Rom. 7:22-23 For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man,But I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.

 

The three lives spoken of here are the three lives that are within every saved one—man’s life, Satan’s life, and God’s life.

The Origin of the Three Lives

The three lives within us who are saved are obtained through creation, the fall, and salvation, respectively. Coming forth from the creating hands of God, we obtained the created human life. Passing through Adam, we became fallen and obtained the fallen life of Satan. Getting into Christ, we are saved and obtain the uncreated life of God.

The Location of the Three Lives

According to scriptural revelations, the three different lives of man, Satan, and God entered respectively into our soul, body, and human spirit—the three parts of our being. When God formed man of the dust of the ground, He breathed into him the breath of life, and “man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). This means that the human life obtained through creation is in man’s soul. When man was enticed by Satan and fell, he ingested into his body the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which signifies Satan. Therefore, the life of Satan obtained by man through the fall is in the human body. When man receives the Lord Jesus as Savior and is saved, the Spirit of God, bringing with Him the life of God, enters into the human spirit. Hence, the life of God obtained by man through salvation is in the human spirit. Thus, a person who is saved has the life of God in his spirit, the human life in his soul, and the life of Satan in his body.

The Nature and Condition of the Three Lives

Since each of the three different lives which we obtained within us has its own origin and dwells separately in one of the three different parts of our being, then the nature of these three lives and their respective conditions within us must also be different and rather complicated. Immediately after man was created in the hands of God, in God’s eyes he was “very good” (Gen. 1:31) and “upright” (Eccl. 7:29). Therefore, the created life of man was originally good and upright; not only was it without sin, but also without the knowledge of sin and the consciousness of shame; it was innocent and simple.

After Adam sinned and fell, man not only offended God in behavior, which resulted in a sinful situation, but, worse still, he was poisoned by Satan in life, which caused his life to become defiled and corrupted.

This is the actual inner condition of the people of the world today. Due to the fact that man has the lives both of man and of Satan, one good in nature and the other evil, he has the desire on one hand to be good and upright, and on the other hand he has an inclination toward corruption and evil. Hence, throughout the generations, philosophers engaged in the studies of human nature have advocated two different thoughts: one, that man is good in nature, and the other, that the nature of man is evil. Actually, we have both these natures within us, because we have within us both the life of good and the life of evil.

But, thank the Lord, today we who are saved not only have the lives of man and the devil, but also the life of God. Just as Satan, through his corruption, injected his life into us and caused us to be united with him, gained by him, and possessed of all the evils of his nature; so also God, through His deliverance, puts His life into us and causes us to be united with Him, gained by Him, and possessed of all the divine goodness of His nature. Therefore, just as the crucial point of the fall was life, so also the crucial point of salvation is life. When we come to the Lord’s table, we break the bread of life first, and then we drink the cup of remission. This signifies that when we experience the Lord’s salvation, although first we receive the blood and then the life, yet in His salvation the main figure is the bread, which signifies life. The cup, which signifies the blood, is secondary. Hence, first we take the bread, and then the cup.

Each of the three lives within us who are saved has a law. Therefore, there are not only three lives within us, but also three laws which belong to the three lives. Besides these, there is the law of God outside of us. Therefore, within and without us, there are all together four laws. This is revealed to us in Romans 7 and 8.

The Definition of the Four Laws

First is “the law of God” (7:22, 25), that is, the law of the Old Testament, which tells forth all God’s requirements upon us. Second, “the law of the mind” (7:23), which is in our mind, causes us to desire to do good; therefore, it may also be called the law of good in our mind. Third, “the law of sin in the members” (7:23) causes us to sin. Because the function of this law in us which causes us to sin is manifested in the members of our body, it is called “the law of sin in the members.” Fourth, “the law of the Spirit of life” (8:2) causes us to live in the life of God. The Spirit from which this law is derived is the Spirit of life, a mingled spirit composed of the Spirit of God, the life of God, and our human spirit. Therefore, it is called “the law of the Spirit of life.” Furthermore, since this Spirit contains life, belongs to life, and is life, the law of this Spirit is called “the law of life.” Concerning the four laws, one is outside of us—the law of God; while the other three are inside of us—the law of good in the mind, the law of sin in the body, and the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit.

The Origin of the Four Laws

The law of good in the mind is derived from the good created life, which was obtained not at the time of our salvation but at the time of birth. It is a natural endowment in God’s creation, not a gift in God’s salvation. Before we were saved, there was frequently in our mind and thought a natural inclination or desire to do good, to honor our parents, to be benevolent to men, or to be remorseful, hoping to reform ourselves and determining to go upwards. These thoughts of doing good and going upwards are derived from the law of good in our mind. They also prove that, even before we were saved, this law of good was already within us.

