Reigning in life is the key to our rich experience of God’s organic salvation, for reigning in life in Rom. 5 is the key to everything spoken of in Rom. 6-16.
We may have never thought about this, but if you prayerfully consider the matter of reigning in life by living under the ruling of the divine life presented in Rom. 5:17 and 21 we will realize that this is the key to unlocking all the experiences spoken of in the subsequent chapters.
There are many wonderful and rich experiences in Romans, but for us to experience them, we need to be under the ruling of the divine life and enjoy the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness so that we may reign in life.
Even the matter of living the life of the Body spoken of in Rom. 12-16 is included in reigning in life.
When we reign in life by allowing the divine life to rule and reign in us, we can live the church life to be in the reality of the Body of Christ.
However, without reigning in life, we can’t have the proper church life. We may think, however, that we’re not there yet, for we are not reigning in life yet.
We may even think that it is quite impossible to reign in life, for it seems to be such an unattainable matter.
We should NOT allow the enemy to defraud us and cheat us of our enjoyment of our inheritance.
It is part of our inheritance that we, children of God, would enjoy the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness so that grace may reign in us and we may reign in life.
This is our right, our divine right as children of God. No matter what is our outward situation and what is the condition of the church, we need to continue to grow in the Lord and pursue to reach maturity in the divine life.
It doesn’t have to take many years for us to reach maturity in life and reign in life; if we bring these matters to the Lord in prayer and remain open to Him, the Lord can accelerate the maturing process.
If you look at the outward situation in the world, the whole world situation is being rearranged and prepared to lead to the rising up of the Antichrist, who will bring in peace in the Middle East and all over the world.
But before such one rises up, we need to grow in life unto maturity and be prepared to be the bride of Christ.
For this, we need to reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. We need to allow the Lord to penetrate our being and saturate us with Himself so that He may reign in us and we may reign in life.
We need to tell Him to give us the experiences we need so that there may be the genuine church life and the reality of the Body life among us in the local churches today.
May the Lord gain this with us and among us, and may we be those who cooperate with Him for this.
Reigning in Life is the Key to our Rich Experience of God’s Organic Salvation
God’s organic salvation is described in detail in Rom. 6-16, and the key to our rich experience of God’s organic salvation is reigning in life as seen in Rom. 5.
When we receive and enjoy the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, we reign in life; when we reign in life, we enjoy all the rich aspects of God’s organic salvation.
What is reigning in life? What does reigning in life look like? How can we define reigning in life? What does it mean to reign in life?
Reigning in life is not something nebulous, something up in the air, an experience that cannot be attained but we aspire to; reigning in life is something we can participate in and enjoy today.
Reigning in life is defined in Rom. 6-16.
All the matters described and expounded in Romans chapters six through sixteen are the issue not of our endeavouring but of our receiving the abundance of grace.
The more we receive the abundance of grace and enjoy the Lord in a rich way, the more we reign in life, and when we reign in life, we are in all the matters presented in Rom. 6-16.
Let’s go through some of the matters in Rom. 6-16 and see how reigning in life brings us into this experience.
When we reign in life, we are being soaked and saturated with the holy nature of God for sanctification in our dispositional sanctification.
When we reign in life, our mind is set on our spirit (Rom. 8:6) and therefore our mingled spirit spreads into our mind to renew it.
When we reign in life, we can be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29) and we can be glorified through the sealing of the indwelling Spirit throughout our entire life.
As we reign in life, we are constituted to be the overcoming bride of Christ for His satisfaction, pleasure, and delight.
![And not only [so,] but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body. Rom. 8:23](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/And-not-only-so-but-we-ourselves-also-who-have-the-firstfruits-of-the-Spirit-even-we-ourselves-groan-683x1024.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And not only [so,] but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body. Rom. 8:23")
We reign in life in being sanctified in the Spirit (Rom. 6:19, 22; 15:16).
We reign in life in being renewed by the mingled spirit in our mind unto our transformation (12:2; Eph. 4:23).
When we reign in life, we are being transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory by the Lord Spirit (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).
As we receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, we reign in life; as a result, we are being conformed to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:26-29).
The Spirit intercedes for us according to God, and no matter what happens to us outwardly, as we reign in life we are being conformed to the image of Christ, so that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. Hallelujah!
We reign in life by being glorified (v. 3) to be redeemed in our mortal body and participate in our divine sonship ultimately (v. 23) through the sealing of the indwelling Spirit.
As we reign in life day by day, if not constantly at least instantly and again and again, the divine life rules and reigns in us, and we are inwardly saturated with this life.
The divine life will saturate and soak us to such an extent that we will eventually be filled with this life and even our mortal body will be swallowed up by life, and we will be glorified. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, we open to You to receive more and more of the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness so that we may reign in life. Amen, Lord, fill us with the enjoyment of God as grace until grace reigns in us and we reign in life. We want to reign in life so that we may be sanctified in the spirit and renewed by the mingled spirit in our mind. May we be transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory by the Lord Spirit. Amen, Lord, may we reign in life in being conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son! May the divine life spread in us, saturate us, and reign in us. May we be filled and saturated with the divine life to the extent that even our mortal body is saturated with life! Amen, Lord Jesus!
When we believers in Christ reign in life, we have the key to unlock and enjoy all the wonderful aspects and steps of God’s organic salvation.
When we reign in life, we more than conquer any environmental hardships and sufferings because God is for us, and He has chosen us and justified us (Rom. 8:31-33).
God, who didn’t spare His own Son, gives us freely all things with Him; He is with us and for us, and as we reign in life, He makes us more than overcomers through this One.
We more than overcome by reigning in life by having Christ who died for us, who was raised, and who is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us (v. 34).
![For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord [is] [Lord] of all [and] rich to all who call upon Him; For "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." How then shall they call upon [Him] into whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe [into Him] of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one who proclaims [Him?] And how shall they proclaim [Him] unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the news of good things!" Rom. 10:12-15](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/For-there-is-no-distinction-between-Jew-and-Greek-for-the-same-Lord-is-Lord-of-all-and-rich-683x1024.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord [is] [Lord] of all [and] rich to all who call upon Him; For \"whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.\" How then shall they call upon [Him] into whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe [into Him] of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one who proclaims [Him?] And how shall they proclaim [Him] unless they are sent? As it is written, \"How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the news of good things!\" Rom. 10:12-15")
Also, we reign in life and overcome any hardships in the environment and sufferings by being captivated by the love of Christ and by the love of God in Christ, from which we’re inseparable (vv. 35-39).
How encouraging it is to know that, in all these things, we more than conquer through Him who loved us.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
God promises that nothing – neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither things to present nor things to come, neither powers nor anything else, neither height nor depth nor any other creature – can separate us from the love of God.
As long as we allow the divine life to rule and reign in us by our receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, we reign in life, and this is the key to our rich enjoyment of God’s organic salvation. Praise the Lord!
When we reign in life, we overcome anything that is negative, and we’re faithful to Christ and God unto death (v. 38).
Furthermore, when we receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to reign in life, we gain the righteousness of God, which is the subjective Christ, Christ as our subjective righteousness being wrought into us and lived out of us (Rom. 9:18-33; Phil. 3:9; 1 Cor. 1:30).
On one hand, Christ is our righteousness objectively before God to cover us and qualify us to enjoy and partake of all His riches.
On the other hand, Christ is our subjective righteousness, our lived out righteousness.
The way we can have Christ lived out of us as our righteousness is by reigning in life, and we reign in life by enjoying the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness.
This righteousness is gained out of faith to faith (Rom. 1:17) according to God’s mercy so that He may make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy (9:18-23). Amen!
When we reign in life, we enjoy all the riches of God in Christ by calling on the name of the Lord, by believing in the Lord’s word, and by announcing the glad tidings (Rom. 10:12-15).
Actually, we reign in life by calling on the name of the Lord, and this calling brings us into the rich enjoyment of what God in Christ is to us; the result is that we announce the glad tidings to others, simply overflowing with the Christ we have enjoyed. Amen!
As we reign in life, we live a grafted life; we were branches of the wild olive tree (Rom. 11:17, 24), but we have been grafted into Christ, the cultivated olive tree (Psa. 80:15-17; Matt. 2:15).
