An Inward Knowledge of God by the Law of Life and by the Teaching of the Anointing

If in our human life we are in a quest for knowledge, then in our spiritual life we as believers in Christ are in a quest for knowing God, and in particular we can have an inward knowledge of God by the law of life and by the divine anointing.

Moses prayed that God would cause him to know His ways so that he may know God; our prayer today should also be that God would show us His ways so that we may know Him.

Our entire spiritual future hinges on our ability to worship and know the ways of God; if we do not recognize God’s ways but reject Him and try to change things and situations, we will miss out on God’s blessing and we will not know God.

It is quite sad to go through life and think that God gives you trials and temptations to “make you stronger”, and so you become a person who knows a lot, has endured a lot, has a lot of experience, and now is “qualified” to impart his knowledge of life to others.

As believers in Christ we need to pray for a clear revelation of who God is and what His ways are so that we may know God and worship the ways of God. Why does God do things? Simply because He is God.

Many times we may not agree with God’s way of doing things, and we may have put different people around us, chosen different circumstances for us, and brought different things our way; but God is God, He is on the throne, He arranges all things, He does things according to His will and purpose, and we simply need to recognize God’s ways and accept the ways of God.

When we accept the ways of God, we are blessed to be part of God’s purpose. But if we try to change things, situations, and even persons, we become miserable people with much bitterness and a lot of opinions. Oh Lord Jesus!

May we realize that, on the one hand, we can know God’s ways outwardly and worship Him, but on the other hand, we can know God subjectively, intimately, and inwardly because He has imparted His life into us, and by means of the eternal life we can have an intimate knowledge of God!

Having an Inward Knowledge of God by the Law of Life and by the Teaching of the Anointing

According to the new covenant which God made with us, we shall by no mean teach our fellow citizen and brother saying, Know the Lord, for all will know the Lord from the little one to the great one (Heb. 8:11).

When we were born again, we have received God’s eternal life in our spirit; by means of the eternal life we can know God inwardly according to the law of life and the teaching of the anointing. If we would simply grow in the divine life and take care of the divine life in our spirit, allowing it to spread into all our inner being and following its leading, we will have an inward knowledge of God.

In Heb. 8:11 there are two Greek words for know: “they shall by no means each teach his fellow citizen and each his brother saying, Know the Lord” – this know is “ginosko”, referring to an outward, objective knowledge; “for all will know Me from the little one to the great one among them” – this know is “oida”, referring to inward, subjective consciousness and knowledge.

The Lord Jesus told the Pharisees that they have not known (ginosko) God the Father (even in an outward, objective knowledge) but He knows (oida) the Father (in the inward, subjective consciousness) – see John 8:55.

How can we know God in an inward, subjective way? Our inward knowledge of God is by two means: by the law of life (which comes from the life of God) and by the teaching of the anointing (which comes from the Holy Spirit of God).

The divine life in our spirit has a law, which the Bible calls the law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) or the law of life; this law primarily causes us to know the nature of God, which is the characteristic of His life.

As we live by the spirit and allow the divine life to work and be manifested in us, there are some characteristics of God that are being expressed and wrought into us, causing us to inwardly and subjectively know the nature of God.

The teaching of the anointing, on the other hand, causes us to know God Himself in a subjective way by anointing us with all that God is. The anointing is from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the embodiment of God Himself; when the Spirit works in us and anoints us, He adds God to our being, causing us to know God inwardly.

Because we have the anointing, we have no need that anyone teaches us, but the anointing teaches us all things, especially that we would abide in the Lord (1 John 2:27).

When we accept God’s ways, a lot of things happen in our being: there is the breaking and our self is dealt with; now the Spirit can rise up and saturate our being, the law of life can function, and we can know God inwardly and subjectively.

The law of life primarily causes us to know the nature of God, which is the characteristic of His life; the teaching of the anointing, on the other hand, causes us to know God Himself.

The nature of God correspond to His ways; as we know God’s nature, we vindicate Him and testify that God is right in all He does, even though we may not understand what He is doing and what is going on.

