CHRIST—THE EMPHASIS BEING THAT CHRIST IS THE BELIEVERS’ LIFE AND IS UNITED AND MINGLED WITH THE BELIEVERS
The second crucial element of the Bible is Christ. Generally, the initial knowledge of Christians concerning Christ is that He is the Savior (Luke 2:11), the One who is full of love and compassion to save them from hell. After a little reading of the Bible, they may know Him further as the Redeemer (Matt. 20:28), who died and shed His blood on the cross as a ransom for many to satisfy God’s righteous requirements (1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5b). However, it is not enough to know Christ only to this extent. In addition to knowing Christ as the Savior and Redeemer, we must know Him to a deeper degree, that is, that He is our life and He is also in us to be united and mingled with us. In John 15:5 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit.” It is a mystery that we abide in the Lord and He abides in us. It is difficult for human language to describe this mysterious union. Just as we abide in the air, and the air also abides in us, today because the Lord is the Spirit, we can abide in the Lord and the Lord can also abide in us. What a miracle! What a mystery! The Lord abides in us and is united and mingled with us! Stanza 1 of Hymns, #233 says, “O what a miracle, my Lord,/That I’m in Thee and Thou in me,/That Thou and I are really one;/O what a wondrous mystery!”
The Bible clearly reveals that the Triune God not only coexists but also coinheres; the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son (John 14:10-11). Likewise, we also coinhere with the Lord; we abide in the Lord, and the Lord abides in us (v. 20; 17:21). This is the mingling of the Lord with us. This is a matter not only of the divine life but also in the divine life. Our being united and mingled with the Lord can transpire only in our spirit. Hence, this mingling results in our being joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). We need to know Christ to such an extent. Eventually, He becomes us and we become Him—He and we are one. He is the Head of the Body, and we are the members of the Body (1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 1:22-23). After His resurrection Christ ascended to the heavens and sat down on the right hand of God (Heb. 1:3; 10:12). Moreover, today He is also the Spirit dwelling in us. He is our life (Col. 3:4a) and our person and is always united and mingled with us. He is also working in us to transform us until He becomes us and we become Him (2 Cor. 3:18). This is the Christ revealed in the holy Word.
THE SPIRIT—THE EMPHASIS BEING THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD HAS BEEN COMPOUNDED WITH CHRIST’S DIVINITY, HUMANITY, CRUCIFIXION, AND RESURRECTION TO BE THE COMPOUND, LIFE-GIVING, INDWELLING, SANCTIFYING, TRANSFORMING, AND SEVENFOLD INTENSIFIED SPIRIT
The Spirit as the Consummated Triune God
The third crucial element revealed in the Bible is the Spirit. Traditional Christianity holds an inaccurate concept concerning the Holy Spirit, considering the Holy Spirit merely to be a power or an inspiring force. It was not until the nineteenth century when the Brethren were raised up in England that some went further to see that the Holy Spirit is not merely a power but God Himself. In the Lord’s recovery, after many years of studying the Bible, we have seen clearly that the Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God after passing through various processes. Therefore, in the Spirit there are the elements of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
(Four Crucial Elements of the Bible, The—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
