Living Stream Ministry

THE SOULISH LIFE

The soulish life denotes not only the soulish being, but also the power and strength by which we do things. If we do things in the church and in the Lord’s work according to our being and according to our strength, that is a display of the soulish life. It must be dealt with. The soulish strength must be dealt with because the more we depend upon it, the more we live in the kingdom of Satan. Not only must the self hidden within the soul be dealt with, but also the soulish life, the soulish strength, and the soulish being must be dealt with. Whatever we are and whatever we can do must be crossed out. This must be put on the cross and kept there all the time.

Because we are believers in Christ, we all have the kingdom of God in our spirit, but we also have the kingdom of Satan in our soul. Whatever we have, whatever we are, whatever we can do, and whatever we keep in our soul must be completely dealt with by the cross. It is good to take no thought, but that is only a part. We must realize that whatever we are, whatever we have, and whatever we can do in our soul must be dealt with because the satanic kingdom is in our soul. The more our soul is crossed out, the more opportunities will be afforded to the indwelling Christ to spread Himself from our spirit into our soul. In this way our soul will be purified and saturated by the Lord Himself. Then the kingdom of God will increase, spread, and come again within us. This is the way to have the riches of Christ. This is the way to have power and impact and the blessing of the Lord. This is the central and strategic point of our Christian life related to the kingdom of God. Therefore, we all must concentrate our seeking and our attention to this one thing: to bear the cross and always afford the Lord the opportunities to spread Himself from our spirit into our soul. Then we will have the practicality of the kingdom life.

(The Kingdom, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee)