We Serve in Newness of Spirit by Exercising our Spirit to Contact the Lord and Live in Spirit

As a new creation in Christ Jesus, we need to serve in newness of spirit, not in oldness of law and letter; newness of spirit refers to our regenerated spirit, for in spirit we have Christ and in spirit, we can contact God, who is new.

On one hand, we need to live in newness of life, and on the other, we need to serve in newness of spirit. Both are the issue of the fact that we were regenerated with God’s life to be a new creation in resurrection.

Our old man has been crucified with Christ, and now we live in the new man, our inner man, our mingled spirit.

We are a new creation – a new species, a group of people that have not only the human life but also the divine life; we are regenerated to be sons of God living in the kingdom of God.

And in this kingdom everything is new, for God is making all things new.

As we humanly grow in life, we age, and we decay and become older; with God, however, there is no oldness, for He is forever new and fresh, and He is the source of newness.

And He will obtain the New Jerusalem, His masterpiece, a miraculous structure of treasure; this holy city is new even as God is new, and it will be for eternity in the new heaven and new earth.

We as believers in Christ are a new creation, and we’re daily from the old renewed; as we contact the Lord, the source of newness, we are renewed more and more. Amen!

Day by day the Lord is saving us in His life from anything negative, and we can receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to reign in life through Christ, the One who is saving us and is our salvation.

And to save us doesn’t mean that He only rescues us from negative things; it means that He Himself is our salvation, and as He saves us, He works Himself with His new element into us.

May we be open to Him to continue to receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness so that we may reign in life through Him and in Him (Rom. 5:17).

We have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, and we are also growing with Him in the likeness of His resurrection.

It is here, in the realm of resurrection, that we need to live, move, act, and do everything, for here we can live in newness of life and serve in newness of spirit.

How can we be in the realm of resurrection and live in resurrection?

Resurrection is in the life-giving Spirit who is in our spirit; whenever we turn to our spirit, contact the Spirit, and live in spirit, we live in resurrection and we walk in newness of life.

As a New Creation in Christ Jesus, we need to Walk in Newness of Life and Serve in Newness of Spirit

Rom. 7:6 says that we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.

On one hand, we need to live in newness of life; on the other hand, we need to serve in newness of spirit.

As a new creation in Christ Jesus, we need to serve in newness of spirit; we not only live but also serve, carry out our spiritual service.

Before we touched God as life and were regenerated, we were living under the bondage of the law; it may not have been the mosaic law that we were under but some self-made law, but we were enslaved to that law so that we may be perfected in ourselves.

But through the death of Christ, the law in commandments has been crucified, and we have been set free from the bondage and slavery of that law.

Now that we have been released from the law, discharged from it, we can serve the One who loves us and gave Himself up for us; we serve Him in newness of spirit, no longer in the oldness of the law and of the letter.

Newness of life issues from our being identified with Christ’s resurrection, and this newness is for our daily walk.

Newness of spirit issues from being discharged from the law and being joined to the resurrected Christ; this is for our service to God.

Both newness of life and newness of spirit are results of the crucifixion of the old man and our entering into resurrection.

We do this by contacting the Lord in spirit, for newness of life is Christ Himself in His resurrection (who is the life-giving Spirit), and newness of spirit refers to our regenerated spirit where the Lord as the Spirit dwells.

Hallelujah, the Lord is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) and everything that is related to our regenerated spirit is new!

Our living should be in newness of life and our service should be in newness of spirit. There should be no oldness in either our living or service; rather, we need to live in newness of life and serve in newness of spirit.

After we are saved, we want to serve the Lord, follow Him, and please Him; however, this service to God should not be in the realm of the law, regulations, or commandments, in the realm of doing something for God to satisfy His outward requirements.

Our service to God must be in newness of spirit.

Paul testified in Rom. 1:9 that he serves God in his spirit; he served God in the gospel of His Son not merely by going from place to place preaching the gospel, but all his service was in spirit.

Everything we carry out for the Lord and in the church life must be in spirit, exercising our mingled spirit.

Whatever we do in serving the Lord must be in newness of spirit, having the newness and freshness of God Himself.

Everything that is related to our regenerated spirit is new, and everything that comes out of our spirit is new (John 3:6; 4:23-24; Rom. 1:9; Eph. 6:18).

God as the source of newness, the One who is newness itself, is mingled as the Spirit with our spirit.

Our regenerated spirit is a source of newness because the Lord, the life of God, and the Holy Spirit are there (1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Cor. 3:16-18).

