Romans 8 is the center of the Bible, and this chapter has so many wonderful and mysterious verses, packed with meaning and implications! Rom. 8:4-6 says,
That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
Walking according to the spirit
From verse 4 we can see that we are those who are walking according to the spirit. In us there are two substances or two ways of walking: the flesh and the spirit; we need to daily choose whether we walk by the spirit or by the flesh.
We may not know what is the spirit, but we can recognize the flesh and its works – whenever reject the flesh, we will walk according to the spirit. If we insist on anything for our own sake, interest, or profit, even if the thing itself is not sinful or immoral, we are walking according to the flesh.
Saints, there is no neutral ground – there’s no third choice, we cannot be passive about this – we either walk according to the flesh or according to the spirit (see John 3:6; Gal. 5:17, 6:8; 1 Pet. 3:18).
Living with the brothers is very good, and some of them may like the window open at night – there’s nothing wrong or sinful with that. But if we insist on our own opinion and preference, we are walking according to the flesh. As long as we are NOT walking according to the flesh though, we must be walking according to the spirit!
Being according to the spirit
In verse 5 we see that we “are according to the spirit” – being according to the flesh or the spirit implies MORE than walking according to the flesh or the spirit! For us to live and be according to the spirit and not according to the flesh is for us to realize that in us there’s a greater law than the law of sin and of death – the law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2).
Whenever we “switch on” this law – by turning to our spirit and fellowshipping with the Lord – we automatically and spontaneously live in the spirit and by the spirit!
I love the example of the law of aerodynamics overcoming the law of gravity – by ourselves we cannot do it, but if we get into a plane, the strongest law on earth (the law of gravity) is overcome spontaneously.
The law of aerodynamics automatically overcomes the law of gravity – just as the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit has the power to automatically overcome the law of sin and of death in our flesh! If we choose to be according to the spirit, we will be freed from the law of sin and of death! We don’t need to DO anything to be freed – we need to give our consent to the law of the Spirit of life to operate!
Switching on the law of the Spirit of life
How do we activate the law of the Spirit of life in our being? What are the conditions that need to be created and maintained so that the law of the Spirit of life would automatically be switched on and operate?
From the moment we wake up in the morning, we need to exercise our spirit by calling on the Lord’s name and worship Him, praise Him, and exalt Him! This organic practice of opening to the Lord will gird our spirit and strengthen it to guard our whole being from any dark thought, excessive emotion, or desire of the flesh!
We need to build up a habit of exercising our spirit so that the law of the Spirit of life in our mingled spirit would operate automatically and spontaneously! It takes practice: daily, starting from the morning, we contact the Lord by exercising our spirit. Then – all throughout the day – we keep calling on His name, having little turns to Him here and there, until it becomes normal to us to be in our spirit! We need to have our whole daily life with our daily living in our spirit, and this is by practicing to exercise our spirit all the time! Then, when we come to the meeting, it will be normal for us to continue to exercise and release our spirit!
[sharing inspired from, The All-inclusive Indwelling Spirit, ch. 4, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Focus of the Lord’s Recovery, week 2. ]
Thank You Lord for coming into us and being installed in us as the law of the Spirit of life. O, Lord, keep us turning to You by exercising our spirit throughout the day. We want to build up a habit of exercising our spirit! We cannot overcome the flesh, but we can turn! Cause us to see the importance of “switching on the law of the Spirit of life”! O, Lord Jesus, switching on the power that overcomes the law of sin and of death!
Wow what an encouragment and practical help!
"Alle we need to do is our consent to the law of the Spirit of life to operate!
I am touched the importance of “switching on the law of the
Spirit of life” in the morning… From the moment we wake up in the morning, we need to exercise our spirit by calling
on the Lord’s name and worship Him, praise Him, and exalt Him! This
organic practice of opening to the Lord will gird our spirit and
strengthen it to guard our whole being from any dark thought, excessive
emotion, or desire of the flesh!
I feel very encourage to build up a habit of exercising my spirit so that the law of the Spirit of life in our mingled spirit would operate automatically and spontaneously." 🙂
"Thank You Lord for coming into us and being installed in us as the law of the Spirit of life!… Lord cause us to see the importance of “switching on the law of the Spirit of life”! O, Lord Jesus, switching on the power that overcomes the law of sin and of death!" Hallelujah!
Lord! Now we open ourselves to you that the low of Spirit of life switch on in us to participate in spirit on everything that you accomplished and attained.
I am so glad that it does NOT depend on our power, our ability, or our capacity to defeat sin and death – it's a matter of activating the law of the Spirit of life, which automatically subdues and defeats the law of sin and of death! If you get into an airplane – no matter how strong the law of gravity is – you will soar above the earth because you are under ANOTHER LAW, the law of aerodynamics! Whenever we exercise our spirit, we activate a higher law, the law of the Spirit of life, and the law of sin and of death is automatically defeated!
Concerning "switching on" – this switch is not like a light switch that needs to be turned on and it will stay on forever; it is like the switch on the power tools which needs to be pressed continually so that the power tool would be activated! We can't just "press the button" to activate the switch early in the morning in our time with the Lord or in the meetings of the church, and then expect that we don't need to do it anymore for a long time! No, we need to continually SWITCH ON, so that it will become automatic and spontaneous for us to be IN OUR SPIRIT!
Hallelujah, Switching On!
Wow what an encouragement and a practical help!
“All we need to do is give our consent to the law of the Spirit of life to operate!”
I was touched with the importance of “switching on the law of the Spirit of life” in the morning… From the moment we wake up in the morning, we need to exercise our spirit by calling on the Lord’s name and worship Him, praise Him, and exalt Him! This organic practice of opening to the Lord will gird our spirit and strengthen it to guard our whole being from any dark thought, excessive emotion, or desire of the flesh!
I feel very encouraged to build up a habit of exercising my spirit so that the law of the Spirit of life in our mingled spirit would operate automatically and spontaneously.” 🙂
I am so glad that it does NOT depend on our power, our ability, or our capacity to defeat sin and death – it’s a matter of activating the law of the Spirit of life, which automatically subdues and defeats the law of sin and of death! If you get into an airplane – no matter how strong the law of gravity is – you will soar above the earth because you are under ANOTHER LAW, the law of aerodynamics! Whenever we exercise our spirit, we activate a higher law, the law of the Spirit of life, and the law of sin and of death is automatically defeated!
Concerning “switching on” – this switch is not like a light switch that needs to be turned on and it will stay on forever; it is like the switch on the power tools which needs to be pressed continually so that the power tool would be activated! We can’t just “press the button” to activate the switch early in the morning in our time with the Lord or in the meetings of the church, and then expect that we don’t need to do it anymore for a long time! No, we need to continually SWITCH ON, so that it will become automatic and spontaneous for us to be IN OUR SPIRIT!
Hallelujah, Switching On!