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HWMR – LIVING IN AND WITH THE DIVINE TRINITY (Week 6)

Living with the Divine Trinity (3) – Experiencing and Enjoying the Divine Trinity in Full

2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The Bible shows us that the Divine Trinity is for our enjoyment. Second Corinthians 13:14…mentions three things: grace, love, and fellowship. Actually, however, this is one thing in three aspects. The source is the divine love, the course is the divine grace, and the flow is the divine fellowship. Out of God the Father flows the grace through Christ. Then this grace flows in the fellowship of the Spirit. Second Corinthians 13:14 shows us three persons in three aspects: God the Father, Christ, and the Spirit; and love, grace, and fellowship. God the Father as love is the source, Christ as grace is the course, and the Spirit as fellowship is the flow. At the end of the Bible we see our Triune God flowing forever. His flowing is for the purpose of supplying His redeemed with Himself as drink and food so that we may enjoy Him as the bountiful supply. In the beginning of my Christian life I did not realize this. But today I fully realize that we need to experience, enjoy, and express the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” pp. 342-343)

To enjoy the Divine Trinity in full is to participate in the love of God, the grace of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians 13:14…shows that the Divine Trinity is not for the doctrinal study of theology but for our experience and enjoyment. The love of God the Father is the source, and the grace of Christ, God the Son, is the course of the love of God. When love comes out, it becomes grace. Then the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the transmission, the communication, of the grace of Christ with the love of God the Father. Love is God the Father, grace as the outflow of love is Christ the Son, and the fellowship is the transmission of the Holy Spirit to transmit what the Son is as grace and what the Father is as love. The Holy Spirit transmits the divine riches into our being, and this transmission is the fellowship. Today we have the Divine Trinity operating in us in such a wonderful way. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 382-383)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 25)

Not Brought to Nought from Christ

Gal. 5:4 You have been brought to nought, separated from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

In 5:4 Paul goes on to use an unusual expression, saying, “You have been brought to nought from Christ, you who are justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Different translations render the first part of 5:4 in different ways: “Christ is become of no effect unto you” (KJV); “Ye are severed from Christ” (ASV); “Ye are deprived of all profit from the Christ” (Darby’s New Translation). To be brought to nought from Christ is to be reduced to nothing from Christ, deprived of all profit from Christ and so separated from Him (Darby), so that He is made void of effect. To go back to law is to become severed from Christ, to be brought to nought from Christ.

The different renderings of 5:4 are all implied in the one Greek expression. Literally, this expression means to be brought to nothing from Christ. Dean Alford says that an exact, accurate, and literal translation of the Greek term would be annihilated, which in its original meaning means to bring something to nothing. Hence, in this verse Paul is talking about being brought to nothing, to nought, from Christ. He was telling the Galatians, “Dear saints, you who seek to be justified by law have been brought to nothing from Christ. You were grafted into Christ, and you were enjoying the riches of Christ. But by going back to the law and to circumcision, you are brought to nought, you are annihilated, from Christ.”

If a branch from an inferior tree is grafted into a superior tree, it will enjoy all the benefits of being part of that superior tree. But suppose the grafted branch is later detached from the superior tree. In such a case we may say that it is brought to nothing from the superior tree, for by being separated from that tree, it relinquishes all the benefits of being joined to it. Thus, it reduces itself to nothing from the superior tree, in particular from the enjoyment of the riches of that tree. This illustrates Paul’s meaning in 5:4. By believing into Christ and being baptized into Him, we have been grafted into Him as the rich tree. As branches grafted into Him, we may enjoy His unsearchable riches. As long as we remain grafted into Him, we may enjoy all His riches. But if we relinquish Christ, let Him go in a practical way in our experience, we shall be brought to nothing from the unsearchably rich Christ.

The Galatians had been distracted to the law and to circumcision. In turning to the law in this way, they were brought to nothing from Christ. Darby says that they were deprived of all profit from Christ and so separated from Him.

All kinds of Christians have been brought to nought from Christ in one way or other. Again I ask, where are the Christians who abide in Christ all the time to enjoy His riches? Where are the believers who have not been brought to nothing from Christ, who have not been deprived of their profit in Christ? The deplorable fact is that believers everywhere have been brought to nought from Christ. We need to pray, “Lord, have mercy on us and grant us grace that we would not be brought to nothing from You. We want to abide in You as the all-inclusive One to enjoy Your riches.” We thank the Lord that by His mercy and grace He has preserved us in Himself to enjoy His riches.

Life-study of Galatians (message 26)

Getting Rid of the Leaven and Not Turning Freedom Into an Occasion for the Flesh

Gal. 5:13 For you were called for freedom, brothers; only do not turn this freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

In 5:13 Paul says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers; only do not turn the freedom into an occasion for the flesh, but through love serve one another as slaves.” Paul’s writing is not like an unturned cake (Hosea 7:8). Rather, he is balanced and even, first considering one side of a matter, then the other side. Our tendency, however, is to be an unturned cake, with one side raw and the other side overdone. In giving messages we may easily produce unturned cakes. But as Paul wrote the book of Galatians, he turned the cake again and again. He could be strong, then affectionate; rebuking, then mild.

We see Paul’s balance in the matter of freedom. On the one hand, Paul tells us that we were called to freedom; on the other hand, he warns us not to use this freedom for an occasion for the flesh. While Paul encouraged the believers to enjoy their freedom in Christ, he was also concerned that they might misuse or abuse this freedom. If we over-indulge ourselves in our freedom, then we turn it into an occasion for the flesh. Although we are free, we still need to be limited in the exercise of our freedom. Freedom without limitation always results in the indulgence of the flesh. Therefore, we need to be balanced, to be free, yet restricted. If we are limited in the use of our freedom, we shall love others and through love serve them as slaves.

When Paul wrote the book of Galatians, he had a number of thoughts within him. He realized that the Galatian believers who had been distracted might return to their freedom and then begin to misuse it. They might have the attitude that since they are no longer under any kind of yoke, they are free to do what they please. Such an attitude damages the church life. Therefore, Paul charged the Galatians not to misuse their freedom. Yes, they had been called to freedom, but they should not turn it into an indulgence. On the one hand, they were free from the yoke of slavery, from the law, but, on the other hand, they should still care for others and serve them in love. When some saints, especially young believers, hear a message on freedom, they have the tendency to cast off restraint. They may have the attitude that, since they are free, no longer do they need to regard the word of the elders. This is to turn freedom into an occasion for the flesh. Instead of doing this, we should be limited in the use of freedom and be willing to serve one another as slaves. As Paul says in 5:14, “The whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

In the verses we have covered in this message, Paul admonishes us to have a proper walk in the church life. He indicates that we need to be balanced and not be unturned cakes. In giving messages, we should cover both sides of a matter. We need to care for ourselves and also for others. We may enjoy the freedom we have and yet still be restricted in love for the sake of others that the church life may go on in a good way. Furthermore, we must learn not to be otherwise minded. Then we shall have a proper walk in the church life.

HWMR – LIVING IN AND WITH THE DIVINE TRINITY (Week 5)

Living with the Divine Trinity (2) – God Operating in Us

Phil. 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

We need to see what the bountiful supply of the Spirit includes. First, the bountiful supply includes the divine person with the divine life and nature. Thus, the bountiful supply includes divinity. Divinity includes the divine life, nature, being, and person; in other words, it is God Himself.

The bountiful supply also includes an uplifted humanity, a humanity with a proper life, living, nature, and person. The Lord Jesus is both God and man. Within Him there are both divinity and humanity. Thus, when He was on earth, He lived as God and also as man. All that the Lord passed through in thirty-three and a half years of life on earth is now in the all-inclusive Spirit. Therefore, divinity and humanity, including the human living of the Lord Jesus, are in the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit.

On the cross the Lord Jesus died a wonderful death. The all-inclusive death of Christ dealt with every negative thing in the universe. By His death all sinful things were terminated. This wonderful death is also included in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Christ’s resurrection and ascension are included as well.

The bountiful supply of the Spirit also includes the divine attributes and the human virtues. God is love and light, and He is holy and righteous. These are some of His attributes. Furthermore, as a man Christ has all the human virtues. Both the divine attributes and the human virtues are in the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The submission and love that we need day by day are also found in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Although the Bible commands a wife to submit to her husband and a husband to love his wife (Eph. 5:24-25), in ourselves we actually do not have either genuine submission or love. Instead of submission, we have rebellion. Instead of a proper love, we have an unbalanced, twisted love.

As we enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we partake of the ingredients of this supply without being aware of it. For example, we may love others without being conscious of the fact that we are loving. In like manner, we may be submissive without realizing that we are submissive….True love and true submission are always spontaneous and not something of which we are conscious. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4106-4107)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 23)

The Need for Christ to be Formed in the Heirs of Promise

Gal. 4:19 My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you,

Verse 19 says, “My children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you.” Here Paul considers himself the begetting father, and the Galatian believers his children begotten of him in Christ (see 1 Cor. 4:15; Philem. 10). This also was an appeal to their affection.

Paul told the Galatian believers that he was again travailing on their behalf. Travail refers to painful labor in childbirth. In this metaphor Paul likens himself to a mother who gives birth to a child. He labored in this way for the regeneration of the Galatians when he first preached the gospel to them. Because they had deviated from the gospel he preached to them, he labors again in travail until Christ is formed in them. In this verse Paul likens himself both to a begetting father and a travailing mother. Was he, then, a father or a mother? He was both, depending on the situation. On one occasion he was a begetting father; on another, a travailing mother.

Paul was in travail that Christ might be formed in the Galatians. Christ, a living Person, is the focus of Paul’s gospel. His preaching is to bring forth Christ, the Son of the living God, in the believers. This differs greatly from the teaching of the law in letters. Hence, the book of Galatians is emphatically Christ-centered. Christ was crucified (3:1) to redeem us out of the curse of the law (3:13) and rescue us out of the evil religious course of the world (1:4); and He was resurrected from among the dead (1:1) that He might live in us (2:20). We were baptized into Him, identified with Him, and have put on Him, have clothed ourselves with Him (3:27). Thus, we are in Him (3:28) and have become His (3:29; 5:24). On the other hand, He has been revealed in us (1:16), He is now living in us (2:20), and He will be formed in us (4:19). It is to Him the law has conducted us (3:24), and in Him we are all sons of God (3:26). It is in Him that we inherit God’s promised blessing and enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit (3:14). It is also in Him that we are all one (3:28). We should not be deprived of all profit from Him and so be severed from Him (5:4). We need Him to supply us with His grace in our spirit (6:18) that we may live Him.