Whenever we touch the spirit, we touch newness; whenever we still cling to the law and desire to fulfill its requirements, we are old and stale.

What comes out of our spirit when we touch it is God; God is there, so newness is there.

Like Paul, we should serve God in our regenerated spirit by the indwelling Christ, the life-giving Spirit, and not in our soul by the power and ability of our soul.

May we learn to contact the Lord in our spirit, receive Him and experience Him in spirit, exercise our spirit, live in spirit, and serve God in our spirit so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.

Hallelujah, everything that is related to our regenerated spirit is new, for the Lord, the life of God, and the Holy Spirit are in our spirit! Amen, Lord, we want to contact You by exercising our spirit so that we may enjoy and receive You as the new One, newness itself! We want to serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of letter. Save us from trying to serve God according to outward requirements and rules; keep us in our spirit all the time! Amen, Lord, we want to serve God in our regenerated Spirit by the indwelling Christ, the life-giving Spirit, and not in our soul by the power and ability of the soul!

We Serve in Newness of Spirit by Exercising our Spirit to Contact the Lord and Live in Spirit

What does it mean, practically, for us to serve in newness of spirit? It means that we need to exercise our spirit; we need to know how to exercise our spirit.

God in Christ as the Spirit lives in us and is joined to our spirit as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17); the Lord is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22).

Our service to God shouldn’t be according to what we think, what we know, and what we learn or pick up by looking at others; our service to God should be in spirit through the exercise of our spirit.

If we exercise our spirit, we will have something new and fresh to offer the brothers and sisters.

Merely remembering all the doctrines and spiritual knowledge, and then speaking it to others, will not impart life and newness to others.

We do need our mind, and we do need to have our mind renewed, but in our service to the Lord our spirit is more important – we need to serve in newness of spirit by exercising our spirit!

For example, we may want to share something in the meeting of the church; we shouldn’t merely speak something from what we memorised or read that morning, but we should exercise our spirit and share something from our spirit and with our spirit.

Sometimes we may not even know what we are about to share, even though we enjoyed and experienced something of the Lord; when we stand up to share or we meet someone and exercise to speak, something new and fresh will flow out.

May the Lord save us from dishonouring Him in our service to Him by doing things in the oldness of letter, according to some rules and regulations, and according to what we think we should do for Him in the church.

May we learn to serve the Lord in the way of newness by exercising our spirit to contact the Lord.

When we come together to meet with the saints, we must meet in the way of newness. It is easy to do things in an old, stale, and traditional way; it is by default.

But this is not the real service to God. The real service to God is keeping ourselves in the presence of the Lord and living in the spirit by contacting Him.

Our service to God is in the intimate contact with God, in the organic union with Him.

Serving God has to do with our spirit; we worship Him in spirit, we are joined to Him as one spirit, and our service must be in spirit.

Only our service in spirit is new and fresh, and only serving in newness of spirit is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.

It is easy to have the oldness, so we need to exercise to keep the newness by contacting the Lord day by day.

May we keep ourselves in the Lord’s presence day by day, and may we live in the spirit by contacting the Lord so that we may serve in newness of spirit, serving God in our mingled spirit.

He is new, living, and fresh, and whenever we contact Him in spirit and live in spirit, we become new, living, and fresh, and our service to God is new and living.

Lord Jesus, save us from serving God in oldness of letter. We want to learn to exercise our spirit and serve in newness of spirit. Amen, Lord, keep us in Your presence today. Keep us contacting You in spirit and living in spirit in all the things of our daily life. We want to learn to contact You in all things and simply remain in the organic union with You, doing all things in the mingled spirit. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to contact You; keep us in Your presence all throughout the day. Keep us in our mingled spirit, living in newness of life and serving in newness of spirit as the new creation in Christ Jesus!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message by bro. James Lee on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, vol. 3, “Our Human Spirit,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 5, entitled, Our Need to Walk in Newness of Life, to Serve in Newness of Spirit, and to Be Renewed in Our Inner Man Day by Day.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Outward work God never reckons, / But what’s from the inmost part; / It is not to serve in letter, / But life’s newness to impart. (Hymns #908)
  – In spirit we must pray and serve, / In spirit touch the life divine, / In spirit grow, in spirit build, / That Christ thru us may fully shine. (Hymns #611)
  – Now as the new, regenerated man, / We do two things, according to God’s plan: / Bear fruit to God and serve in spirit new / So God becomes the fruit of all we do, / And all we are. (Hymns #1140)