Activate the Law of Life: being Led by the Spirit, Cry to the Father and Groaning

For us to enjoy the operation of the law of the Spirit of life, we need to activate this law by walking according to the spirit, setting our mind on the spirit, putting to death the practices of the body, being led by the Spirit as sons of God, crying to the Father, and groaning in the interceding Spirit. Amen!

There is a spiritual law that operates in us spontaneously and automatically when we activate it, when we create the right conditions and the right environment.

For example, when our mind and will see the law of God, which is good and perfect, we agree with it, and we want to fulfill it.

But there is another law in our members, the law of sin and of death, which spontaneously rises up when we do this, and this law is stronger than the law of good in our mind.

No matter how much we try in our natural man to fulfill the law of God, no matter how hard we try to fulfill God’s law, we utterly and completely fail, for the law of sin and of death is stronger than us.

We need another law that spontaneously and automatically defeats and subdues the law of sin and of death; we need the law of the Spirit of life seen in Rom. 8:2.

The law of the Spirit of life frees us in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.

As long as we fulfill the requirements for this law to be activated, it works in us spontaneously and automatically. Romans 8 shows us at least seven ways for us to activate the law of the Spirit of life.

First, we need to walk according to the spirit and live in the spirit. For this, we need to pray unceasingly and remain in the fellowship of the divine life to walk in the divine light. Amen!

Then, we need to mind the things of the Spirit by setting our mind on the spirit. We need to set our mind with all our thoughts and our being on the things of the Spirit.

This means that we need to exercise our spirit and pray-read the word and allow the word of God to become spirit and life in us and to us.

We need to pay attention to the sense in our spirit so that we may not grieve the Spirit and not quench the Spirit.

May we learn to set our mind on the spirit today and mind the things of the Spirit in our daily life!

In this article we want to see the remaining ways for us to activate the law of life: put to death by the Spirit the practices of our body, be led by the Spirit as the sons of God, cry to the Father in the spirit of sonship, and groan in the interceding Spirit for our full sonship.

We can Put to Death by the Spirit the Practices of our Body to Activate the Law of the Spirit of Life

As believers in Christ, we have the law of the Spirit of life installed in our being, and we simply need to switch it on so that it may operate in us to both constitute us with God and shape us in the image of Christ.

First, we need to walk according to the spirit, and then, we need set our mind on our spirit.

As we walk according to the spirit and set our mind not on the things of the flesh but on the things of the Spirit, we will put to death the practices of the body.

Rom. 8:13 tells us to put to death the practices of our body (Zech. 4:6; Gal. 5:16).

We need to walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, and we need to put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body. We need to allow the Spirit to inhabit and reside in our inward being (Rom. 8:9, 11).

As the Spirit inhabits us, as we abide in the Lord and He abides in us, we will have the inner feeling of the Spirit that certain practices of our body are not according to the Spirit, and we will simply put them to death.

The Lord as the Spirit moves in us to shine on and expose the practices of the body, the things that we do while we’re in the flesh, and we simply need to exercise our spirit to put them to death.

We need to remain in the church life, where the God of peace crushes Satan under our feet (Rom. 16:20; 12:1-2, 11).

On the personal side, we cooperate with the Lord by exercising our spirit and putting to death the practices of the body.

On the corporate side, we need to remain the church life, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet.

When we are in the church life in a practical way, enjoying the Lord, we are built up together with the saints, and the God of peace crushes Satan under our feet.

When we simply live in the church life, the enemy is exposed, the practices of the body are put to death, and the law of the Spirit of life operates in us.

Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to contact You and remain in the mingled spirit. We want to activate the law of the Spirit of life in us so that You may operate in us and conform us to the image of Christ. Amen, Lord, we want to put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body. Shine on us and expose the practices of the body; we simply say Amen to Your shining and we allow You to expose any work of the flesh. Amen, Lord, shine in us, expose us, and remove anything that does not match You! We allow the Spirit to inhabit and reside in our inward being. We want to remain in the church life where the God of peace crushes Satan under our feet!

We can be Led by the Spirit as the Sons of God to Activate the Law of Life

Rom. 8:14 says that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. One way we can activate the law of the Spirit of life is by being led by the Spirit of God.

It does not say that we have spiritual leading but that we are led by the Spirit of God.

We walk according to the Spirit, and we are led by the Spirit of God; we are sons of God.

