When we live according to the spirit of our mind, our living corresponds to the reality in Jesus.
We need to learn Christ and be taught in Him to live a life of reality; for us to learn Christ is simply to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, that we be conformed to the image of Christ.
The living of the new man is the continuation and duplication of the life of Jesus when He was on the earth; He had a living of reality, the only living that God has approved and delighted in, and His living is continued today in us, the members of the church as the one new man.
The reality in Jesus spoken of in Eph. 4:21 refers to the actual condition of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels.
What kind of life did the Lord Jesus live? He lived a life in which all He did was not of Himself but of the Father; He depended on the Father, He lived one with the Father, and He did everything in God, with God, and for God.
When we see such a life, when we realize that we as Christians need to live the same kind of life, we may either want to do it in ourselves or we simply are indifferent, realizing that we can’t do it.
It is true, we cannot live the same kind of life that Jesus lived in ourselves and by ourselves; we are not meant to.
We do have the image and likeness of God, but we can’t live a life that expresses God unless He comes into us and lives in us.
The kind of living that God desires is the living of Jesus on earth again; such a living is possible because we, the believers in Christ, have put off the old man and have put on the new man through baptism, and we daily are being renewed in the spirit of our mind so that we may live Christ by living according to the spirit.
It is not by our self-effort that we can live the life of the new man, the same kind of life that Jesus lived while on the earth; it is by our turning to Him, contacting Him, and enjoying Him so that He in us may live the same kind of life that He lived when He was on earth.
He wants to live in us, but we still live in and by ourselves; when we turn to Him, read the Bible and are inspired and infused with His pattern, pray, and open to Him, He in us can live such a life.
Our self-efforts are exposed, our struggle to imitate Him is put aside, and we spontaneously live Christ, being conformed to His image as soon as we live according to the mingled spirit. May we be such ones, those who live in the mingled spirit, contacting the Lord, and allowing Him to live and be expressed through us.
Having put off the Old Man and put on the New Man, we need to be Renewed in the Spirit of our Mind and Live in Spirit
Praise the Lord, through baptism we have put off the old man and we have put on the new man! We are not “taught to put off the old man and put on the new man”; all genuine believers in Christ had this experience at the time of their baptism.
Our old man has been buried in the waters of baptism; we put off the new man by being baptized.
Furthermore, as we rose from the waters of baptism, we were clothed with the new man; hence, we have put on the new man.
We have been taught in Christ as the reality in Jesus that we have put off the old man and have put on the new man.
This putting off of the old man and putting on of the new man is the condition of learning Christ.
By our baptism into Christ we have been put into Him as the mold; He is the pattern, the mold, and we have been put into Him.
Now we need to learn Him as the mold, being conformed to His image.
Based on the accomplished facts of the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man, we need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind (Eph. 4:22-24).
This renewing is for our being transformed inwardly and conformed outwardly to the image of Christ (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).
The more we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, the more our spirit spreads into our mind to saturate, permeate, and rule over our mind; when this takes place, we will live in spirit, and our living will be the living of Jesus on earth again.
The Lord Jesus as the Spirit is in our spirit; He is mingled with our spirit to be one spirit.
When we set our mind on the spirit and allow the mingled spirit to spread into our mind, it becomes the spirit of our mind. In this way, our natural mind is subdued, conquered, and governed by our spirit.
This happens by the metabolic process of transformation; as this process takes place, the mingled spirit enters our mind, takes over our mind, and becomes the spirit of our mind.
It is by this spirit of our mind that we need to live and walk and have our being, for when we do this, we live Christ and express Him, and our living will be His living.
When we are renewed in the spirit of our mind and live according to the spirit, we fulfilled in experience what was accomplished in the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man.
On one hand we have already put off the old man and have put on the new man; on the other hand, this accomplished fact need to be experienced and applied by us by being renewed in the spirit of our mind.
As we realize these facts in our experience by being renewed in the spirit of our mind and walk according to the spirit, we live a life that corresponds to the life of Jesus; we become His duplication and continuation on the earth.
We will spontaneously live a life that is in righteosuness and holiness, for the Lord Jesus lived in sucha way.
Jesus lived in a way that always corresponded to God’s rightoeusness and holiness; in His life the righteousness and holiness of the reality were always exhibited.
We will be right toward God and toward man, and we will be sanctified unto God, having the element of God saturate and permeate us to make us holy as He is holy.
The Lord Jesus was not a mild and mannered man; He lived one with God, and He even was angry at one point.
Sometimes He rebuked the religionists, and one time He went into the temple and was angry with what He saw there – He had a righteous and holy anger.
It is possible to be angry yet not sin; most times we get angry because we get offended or someone offends our standards of living, but there is a way to be angry in a righteous and holy way yet without giving place to the devil.
The human life and living of Jesus was according to the reality, that is, according to God Himself; it was a living full of righteousness and holiness.