In the mingled spirit we sense His nature and know Him according to the characteristics of His nature, and at the same time the anointing and moving of the Spirit enables us to know God Himself in life.

Thank You Lord for giving us such a practical way for us to know You inwardly in the way of life. Thank You for the law of life which comes from the life of God and causes us to know the nature of God. Thank You for the teaching of the anointing coming from the Holy Spirit which causes us to know God Himself inwardly. Lord, we want to have the inward knowledge of God by obeying the inner sense of life and by listening to the teaching of the anointing. Oh, may the inward knowledge of God grow in us and in all the saints!

Knowing God Inwardly by means of our Enlightened Mind and Quickened Spirit

In and of ourselves we cannot know God, but praise the Lord, the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding so that we might know the true One, the genuine and real God (1 John 5:20).

Before we were saved we knew things about God and of God, but when we were regenerated by the Lord the faculty of our mind to understand has been enlightened and empowered by the Spirit of reality (see John 16:12-15) to apprehend the divine reality in our regenerated spirit.

We have an inward capacity, an innate ability in the divine life in our spirit, that causes us to know the true God (John 17:3) in our regenerated spirit (Eph. 1:17) through our renewed mind, enlightened by the Spirit of reality.

The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, has come and has given us an understanding that we might know the genuine and real God. He has come to us by the steps of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. He accomplished redemption for us, and when we repented and believed in Him, we received Him. Now that we have believed in Him and received Him, our sins have been forgiven, our darkened mind has been enlightened, and our deadened spirit has been enlivened. Furthermore, the Spirit of reality, who is the Spirit of revelation, has come into our being. This means that the Spirit of reality has been added to our quickened spirit and has shined into our mind to enlighten it. Now we have an enlightened mind and a quickened spirit with the Spirit of reality, who reveals spiritual reality to us. As a result, surely we have an understanding and are able to know the true One. Witness Lee, Life-Study of 1 John

Many times unbelievers have wondered how comes we Christians can “know God”, and how comes we can speak so many things about God. The answer is simple: in order to know God you need to receive God; the knowledge of God is not outward, objective, and extrinsic but inward, subjective, and intrinsic.

Through regeneration the Spirit of reality came to quicken our spirit and shine on our mind; we were darkened in our understanding and deadened in our spirit, but through regeneration we were quickened and enlightened.

Now day by day, the more we exercise our spirit to touch the Lord, pray-read the word of God, pray, and fellowship with the Lord and with the saints, the more we can inwardly know God. The inward knowledge of God, the True One and the Truth itself, is by means of our enlightened mind and quickened spirit.

We need to daily spend time in the Lord’s word to have His shining and infusing, and we regularly need to take time to enjoy the Lord, pray, confess our sins, and fellowship with the saints, so that our inward knowledge of God and understanding of the True One would increase.

Hallelujah, the Son of God has come to us and has given us this understanding so that we may know God inwardly and subjectively!

Thank You Lord for coming into us as the Spirit of reality to quicken our spirit and enlighten our mind so that we may know God inwardly and subjectively. We want to exercise our spirit and receive Your shining day by day in Your word through Your Spirit so that our inward knowledge of God would increase. Hallelujah, the faculty of our mind can be enlightened and empowered by the Spirit of reality to apprehend the divine reality in our regenerated spirit!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from Life-study of 1 John, pp. 348-349, ch. 11 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (part 4, 2016 Summer Training), week 2 / msg. 2, Knowing God and His Ways.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # And as for you, / The anointing which you have received / From Him abides in you, and you have no need / That anyone teach you; / But as His anointing teaches you / Concerning all things and is true / And is not a lie, / And even as it has taught you, / Abide in Him. (Scripture song)
  # Divine anointing in me dwelleth, / And it teaches me all things; / It ever leads me in the Lord to live / And to me His presence brings. / With God’s own essence it anoints me, / God to know subjectively, / That I may have His very element / Fully saturating me. (Hymns #266)
  # The law of life is put within our mind / And on our heart ‘tis written sovereignly, / Inwardly ruling us that God we know / More than by teachings given outwardly. (Hymns #739)