It’s not the Spirit leading us; the emphasis is on us being led by the Spirit of God.

To be led by the Spirit is to take care of the inner anointing, which is the moving and working of the indwelling compound Spirit (1 John 2:20, 27).

The Lord is in us as the inner anointing, and we need to be led by Him.

He is moving and anointing us, and He is working in us as the indwelling Spirit; we simply need to be led by Him.

To be led by the Spirit is to care for the rest in our spirit, being led as a captive in Christ’s triumphal procession (2 Cor. 2:12-14; 7:5-6).

The apostles were preaching the gospel and they came to Troas; there, a door was opened to them in the Lord, but instead of going through the open door, they had no rest in their spirit.

The apostle Paul cared more for the rest in his spirit than for the door that was opened to him in the Lord for the gospel.

To be led by the Spirit as the sons of God is to follow the inner sense of life and peace.

As we follow the sense of life and peace in our spirit, we are led by Christ in triumph, and we manifest the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place. Amen!

We are not the conquerers in ourselves; are defeated by Christ, we are in His triumphal procession, and we are governed by the rest in our spirit. He leads us, and we are led by Him.

We may go somewhere, and a door may be opened to us in the Lord for the gospel, but we may have no rest in our spirit. Therefore, we care for the rest in our spirit.

The Lord as the Spirit is in us as the inner anointing, giving us a sense of life, peace, and rest; we follow His sense within.

Sometimes our flesh has no rest, for we are afflicted, persecuted, and we pass through many trials; still, we care for the rest in our spirit.

In order for us to activate the law of the Spirit of life, we need to be led by the Spirit of God and be sons of God.

The Lord leads us through the environment, and even more intimately, He leads us by the rest in our spirit. Thank the Lord for HIs leading in our spirit!

Lord Jesus, we want to be those who are led by the Spirit of God to be sons of God. We come to You, dear Lord, and we want to be one with You in all things. May the law of the Spirit of life be activated in us as we are led by the Spirit of God. Oh Lord, we open to You. We want to care for the rest in our spirit. We want to care for the inner sense of life and peace more than we care for the outward need. We want to pay attention to the inner anointing so that we may be led by the Spirit of God and be sons of God. Hallelujah, God leads us in triumph in the Christ, and we are part of His triumphal procession in Christ, manifesting the savor of the knowledge of Christ wherever we go!

We can Cry to the Father in the Spirit of Sonship to Activate the Law of the Spirit of Life

Rom. 8:15 offers us another way for us to activate the law of the Spirit of life: we can cry to the Father, even cry, Abba Father, in the spirit of sonship.

Praise the Lord, we have received the Spirit of sonship, and now our spirit is mingled with the Spirit; we are sons of God, and as sons, we call, Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6).

Whether we are up or down, we can cry, Abba, Father! When we cry, Abba, Father!, the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).

We need to learn to cry. We may think that we need to only speak to the Lord and converse with Him, but we need to even more, cry, Abba, Father! We have the spirit of sonship.

We can cry. Our cooperation with the inner operating God is that we cry, Abba, Father.

When we are by ourselves or when we’re with others, the Spirit of sonship is in us, and we can cry.

This cry is not a bad cry – it is a benign cry, for we cry, Abba, Father! We cry, Lord Jesus!

Many of us today are too silent; we pray inwardly, we call on the name of the Lord inwardly, and we contact the Lord inwardly.

But we need to cry. We need to learn to cry. If we are weak, we need to cry and call on the name of the Lord.

When we are down, when we’re in darkness, and when we are short of power, we can cry and call on the name of the Lord.

Simply thinking of our situation and how to solve it is not enough.

We need to cry, Abba, Father! As we cry, Abba, Father, the Spirit witnesses with our spirit.

This means that we both cry and witness, and the Spirit joins in to witness with our spirit. Our spirit witnesses and the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. Our spirit takes the initiative, and the Spirit joins in.

If our spirit does not witness, the Spirit cannot join in. But when we call on the name of the Lord, when we cry, Abba, Father, the Spirit joins in and witnesses with us.

What a sweet, deep, intimate experience this is! This is truly a sweet way for us to exercise our spirit. May we learn to cry in our spirit and with our spirit.

May we learn to call, Abba, Father, testifying that we are children of God, so that the Spirit would also witness with our spirit.