Christ was born into the Galatian believers, but not formed in them, when they were regenerated through Paul’s preaching the gospel to them the first time. Now the apostle travails again that Christ might be formed in them. To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ grown in us in full. First Christ was born into us at our conversion, then He lives in us in our Christian life (2:20), and He will be formed in us at our maturity. This is needed that we may be sons of full age, heirs to inherit God’s promised blessing, and mature in the divine sonship.

As we have indicated, verse 19 points out that Paul’s burden was not to carry on a Christian work, but was to have Christ formed in the believers. Through Paul’s preaching, Christ had entered into the Galatians. But because they had been deceived, Christ had not yet grown in them and had not been formed in them. Therefore, Paul labored again, like a mother laboring in giving birth, that Christ would be formed in the believers. Paul wrote out of the burden to minister Christ into the saints. He was burdened that Christ would be established, built up, in them. Galatians tells us that Christ is revealed in us and that He lives in us. Now we see that Christ must also be formed in us.

Ministering Christ to others is not accomplished easily. It often requires suffering and struggle. Ministering Christ is much more difficult than carrying on an ordinary Christian work. If you would bear the burden, with a sincere heart, to minister Christ to others, you will discover what labor and suffering it requires. You will need to labor like a mother giving birth to a child.

The goal of our service in the church or in the ministry must be to minister Christ into others. It is not adequate simply to say that we preach the gospel, for it is possible to preach the gospel without ministering Christ to others. Our burden must be the ministering of Christ. Once again I say that this requires labor and suffering. It demands prayer, patience, and love. According to our experience, such a ministry is a battle, a wrestling. The subtle one, the enemy of God, is active to bring in frustration or distraction. We do not know from what direction he will attack next. Hence, we must learn from Paul to be burdened to minister Christ and also to appeal to the saints’ affection that their hearts may be touched.

Life-study of Galatians (message 24)

Two Covenants and Two Kinds of Children

Gal. 4:23 However the one of the maidservant was born according to the flesh, but the one of the free woman was born through promise.

The promise given to Abraham was the unveiling of God’s desire. When God made the promise to Abraham, He opened His heart and unveiled the desire of His heart. Although man had fallen and was under the curse, God’s desire was to bless all nations. His desire was to give Himself as a blessing to the nations. God had told Abraham that in Him all nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:3). This promise was given over against a certain background. At the time the promise was given, all the nations were under the curse. No doubt, Abraham realized this. Then, suddenly, the God of glory appeared to him and promised that in him all the nations would be blessed. What a tremendous word this was! When the God of glory appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham was attracted. He was charmed. Because he was attracted by God, Abraham could follow Him out of Chaldea. Then, when Abraham was sojourning in the land of Canaan, God promised to give the land to Abraham’s seed. Therefore, with God’s promise to Abraham there are two main aspects: the aspect of the nations being blessed and the aspect of the good land. On the one hand, the nations would be blessed through Christ’s redemption. On the other hand, Christ, typified by the good land, is the embodiment of the Triune God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as our enjoyment and bountiful supply. God’s promise to Abraham with these two aspects was the unveiling of the desire of God’s heart.

God’s promise to Abraham involves much more than justification by faith. Yes, we are told that Abraham believed God and that it was reckoned to him as righteousness (3:6). However, we need to see that God’s dealing with Abraham involved much more. The gospel preached to Abraham was actually the unveiling of God’s heart.

Two thousand years after the desire of God’s heart was unveiled to Abraham, Christ came. When Christ came, grace came. Grace is the Triune God processed to become our enjoyment. Such a grace is the fulfillment of God’s promise, the fulfillment of God’s desire.

Before the coming of Christ, we are not told in the Scriptures that God was happy or pleased. But when Christ was baptized, the Father declared, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I delight” (Matt. 3:17). When the Lord was with three of the disciples on the mount of transfiguration, the Father spoke the same words (Matt. 17:5). God was happy to see the fulfillment of His desire by grace, which is actually a living Person, Christ, the Son of God, the embodiment of the Triune God. This living Person is the fulfillment of the desire of God’s heart. It is correct to say that the fulfillment of God’s promise is both by grace and by the living Person of Christ, for this living Person is Himself the grace.

Today we are enjoying this grace, this living Person, who is now the life-giving Spirit within us. If Christ were not the life-giving Spirit dwelling in us, we could not be one with Him, and it would not be possible for Him to work all the riches of the Godhead into our being. How could Christ live in us and be formed in us if He were only an objective One sitting in the heavens at the right hand of the Father, as One separate from the Father and the Spirit? It would be impossible! Such a Christ could not be revealed into us, live in us, or be formed in us. In order for all this to become our experience, Christ must be the life-giving Spirit. Praise the Lord that the grace we enjoy is Christ, and Christ is the life-giving Spirit!

Because we have grace, Christ, and the life-giving Spirit, we are children according to Spirit. How blessed we are to have the hearing of faith and by it to receive grace! We have seen that the desire of God’s heart, the promise given to Abraham, is fulfilled by grace and that grace is Christ as the life-giving Spirit. This Spirit is now in our spirit and makes us children according to Spirit. This is the revelation in Galatians 3 and 4.

As those who are children according to Spirit, we should lay aside the law, the flesh, slavery, and the children according to flesh. We need to bid farewell to these things and refuse from now on to be entangled by them. Instead, we should remain in the fulfillment of God’s desire, enjoying grace, Christ, and the all-inclusive Spirit as the blessing of the gospel.

HWMR – LIVING IN AND WITH THE DIVINE TRINITY (Week 4)

Living with the Divine Trinity (1) – Living with Christ as Emmanuel and Having the Resurrected Christ Living in Us

Mt 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel” (which is translated, God with us).

When we experience Jesus, He is Emmanuel, God with us….If we would experience [Jesus], we would immediately say, “This is God! This is not God far away from me, or God in the heavens, but God with me.”…Jesus is our salvation. After we experience this salvation, we say, “This is God with us to be our salvation.” Jesus is our patience. But when we experience Him as our patience, we say, “This patience is God with me.” Jesus is the way and the truth, but when we experience Him as the way and the truth, we say, “This way and this truth are just God with me.”

Whenever we are gathered together into the name of Jesus, He is with us (Matt. 18:20)….This is Emmanuel, God with us. The presence of Jesus in our meetings is actually God with us.

Jesus is with us all the days, even “until the consummation of the age” (28:20). “All the days” includes today. Do not forget about today. Many Christians think that Jesus is present all the days, except today. But Jesus is with us now, today! Jesus is not only among us; He is in our spirit. Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” This Jesus who is with our spirit is Emmanuel, God with us.

According to Isaiah 8:7-8, the enemy may try to take over the land of Immanuel. Do not think this word is only for the children of Israel. Today our spirit is the land of Immanuel. Thus, we ourselves are the land of Immanuel. The enemy, Satan, with all his army will do everything he can to take over this land of Immanuel, that is, to take over our spirit and our being.

Isaiah 8:10 tells us that because God is with us, the enemy can never take over the land of Immanuel….Perhaps during the past week Satan tried twenty-one times to take you over, but he failed every time. You are still here because of Emmanuel, because of God with us. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 75-77)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 21)

Baptized Into Christ, Putting on Christ, and All One in Christ

Ga 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

We have seen that at the end of Galatians 3 Paul tells us that we have all been baptized into Christ. This is the main factor in our being the sons of God and the sons of Abraham. It is also the factor by which we are included in the seed of Abraham, and in addition the factor which brings us into the enjoyment of the blessing of God’s promise through faith. Because we have been baptized into Christ, we now enjoy an organic union with Him.

Concerning baptism, the New Testament reveals that we have been baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19), into Christ (Gal. 3:27), into the death of Christ (Rom. 6:3), and into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). We need to exercise our entire being in order to have a proper understanding of such a wonderful baptism. Regrettably, many Christians today do not have an adequate view of baptism. Some Christians argue about the method of baptism or about the kind of water used. Some reduce baptism to a dead ritual. Other Christians go to another extreme and associate baptism with speaking in tongues. Rarely among today’s Christians do we see baptism practiced in a proper, genuine, and living way, with the believers baptized into the name of the Triune God, into Christ, into the death of Christ, and into the Body of Christ. Such a baptism, a baptism into the divine name, a living Person, an effective death, and a living organism, puts the believers into a position where they can experience an organic union with Christ.

Commenting on Matthew 28:19 in his Word Studies in the New Testament, M. R. Vincent says, “Baptizing into the name of the Holy Trinity implies a spiritual and mystical union with him.” The Greek preposition rendered “into” is crucial, for it points to this spiritual, mystical union. Moreover, Vincent says that the word “name” here “is the expression of the sum total of the divine Being….It is equivalent to his person.” Therefore, to baptize believers into the name of the Triune God means to baptize them into the very being, the Person, of the Triune God. The name denotes the Person, and the Person is the all-inclusive, processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit. When we baptize people into the name of the Triune God, we baptize them into such a divine Person. To baptize anyone into the name of the Trinity is to immerse that one into all the Triune God is.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, baptism brings repentant people out of their old state into a new one, by terminating their old life and germinating them with the new life of Christ that they may become the kingdom people. John the Baptist’s recommending ministry began with a preliminary baptism by water only. Now, after the heavenly King accomplished His ministry on earth, passed through the process of death and resurrection, and became the life-giving Spirit, He charged His disciples to baptize the ones they discipled into the Triune God. This baptism has two aspects: the visible aspect by water, and the invisible aspect by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 41; 10:44-48). The visible aspect is the expression, the testimony, of the invisible aspect; whereas the invisible aspect is the reality of the visible aspect. Without the invisible aspect by the Spirit, the visible aspect by water is vain; and without the visible aspect by water, the invisible aspect by the Spirit is abstract and impractical. Both are needed. Not long after the Lord charged the disciples with this baptism, He baptized them and the entire church in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5; 2:4) and in the house of Cornelius (Acts 11:15-17). Then, based upon this, the disciples baptized the new converts (Acts 2:38), not only visibly into water, but also invisibly into the death of Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), into Christ Himself (Gal. 3:27), into the Triune God (Matt. 28:19), and into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The water, signifying the death of Christ with His burial, may be considered a tomb to terminate the old history of the one being baptized. Since the death of Christ is included in Christ, and since Christ is the very embodiment of the Triune God, and the Triune God is eventually one with the Body of Christ, so to baptize new believers into the death of Christ, into Christ Himself, into the Triune God, and into the Body of Christ is to terminate their old life, on the negative side, and, on the positive side, to germinate them with new life, the eternal life of the Triune God, for the Body of Christ. Hence, the baptism ordained by the Lord in Matthew 28:19 is one that baptizes people out of their life into the Body life for the kingdom of the heavens.

