IV. IN OUR CHRISTIAN WALK
In our Christian walk, we need to walk according to our spirit (Rom. 8:4b). When you ask me a question, I should not answer you from my soul. I should answer you from my spirit. Then I become a spiritual man. Our Christian walk is a spiritual walk. Our soul should be under our spirit’s direction with our body under our soul’s usage. Then we are spiritual men who walk, live, and have our being according to our spirit.
V. IN OUR SERVICE TO THE LORD
Paul tells us that he served God in his spirit (Rom. 1:9). Then he charged us to be burning in our spirit that we may have the top service rendered to God (Rom. 12:11). Without the exercise of our spirit, we cannot live the Christian life and we cannot serve God.
VI. EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF MAN,
NO MAN KNOWS THE THINGS OF MAN
First Corinthians 2 tells us that the spirit of man knows the things of man (v. 11a) and that the spiritual man discerns all things (v. 15a). Without our spirit, we cannot know who we are. The unbelievers do not know who they are, where they came from, or where they are going. In order to know the things of man, man needs his spirit. Confucius taught that if man is to live the highest life, he must take care of his conscience. If you take care of your conscience, you can realize it is related to Someone in the heavens. Our conscience is a part of our spirit, and our spirit is related to God. Without our spirit we cannot understand the things of man. If we use our spirit to understand the things of man, this will guide us to God. This will lead us to contact God. Our human spirit is the spiritual organ for us to know the things concerning man and eventually to know the things concerning God.
VII. THE APOSTLES LIVED IN THEIR SPIRIT
We can also see the importance of our human spirit in the living of the early apostles. They all lived in their spirit.
A. Paul
The apostle Paul was a person who lived in his spirit (Acts 17:16; 19:21; 20:22; Rom. 1:9).
B. John
John said four times in Revelation that he was in his spirit. He was in his spirit when he saw the vision of the churches (1:10). He was in his spirit when he saw the vision of the destiny of the world (4:2). He was in his spirit when he saw the vision of the great harlot, Babylon the Great, which is degraded Christianity (17:3). Then he told us he was in his spirit to see the New Jerusalem (21:10). To see these four great things, John needed to be in his spirit. We need to be in our spirit to see all the heavenly visions.
C. Apollos
Acts 18:25 says that Apollos was fervent in spirit. He was burning in teaching the Bible. This shows us that all the apostles lived in their spirit. We have to follow their example by living in our spirit — behaving, acting, and walking in our spirit — doing things, thinking things, and speaking things altogether in our spirit. Then eventually, as 1 Corinthians shows, we become a spiritual man (2:15a). Then we can have a proper church life and have the proper and profitable church meetings.
(The Spirit with Our Spirit, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