Lord Jesus, we want to cry to the Father in the spirit of sonship. Abba, Father! We call on Your name! We cry out to You! Keep us calling on Your name at all times and in every place! Thank You for making us Your sons. We are sons of God, and our spirit witnesses that we are God’s children. Praise the Lord, we can call on the mae of the Lord and enjoy our Father! Hallelujah, when our spirit witnesses, the Spirit joins in to witness with our spirit! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit today! We exercise our spirit to cry and call on the name of the Lord! What a sweet and intimate relationship we have with our Father, for us to cry, Abba, Father! Amen, Lord, we cry out and call on Your name! Abba, Father! Oh Lord Jesus! Hallelujah, we are children of God!

We can Groan in the Interceding Spirit for our Full Sonship to Activate the Law of Life

Rom. 8:23 gives us the last way in Rom. 8 for us to activate the law of the Spirit of life: we can groan in the interceding Spirit.

Rom. 8:23, 26-27 shows us that we can groan in the interceding Spirit for our full sonship, which is the redemption of our body. Amen!

We may agree that to call on the Lord and say, Abba, Father, is to switch on the law of life, but we may never think that to groan is to switch it on. But we all need to learn to groan.

This is not something we manufacture or try in ourselves to do it; rather, it happens spontaneously.

As we walk according to the spirit, mind the things of the Spirit, put to death the practices of the mortal body, are led by the Spirit, witness with the Spirit, we will spontaneously groan.

We groan because we see the whole world going against God and against His purpose.

We see what is happening around us, we see what is happening to us, and we see the unrighteousness and immorality around us, and we groan.

Even more, we realize that we have the old creation, the flesh, with us, and we cannot change it nor can we get rid of it; therefore, we groan.

We love the Lord, and we want to live one with the Lord, but our flesh is always in the way, causing us problems. So we groan. In our groaning, the Spirit groans also, interceding for us.

The Spirit goans in us and for us, even groaning with groanings which cannot be uttered, for the Spirit intercedes for us according to God. Hallelujah!

We ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body.

We eagerly await to be made sons of God in full. We want to be in the Lord, with the Lord, and even to become the same as He is, but we are still in the flesh; we groan until we are fully brought into the sonship.

We realize that we have the body of sin and death, and we earnestly expect for our body to be redeemed.

We realize that our body can do nothing to please God, so we groan, expecting to be redeemed.

May we not try to improve our flesh or perfect it so that it may be pleasing to God; may we simply groan, earnestly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body.

Our only hope is in the Lord and in His coming to redeem us. As we groan, the Spirit groans in our groaning, and He intercedes for us and with us.

He intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, and as He intercedes, God carries out His economy.

This is one way for us to activate the law of the Spirit of life.

The interceding Spirit prays for us so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:28-29).

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to activate the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit. We want to be those who groan in the interceding Spirit for our full sonship. Hallelujah, we have the firstfruits of the Spirit, and we groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship! Amen, Lord, we are awaiting the full redemption of our body. We love You and we want to be redeemed even in our body so that our body may be conformed to the body of Your glory. May we groan and be one with You in Your groaning. May we groan even as the Spirit is groaning in us. Amen, Lord Jesus, we realize that we have a body that cannot please You, so we groan to be delivered and to be redeemed! Hallelujah, the interceding Spirit prays for us so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ as the Son of God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” chs. 33-34, 36, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 14, Christ as the Emancipator and as the One Who Makes Us More Than Conquerors.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Abba, Father! we adore Thee, / Humbly now our homage pay; / ’Tis Thy children’s bliss to know Thee, / None but children “Abba” say. / This high honor we inherit, / Thy free gift through Jesus’ blood; / God the Spirit, with our spirit, / Witnesseth we’re sons of God. (Hymns #45 stanza 1)
  – Take time to behold Him, / Be calm in thy soul, / Each thought and each temper / Beneath His control. / Thus led by His Spirit / To fountains of love, / Thou then shalt be fitted / His mercy to prove. (Hymns #643 stanza 4)
  – Even we ourselves are groaning, / Till we reach maturity; / We are growing into sonship, / With Christ in conformity. / ’Tis for this the Spirit groaneth, / That to Christ we be conformed; / All things also work together, / That in life we be transformed. (Hymns #970 stanza 3-4)