And it was in the righteousness and holiness of this reality – which is God glorified and expressed – that the new man was created. When we live according to the spirit and are renewed in the spirit of our mind, we will live such a life in holiness and righteousness.
Praise the Lord, through baptism we have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is being renewed according to the image of the One who created Him. Amen, Lord, we want to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. We set our mind on our spirit and we come to Your word to be renewed, organically transformed, with Your new and holy element. May our spirit spread more into our mind to occupy it, conquer it, subdue it, and saturate it! Amen, Lord Jesus, renew us more in the spirit of our mind so that our spirit would be the prominent part of our being! We want to live according to the spirit the same kind of life that Jesus lived, living in a way that always corresponds to God’s righteousness and holiness!
If we Live according to the Spirit of our Mind, our Living will Correspond to the Reality in Jesus
Our need today is to learn Christ and be taught in Him to live a life of reality (Eph. 4:20-21); for us to learn Christ is simply for us to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, for us to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29; 2 John 1; John 4:23-24).
We need to see something in this regard and realize that we have been foreknown and predestinated to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God, so that He may be the Firstborn among many brothers.
It is God’s desire that we are conformed to the image of Christ; it is our destiny to look exactly like Christ and match Him in His living.
For this, we need to exercise our spirit and live according to the spirit of our mind so that we may have the daily living of the corporate new man, a living that corresponds to the reality in Jesus (Eph. 4:23).
As a corporate person, the new man should live a life of reality, as the reality is in Jesus; this is a life of expressing God.
As members of the one new man, we have put off the old man and have put on the new man, and we experience this daily by being renewed in the spirit of our mind and by living according to the spirit of our mind.
The new man is a finished product that has come into our spirit.
The way for us to realize and experience the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man is by exercising our spirit and being renewed in our spirit, allowing the resurrection life in our spirit to renew us so that the Lord may spread in us, in our entire being.
When we have such an experience, when we exercise our spirit and live according to the spirit of our mind, we are refreshed and renewed, and our daily life will be affected.
When we live according to the spirit of our mind, we will have the living of the new man, a living that corresponds to the reality in Jesus.
In Eph. 4 we see a few practical matters that relate to our living the life of the new man.
One of them is our speaking; there are different kinds of speaking such as lies, corrupt words, evil speaking, clamor, malice, and speaking with grace.
Do we lie or speak corrpt words? When we live according to the spirit of our mind, we will not let any corrupt word proceed out of our mouth; we will not speak worthless words but rather, our words will give grace and not tear down.
May all bitterness, clamor, evil speaking be removed from us, with all malice. When we’re bitter and have evil speaking, we live in the old man.
But when we’re kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ has forgiven us, and all these are the result of our living according to the spirit, we live the life of the new man.
Hallelujah, it is of God that we are in Christ Jesus – God put us in Christ, and wherever we are, we are in Him as the mold.
Now we need to learn Christ, learn the mold, learn the pattern, as we live according to the spirit of our mind.
It is only when we live in spirit that we can forgive others and forget their offenses.
It is so sad, however, to see that many families, even spouses, siblings, parents and children, have a hard time to forgive one another; sometimes even decades go by with siblings not forgiving one another.
Even in the church life some saints don’t forgive others or let things go.
May we all be renewed in the spirit of our mind so that we may have the actuality of the putting off of the old man, the former manner of life, and put on the new man, the living of forgiving others, having a tenderhearted living, a compassionate living, a kind living.
We can have such a life in our home, in the family life, and wherever we are, for Christ lives in us and we are in Him.
This doesn’t mean that we don’t angry; rather, we may get angry and still be one with the Lord, but we don’t let the sun go down on our anger, that is, we don’t hold to our anger.
We simply are so one with the Lord that we don’t give any ground, any opportunity, any way to the enemy in our being.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn Christ and be taught in Him to live a life of reality. May we be molded into the pattern of Christ so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ. Amen, Lord, we turn to You; we turn from our mind to our spirit, and we want to live according to the spirit of our mind so that we may have a living that corresponds to the reality in Jesus. Our desire is to live a life of reality, even as the reality is in Jesus; we desire to live a life of expressing God. Dear Lord Jesus, may we daily experience the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man by living according to the spirit of our mind. Amen, Lord, may all bitterness and evil speaking be removed from us. May our speaking be full of grace.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 48-49 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man (2020 Thanksgiving Conference), week 5, Living the Life of the One New Man instead of Our Culture by Learning Christ as the Reality Is in Jesus.
- Hymns on this topic:
– This Spirit shall transform our natural life, / Save us from self, build us in one new man, / Till we’re conformed to be like Jesus Christ, / Thus finishing our God’s eternal plan. (Hymns #1195)
– Lord, teach us to discern the spirit / That we may be transformed in soul, / Till we’re conformed to Thine own image, / Till we’re matured and reach the goal. (Hymns #746)
– Let’s keep practicing the application / Of this life by minding just the Son. / Praise Him for the way to live by Him today! / Lord, on You our minds will ever stay. (Hymns #1193)
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