V. THE DISPENSING OF THE TRIUNE GOD
The final thing we need to stress in this message is the dispensing of the Triune God. We need to say repeatedly that in Romans 8 there is the dispensing of the Triune God. In verses 8 through 10 four titles are interchangeably used: God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ. God is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. Without God being the Spirit, God cannot reach us. In order for electricity to reach a building, it has to become a current. The current of electricity is the reaching of electricity. In like manner, the Spirit of God is God’s reaching us.
Also, for God to reach us and for the Spirit of God to reach us, He has to be the Spirit of Christ. This is because with Christ there are two main things: humanity and redemption. The Spirit of God has to be the Spirit of Christ because there is the need of humanity and redemption. His incarnation gave Him humanity, and His crucifixion accomplished redemption. Through humanity and redemption the Spirit became the reaching Spirit. The Spirit of God is now the Spirit of Christ with humanity and redemption for reaching us.
We should not read all these verses and take them for granted. We must say, "Lord, open our eyes. We must see something." Romans 8 shows us the dispensing of the Triune God as the divine life into the three parts of man. Eventually verse 11 says that the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead gives life to our mortal body through the indwelling Spirit. This verse gives us a full picture of the Triune God dispensing life into our being from the center to the circumference. This dispensing comes from these four titles: God, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ.
Romans 8:9-11 gives us a full picture of the dispensing of the Triune God for the purpose of imparting Himself into us as the divine life. First, He dispenses Himself into our spirit; then He spreads to our mind; and finally, He reaches our mortal body. Then our whole being is saturated with the divine life. Actually, this divine life is the dispensing Triune God Himself. We must be very clear about what life is. In the previous lesson we saw the dispensing function of the Triune God issuing in the sense of life. In this lesson we have seen the divine life dispensed into the three parts of man.
(Basic Lessons on Life, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee)