Amen, reigning in life is living the grafted life, a life in which it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20).
![But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a fellow partaker of the root of fatness of the olive tree...For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into the cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural [branches] be grafted into their own olive tree! Rom. 11:17, 24](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/But-if-some-of-the-branches-were-broken-off-and-you-being-a-wild-olive-tree-were-grafted-in-among-them-and-became-a-fellow-partaker-of-the-root-of-fatness-683x1024.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a fellow partaker of the root of fatness of the olive tree...For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into the cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural [branches] be grafted into their own olive tree! Rom. 11:17, 24")
It is not an exchanged life; we still live, but the life we live today we live in faith, the organic union with the Lord.
We stand by faith to partake of the root of fatness (which bears us, Rom. 11:18, 20, 17).
And we are built together with the other branches in the olive tree, living a mingled life in one mingled living. How wonderful!
It is all an issue of our living a life of reigning in life.
When we reign in life, we live the Body life, for we realize we’re members one of another (Rom. 12), and we live a life of blending in the Body of Christ (Rom. 16).
We care for one another in love, we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, for we are members one of another.
When we reign in life by receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, we stand with the saints and especially with those serving the Lord in the gospel and the ministry, praying that they would be delivered and their service would be acceptable to the Lord and to the saints (Rom. 15:30-31).
Our coming and going before the saints will be a blessing to the saints, and we will refresh ourselves and rest with the saints, for we live in the reality of the Body of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to live a life of reigning in life by receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. Amen, Lord, may we reign in life and more than overcome the environmental hardships and sufferings by having God being for us, and having Christ interceding for us! We are captived by the love of Christ and by the love of God in Christ, from which nothing can separate us. Hallelujah, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen, Lord, we want to be those reigning in life today so that we may enjoy the riches of God by calling on the name of the Lord, believing in the Lord’s word, and announcing the glad tidings! Oh, how sweet it is to enjoy the abundance of grace and reign in life! Amen, Lord, we want to reign in life and live a grafted life by abiding in the Lord, enjoying the rich life supply from Him, and live Christ in and by faith!
May the Lord open our eyes to see that reigning in life in Rom. 5 is the key to the rich experience of God’s organic salvation described in Rom. 6-16.
We can enjoy God’s complete salvation by enjoying the gift of righteousness (God’s judicial redemption) and the abundance of grace (God’s organic salvation); this is to reign in life.
May we learn before the Lord, with the Lord, and with the saints, to enjoy the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness so that we may reign in life and have a rich experience of God’s organic salvation!
May our daily life be filled with enjoying and receiving the abundance of grace.
In all situations, in small and big things, in major decisions and small choices, may we open to the Lord to receive His divine dispensing of grace.
When we receive His dispensing, when we enjoy the abundance of grace flooding us and saturating us, we will reign in life.
Everything will then fall into place, in the sense that we will reign in life and everything negative is subdued.
This doesn’t mean that we’re spared from suffering and having hardships; rather, even in the environmental hardships and sufferings, the Lord will make us more than conquerors, for we reign in life.
May the Lord bring us on with Him in this matter of reigning in life so that all the matters opened up in Rom. 6-16 would become our experience day by day.
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 Ray Mulligan in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans,” pp. 437-439, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, An Overview of the Central Burden and Present Truth of the Lord’s Recovery Before His Appearing (2023 July Semiannual Training), week 8, entitled, Reigning in Life.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– What is Redemption? How is Salvation Different? Read more via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– From judicial reconciliation to organic salvation in Romans 5 through 8 through the operation of the law of the Spirit of life, article by John Pester in, Affirmation and Critique.
– The complete salvation of God having two aspects – the judicial aspect and organic aspect, a portion from, The Organic Aspect of God’s Salvation, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
– Three Foundational Truths and Why They Matter, article via, Shepherding Words.
– The Spirit with our spirit: the secret of the believers’ experience of God’s salvation in life, article by David Yoon in, Affirmation and Critique.
