from the spirit. This kind of speaking always touches my spirit. My spirit echoes in response to their spirit and we have fellowship. This is the demonstration of the spirit.