IV. IN RENEWING THE BELIEVERS
A. Infusing the Inward Parts
of the Believers with God’s Attributes,
Which Are Forever New, Can Never Become
Old, and Are Everlasting and Unfading
The union of the Spirit of God and the spirit of man is also seen in the renewing of the believers (Titus 3:5b; Rom. 12:2a). The Spirit of God renews the believers by infusing the inward parts of the believers with God’s attributes, which are forever new, can never become old, and are everlasting and unfading. God has many attributes, such as love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Besides these, God’s attributes also include His being forever new, never becoming old, and being everlasting and unfading. We all know that in the old creation, anything, even if it is not used, will become old and decrepit after a period of time. Hence, we who are in the old creation need to be renewed by allowing God to infuse into us His attributes, which are forever new, can never become old, and are everlasting and unfading, in order to transform our old creation into the new creation. All the experienced ones know that in our fellowship with God, there is always an infusion taking place within us; that is, the attributes of God are being infused into our nature, which belongs to the old creation, to renew it.
B. That by Passing through the Death of
Christ on the Cross, the Discipline of the Spirit of God in the Environment, and the Metabolic Dispensing of the Spirit as Life, the Believers May Be Renewed Day by Day to Live Out
the Newness of Life of the New Creation
The Spirit of God renews the believers by causing them to pass through the death of Christ on the cross, the discipline of the Spirit of God in the environment, and the metabolic dispensing of the Spirit as life, that they may be renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16) by putting off the oldness of the old creation and living out the newness of life of the new creation (Rom. 6:4). We live out the newness of life by being renewed. The Spirit of God infuses into us the divine attributes, which are forever new, never become old, and are everlasting and unfading, that we may pass through the death of Christ on the cross and the discipline of the Spirit of God in the environment, plus the metabolic dispensing of the Spirit as life, to be renewed day by day by putting off the oldness of the old creation and living out the newness of life of the new creation.
V. IN TRANSFORMING THE BELIEVERS
A. Transforming the Believers Metabolically
with the Life Element of the Firstborn Son
of God, Who Passed through Death
and Entered into Resurrection
The union of the Spirit of God and the spirit of man is also seen in the transforming of the believers. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we, the believers, will be transformed gradually into the same image as the Lord from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit. Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind." To be renewed is to have a new essence added into us to cause a metabolic transformation. Transformation is the intrinsic and metabolic process of the working of God, which on the one hand is gradually eliminating our old and natural element, and on the other hand is spreading the life and nature of God throughout our entire being to be the new element of our entire being.
The Spirit of God transforms the believers metabolically with the life element of the firstborn Son of God, the first God-man, who passed through death and entered into resurrection, until they are transformed into His image from one degree of glory to another higher degree of glory and are raptured and transfigured to enter into His glory (Phil. 3:21). Here we do not say "Christ" but "the firstborn Son of God," because we are being conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29). The firstborn Son of God is the prototype, and we, the many sons, are His mass reproduction.
(The Issue of the Union of the Consummated Spirit of the Triune God and the Regenerated Spirit of the Believers, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
