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.

 

ROMANS 8 IS ON THE LAW

In Romans 8 verse 2 is the phrase, “the law of the Spirit of life.” Three things are used to compose this phrase: law and Spirit and life. Which of the three is most important?

If you answer that life is the most important one, why didn‘t Paul say the life of the Spirit of the law? For example if I use a phrase, “the gold of the mountains of California,” am I talking about California or the mountains or the gold? Surely I am talking about the gold. If I am talking about California, I should say California of the mountains of gold. Because the phrase uses the word gold first, it indicates strongly that I’m talking about gold. In like manner, for Romans 8 to speak of the law of the Spirit of life indicates that this chapter is on the law. This chapter speaks about the law. You may not see this because you are distracted by other things. You have some concept concerning life, and you also have some idea concerning the Spirit, so it is easy for you to pick up these matters. But you don’t have any concept, any idea, concerning the law. Not many Christian readers of Romans 8 would pick up the word law. Most of them have already picked up the Spirit. Fewer have picked up life.

Modern drugs such as antibiotics are a good illustration of the law of the Spirit of life. The pharmaceutical companies make the modem drugs in a scientific way. When you take a certain drug into you, it works in you scientifically. You have an illness because a certain kind of germ is in you, also working by a certain kind of law. Then you take an antibiotic with an element in it that works anti the law of the germ in you. The law of the Spirit of life is just God in His Trinity processed, installed, and now indwelling us. This dear One is the scientific drug with a lot of scientific elements which are anti the negative elements within us. These negative elements include the old nature, the flesh, sin, and Satan. After we were saved—forgiven by God of our sins and washed by His blood—we began to try our best to please God. Then we found out that there were a lot of negative things within us. Then we wanted to overcome. We were taught many ways to overcome, but eventually none of the ways worked. The way of deliverance, of rescue, is the law in you. The law of the Spirit of life with all the elements working scientifically is the way of deliverance.

WORKING BY LAW, NOT BY ACTIVITY

Before God became incarnated, He could not come into us. He was nothing less than God—He was the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He was the Triune God. Even in Genesis 1 the pronoun used for God is not only in singular number, but also in plural number—our image. This indi¬cates that the very God who created the universe was triune. Even before the creation began there was a kind of counsel or consideration between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. “Let us make man.” God said this to Himself. But at that point He had no way to come into man. Furthermore, He could work only by activities; He could not work by law.

To work by activity is one thing and to work by law is another thing. Today so many automatic things work by law. For example a water sprinkler works not by activity, but by law. Many lamps also work not by activity, but by law. Certain lamps automatically come on when it becomes dark. This is a working by law, not by activity.

Our stomach digests food, not by activity but by law. There is no need for us to ask our stomach to digest food and to tell it to stop when it is finished. No, digestion in the stomach works by law. Why does it work by law? Because life is there. Why do the sprinklers and the lamps work by law? Because the power is there through a governing principle which has been set up.

Before God was incarnated, He did a lot of things among men by activity. When God came to Abraham, that was an activity. When God was sitting there with Abra-ham and eating with him, that was an activity (Gen. 18). But today God is no longer working in the way of activity because He has installed Himself into us as the life and as the power. When I pray, I sometimes like to pray that the Lord would come to visit us and grant us a gracious visitation. Although this is a very good prayer it is altogether according to the Old Testament. Many times after praying in this way, I was rebuked by the Lord. It seemed He said to me, “I’m here. Don’t you know I’m here? I have been installed into you.” Once electricity has been installed into a building, there is no need to consider and hope that the electricity will come again tomorrow to visit. No, it is permanently installed into the building. Once installed, it continues to operate according to law. In his Epistles, Paul tells us clearly that since the time we believed in the Lord Jesus and received Him, He has come into us. Using a modern term, He has been installed into us. Even He has been born into us. From the time of that birth, the Triune God no longer works on us, in us, and with us merely by activity. He also works by law.

A LAW WITHIN US—AN AUTOMATIC PRINCIPLE

Romans 8 uses this term, the law of the Spirit of life, to describe how the Triune God after having been processed and having been installed into us has become a law in us. He becomes something automatic. He becomes not only something organic, but also something automatic. What¬ever this processed and installed and indwelling God does in us, with us, and on us is the function of the law. Our God is no more an objective worker, working by activities outside of us and beyond us. Our God today has become a subjective law working all the time within us not by activities but by law. This working is altogether scientific. The law always works in a scientific way. If you work by duty, that is not scientific; if you work by law, that is scientific. How wonderful that our God today has become a law within us—an automatic principle! (Perfecting Training, pp. 361-362, 372-374)

WE SHOULD SIMPLY “SWITCH ON”

Our God today is not only the mighty One, the Re¬deemer, and the Savior. He is even more than just our life and our life supply — He is a law working within us. Now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. How wonderful that such a law is working within us! Therefore, instead of crying to the Lord about certain things, we should simply “switch on” and be at rest.

Let us again use electricity and electrical appliances as an illustration. Suppose it is very hot when you go to bed at night, and you need the air conditioner to cool the room. You do not pray for cool air. You simply switch on the air conditioner and go to sleep, enjoying the cool air supplied by the air conditioner. In like manner, we may enjoy the wonderful law of the Spirit of life, the very law who is the Triune God who has been processed and dispensed into us and who now dwells in us. As such a law, He is seeking the opportunity to work for us. The problem is that we are not knowledgeable concerning this law. We do not know that we have this law within us, and we do not know how to cooperate and coordinate with it. As we shall see, the way to cooperate with this law is to walk in the spirit and simply be in spirit.

WE SHOULD SIMPLY REMAIN IN THE SPIRIT

In a message to come we shall point out that since we are already in the spirit, there is no need for us to get into the spirit. Rather, we should simply remain in the spirit. Thus, instead of turning to the spirit, we should stay in the spirit. Many times we have sung, “Turn to your spirit.” It is better to change the words of this hymn and sing, “Stay in your spirit.” Hallelujah, we have the processed Triune God as a law within us, and we have a regenerated spirit! As long as we stay in the spirit, this law works in us automatically.

To be in the spirit is to have the divine electricity turned on. By staying in the spirit we keep the switch on; we never turn it off. This is the way to cooperate with the processed Triune God who is the law operating in us. As the life-giving Spirit, He has been dispensed into us and He dwells in us. By His indwelling, He has made our spirit life, He is causing our soul to become life, and He is imparting life to our mortal bodies. We are now enjoying life in a threefold way by the working of this wonderful law, the law of the Spirit of life. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 700-701)