Day: November 20, 2022

Before we were saved, we lived a life of taking ourselves as the person. For example, a young boy in junior high school might enjoy going out with his classmates and friends and doing things with them. After he is saved, however, he should take Christ as his person and live the church life. To live the church life does not mean that he should go to the meeting on Lord’s Day morning and listen to a pastor’s sermon. Our church life should be full of Christ every day, whether in the morning or in the evening. Whenever there is the time or opportunity, the saints should come together to praise the Lord. We can pray-read together and be built up, or we can go out to preach the gospel and spread the Lord’s kingdom by saving souls. We do not rely on hired pastors or preachers. We are living members of Christ’s Body, we take Christ as our person, and we are being filled with Christ, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and being occupied [197] by God. When we let the Lord strengthen us into the inner man, He makes His home in our hearts, and we are filled unto all the fullness of God. God “is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever” (3:20-21). This is the practical living of the church; this is also the church in reality.

The reality of the church life is a living in which the believers take Christ as their person, are filled with the Holy Spirit, and are occupied by God. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” When our spirit is mingled with the Holy Spirit, the two spirits become one. When this mingled spirit occupies our mind, it becomes the spirit of our mind. In the spirit of our mind we are being renewed in our concepts, our habits, and our views. This is the way to practically put on the new man, the church life.

Ephesians 2:15 says, “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” The Lord abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances in His flesh. There are ordinances in the Old Testament laws that forbid Jews from contacting Gentiles. These ordinances cause Jews to stay away from Gentiles. However, on the cross Christ abolished all the ordinances. If we have ordinances, we can never take Christ as our person. In order to take Christ as our person, we must put off all ordinances. Verse 18 says, “Through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” In order to take Christ as our person, we must not only put off the ordinances but also be in one Spirit. For this reason, we should pay attention to the Spirit, not to ordinances.

We each have many self-made ordinances. Ordinances are our forms or ways of living and worship. For example, when I sleep at night, I must close the window; this is my ordinance. There may be a young brother who likes to sleep with the window open. Hence, my ordinance is to close the window at night, and his ordinance is to open the window. How can we be together in peace? The main ordinances in Judaism include dietary regulations, such as not eating pork. However, Gentiles eat pork. These dietary regulations are [194] a middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles (v. 14). Ordinances separate and bring in enmity between people. Regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles, we need to drop our ordinances and turn to the Spirit. If the Spirit wants us to eat meat, we should do so whether it is beef, pork, or lamb. If the Holy Spirit does not want us to eat meat, we should not eat it. When John the Baptist came, he neither ate nor drank. But when the Lord Jesus, the Son of Man, came, He both ate and drank (Matt. 11:18-19). Hence, do not pay attention to ordinances; pay attention to the Spirit. It does not matter whether or not we eat meat or whether we open or close the window; none of these matter. What is crucial is to follow the Spirit.

In the church life we should never hold on to our ordinances; we should be in the Holy Spirit. Some saints have an ordinance to sit quietly in their chair during the meeting. This becomes an ordinance of being quiet. Some younger saints like to pray loudly and shout. They are not satisfied unless they shout. This also becomes an ordinance. Thus, being quiet is an ordinance, and shouting is also an ordinance. In the end, those who are quiet cannot be one with those who shout. Since the Lord has abolished the ordinances, we are one in the Lord in reality. However, when we hold on to our ordinances, we cannot be one in practicality. The Bible clearly says that the Lord nailed all the ordinances to the cross (Col. 2:14; Eph. 2:15-16). Hence, we should drop all the ordinances and turn to the Spirit. If the Spirit wants us to shout, we should shout, and if the Spirit wants us to be quiet, we should be quiet.

Psalm 90:14 says, “Satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness / That we may give a ringing shout and rejoice all our days.” This verse says that we should give a ringing shout not only in the morning but from morning to evening all our days. I do not quote this verse to encourage you to shout. This verse shows that in our Christian life we touch the Lord inwardly. When we touch the Lord and are released, we will shout. A Christian who has never shouted has not touched the Lord in a released way. A brother said that the young saints were shouting too much. Even though I concur with this comment, I feel that those who are opposed to shouting should shout. If we insist on not shouting, we make it an ordinance, which will become a chain that binds us.

Please do not misunderstand me. Whether we should shout or be quiet is not a problem. The problem is that the demand for others to [195] be quiet or to shout comes from the self. When we make such a demand, we are the person. We must give ourselves completely to the Lord and let Him be our person. Once the Lord becomes our person, we will have joy and peace within. Of course, the young saints should not be too loud. They should take care of the older saints who may have heart problems or high blood pressure. To insist on shouting is an ordinance. Satan, the cunning one, hides behind every ordinance in order to create division and cause people to be in discord.

We must allow the cross to eliminate all our ordinances. Those who promote shouting should leave their shouting on the cross, and those who are in favor of being quiet should leave their being quiet on the cross. The Lord has abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances and slain the enmity. Let us turn to the Spirit and not be under any regulations. The quiet saints should not rebuke the saints who shout, nor should the saints who shout criticize the quiet saints. The cross has abolished all the ordinances, and we are in one Spirit. We should not decide to be quiet or to shout; rather, we should let Christ be our person in everything. Then we will be full of joy, the Lord Jesus will be very precious, and the brothers and sisters will be lovely.

We have said that if we, as Christians, are not beside ourselves, we are not qualified to be Christians, because the Bible says that we should be beside ourselves toward God (2 Cor. 5:13). We are blessed to enjoy God to the extent that we are beside ourselves. However, this is not a performance or an ordinance. It is the result of living in our mingled spirit and taking Christ as our person. Taking Christ as our person is not an ordinance. It is the way for us to live in our spirit.

Putting Off the Old Man and Putting On the New Man

Ephesians 4:22 and 24 speak of putting off the old man and putting on the new man. Since the new man in 2:15 is the church, to put on the new man in 4:24 must be to put on the church life. The New American Standard Version renders the Greek words translated “new man” in verse 24 as “new self.” This rendering does not match the context of Ephesians. Since the new man is the church in chapter 2, it cannot change its meaning in chapter 4 and become the new self. Such a translation is against the principle of Bible exposition. To put [196] on the new man is to put on the church life. This is not to put on a new self but to put on the church life.

Being Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind

The secret to putting on the new man lies in 4:23, which speaks of being “renewed in the spirit of your mind.” To be renewed in the spirit of the mind is to let our spirit become the spirit of our mind. We need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Our mind with its thoughts must be controlled, directed, saturated, and occupied by our spirit. As a result, our spirit will become the spirit of our mind, and we will be renewed in the spirit of our mind. This is the way to put on the church life.

Putting Off the Former Manner of Life and 
Putting On the Church Life

Verse 22 says, “Put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man.” Our former manner of life includes everything related to us: what we are, what we have, our family life, and our social life. Our living and walk are related to our parents and children and to our siblings, classmates, colleagues, neighbors, and relatives. Every point and aspect of our living and walk are involved with human communities. Our living is a corporate living. The Bible says that we need to put off the old man, the former manner of life, that is, the old social life, and that we need to put on the new man, the church life.