THE TWO SPIRITS IN EPHESIANS 2
“For through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18). Even this short verse has the Trinity. “Through Him” means through the Son; but until we add “in one Spirit,” our access is somewhat theoretical. When we are in the Spirit, we are in the presence of the Father to enjoy all the riches.
Verses 21 and 22 go on to tell us that in Christ “all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in Whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” How big is our spirit? It must be big enough to contain God’s habitation! When we build a meeting hall, we need to have a good-sized lot. The lot where God’s habitation is, our spirit, is universally spacious. All of us together are one lot, for God has only one habitation; we are not separate small lots.
THE TWO SPIRITS IN EPHESIANS 3
The mystery “has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit” (3:5). The revelation came to them not in their mentality but in their spirit.
Paul prays that the Father “would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man” (3:16). When we listen to a message, it has the effect of strengthening our whole being into the inner man. The inner man is the regenerated spirit, where the Spirit of God dwells. During the day we may find it easy to gossip or feel discouraged, but after a meeting we have no use for gossip and the discouragement is gone. This is because our being has been brought into the inner man, where the good land, with the riches of Christ, is.
The result of our being thus strengthened is that Christ makes His home in our hearts through faith (3:17). When the Spirit works and our spirit, the inner man, responds, Christ settles down in our heart, becoming our enjoyment. By enjoying this settled Christ as the riches of the good land, we are “filled unto all the fullness of God” (3:19).
THE TWO SPIRITS IN EPHESIANS 4
Ephesians 4 also refers to both the Holy Spirit and the human spirit.
In verse 4, where it says, “One Body and one Spirit,” the reference is to the Holy Spirit. One Body implies one habitation; one Spirit means the one Spirit in all our spirits.
Verse 23, “And are renewed in the spirit of your mind,” indicates that our mind is now occupied and saturated by the Spirit. The nations walk “in the vanity of their mind” (v. 17), preoccupied with worldly entertainment. Our mind, in contrast, is being renewed from the old creation to the new, so that our mind is a mind of the spirit.
In Ephesians 4:30 we are exhorted not to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in Whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.” This sealing Spirit, who is the good land to you, will not leave you, but do not grieve Him.
THE FILLED SPIRIT IN EPHESIANS 5
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled in spirit” (Eph. 5:18). To be drunk is to have our body filled with wine. Rather than this, we are to have our spirit filled with God, with the riches of Christ. Our spirit must be filled!
(Life Messages, Vol. 2 (#42-75), Chapter 16, by Witness Lee)