Life-study of Galatians (message 22)

The Spirit of Sonship Replacing the Custody of the Law

Ga 4:5 That He might redeem those under law that we might receive the sonship.

In verses 4 and 5 Paul goes on to say, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, come of a woman, come under law, that He might redeem those under law, that we might receive the sonship.” The fullness of time in verse 4 denotes the completion of the Old Testament time, which occurred at the time appointed of the Father (v. 2). In this verse Paul describes the Son as “come of a woman, come under law.” The woman is, of course, the virgin Mary (Luke 1:27-35). The Son of God came of her to be the seed of woman, as promised in Genesis 3:15. Furthermore, Christ was born under law, as revealed in Luke 2:21-24, 27, and He kept the law, as the four Gospels reveal.

God’s chosen people were shut up by law under its custody (3:23). Christ was born under law in order to redeem them from its custody that they might receive the sonship and become the sons of God. Hence, they should not return to the custody of law to be under its slavery as the Galatians had been seduced to do, but should remain in the sonship of God to enjoy the life supply of the Spirit in Christ. According to the entire revelation of the New Testament, God’s economy is to produce sons. Sonship is the focal point of God’s economy, God’s dispensation. God’s economy is the dispensation of Himself into His chosen people to make them His sons. Christ’s redemption is to bring us into the sonship of God that we may enjoy the divine life. It is not God’s economy to make us keepers of law, obeying the commandments and ordinances of the law, which was given only for a temporary purpose. God’s economy is to make us sons of God, inheriting the blessing of God’s promise, which was given for His eternal purpose. His eternal purpose is to have many sons for His corporate expression (Heb. 2:10; Rom. 8:29). Hence, He predestinated us unto sonship (Eph. 1:5) and regenerated us to be His sons (John 1:12-13). We should remain in His sonship that we may become His heirs to inherit all He has planned for His eternal expression, and should not be distracted to Judaism by the appreciation of law.

It is difficult to give an adequate definition of sonship. Sonship involves life, maturity, position, and privilege. To be a son of the Father, we need to have the Father’s life. However, we must go on to mature in this life. Life and maturity give us the right, the privilege, the position, to inherit the things of the Father. According to the New Testament, sonship includes life, maturity, position, and right.

In 4:6 Paul declares, “And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father!” God’s Son is the embodiment of the divine life (1 John 5:12). Hence, the Spirit of God’s Son is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). God gives us His Spirit of life, not because we are law-keepers, but because we are His sons. As law-keepers, we have no right to enjoy God’s Spirit of life. As the sons of God, we have the position with the full right to participate in the Spirit of God, who has the bountiful supply of life. Such a Spirit, the Spirit of the Son of God, is the focus of the blessing of God’s promise to Abraham (3:14).

In verses 4 through 6 the Triune God is producing many sons for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose. God the Father sent forth God the Son to redeem us from the law that we might receive sonship. He also sent forth God the Spirit to impart His life into us that we might become His sons in reality.

Basically sonship is a matter of life. The position and the right depend on the life. In order for us to enjoy God’s sonship, we need the Spirit. Apart from the Spirit, we cannot be born of God to have the divine life. Once we have been born of the Spirit, we need the Spirit in order to grow in life. Without the Spirit, we cannot have the position, right, or privilege of sonship. All the crucial points regarding sonship depend on the Spirit. By the Spirit, we have the divine birth and the divine life. Through the Spirit we grow unto maturity. Because of the Spirit we have the position, right, and privilege of sonship. Thus, without the Spirit sonship is vain, an empty term. But when the Spirit comes, the sonship is made real. We fully realize God’s sonship in life, maturity, position, and right. The Spirit of sonship cannot be replaced by anything. On the contrary, everything, the law in particular, must be replaced by the Spirit of sonship.

HWMR – LIVING IN AND WITH THE DIVINE TRINITY (Week 3)

Living in the Divine Trinity (2) – Living in the Divine Trinity by Enjoying Christ as Our Life Supply, by Living Christ for His Magnification, and by the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in Our Spirit

Ga 6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

If we would receive grace and enjoy grace, we need to realize that our spirit is the only place we can experience grace. Just as electricity can be applied only by turning on the switch, so we can contact the moving, anointing Spirit only in our spirit. If you wish to receive grace and enjoy grace, do not exercise your mind, emotion, or will. Instead, turn to your spirit and exercise it….We need to turn from our mind and emotion back to the spirit, where we shall meet the Lord.

The throne of grace is not only in heaven; it is also in our spirit. If it were not in our spirit as well as in heaven, how could we come forward to it? Some may argue that our spirit is not large enough to contain the throne of grace….The fact that we can come forward to the throne of grace indicates that, experientially, it is in our spirit. From my experience I know that when I turn to my spirit and call, “Lord Jesus,” I immediately have the sense that the throne of grace is in my spirit.

Whenever we approach the throne of grace by turning to our spirit and calling on the name of the Lord, we should enthrone the Lord. We must give Him the headship, kingship, and lordship in us….Sometimes as we are praying we sense that the Lord is within us, but we are not willing to give Him the throne. Instead of recognizing His kingship, we exalt ourselves above Him and put ourselves on the throne. In a very practical way, we dethrone the Lord. Whenever we fail to enthrone the Lord, the flow of grace stops. At the very time we are praying, we need to allow the Lord to be on the throne within us, honoring Him as the Head, the Lord, and the King. Then grace will flow within us as a river.

In Revelation 22:1 and 2 we see that the river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. God’s throne is thus the source of the flowing grace. To dethrone Him, to take the throne away from Him, is to disregard the source of grace. This causes the flow of grace to cease….Many of us can testify that whenever we fail to enthrone the Lord, we do not receive much grace in our times of prayer.

The best way to practice turning to the spirit and staying in the spirit is to have fixed times for prayer. Suppose you set aside ten minutes in the morning to contact the Lord in prayer. During this time, the only thing you should do is exercise yourself to turn to the spirit and stay in the spirit. Do not be concerned about all the things you must do that day. Reject your natural mind, emotion, and will and exercise your spirit to contact the Lord.

As we receive the Triune God as our grace and enjoy Him as grace, we shall be constituted of Him. Little by little, we shall become one with Him organically. He will become our constituent, and we shall become His expression. (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 326-330)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 19)

Faith Replacing Law

Ga 3:9 So then they who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Just as the law was the basic principle according to which God dealt with His people in the Old Testament, faith is the basic principle according to which He deals with people in the New Testament. All those who refuse to believe in Christ will perish, whereas those who believe in Him will be forgiven of their sins and receive eternal life. In John 16:9 we are told that the Spirit will convict the world concerning sin because of not believing in the Son of God. This indicates that the unique sin which causes people to perish is unbelief. God’s commandment to sinners is to believe in the Son of God.

In the New Testament the term faith is all-inclusive. It has both a divine aspect and a human aspect, for it implies something on God’s side and something on our side. On God’s side, the term “the faith” implies that God sent His Son to earth, that Christ died on the cross to accomplish redemption, that He was buried and was resurrected, that in resurrection He released the divine life and has become the life-giving Spirit—all that He might enter into all those who believe in Him to be grace, life, power, sanctification, and everything to them. On our side, faith is related to hearing, appreciating, calling, receiving, accepting, joining, partaking, and enjoying. Furthermore, faith involves rejoicing, thanking, praising, and overflowing. Faith hears and appreciates. Faith calls, receives, and accepts. Faith also joins, partakes, enjoys, rejoices, gives thanks, and praises. Therefore, faith results in the overflow of life from within us.

If we do not have faith, all that has been accomplished on God’s side will remain objective and not be personally related to us. We need our faith to function as a camera to photograph the scenery of grace. For faith to operate in this way implies that we apprehend the divine scenery by hearing, appreciating, calling, receiving, accepting, joining, partaking, enjoying, rejoicing, thanking, praising, and overflowing.

Faith is actually the all-inclusive Triune God infused into our being. This infusion takes place as we are under the preaching of grace and hear the word of grace. When the processed Triune God is infused into us, He becomes our faith. This faith is the reflection of grace. Therefore, grace and faith, faith and grace, are two ends of one thing. Neither grace nor faith has anything to do with the law. Today God deals with people not according to law, but according to faith. We need to keep this faith, turn to it, obey it, and contend for it.

Faith replaces law (Gal. 3:23, 25). Since faith has come, we should not stay with the law any longer. The law kept us and brought us to Christ, but now in our experience it should be replaced by faith. We have pointed out that 3:9 says that “they who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” Faith brings us into the blessing God promised to Abraham, that is, to the all-inclusive land which typifies the all-inclusive Spirit. Hence, faith in Christ brings us the promise of the Spirit (3:14).

In 3:7 and 9 Paul speaks of those “who are of faith.” According to both Darby’s New Translation and the Chinese version, this expression denotes the principle of faith. These versions adopt the rendering “on the principle of faith.” To be of faith means to be on the principle of faith. We are those who take faith as our principle. Everything we do should be in keeping with this principle. By this principle we come to Christ, receive Him, and become one with Him.

Galatians 3:23 and 25 say that faith has come. This is another strong expression. Once we were guarded under law, but now faith has come. This means that the processed Triune God as grace has come. The coming of faith also includes the coming of appreciation, receiving, and rejoicing. This is the faith which replaces law!

Life-study of Galatians (message 20)

The Seed of Abraham and the Sons of Abraham

Ga 3:16 But to Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed. He does not say, And to the seeds, as concerning many, but as concerning one: “And to your seed,” who is Christ.

In Galatians 3 Paul speaks of the seed of Abraham (vv. 16, 19, 29) and the sons of Abraham (v. 7). The seed is singular, whereas the sons are plural. It is rather difficult for many readers of Galatians to understand the significance of this.

