Last week we saw what the focus of the Bible and the center of the universe is, mainly in Romans 8. This week we are going further and deeper to see what the focus of God’s economy is – the mingled spirit.
Rom. 8:16 says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God – there are two spirits.
1 Cor. 6:17 says that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit – this shows that the divine Spirit has been joined and mingled with our human spirit to become one spirit, the mingled spirit! Praise the Lord, we believers in Christ now have a mingled spirit!
The focus of God’s economy – the mingled spirit
God’s economy is focused on the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with our human spirit. Because there is such a thing as a mingled spirit, it is difficult for the translators to render “pneuma” (Greek for, spirit) as Spirit (capital S) or spirit (small s).
In so many places in the Epistles of Paul, we see the mingled spirit! We need to walk according to the spirit, be in the spirit, set our mind on the spirit, etc. Actually, whatever God intends to do or accomplish is related to this focus – our mingled spirit! We need to see and have a clear understanding of the mingled spirit as the focus of God’s economy.
The union of God and man
What God desires throughout the whole Bible is that He would be joined to man, and in the New Testament, we see that this joining is possible by God becoming the life-giving Spirit coming into us to join Himself to our human spirit.
The union of God and man is a matter entirely of the union of the two spirits. How does this union occur? This is a great mystery which we cannot explain or comprehend – but the divine Spirit (the processed and consummated Triune God) is joined to our human spirit to become the mingled spirit in us! Praise the Lord!
The essence of the New Testament
I am so happy that in the ministry of brother Witness Lee and Watchman Nee we don’t “skate on the surface” of the divine truth in the Bible but we are encouraged to go deeper and see the intrinsic significance of the Word of God.
Everyone may read, understand, appreciate, and even become a specialist in the history of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. But do you see what is the essence and the focus of the Lord’s history as recorded in the New Testament? It is one thing to know “the substance” of the story of Jesus, but it is something else to know what is “the essence” of the Lord’s life on earth.
An apple is substantial, but the essence or abstract of the apple is the apple juice. What is the essence, the abstract, of the entire New Testament?
What is the New Testament talking about in its essence? In, The Experience and Growth in Life (by brother Lee) we see that the essence of the New Testament is the mingling of the divine Spirit with our human spirit to be one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
The whole New Testament – with the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles, and the book of Revelation – talks in its essence and abstract about one thing, the mingled spirit!
Joining and mingling
In conclusion, I cannot say it better than the wonderful footnote in 1 Cor. 6:17 – see notes 1 and 2. I am looking forward to more in-depth knowledge, appreciation, and experience of the mingled spirit as the focus of God’s economy!
1 Cor. 6:17, note 1: This refers to the believers’ organic union with the Lord through believing into Him (John 3:15-16). This union is illustrated by that of the branches with the vine (John 15:4-5). It is a matter not only of life but in life (the divine life). Such a union with the resurrected Lord can only be in our spirit.
1 Cor. 6:17, note 2: This indicates the mingling of the Lord as the Spirit with our spirit. Our spirit has been regenerated by the Spirit of God (John 3:6), who is now in us (v. 19) and is one with our spirit (Rom. 8:16). This is the realization of the Lord, who became the life-giving Spirit through resurrection (15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17) and who is now with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). This mingled spirit is often referred to in Paul’s Epistles, e.g., in Rom. 8:4-6.
Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see the focus of Your economy! Save us from having a shallow knowledge and appreciation of what the Bible speaks about in its essence. Lord, our mingled spirit! Thank You for becoming the Spirit to join and mingle Yourself with our spirit. Lord, we praise You for our spirit mingled with the divine Spirit. We want to know our spirit, live in our spirit, and have our being in our mingled spirit!
References and Further Reading
- Inspired from, Basic Training, msg. 5 , and, The Issue of the Union of the Consummated Spirit of the Triune God and the Regenerated Spirit of the Believers, chs. 1-3 as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Focus of the Lord’s Recovery, week 4;
- More on this topic via, The Focus of the Lord’s Recovery.
This verse in 1 Cor. 6:17 – a treasure revealing the highest level of union and mingling of God and man – is buried deep within a chapter dealing with some of the most sinful situations in the Bible! Amidst verses dealing with fornication in the church life, where some were joined to a prostitute and "becoming one flesh" with them, Paul says, BUT! Hallelujah, BUT! But he who is joined to the Lord – through believing into Him – is ONE SPIRIT!
The Lord wants to be one with us organically not only in the sense of dwelling in us and living in us, but in the sense of joining Himself to us and mingling Himself with us so that we are fully one! The Triune God in Christ as the Spirit wants to be joined to us in the sense of marriage, so that – in the same way that the two who get married become one flesh – we would become one spirit with the Lord!
This verse in 1 Cor. 6:17 – a treasure revealing the highest level of union and mingling of God and man – is buried deep within a chapter dealing with some of the most sinful situations in the Bible! Amidst verses dealing with fornication in the church life, where some were joined to a prostitute and “becoming one flesh” with them, Paul says, BUT! Hallelujah, BUT! But he who is joined to the Lord – through believing into Him – is ONE SPIRIT!
The Lord wants to be one with us organically not only in the sense of dwelling in us and living in us, but in the sense of joining Himself to us and mingling Himself with us so that we are fully one! The Triune God in Christ as the Spirit wants to be joined to us in the sense of marriage, so that – in the same way that the two who get married become one flesh – we would become one spirit with the Lord!