II. SETTING THE MIND ON THE SPIRIT—
THE KEY TO DEATH OR LIFE
[Romans 8 speaks of the spirit. It is difficult to find another place in the Bible which speaks of our condition in the spirit as clearly as this one. Therefore, if we want to know the spirit, it is imperative that we pay attention to this passage.]
Romans 8:6 says, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." [To set our mind—that is, to set our self—upon the flesh is death. To set our mind, or our self, upon the spirit is life and peace. Here is the key to death or life. The mind is quite neutral: it is on the fence. It may turn toward the flesh, or it may turn toward the spirit. Again, the story of the garden of Eden must be repeated. The free will can make either of two choices. To choose the tree of knowledge means death, but to choose the tree of life means life. We are between these two; we are neutral to life and death. The issue depends on our choice, our attitude. Personified Sin, representing Satan, is in the flesh; the Triune God is in the spirit after we are saved; and the self is in the mind. The secret of life or death is dependent upon our cooperating with the spirit or with the flesh. When we cooperate with the flesh, we have death; when we cooperate with the spirit, we are partakers of God, who is life.]
A. The Sense of Life
[Originally our spirit was merely the spirit of man, and it was dead. Now, when the Spirit of God enters, He not only quickens our spirit, but also adds the life of God into our spirit. Now not only is our spirit alive, but it also has the life of God; and it is not only a spirit; it is the spirit of life. All the consciousness of life in this spirit enables us to know this spirit. When we walk by setting our mind on this spirit, and when our actions and deeds are according to this spirit, the life in this spirit will cause us to have the consciousness of this life. Since this life is of God, fresh and lively, strong with power, bright and holy, real and not empty, the sense of this life surely will make us sense the presence of God; thus we will feel fresh and lively, strong with power, bright and holy, real and not empty. When we have such feelings, we know we are minding the spirit, walking according to the spirit, and living in the spirit. Such feelings are the sense of life in our spirit, or the consciousness of our spirit of life, leading us from within to walk according to the spirit and live by the spirit. When we touch such feelings, we touch the spirit. When we heed such feelings, we heed the spirit. The spirit itself is relatively difficult for us to sense, but we can easily sense such feelings of life in the spirit. If we follow such feelings closely, we can then know the spirit and live in the spirit.
The life of God in our spirit can be said to be God Himself; therefore, the sense of this life surely will make us sense God Himself. If we live in the spirit and walk by minding the spirit, the sense of this life will cause us to feel that we are in touch with God, and that God is in us as our life, our power, and our all; thus we will be happy, restful, comfortable, and satisfied. When we thus touch God in the inner sense of life, we touch life; thereby we know we are living in the spirit and setting our mind upon the spirit.]
B. The Sense of Peace
[To set the mind on the spirit is not only life but peace. The peace mentioned in Romans 8:6 is not the peace in our outward circumstances, but the peace within us.]
[This sense of peace and the sense of life go hand in hand. The sense of life is fresh and lively; the sense of peace is natural and at ease. The sense of life is satisfaction and fullness of vigor; the sense of peace is rest and comfort. If we mind the spirit and walk and live by the spirit, we will not only have the sense of life, feeling fresh, lively, satisfied and vigorous, but also have the sense of peace, feeling natural, restful, comfortable, and at ease. Such a sense is also the sense of the spirit. Once we have such a sense, we may know that we are living in the spirit. When we follow such a sense, we follow the sense of the spirit, which means that we follow the spirit. Such a sense enables us to know the spirit and recognize the spirit. The more we walk according to the spirit and live in the spirit, the richer and deeper this kind of sense within us becomes.]
(Lesson Book, Level 3: Two Spirits—Two Spirits - the Divine Spirit and the Human Spirit, Chapter 16, by Witness Lee)
