V. THE LORD (JESUS CHRIST) BEING THE SPIRIT
The Lord (Jesus Christ) is the Spirit. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, "The Lord is the Spirit." The Lord in this verse, according to the context of this section, must refer to Christ the Lord (2:12, 14-15, 17; 3:3-4, 14, 16; 4:5). Jesus Christ today is the Spirit. The Spirit is Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God.
VI. THE LORD SPIRIT
The Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18) is a compound title like the Father God and the Lord Christ. This means that the Spirit is the Lord.
VII. THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
The Spirit of Christ, mentioned in Romans 8:9b, is related mainly to the Lord’s resurrection.
VIII. THE SPIRIT OF JESUS
Acts 16:7b speaks of the Spirit of Jesus. This is the only verse that uses this specific term for the Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God and is related mainly to the Lord’s humanity and human living.
IX. THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
The Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19b) refers to Christ both in His humanity and human living and in His resurrection.
X. THE SPIRIT OF REALITY
Such a Spirit is the Spirit of reality (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 5:6). In the whole universe, only One is real—the Triune God. Only the Triune God is the reality. Today the Spirit is the reality because the Spirit is the real essence of the Triune God. More than forty years ago, I read a book by Brother Watchman Nee which said that the Spirit is the reality of the resurrection. Resurrection needs some reality and that reality is the Spirit. If you are not in the Spirit, you are not in resurrection.
The Spirit is also the reality of Christ’s all-inclusive death. We must be crossed out. Our flesh, our natural humanity, should be put to death, and death ushers in resurrection. Without death, there is no resurrection. This is why the Christian life must be a life of the Spirit through the cross and into the resurrection of Christ.
(The Christian Life, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
