The Goal of Reigning in Life: Living a Life of the Highest Virtues for the Body Life

photo credit: Rom. 12:10 – Love one another warmly in brotherly love; take the lead in showing honor one to another.

God’s desire is that all the believers regenerated by His life would be the same as He is, reigning in life. We can reign in life, on the one hand, by receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:17, 21), and, on the other hand, by allowing the divine life in us to rule over us.

The goal of reigning in life is having the Body life today as a precursor and foretaste of the coming kingdom, consummating in the New Jerusalem!

Reigning in life is not a concept, a doctrine, or a principle – it is something very practical that is to be applied to our daily living and activities. When we reign in life by allowing the divine life to reign in us, we will not avenge ourselves, we will not seek self-glorification, we bless those who persecute us, we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, we reign over any self-standard and self-achievement, we go along with the lowly, we receive all the brothers and sisters as the Lord did, etc.

The reigning in life described in Rom. 5 is the key to unlock and enter into the practical Body life in Rom. 12-16. The only way for us to have the church life in a proper way is by allowing the divine life to reign in us and rule over us.

As an issue of reigning in life, we love all the brothers and sisters, we take the lead in showing honor to one another, and we are built up in the local church as the Body of Christ.

Reigning in Life Issuing in the Practical Body Life

The issue and the goal of reigning in life by being under the ruling of the divine life is the Body life. The church life is very practical – we are human beings, we have many interactions, and in our natural life it is very easy to be offended, to have misunderstandings, and to be individualistic.

But when we reign in life through Christ, we will reign over justifying ourselves, we will show honor to others and not glorify ourselves, we will bless those who persecute us, and we will not be wise in ourselves but have the same mind (Rom. 12:14-16).

When we reign in life, we will rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15). In our natural life we focus ONLY on our feelings and emotions, but when we reign in life we rule over our own rejoicing or weeping, controlling ourselves, and we weep with others who weep.

When we allow the divine life to rule in us, we will reign over our self-standard – we have so many standards which we impose both on ourselves and on others, but when we reign in life, we will receive everyone whom God receives, whether he keeps the Sabbath or not, eats vegetables only or not, etc. We will reign over our own self-achievement, we will overcome our disposition, and we will go along with the lowly.

photo credit: Rom. 13:13-14 – Let us walk becomingly as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in fornication and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

In order for us to be built up in the Body of Christ in reality, we must reign in life by being under the ruling of the divine life. It is only by living under the divine life that we can love one another, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and we watch “as in the day” (Rom. 13:13).

When we are under the rule of the divine life, we are awakened, on the alert, made watchful, and we are not lulled or drugged to sleep by this age. Rather, we make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ as our second garment (see Psa. 45:13-14) to live Him as our subjective righteousness and to magnify Him.

When we allow the divine life to rule in us, we are captivated by the compassions of God, we present our bodies a living sacrifice, we are not being fashioned according to this age, and we are being transformed by the renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:1-2).

Living a Life of the Highest Virtues for the Body Life

As human beings we are meant not only to have the highest life on earth but also to live a life of the highest virtues for the corporate expression of God. The only way this is possible is by receiving God’s divine life in us and by allowing this life to reign in us.

When we are under the ruling of the divine life, we can live a life of the highest virtues for the Body life. The divine life we have received through our regeneration is very practical, and when we allow the divine life to rule in us, we will reign in life and live a life of the highest virtues for the church life, the Body life.

When we allow the divine life to rule in us, we will love others without hypocrisy and we will love them warmly in brotherly love (Rom. 12:9-10). We will not pretend to love others or put a mask only in the meetings, but we will love them and even desire to perfect them to love others as the Lord loved us.

When we reign in life we will not be slothful in zeal but we will be burning in spirit, serving the Lord (Rom. 12:11). Every fiber of our natural being is inclined not toward this – we are not naturally burning in spirit. But when we let the divine life reign in us, we will be burning in spirit and we will serve the Lord.

When we reign in life, we will endure the tribulation, we will rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and we will do our best – as far as it depends on us – to live in peace with all men (Rom. 12:12-18).

In order for us to have the church life we need to reign in life, and it is only by living under the rule of the divine life, by reigning in life, that it is possible for us to live the proper church life. When we reign in life, we will receive all the believers under the reigning of the divine life according to God’s receiving (see Rom. 14:1-23).

When we reign in life, we will bear with the weaknesses of the weak and we will do our best not to please ourselves but to please others. In the church life in all the churches in the Lord’s recovery, how much we need to reign in life to have a normal church life!

We need to reign in life both personally (over ourselves and anything negative in our circumstances) but also in dealing with others. In the church life we don’t try to change other’s opinions to match ours but rather we deal with our opinionated self by reigning in life.

We simply learn to go along with the others, being one with them, no matter how much we think that our opinion and our way is better. It is only by reigning in life that it is possible for us to have a proper church life.

The Church is a Home, a Hospital, and a School

The church is not a police station to arrest people or a law court to judge people, but a home to raise up the believers. Parents know that the worse their children are, the more they need their raising up….The church is a loving home to raise up the children. The church is also a hospital to heal and to recover the sick ones. Finally, the church is a school to teach and edify the unlearned ones who do not have much understanding. Because the church is a home, a hospital, and a school, the co-workers and elders should be one with the Lord to raise up, to heal, to cover, and to teach others in love….Love covers and builds up, so love is the most excellent way for us to be anything and to do anything for the building up of the Body of Christ. (The Vital Groups, p. 75)

This particular portion really touched me. What is the church? The church is not a place to judge people but a home to raise them up by feeding them and teaching them. It’s not a law court or a police station but a school where we all are being under the Lord’s teaching, and a hospital where the Lord takes care of us and heals us bit by bit. Praise the Lord for the church life!

Lord Jesus, keep us in the church life every day of our life. May Your divine life rule and reign in our being. Lord, may we all allow You to rule and reign in us for the Body life. Save us from living the church life in our natural being. Gain the proper church life in all the local churches all over the world. Lord, keep us so open to You, allowing You to rule in us so that we may reign with You. Heal us, teach us, nourish us, and perfect us in the church life to be those who reign in life for God’s corporate expression!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration (besides the Word of God and my Christian experience): bro. Andrew Yu’s speaking in this message and portions from, Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans (msgs. 5-6), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Entering into the Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life to Arrive at a Full-Grown Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose, week 4 / msg 4, The Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life (3) – Reigning in Life .
• Further reading: see, The Vital Groups (msg. 8), and, The Experience of God’s Organic Salvation Equaling Reigning in Christ’s Life (msg. 5).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Am I a person of life? / Do I experience life? / Does my living bear the issues of life? / Good trees bear good fruit; / Healthy plant, healthy root; / Oh Lord! The ground in my heart!
  # In our daily living / It’s this life that we are sensing. / Are we in the flesh or in the Lord? / If you’re dead and empty / And the troubles you have plenty, / Saints, get out of there and flee back to the Lord! / Then you’ll sense life flowing / It’s this life that’s overcoming / Satan, flesh, and the world, and sin. / What a life we’re having. / Lord, Your virtues manifesting, / Thus, we’re branches bearing fruit in John 15.
  # God’s heart longs, desires that we, / His lovers, seek Him corp’rately. / On each other spent constantly; / My life is for you, yours for me. / I want to encourage you all, / Without your supply I would fall. / Never think that your Christ is small. / Christ needs you, and so do we all.