Concerning God’s promise to Abraham, there is the aspect of fulfillment and the aspect of enjoyment. To fulfill the promise is one thing, but to enjoy the blessing of the promise is another. Concerning promises made by one person to another, the one who fulfills the promise is seldom the one who enjoys the blessing of the promise. Usually the person who makes the promise is the one to fulfill the promise, and the one to whom the promise is made is the one who enjoys its blessing. In the case of God’s promise to Abraham, God, strictly speaking, is not the one to fulfill the promise. Instead, the promise is fulfilled by the seed, Christ (v. 16). Christ has fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham. Thus, the fulfillment of this promise does not depend on the many sons of Abraham, but on the unique seed of Abraham. However, with respect to the enjoyment of the blessing of this promise, the many sons are involved. Whereas the unique seed is the fulfiller, the many sons are the enjoyers. If we understand this matter, we shall be able to understand what Paul is talking about in Galatians 3.

Paul wrote the third chapter of Galatians as if he were an attorney writing a legal document. His wording is specific and precise. Consider verse 16: “But to Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed. He does not say, And to the seeds, as concerning many, but as concerning one, And to your seed, Who is Christ.” In verses 19 and 29 Paul also refers to the seed. But in verse 26 he speaks of the sons of God. The sons of Abraham in verse 7 are the sons of God in verse 26. Now we must ask how the many sons of Abraham can be the many sons of God. The answer to this question involves the seed. On the one hand, the seed is the heir who inherits the promise. However, as the seed of Abraham, Christ also fulfills the promise.

The children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, inherited the good land of Canaan. In typology, the good land signifies Christ. Christ is both the seed and the land. He is not only the seed inheriting the promise; He is also the good land. Both the seed and the good land are types of Christ. As the unique seed in Galatians 3, Christ not only inherits the promise, but He also fulfills the promise. The promise God made to Abraham was fulfilled by Christ as Abraham’s seed.

In the matter of fulfilling the promise, we have no part. Only Christ, the unique seed, is qualified to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham. In this sense, the seed is uniquely one. But in the aspect of enjoying the fulfilled promise, the seed becomes many, the many sons of Abraham.

We know from 3:16 that Christ is Abraham’s unique seed. Christ is the seed, and the seed is the heir who inherits the promises. Here, Christ is the unique seed inheriting the promises. Hence, in order to inherit the promised blessing, we must be one with Christ. Outside of Him, we cannot inherit the promises given by God to Abraham. In God’s eyes Abraham has only one seed, Christ. We must be in Him that we may participate in the promise given to Abraham. He is not only the seed inheriting the promise, but also the blessing of the promise for inheritance. For the Galatian believers to turn back from Christ to the law meant that they would forfeit both the Heir and the inheritance of the promises.

If Christ had not come, there would have been no way for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham. As we have pointed out, the One who fulfilled this promise is not the One who made the promise, but the promised One, the seed. God had promised to give Abraham both a seed and the good land. This promise was fulfilled by the unique, promised seed.

HWMR – LIVING IN AND WITH THE DIVINE TRINITY (Week 2)

Living in the Divine Trinity (1) – Abiding in Christ as the True Vine

1 John 2:24 As for you, that which you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If that which you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

Our abiding in the Son and in the Father are both mentioned in 1 John 2:24. When we have the Son, we have the Father, because the Son and the Father are one. The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father (John 14:10). When we abide in the Son, we abide in the Father. Our experiences confirm this fact. While we are abiding in the Son, we have the sensation that the Father is with us. We have the Lord, and we have the Father. We have the Son with the Father. When we abide in the Son, we enjoy the fatherhood because the Father is there.

We also need to be those who are abiding in God (1 John 3:24a). All these different titles—the Lord, the Son, the Father, and God—bear some significance. In order to understand what it means to abide in God, we need to read 1 John 3:22-24: “Whatever we ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, even as He gave a commandment to us. And he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And in this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.” God is the One who gave the commandments. These commandments are that we have to believe in His Son and that we have to love one another. We need to have the faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and we need to have the love to love all the brothers. This is what it means to abide in God. This is a living that includes the main things of our Christian life. Our Christian life is a life that believes in Christ and loves the brothers. As long as we believe in Christ and love all other Christians as our brothers, we are complete….We abide in God because we are keeping His commandments, which charge us to believe in His Son and to love all the brothers of His Son. This is to have faith and love.

In 1 John we see that we need to abide in the Lord, in the Son, in the Father, and in God. This presents a full portrait of living in the Triune God. To live in the Triune God is to have a daily life in Christ as the organism of the Triune God, in the Lord with His headship, with His lordship, in the Son with His sonship, in the Father with His fatherhood, and in God with His commandments of believing in His Son and of loving all His other sons. This is what it means to experience the Divine Trinity in our daily life. We abide in God by the Spirit of God (3:24b). Without the Spirit of God there is nothing between us and God. The linking, the connection, between us and God, the Father, the Son, the Lord, and Christ is the Spirit. This “linking Spirit” is in our spirit. If we are going to enjoy a life of abiding in God, we must exercise our spirit, turn to our spirit, touch our spirit, and use our spirit. Then we will touch the linking Spirit. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 342-343)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 17)

The Gospel Preached to Abraham

Gal. 3:8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles out of faith, announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham: “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

The gospel was preached to Abraham as the promise that in him all nations would be blessed. The word blessed in Genesis 12:3 is of great significance. Through Adam’s fall, the human race was brought under the curse. But God promised Abraham that in him and because of him the nations, which had been brought under the curse, would be blessed. According to Galatians 3:13, the curse has been taken away. Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Him. Christ died a substitutionary death on the cross to deliver us from the curse brought in by Adam. Now in Christ all the nations will be blessed. Hence, the blessing promised to Abraham comes to us through Christ’s redemption. The curse has been taken away, and the blessing has come. All the nations have been blessed in Christ, Abraham’s unique seed.

This blessing has the good land as the center. The good land typifies the all-inclusive Christ realized by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit to be the blessing of the gospel (Gen. 12:7; Col. 1:12b; Gal. 3:14). We have pointed out again and again that the good land is a complete type of the all-inclusive Christ. After His resurrection, Christ is realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Ultimately, this all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is our good land. Since the Spirit in Galatians denotes the processed Triune God, we may say that the good land is the very processed Triune God. In the gospel what God gives us is nothing less than Himself.

To children, their mother is everything. As long as children have their mother, they are happy. Using this as an illustration of our relationship to the Triune God, we can say that the processed Triune God is the all-inclusive One who is everything to us and that this One is our good land. When the children of Israel entered into the good land, they had no lack. Therefore, this good land is a type of the processed Triune God who is realized in full as the all-inclusive Spirit indwelling our spirit. The good land today is in our spirit.

When the all-inclusive Spirit comes into our spirit, a certain transaction takes place. This transaction is what we call the organic union. In his Word Studies in The New Testament, M. R. Vincent, commenting on Matthew 28:19, says that “baptizing into the name of the Holy Trinity implies a spiritual and mystical union with Him.” The Greek word for “into” in Matthew 28:19 indicates a union in life. Thus, baptism should not be a ritual; it should be the accomplishment of the organic union.

It is ridiculous to ask believers if they have received the Spirit. How could we have failed to receive the Spirit inasmuch as we have entered into an organic union with the Triune God? We have been grafted into Him. The process of grafting begins with appreciating the Lord, and it is accomplished by baptism. When you first heard the gospel, an appreciation for the Lord Jesus was awakened within you. Then you were willing to be baptized, at which time the organic union, the grafting, was accomplished. You were grafted into the Triune God. A sinner who believes in Jesus can then be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The name denotes the Person. How marvelous that sinners can be baptized into the Triune God! The union accomplished through baptism is an intrinsic union, a union in life. If someone asks you if you have received the Holy Spirit, you may want to tell him that you have received the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

If we were to preach the gospel in a place where no one had heard the gospel before, those who heard our messages would immediately experience the organic union with the Triune God. Then we could easily help them to develop this union and not to live any longer by the self. To live by the organic union is to live by the Spirit, by the processed Triune God. There is no need for us to seek experiences such as speaking in tongues, for we can live by the Triune God in our spirit. In Taiwan we did not practice tongues-speaking, but within six years we increased from five hundred to twenty thousand. By contrast, many of those who emphasize the Pentecostal things have been fruitless. The organic union with the Triune God is much more powerful and prevailing than speaking in tongues. It is not necessary to practice tongues-speaking to have spiritual power. Through the organic union with the Triune God, I am energized and filled with power. The Lord’s recovery has spread to five continents, not through speaking in tongues, but through the organic union. Praise the Lord that this organic union is in us all! I have the confidence that the recovery will continue to spread by means of this union. Again and again we need to come back to our spirit to experience the hearing of faith. The more hearing we have, the more appreciation there will be and also more calling, receiving, accepting, joining, partaking, and enjoying.

Life-study of Galatians (message 18)

The Promise Versus the Law

Gal. 3:11 And that by law no one is justified before God is evident because, “The righteous one shall have life and live by faith”;

We have considered three important persons: Adam, Abraham, and Moses. Now we come to a fourth person, the most important of all—Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham. Christ fulfilled this promise according to the righteous requirements of the law given through Moses. In this way, He brought God’s chosen people out from under the curse. Therefore, the promise became not only a covenant, but also a testament, a will, for everything that had been promised was accomplished. The requirements of the law were met, the curse was removed, and the promise was fulfilled. Now in this unique seed of Abraham all the divided and cursed nations are blessed. Today Christ, our good land, is the all-inclusive Spirit for our enjoyment. With Adam there was the curse, with Abraham there was the promise, with Moses there was the law, and with Christ there is the fulfillment of the promise. Now we, the believers, those of the household of faith, enjoy the new testament. Those of the household of faith are the church people. We are not those who work—we are those who hear. As members of the household of faith, we have the hearing of faith and thereby inherit, partake of, and experience the Triune God as our blessing. By the hearing of faith we have become people of faith, the household of faith. The more we hear, the more our faith is strengthened, and the more our capacity to enjoy the blessing is enlarged.

In the Bible there are six outstanding names or titles: Adam, Abraham, Moses, Christ, the church, and the New Jerusalem. God’s intention in eternity past was not related to the law. His thought was focused not on the law, but on Adam, Abraham, Christ, the church, and the New Jerusalem, the ultimate consummation of God’s work with man. Today we are in the church; in eternity we shall be in the New Jerusalem. God uses the law temporarily to expose His people, who do not have the proper knowledge of themselves and their condition. He also uses the law as a custodian to guard and keep the people and as an escort, a child conductor, to bring them to Christ. But once the law has fulfilled its function of bringing us to Christ, the law should not be allowed to stand in the way. Moses was not only the one through whom the law was given; he was also the one to receive the pattern of the tabernacle and under whose leadership it was set up.