The law of sin in the members is derived from the fallen and evil life of Satan. We have said before that due to Adam’s fall through sinning—eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil—Satan’s life entered into man. Within this life of Satan there is contained a law of evil, that is, the law of sin in the members. Since the life of Satan is evil, the law which is derived from his life naturally causes man to sin and do evil.

The law of the Spirit of life is derived from the Spirit of life which is in our spirit and from the uncreated divine life of God. When we received the Lord and were saved, the Spirit of God together with the life of God entered into our spirit and mingled with our spirit to become the Spirit of life. In this life of the Spirit of life, there is contained a law which is the law of the Spirit of life, or the law of life.

Therefore, concerning the origin of these four laws we can say that the law of God, derived from God, is of God; the law of good in the mind, derived from the life of man, is of man; the law of sin in the members, derived from Satan’s life, is of Satan; and the law of the Spirit of life, derived from the Spirit of life, is of the spirit.

The Location of the Four Laws

In order to have a precise knowledge of the four laws, we must be clear about their respective locations.

The law of God is written on tables of stone; hence, it is outside of us.

The law of good is in our mind, that is, in our soul. Since the life of doing good is in our soul, the law which is derived from this life is also, of course, in our soul. The function of this law is especially manifested in the mind of our soul; hence this law is called “of the mind.” Therefore, in our soul we have the life of man, the law of good which is derived from such a life, and the good human nature.

The law of sin is in our members, that is, in our body. During man’s fall, he took the fruit of the tree of knowledge into his body; hence, the evil life of Satan entered into our human body. Thus, the law of sin, derived from the life of Satan, is also in our body. Since this law is in our body and the body is composed of the members, this law is in our members. Thus, in our body we have Satan, the life of Satan, the law of sin which is derived from the life of Satan, and the evil nature of Satan. Due to the fact that Satan and his evil things entered into our body and mixed with it, it was transmuted and became the corrupted flesh.

The law of the Spirit of life is in our spirit. Since the Spirit of life together with the life of God dwells in our spirit, the law derived from the Spirit of life is also in our spirit. This law is derived from the Spirit of God and is in our spirit; therefore, not only is its origin Spirit, but its location is spirit. Hence it is entirely of the spirit; it is neither of the body nor of the soul. Thus, in our spirit we have God, the life of God, the law derived from the Spirit of God’s life, and His nature of life.

The Nature and Function of the Four Laws

What are the nature and functions of these four laws outside and inside of us? The law of God is composed of the statutes of God, and its nature is holy, righteous, and good. This law, being outside of us, enables us to know what God condemns and what He justifies; it requires us to reject what God condemns and do what God justifies in order to comply with God’s holy, righteous, and good statutes.

The law of good in our mind, derived from our created, human life of good, contains the good human nature and exactly fits the nature of the law of God outside of us. This law creates in us, that is, in our mind, the desire to do good. Especially when the law of God outside of us requires us to be good, this law of good in us gives us the inclination toward doing good.

The law of sin in our members, derived from the evil and fallen life of Satan in our flesh, contains the evil nature of Satan. The evil life of Satan is the “evil” that is present in our flesh and the “sin” that dwells within us (Rom. 7:21, 20). The law that comes out of this evil life causes us to sin, because it is a “law of sin.” This law displays from our flesh its natural power to do evil and wars against the law of good in our mind. When the law of good in our mind gives us the desire to do good, this law of sin rises to war against it and brings us into captivity (Rom. 7:23). Hence, not only are we unable to fulfill our desire to do good or to satisfy the good requirement of God’s law; on the contrary, we obey the law of sin in our members, committing all kinds of sins and obtaining death, just as described in Romans 7:21-24. Therefore, we sin not of our own choice nor of our own volition; rather it is the law of sin which motivates us from within.

But we must thank the Lord, for in us who are saved there are not only the two laws of good and of evil, of man and of Satan; there is also the law of the Spirit of God’s life. Since this law is derived from the Spirit of God’s life, it comes from the uncreated, divine life of God. As far as the nature of being both divine and eternal is concerned, of all the so-called lives in the universe, only the life of God is “life.” (This has been discussed in detail in chapter one, What Is Life?) Therefore, the nature of God’s life is “life.” Since the law of the Spirit of life is derived from the life of God, its nature is “life,” just as the nature of the life of God is “life.” It is not like the two previously mentioned laws which are either “good” or “evil” because of the life from which they are derived.

Therefore, the Bible shows us that there are four laws related to us, one outside of us and three inside us. The one outside us is the law of God. Of the three that are inside us, one is in our soul, one in our body, and one in our spirit. The law in our soul, derived from the created, good human life, is good and gives us the desire to do good; the law in our body, derived from the fallen, evil life of Satan, is evil and causes us to sin; the law in our spirit, derived from the uncreated, divine life of God, is divine and causes us to live out the divine life of God.