– God’s Organic Salvation (1), outline via, Church in Hong Kong. - Hymns on this topic:
– The gift of righteousness is measured in abundance, / The depth of His love I’ll never understand. / His love reaches me and you; / His mercy goes farther too. / The One on the throne of God is called the Lamb. / So, why not open up and call His name, “Oh Lord!” / Find your spirit where His grace has been outpoured. / Call His name, taste His grace, exercise before His face / He’s longing and yearning. / He’s hoping and waiting. / He’s ever desiring for you… / To turn to Him. (Song on, The gift of righteousness, stanza 1 and chorus)
– O how deep and how far-reaching / Is Thy love, dear Lord, to me! / Far beyond my pow’r to fathom, / Deeper than the deepest sea! / It has caused Thee death to suffer / And to me Thyself impart, / That in Thee I might be grafted / And become of Thee a part. (Hymns #152 stanza 1)
– The grace which God bestows on us / Is just His Son in full; / The rich enjoyment of this Christ / Is plenteous, bountiful. / ’Tis far too great to comprehend, / Too wondrous to contain: / How we, once children of despair, / God’s masterpiece became. (Hymns #1321 stanza 1)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans,” p. 439
When we reign in life, we participate in and enjoy all the matters presented in Rom. 6-16, for reigning in life is the key to enjoying God’s organic salvation.
When we reign in life, we’re sanctified, transformed, built up, conformed to the image of Christ, glorified, and fully sonized.
May we be the best receivers and enjoyers of the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness today so that we may reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ!
Ameen brother!!!!
Not only that we have God’s complete salvation, we also have this matter of reigning in life.
This Reigning in life is the Full experience of God s complete salvation. When we experience God’s salvation in full, by receiving the gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace, this results in our reigning in life.
It is the highest attainment of our pursuing of Christ.
For the living of the Body life in Romans 12 to 13 we need to reign in life for the Body life by being ruled by the divine life!
Such things as presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, not being fashioned according to this age, but being transformed by the renewing of the mind, proving what the will of God is, thinking so as to be sober-minded, serving faithfully, giving in simplicity, leading in diligence, showing mercy in cheerfulness and showing honor to one another! Wow!
amen precious saint, may we be transformed to be those who mature in Your life and natural for the growth of the body.
Amen brother
Let His grace overflow from the inside outwardly so that we can make it different and unique in our walk of life.
We are not called only to be conquerors but also to be above the conqueror.
Therefore, we reign in life in being sanctified in the Spirit, in being renewed by the mingled spirit in our mind, in being transformed to the image of Christ from glory to glory by the Lord Spirit.
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord for this new day!
This morning I woke up with a lot of thoughts and worries but thank the Lord that I can turn to Him who is in my spirit.
Phi 3:13-14 says we need to forget the things which are behind!
Stretch forward and pursue towards the goal! Lord thank you that this new morning, we can turn back to you.
How we need to reign in life through the gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace for the fulfillment of Romans 6-16!
To reign in life – to be sanctified in our disposition, to be renewed in our mind we need such grace!
It’s so crucial for us to be under the ruling of the Spirit.
God cannot obtain a real & practical body on Earth if we saints are not willing to submit to the reigning in life.
By the abundant grace of Jesus, we can reign in life in lots of “ordinary” ways.
This is the true overcoming living, to submit to the Spirit in the way we present our bodies, love one another, accept God’s divine arrangement of the authorities on Earth, etc, etc.
By the grace of God, we can live together one mingled life in one mingled living.
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
https://youtu.be/2eD2stH0DSs
Wow!! We were not only predestinated to live by God’s life (Gen. 2), we were also chosen to REIGN in this life.
As I was enjoying the portion for today [HWFMR, Wk8, Day3] I had this thought:
“We are not only to reign IN life, but also to rein OVER all that we inherited from Adam’s fall.” We are reining IN the uncreated life and OVER Adam’s fallen sinful life. This is the genuine God-ordained existence for every human on the earth today. Nothing else matters outside of our reigning in life in the divine and mystical realm of God.
I truly enjoyed and appreciated all of the aspects of our reigning in the “Today’s Reading” portion of today’s heavenly breakfast. 😀
A king cannot reign unless there is something or someone to rein OVER. We were chosen to be those who, “in Christ,” reign over all condemnation from Adam’s fall. Praise the Lord for another life, another nature, and a victorious, genuine human living in our dear Lord, Jesus Christ!
Rom. 5:12-19