In the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, the law has only a temporary place. It was given four hundred thirty years after God’s promise was made to Abraham. With the coming of Christ the law was fulfilled and terminated.

Faith is not related to the law, but related to grace. Our faith is the reflection of the grace of Christ. Faith functions like a camera, which is used to photograph a particular scene. The grace of Christ is the scenery, and our faith is the camera which takes the picture. Thus, our faith becomes the reflection of the grace of Christ. In other words, our faith is the reflection of God’s promise in its fulfillment.

Faith has nothing to do with the law. The Galatians were mistaken in giving place to the law once again and allowing it to be brought into the way. The law must no longer be in the scene. Instead, our camera of faith should be focused fully on grace. Instead of trying to keep the law, we should use our faith to photograph the scenery of grace. Now in faith we are enjoying grace, which is the Triune God processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit for our enjoyment. How wonderful! The curse has been taken away, and the law has been set aside. Now we have the unique fulfillment of God’s promise, which has become the blessing to all believers. We are believing Abrahams enjoying God’s promise in a full way. If we see this and understand it, we shall realize that the promise is versus the law. No longer is there any ground, position, or place for the law. The law has been taken out of the way. Praise the Lord that our camera of faith is photographing the scenery of grace!

HWMR – LIVING IN AND WITH THE DIVINE TRINITY (Week 1)

The Divine Economy with the Divine Dispensing of the divine Trinity in the Divine Move and in Our Experience

Matt. 6:9 You then pray in this way: Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified;

Matt. 6:10 Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

Today the world is not God’s kingdom but His enemy’s kingdom. This is why the Bible says that Satan is the ruler of today’s world (John 12:31). In Satan’s kingdom, the world, there is no righteousness, no peace, and no joy. Romans 14:17 says that the reality of the kingdom life is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. In Satan’s kingdom today, there is no joy, because there is no peace. In the United Nations, peace is talked about all the time, but there is no peace, because there is no righteousness. Peace is the issue of righteousness. In his second Epistle, Peter says that the unique thing that dwells in the new heavens and new earth is righteousness (3:13). In the coming kingdom, the millennium, the primary thing will be righteousness. There is no righteousness in today’s world, because this is the kingdom of Satan, the evil ruler.

Today Satan’s will is being done on the earth through evil men….Thank the Lord that Satan’s will is not fully carried out. Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin were destroyed. Napoleon wanted his will to be done, but he did not succeed. We need to pray for the Father’s divine will to be done on earth as in heaven. This is to bring the heavenly ruling, the kingdom of the heavens, to the earth. Then the Father’s will surely will be done on the earth.

These three things [in Matthew 6:9-10]—the name, the kingdom, and the will—are the attributes of the one Triune God. The name is of the Father, because the Father is the source; the kingdom is of the Son, and the will is of the Spirit. To pray in this way is to pray that the Triune God will be prevailing on the earth as He is prevailing in the heavens.

Life-study of Galatians (Message 15)

The Spirit—the Blessing of the Gospel

Gal. 3:14 In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:13 and 14 say, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, Cursed is every one hanging on a tree, in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Because it combines the promise of the Spirit with the blessing of Abraham, verse 14 is extremely important. The blessing of Abraham is the blessing promised by God to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) for all the nations of the earth. This promise was fulfilled, and this blessing has come to the nations in Christ through His redemption by the cross. The context of verse 14 indicates that the Spirit is the blessing which God promised to Abraham for all the nations and which has been received by the believers through faith in Christ. The Spirit is the compound Spirit and actually is God Himself processed in His Trinity through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descension, for us to receive as our life and our everything. This is the focus of the gospel of God.

The physical aspect of the blessing God promised to Abraham was the good land (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3-4), which was a type of the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 1:12). Since Christ is eventually realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17), the blessing of the promised Spirit corresponds to the blessing of the promised land. Actually, the Spirit as the realization of Christ in our experience is the good land as the source of God’s bountiful supply for us to enjoy.

If we read the book of Genesis, we shall see that the focal point of God’s promise to Abraham was that Abraham’s seed would inherit the land. According to Galatians 3, Christ is this seed, the unique seed. Furthermore, as we have often pointed out, the good land is a full type of the all-inclusive Christ. On the one hand, the seed is Christ; on the other hand, the land is a type of Christ. The blessing of Abraham is altogether related to Christ. Christ is the focus of the promised blessing.

However, verse 14 does not say that in receiving the blessing of Abraham we receive Christ. Instead, this verse tells us that we receive the Spirit. Surely this indicates that the Spirit here is the blessing of Abraham.

What kind of Spirit could be the blessing God promised to Abraham? What Spirit would be the all-inclusive blessing, which is Christ as the seed and as the land? It must be the Spirit, the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. First Corinthians 15:45 says that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit, and 2 Corinthians 3:17 declares that now the Lord is the Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 3:17 the King James Version says “that Spirit.” This rendering is not accurate, for the Greek word uses the definite article. Hence, the proper rendering is “the Spirit,” referring to the Spirit who was “not yet” until Christ had been glorified.

At the time of the Lord’s incarnation, the Holy Spirit began to have the element of humanity as well as divinity. From that time, the Holy Spirit was compounded with the Lord’s human living, crucifixion, and resurrection and became the Spirit, the all-inclusive Spirit compounded with divinity, humanity, and the Lord’s human living, death, and resurrection. All that God has purposed and planned and all that He has accomplished through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection is included in the Spirit. Hence, the Spirit is all-inclusive, the Triune God processed to be everything to us. This Spirit is the blessing of the gospel.

Life-study of Galatians (message 16)

The Spirit Versus the Flesh

Gal. 3:5 He therefore who bountifully supplies to you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does He do it out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?

In 3:3 Paul asks the Galatian believers, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” The Spirit, who is the resurrected Christ, is of life. The flesh, which is our fallen man, is of sin and death. We should not begin by the Spirit and attempt to be perfected by the flesh. Those of us who have begun by the Spirit should be perfected by the Spirit and have nothing to do with the flesh. In 2:20 the contrast is between Christ and “I”; here the contrast is between the Spirit and the flesh. This indicates that the Spirit is Christ and the flesh is “I” in our experience. From chapter three to the end of the Epistle, the Spirit is Christ in our life experience. In revelation it is Christ; in experience it is the Spirit.

The flesh is condemned and repudiated throughout this entire book (1:16; 2:16; 3:3; 4:23, 29; 5:13, 16-17, 19; 6:8, 12-13), and from chapter three, every chapter gives a contrast between the flesh and the Spirit (3:3; 4:29; 5:16-17, 19, 22; 6:8). The flesh is the uttermost expression of the fallen tripartite man, and the Spirit is the ultimate realization of the processed Triune God. The flesh inclines to keep the law and is tested by the law. The Spirit is received and enjoyed by faith. God’s economy delivers us from the flesh to the Spirit that we may participate in the blessing of the riches of the Triune God. This cannot take place by the flesh keeping the law, but takes place by the Spirit being received by faith and experienced through faith.

In the book of Galatians, the flesh does not refer merely to man’s fallen and corrupted body. Rather, it refers to the totality of man’s fallen being. The flesh is therefore the uttermost expression of the fallen tripartite man. Hence, the flesh in this sense includes man’s body, soul, and spirit. If you consider the works of the flesh listed in 5:19-21, you will find that some, such as fornication, uncleanness, sensuality, and drunkenness, are related to the lust of the corrupted body; others, such as enmities, strife, angers, and divisions, are related to the fallen soul; and still others, idolatry and sorcery, are related to the deadened spirit. This proves that the three parts of our fallen being are involved with the evil flesh. Therefore, in Galatians the flesh denotes the whole of man’s fallen being. The flesh is not just a part of man’s fallen being; it includes the totality of the fallen tripartite man.

According to the revelation in the New Testament, the Spirit is the ultimate realization of the processed Triune God. God is the Spirit, and fallen man is the flesh. God is the processed Triune God, and the flesh is the fallen tripartite man. Have you ever realized that man today is the fallen tripartite man and that God is the processed Triune God? The fallen tripartite man is the flesh, and the processed Triune God is the Spirit. Just as the flesh in Galatians refers not only to the corrupted and lustful body, but to the totality of fallen man, so the Spirit refers not only to the third Person of the Triune God, but to the Triune God who has been processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The flesh refers to our entire fallen being, and the Spirit, to the entire Triune God, to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Having been processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the Triune God is today the Spirit. When we read of the flesh in the New Testament, we need to realize that it denotes the totality of man’s fallen being. In the same principle, when we read of the Spirit in the Epistles of Paul, we need to understand that the Spirit denotes the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—processed to become the all-inclusive life-imparting Spirit.

HWMR – MEETING GOD’S NEED AND PRESENT NEEDS IN THE LORD’S RECOVERY (Week 8)

Taking, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Our King, Our Lord, Our Head, and Our Husband for the Building Up of the Body of Christ to Consummate the New Jerusalem

Ezk. 1:22 And over the heads of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the sight of awesome crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

Whenever we have such a clear sky in our Christian life and in our church life, we will also have the throne, which is above the clear sky (Ezek. 1:26). The throne is the center of the universe, and it is where the Lord is. We often talk about the Lord’s presence, but we need to realize that the Lord’s presence is always with the throne. Where the Lord is, there His throne is. His presence can never be separated from His throne. The Lord’s throne is in the third heaven, but His throne is also in our spirit. Hence, the Lord’s throne is with us all the time.

As Christians and as local churches, we all should be under a crystal clear and expansive sky. Above this clear, expansive sky is the throne of the Lord. By having such a clear sky, we are spontaneously under the government of the Lord’s throne.

We should always be under the ruling of the Lord’s throne. Because we are under the throne, we do not need policemen and law courts to rule over us. The highest step in the spiritual experience of a Christian is to have the throne in our expanse, in our clear sky. To have the throne, or to arrive at the throne, is to allow God to have the highest and most prominent position in our Christian life. For God to have the throne in us means that He has the position to reign in us. Therefore, to reach the throne in our spiritual experience means that in everything we are completely submissive to God’s authority and administration. Then we are no longer a person without the throne, without authority, without government.

A believer who does not have a clear sky with a throne above it can easily be loose and careless in his daily living. On the contrary, a believer who has a sky that is crystal clear has the sense of being under divine government and restraint; therefore, he cannot be loose or careless in anything he says or does. A believer who has a clear sky above him is under an authority which restricts and restrains him in things such as speaking or a display of anger. This authority is a matter of the throne. A sapphire stone signifies a kind of heavenly condition which exists when God is present in a particular situation….A sapphire stone is blue in color, and blue is a heavenly color indicating the situation and condition of God’s presence. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 112-114, 120)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 13)

Christ and the Spirit

Gal. 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

In the revelation of God’s economy in the first two chapters of Galatians, the emphasis is on Christ. But in our experience of life as presented in the last four chapters, the emphasis is on the Spirit. Have you noticed that in Galatians 1 and 2 there is no mention of the Spirit? However, verse after verse speaks of Christ. Beginning with 3:2, the Spirit is revealed. The Spirit in chapter three is the very Christ in chapter two. Do not think that the Spirit is separate from Christ. In the chapters which deal with the revelation of God’s economy, we read of Christ, but in those chapters which unfold our experience of life, we read of the Spirit. On the one hand, Galatians gives us a revelation of God’s economy; on the other hand, it affords us a revelation of our experience of life. The former is objective, whereas the latter is subjective. In the objective revelation of God’s economy the emphasis is on Christ, but in the subjective experience of life the emphasis is on the Spirit.

As believers, we have received the Spirit, the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, as the all-inclusive and ultimate blessing of the gospel. According to the understanding of many Christians, the One they received when they believed in the Lord Jesus was only Christ, the Son of God. Not many realize that the One they received was not the objective Christ, but the subjective Spirit. Because many are not clear concerning this, they talk about a so-called second blessing, or about receiving the Spirit apart from regeneration. When some Christians learn that another has believed in Christ, they proceed to ask him if he has received the Holy Spirit. However, to be a genuine Christian is to believe in Christ and to receive the Spirit. To be a real Christian is to believe in Christ, and to believe in Christ is to receive the Spirit. Nevertheless, those who regard Christ as separate and distinct from the Spirit may consider that it is possible to believe in Christ without receiving the Spirit. This is a serious misunderstanding! As we have pointed out again and again in this message, we simultaneously believe in Christ and receive the Spirit.

When certain Christians are asked if they have received the Spirit, they are not clear or do not know how to answer. They need to see that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, an organic union took place. At the very time of our conversion, a wonderful organic union between us and the Lord Jesus was accomplished. Because they are ignorant of the fact of such an organic union, they do not enjoy the Spirit as the ultimate blessing of the gospel. Instead of enjoying this blessing, they are distracted to regulations, doctrine, or to the study of the Bible in dead letters. Others may pursue what is called the second blessing or the outpouring of the Spirit with speaking in tongues. But in the four books which make up the heart of the divine revelation in the New Testament—Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians— nothing is said about tongues-speaking or about the outpouring of the Spirit. Instead, Paul places strong emphasis on the sealing of the Spirit, the earnest of the Spirit, and the foretaste of the Spirit. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were sealed with the Spirit. At the very moment the organic union took place, the earnest of the Spirit was given. In other words, when we believed in the Lord Jesus, we received the Spirit, and the Spirit became to us the ultimate blessing of the gospel.

The Judaizers were ignorant of this mysterious organic union with Christ, and the Galatian believers were not clear about it and were distracted from it. The same is true of many Christians today. Because so many believers do not realize what took place within them at the time they believed in the Lord Jesus, they are distracted and occupied with other things. Therefore, it is crucial for us to see what happened in us when we believed in the Lord. By means of an organic union we were grafted into the Triune God. Now all the Triune God is, has done, has accomplished, and has obtained and attained has become our portion. Because the Judaizers were troubling the believers in Galatia and because the believers themselves were lacking in understanding, Paul was burdened to write this Epistle. He was especially burdened to cover the matters in chapter three. Every believer must be clear that Christ and the Spirit are one. This oneness is a mystery for our enjoyment.

Life-study of Galatians (message 14)

Hearing of Faith Versus Works of Law

Gal. 3:5 He therefore who bountifully supplies to you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does He do it out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?

Faith was not to be found in the Old Testament; it came with Jesus Christ. When Christ came, grace came, and faith came also. Faith has come to replace law. Therefore, as believers in Christ, we are hearers, not workers. In the church meetings we gather together for the hearing of faith. Those who do not attend the meetings cut themselves off from opportunities for the hearing of faith. If we are cut off from the hearing, we are also cut off from the supply.

Do not stay away from the meetings because you think you will simply hear the same things over and over again. We need to eat breakfast every morning even though we may eat the same thing almost every day. If we refuse to eat because the food is the same, we shall not receive our necessary supply of food. In the same principle, we need to attend the church meetings in order to receive God’s supply. We can testify that it makes a great difference whether or not we come to the meetings for the hearing of faith. Time and time again, we may hear of Christ and the church, of Christ’s death and resurrection, and of how Christ has been processed to become the life-giving Spirit. But each time we hear these things, we receive the supply of the Spirit. Therefore, a proper Christian meeting is a hearing meeting, a meeting for the hearing of faith.

Those who speak in the church meetings should also be hearers, for they also hear the very things they are speaking. Those of us who speak in the church can testify that the more we speak, the more we hear. A proper speaker speaks first to himself and then to others. If you do not speak to yourself first, your speaking is not genuine. If we are genuine speakers, we should be the first to enjoy our speaking.

Meeting by meeting we come together for the hearing of faith. This faith is the appreciation, receiving, and accepting of God’s grace. Through faith we are joined to God’s grace, we partake of God’s grace, and we enjoy God’s grace. As we have pointed out again and again, this grace is the Triune God processed to become our enjoyment and everything to us.

How wrong the Galatian believers were to turn back to the law! God does not want us to be workers of law; He wants us to be hearers of His grace. As we hear His grace, grace spontaneously becomes our faith. Before faith came, God used the law to keep us, hold us, and retain us. But now that faith has come, we no longer need the law. With the law there is no enjoyment, no grace. But with faith there is an abundance of enjoyment, for faith is related to grace. Today we experience the hearing of faith. By this hearing of faith we continually receive the supply of the all-inclusive Spirit.

HWMR – MEETING GOD’S NEED AND PRESENT NEEDS IN THE LORD’S RECOVERY (Week 7)

Our Need to Labor on the All-inclusive Christ to Have the Produce to Exhibit Christ in the Church and to Have a Surplus of Christ to Bring to the Church Meetings for the Corporate Worship of God Our Father

John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

We need to worship God in spirit with Christ as the reality….Whenever we come to a meeting, we should bring Christ, that is, our experiences of Christ, and our spirit must be living….We should begin to sing and to call on the Lord on our way to the meeting. Then when we sit down, our spirit will come forth in a released way. In this way, we will have the experiences of Christ as well as the release of the spirit….When our spirit is strong and our testimonies are rich, simple, and concise, the meeting will be rich, and God will be glorified. This is to worship God. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 3, “Being Delivered from Religious Rituals and Walking according to the Spirit,” pp. 370-371)

We must realize that whenever we come to the meetings, whenever we come to worship the Lord, we should not come with our hands empty. We must come with our hands full of the produce of Christ. We have to labor on Christ day by day so that we produce Him….We need more than just a little of Christ to satisfy our own needs. We must produce enough of Him so that there will be a surplus remaining for others….And above all, the best of the surplus must be reserved for the Lord….We must labor diligently, not only to bring forth enough to satisfy our own needs but also to acquire a surplus to meet the needs of others, with the best reserved for the Lord. Then we will be acceptable to the Lord, and He will be pleased with us.

To worship God with Christ does not mean to worship Him individually but to worship Him collectively with all the children of God by enjoying Christ with one another and with God.

This is the life after the possession of the good land. It is a life of working on Christ, producing Christ, enjoying Christ, sharing Christ with others, and offering Christ to God that He may enjoy Him with us. This kind of enjoyment and sharing is an exhibition of Christ to the entire universe. It is a worship to God and a shame to the enemy.

The life in the land is a life full of the enjoyment of Christ, both personally and collectively with the Lord’s people. May we be diligent to labor on Him, to have our hands filled with Him, and then come to the place that He has appointed, to the very ground of unity, to enjoy this rich and glorious Christ with God’s children and with God Himself. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” pp. 344-345, 348, 352)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 11)

Not Nullifying the Grace of God

Gal. 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness is through law, then Christ has died for nothing.

It is important for us to find out the genuine and proper significance of the grace of God in the New Testament. In the Old Testament there is actually no mention of God’s grace. The word grace used in the Old Testament means favor. John 1:17 tells us that grace came with Jesus Christ. Before the incarnation of the Son of God, grace had not come. Grace came when the Lord Jesus came. Prior to that time, the law had been given through Moses. The promise of grace had also been made to Abraham; it was given before the law was. First, God gave the promise of grace to Abraham. Then, four hundred thirty years later, the law was given at Mount Sinai through Moses. Approximately another fifteen hundred years passed before grace came with Jesus Christ, with the incarnated Son of God.

According to John 1:1 and 14, the Word that was in the beginning with God and which was God became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality. Verse 16 says, “For of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace.” Since grace came with Jesus Christ, grace was not yet present in the Old Testament.

Now we must give a definition of grace. Grace is God in His Trinity processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to be everything to us. After passing through such a long process, the Triune God has become everything to us. He is our redemption, salvation, life, and sanctification. Having been processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, the Triune God Himself is our grace.

If we would understand grace as revealed in the New Testament, we need a clear view of the New Testament as a whole. Grace is a matter of tremendous significance. To the Jews, the giving of the law through Moses was a great event. The fact that the coming of grace is contrasted with the giving of the law indicates that grace is greater than the law. As far as the Jews were concerned, apart from God Himself nothing was greater than the law. But John 1:17 indicates that grace is greater than the law. The law was given, but grace came.

According to the concept of many Christians, God’s grace is mainly a matter of material blessing. At the end of the year, some Christians gather together to count the blessings God has bestowed on them during that year and to thank Him for His great grace in sending these blessings. Then they proceed to thank the Lord for things such as a large home and new clothes. Such a concept of grace is much too poor! The Apostle Paul would count such things as dung, not as grace.

We have pointed out that, according to John 1:17, grace is greater than the law. Surely God Himself is higher than the law. However, if God remains objective to us, in our experience He will not be greater than the law. In order to be greater than the law to us, the Triune God must be subjective. Hence, in the New Testament, grace denotes the Triune God processed to become everything to us and to live in us. Nothing can surpass the living in us of the processed, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.

Life-study of Galatians (message 12)

Christ Crucified

Gal. 3:1O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed crucified?

In 3:1 Paul says, “O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed crucified?” The crucifixion of Christ indicates that all the requirements of the law have been fulfilled by the death of Christ, and that Christ through His death has released His life that it may be imparted into us in His resurrection to free us from bondage under the law. This was fully portrayed before the eyes of the Galatians in the word of the gospel. How could they neglect this and be bewitched, drifting back to the law? How foolish!

Before the eyes of the Galatians, Christ had openly been portrayed crucified. Paul wondered how the Galatian believers could forget such a portrait. Those who go back to the law have nothing to do with such a crucified Christ. If God wants us to keep the law and if we are able to keep it, then there was no need for Christ to be crucified. For this reason, Paul declares in 2:21, “If righteousness is through law, then Christ has died for nothing.” Galatians 3:1 is the direct continuation of 2:21. Christ certainly was not crucified without cause. On the contrary, He was crucified for a very great cause. In fact, the cross is the center of God’s operation in His economy, just as Christ Himself is the center of God’s economy. In the carrying out of God’s economy, the cross is the center. Without Christ, God’s economy has no center, and without the cross of Christ the operation of God’s economy is without a center. Thus, the carrying out of God’s economy wholly depends on the cross of Christ. The cross is the center of God’s operation in the universe to carry out His economy.

In 3:1 Paul brought the Galatians back to the cross. He wanted them to have a thorough look at the crucified Christ. In this message I am burdened that we also have such a view of Christ crucified. Therefore, let us consider the verses in Galatians which refer to the cross or to the death of Christ on the cross, and let us see all the important points in these verses.

In 1:4 Paul says that Christ “gave Himself for our sins, that He might rescue us out of the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Here we see that in His crucifixion Christ gave Himself for our sins. How foolish were the Galatians, and how stubborn and rebellious were the Judaizers! In returning to the law, they had no way to deal with their sins. In this book Paul seems to be saying, “You have committed many sins. What will you do about them? Apart from the death of Christ on the cross, there is no way to be redeemed from your sins.”

Although Christ was crucified for our sins, the goal of His crucifixion was to “rescue us out of the present evil age.” Sins are devilish, whereas this age is satanic. We have pointed out that the present age is the present section of Satan’s cosmos, his world system. As the Devil, God’s enemy is involved with sins; and as Satan, he is involved with the evil age. Even if the Galatians and the Judaizers could have been successful in keeping the law, how would they have dealt with the Devil, Satan? Can you overcome Satan? He is subtle, lurking behind sins and the evil age. Apart from the crucifixion of Christ, we have no way to deal with sins, behind which the Devil hides, or the evil age, behind which Satan hides. Christ was crucified for our sins that He might rescue us from this evil age. This indicates that only Christ can save us from the Devil and Satan. Both sins and the evil age have been dealt with by Christ crucified. He gave Himself for us on the cross according to the will of God.

HWMR – MEETING GOD’S NEED AND PRESENT NEEDS IN THE LORD’S RECOVERY (Week 6)

Entering into Christ’s Wonderful Shepherding in His Heavenly Ministry to Shepherd the Church of God as a Slave of God for the Fulfillment of the Dream of God

1 Cor. 13:4-5 Love suffers long. Love is kind; it is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not puffed up; it does not behave unbecomingly and does not seek its own things; it is not provoked and does not take account of evil.

Love is not jealous, is not provoked, does not take account of evil, covers all things, endures all things, never falls away, and is the greatest (1 Cor. 13:4-8, 13). Jealousy is in our nature.

Also, love is not provoked. People are easily provoked because of the shortage of love. Regardless of how much we are rebuked, we will not be provoked if we are filled with the divine love. Love does not take account of evil. We have to confess that we have taken account of other people’s evil. Some wives have a record, an account, of their husband’s failures and defects. This record may not be written, but it is in their mind. The elders need to realize that in their shepherding, they have to cover others’ sins, to not take account of others’ evils. Love covers all things, not only the good things but also the bad things. Whoever uncovers the defects, shortcomings, and sins of the members of the church is disqualified from the eldership. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 123-124)

Both 2 Peter and Jude speak of the matter of reviling. Reviling is done through our speaking….Those who take in reviling words bear the same responsibility as those who speak reviling words….In order for the church to maintain the oneness, the brothers and sisters have to withstand reviling words.

We need to be a person who has been taught by God and who is under control. Only those who do not speak carelessly or express their opinions carelessly can hope to be used by God. Only these ones can represent the Head. Only such people can lead the brothers and sisters on in the way ahead of them. God will never entrust authority to those who by nature like to criticize….If you are a person with your head removed, you immediately sense when others’ heads have asserted themselves….You know it because you have been judged in this matter already….If a brother has been dealt with in these two things, that is, in the matter of speaking and in learning not to assume headship, there is no difficulty in the exercise of authority. Those who cause problems in these two matters do not know what the Body is. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, 1st ed., vol. 2, pp. 505-507, 509-510)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 9)

Dead to Law but Living to God

Gal. 2:19 For I through law have died to law that I might live to God.

How can we die to law in order to live to God? Galatians 2:19 indicates that we have already died to law. According to your experience, have you actually died to law, or is this simply a matter of doctrine to you? Furthermore, how can we live to God? If we would answer these questions, we must know the truth, the reality, of the gospel. If we are not actually organically united with Christ but are in ourselves, then we are neither dead to law nor are we living to God. Apart from the organic union with Christ, we cannot live to God. On the contrary, we shall be alive to many things other than God.

The concept of organic union is implied in Romans 7. In this chapter Paul uses the illustration of married life. Marriage is a union of life. In this union the wife is one with the husband, and the husband is one with the wife. In Romans 7:4 Paul speaks of our being married to Christ: “So that, my brothers, you also have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you might marry another, even Him Who has been raised from among the dead.” According to this verse, we have been married to the resurrected Christ. Between Him as the Bridegroom and us as the Bride, there is a wonderful union. We are one with Him in person, name, life, and existence. This shows that our Christian life is a life of organic oneness with Christ.

In Romans 11 Paul goes on to use another illustration— the grafting of a branch from one tree into another tree. In Romans 11:17-24 Paul uses the illustration of branches from a wild olive tree being grafted into a cultivated olive tree. As a result of grafting, the branches from the wild olive tree and the cultivated olive tree grow together organically. We, branches of the wild olive tree, have been grafted into Christ, the cultivated olive tree.

Some may say that the cultivated olive tree in Romans 11 refers to Israel. Although this is correct, it is also true that in the Bible the real Israel is always identified with Christ, and Christ with the real Israel. In the eyes of God, there are not two trees on earth. There is just one tree, the olive tree which includes Christ and God’s chosen people. Once we were wild olive branches, but now we have been grafted into Christ. This illustration indicates that the Christian life is not an exchanged life, the exchange of a lower life for a higher one, but a grafted life, the grafting of the human life into the life of Christ. After a branch has been grafted into another tree, it no longer lives by itself. On the contrary, it lives by the tree into which it has been grafted.

In the matter of grafting, there are two main aspects: cutting and joining or uniting. Without the cutting, there cannot be any grafting. If the branch from one tree is to be grafted into another tree, the branch must firstly be cut. After the cutting occurs, the joining or union takes place. This union is organic. Therefore, in grafting we have the cutting, the joining, and the organic union. The cutting corresponds to the death of Christ, and the uniting, to the resurrection of Christ. In the death of Christ our old life was cut off, and in Christ’s resurrection we were united to Him for further growth. The experience of the death of Christ causes us to die to the law, whereas resurrection enables us to live to God. Hence, to be dead to the law and alive to God implies the death and resurrection of Christ. Only by being grafted into Christ can we be one with Him in His death and resurrection.

In ourselves it is not possible for us to die to law or live to God. However, when the preciousness of the Lord Jesus was infused into us and we began to appreciate Him, we were grafted into Him. On the one hand, we were cut; on the other hand, we were joined to Christ in His resurrection life. After this union took place, we were organically united with Christ. Now we should simply live in this organic union. On the negative side, we have been cut in Christ’s death; on the positive side, we have been united to Christ in His resurrection. In this cutting we died not only to the law, but to everything other than God. According to Galatians 6, we are dead to the world, particularly to the religious world, through the crucifixion of Christ (vv. 13-14). By the all-inclusive cutting of Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross, we are dead to everything other than God. Because we have been grafted into Christ, His experience has become our history. When He died on the cross, we died in Him. When He was crucified, we were cut off from the wild olive tree. This means that we were cut off from the self, the flesh, the world, religion, and the law with its ordinances. Furthermore, because we have been grafted into Christ, His resurrection has also become our history. Therefore, we can strongly declare that with Christ we have been crucified, buried, and resurrected. What a wonderful history we have!

Life-study of Galatians (message 10)

No Longer I, But Christ Living in Me

Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Paul says that the life we now live in the flesh we live in faith, the faith of the Son of God. We live the divine life, not by sight or by feeling in the way we live the physical and soulish life. The divine life, which is the spiritual life in our spirit, is lived by the exercise of faith stimulated by the presence of the life-giving Spirit.

In speaking of faith, Paul refers to “the faith of the Son of God.” What is the meaning of the little word “of” here? This word implies that the faith mentioned in this verse is the Son of God’s faith, the faith which He Himself possesses. However, in interpreting this verse, we and many others have said that this phrase actually means faith in the Son of God. Nevertheless, the Greek does not use the preposition “in” here. I have spent a good deal of time trying to understand this matter. After consulting the writings of a number of leading authorities, I have become fully convinced that here Paul is not speaking of the Son’s faith, but of faith in the Son. However, we still need to explain why in this verse, as well as in 2:16 and 3:22, Paul does not use the preposition “in.” We cannot gain a proper understanding of this simply by studying the Scripture in black and white letters. We also need to consider our experience.

Paul wrote the book of Galatians both according to truth and according to his experience. According to our Christian experience, the genuine living faith which operates in us is not only in Christ, but also of Christ. Hence, Paul’s meaning here actually is “the faith of and in Christ.” Paul’s thought is that the faith is both of Christ and in Christ.

We have pointed out that faith is our appreciation of what the Lord is and of what He has done for us. We have also pointed out that genuine faith is Christ Himself infused into us to become our ability to believe in Him. After the Lord has been infused into us, He spontaneously becomes our faith. On the one hand, this faith is of Christ; on the other hand, it is in Christ. However, it is too simple merely to say that this faith is Christ. We need to say that it is Christ revealed to us and infused into us. Faith is related not only to the Christ who has been infused into us, but also to the Christ who is infusing Himself into us. As Christ operates in us, He becomes our faith. This faith is of Him and also in Him.

Proof that the faith in 2:20 is both the faith of Christ and the faith in Christ is found in Paul’s words at the end of the verse. He concludes the verse by referring to the Son of God as the One “Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” In writing these words, Paul was filled with appreciation of the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, at the end of such a long verse there would have been no need for him to speak of Christ loving him and having given Himself for him. He could have concluded with the expression, “the faith of the Son of God.” But as he was speaking of the way he now lived, his heart was filled with gratitude and appreciation. Faith comes from such an appreciation of the Lord Jesus. The faith in Christ and the faith of Christ issues from the appreciation of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 5:14 and 15 Paul says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” As we consider these verses, we can see that Paul’s faith came from an appreciation for the constraining love of Christ. The more we appreciate Christ’s constraining love, the more faith we shall have. This faith is not produced by our own ability or activity. Rather, it is produced by the working in us of the very Christ whom we appreciate. In our appreciation for the Lord Jesus, we shall say, “Lord Jesus, I love You and I treasure You.” As we speak such words to the Lord, He operates within us and becomes our faith. This faith brings about an organic union in which we and Christ are truly one.

I would like to tell you a true story which confirms the point that the faith which operates in us comes from our appreciation of the Lord Jesus. During the Boxer Rebellion in China, hundreds of Christians were martyred. One day in Peking, the old capital of China, the Boxers were parading down the street. Sitting in the back of a wagon was a young Christian woman who was being led away to be executed. She was surrounded by executioners with swords in their hands. The atmosphere was terrifying, filled with the shoutings of the Boxers. Nevertheless, her face was glowing as she was singing praises to the Lord. The stores were closed because of the rioting. However, a young man was observing this scene through a crack at the front of a store. Deeply impressed with the young woman’s glowing face, happiness, and songs of praise, he decided at that moment that he would find out the truth about the Christian faith. Later, he did learn the truth and became a believer in Christ. Eventually, he gave up his business and became a preacher. One day, when he was visiting my home town, he told me this story of how he had become a Christian.

The point here is that this young woman could be filled with praises in the midst of such a terrifying situation because faith was working within her. She was filled with appreciation of the Lord Jesus. Because she loved Him so much, He spontaneously became the faith within her. This faith produced an organic union in which she was joined to the Lord. This organic union is a basic and crucial aspect of God’s New Testament economy.

HWMR – MEETING GOD’S NEED AND PRESENT NEEDS IN THE LORD’S RECOVERY (Week 5)

Our Need to Walk in Newness of Life, to Serve in Newness of Spirit, and to Be Renewed in Our Inner Man Day by Day

2 Cor. 5:17 So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.

We have God doctrinally, but we may lack God as our life and nature in our daily life. We may be slow in our disposition, but many times God’s nature is to do things immediately, especially in the meetings. We may be quiet in our nature, but God wants us to be a new creation to utter something in the meetings against our natural habit. God desires that we all be His new creation, having Him as our nature. He also wants us to express Him. God is our portion, but can we say that He is our new habit? We all have to be brought out of our old habit into taking God as our new habit.

After we have been regenerated, we have God, but we do not have much of God. This is why Colossians 2:19 says that we need to grow with the growth of God, or increase with the increase of God. This means that we grow by the increase of God within us. If we have little increase of God, we grow little. If we have much increase of God, we grow much. When we have God in us to the fullest, we will have the full growth. God has to be increased within us. When God is increasing within us, His new element is being added into us. When the divine element comes into us, it renews us regardless of whether we are slow or quick in our natural disposition. As we are contacting God, God infuses Himself as the divine element into our being. This new element is added into our existing element. When this new element is added into us, something is worked out within us.

God desires to add Himself into our being, but He does not increase in us when we do not contact Him. We may go through a period of time in which we do not contact God or pray to Him. Instead, we are doing everything by ourselves and in ourselves. During this time, God is not added into our being, and we are not increasing with the increase of God. This is why we encourage all the saints to have morning watch. Our morning watch with the Lord is not just for us to exercise our mind to read the letter of the Bible, but it is for us to exercise our spirit. This is why we have to say “O Lord Jesus.” Our calling on the Lord is our spiritual breathing. We have to contact God by praying to Him and calling on Him. Then He adds Himself into us. When we contact Him, He is adding more and more of the divine element into our being. As the new element of God is being added into our being, this new element metabolically renews us. I may be a quick person naturally, but because God’s element comes into my being, this element renews my natural habit. I may be slow in my natural disposition, but God renews me with His element to discharge my old element. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day,” pp. 356-358)

Life-study of Galatians (Message 7)

Freedom in Christ Versus Slavery Under Law

Gal. 2:4 And this, because of the false brothers, brought in secretly, who stole in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into slavery.

What is this freedom in Christ? First, freedom in Christ implies liberation from obligation. Because we are free in Christ, we are no longer obligated to the law and its ordinances, practices, and regulations. Anyone who tries to keep the law makes himself a debtor to the ordinances, practices, and regulations of the law. Hence, if you try to keep the law, you will place yourself under slavery and you will serve the law as a slave. Freedom in Christ, however, liberates us from all such obligation.

Second, freedom in Christ includes satisfaction with a rich supply. If we are free outwardly but do not have anything to support us or satisfy us, this freedom is not genuine. Proper freedom is not only liberation from obligation; it is also full satisfaction because of an adequate supply and support.

Third, to be free in Christ is to enjoy rest. Those who still observe the Sabbath day do not have true rest because their efforts to keep the Sabbath place them under a heavy burden. But in Christ we have true rest.

Fourth, freedom in Christ implies the enjoyment of Christ. Because we are free in Him, we enjoy all that He is. Real freedom in Christ is the full enjoyment of the living Christ.

If we would have a proper definition of freedom in Christ, a definition that matches our experience, we need to see that such a freedom involves liberation from obligations, satisfaction through the Lord’s rich supply, genuine rest, and the enjoyment of Christ. Those who have this kind of freedom are not enslaved by anything. Although Satan may sometimes put us into a difficult situation, we can still be at rest. We need not be enslaved by any situation. Instead, we can enjoy the Lord. This means that we are free in the depths of our being. This is our freedom in Christ.

Once we have a proper understanding of freedom in Christ, it is easy to understand what slavery is. It is the opposite of freedom. Slavery under law obligates us to the law with its commandments, ordinances, practices, and regulations. However, no one can fulfill the requirements of the law. Most of the Ten Commandments control people outwardly. But the commandment related to coveting exercises an inward control. We may be able to keep the other commandments, but not this one. We simply cannot escape the greediness within us. For example, we may see someone with a new pen that is better than ours. Deep within, we desire to have a pen just like it. This is covetousness.

Because we all have human shortcomings, we cannot fulfill the requirements of the law. Throughout history, only one person—the Lord Jesus—has kept the law. The requirements of the law are too heavy for us to fulfill. If we try to keep the law, we come under the yoke of the law. In Acts 15:10 Peter said, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Slavery under law is this yoke.

If we consider this contrast between freedom in Christ and slavery under law, we shall be full of praise to the Lord. In Christ we have been liberated from all manner of obligation. In Him we also have satisfaction, rest, and enjoyment. This freedom in Christ is versus slavery under law. Many of us can testify that we have such liberation, satisfaction, rest, and enjoyment.

Life-study of Galatians (message 8)

The Truth of the Gospel

Gal. 2:5 To them we yielded with the subjection demanded not even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

The faith in Christ by which believers are justified is related to their appreciation of the Person of the Son of God. For example, in Hong Kong there are salesmen who are skillful in presenting jade and its values to people. The more they talk about jade, the more the listeners spontaneously appreciate jade. This appreciation can be compared to what we mean by faith. In our preaching of the gospel we must present Christ as the real jade. We need to present Christ as the most precious One to people. The more we describe Him and speak of His preciousness, the more something will be infused into the being of the listeners. This infusion will become their faith, and this faith will cause them to respond to our preaching. In this way they will appreciate the Person we present to them. This appreciation is their faith in Christ. Out of their appreciation for the Lord Jesus, they will want to possess Him. The Christ who has been preached to them will become in them the faith by which they believe. Faith is Christ preached into us to become our capacity to believe through our appreciation of Him.

This faith creates an organic union in which we and Christ are one. Therefore, the expression “by faith in Christ” actually denotes an organic union accomplished by believing in Christ. The term “in Christ” refers to this organic union. Before we believed in Christ, there was a great separation between us and Christ. We were we, and Christ was Christ. But through believing we were joined to Christ and became one with Him. Now we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. This is an organic union, a union in life.

This union is illustrated by the grafting of a branch of one tree into another tree. Through faith in Christ we are grafted into Christ. Through this process of spiritual grafting, two lives are grafted and become one.

Many Christians have a shallow understanding of justification by faith. How could Christ be our righteousness if we were not organically united to Him? It is by means of our organic union with Christ that God can reckon Christ as our righteousness. Because we and Christ are one, whatever belongs to Him is ours. This is the basis upon which God counts Christ as our righteousness.

Many Christians have a mere doctrinal understanding of justification by faith. According to their concept, Christ is the just One, the righteous One on the throne in the presence of God. When we believe in Christ, God reckons Christ to be our righteousness. This understanding of justification is very shallow. As we have pointed out, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, we need to believe in the Lord Jesus out of an appreciation of His preciousness. As Christ’s preciousness is infused into us through the preaching of the gospel, we spontaneously appreciate the Lord and call on Him. This is genuine believing. Through such a believing we and Christ become one. Therefore, God must reckon Him as our righteousness.

When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we had this kind of experience, although we did not have the terminology to explain it. When we heard the gospel, we began to sense the Lord’s preciousness. This gave rise to the living faith that joined us to Christ organically. From that time onward, Christ and we became one in life and in reality. Therefore, justification by faith is not merely a matter of position. It is also an organic matter, a matter in life. The organic union with Christ is accomplished spontaneously through the living faith produced by our appreciation of Him. This is to be justified by faith in Christ.