FTTT13 First Semester
God’s New Testament Economy
Chapter 11 The Spirit of the Body, the Bountiful Spirit of Jesus
Christ, and the Spirit of the Practical Christian Life
Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:4, Phil. 1:19; 1 Thes. 4:3-8; 2 Thes. 2:13-14; 1 Tim. 3:16; 2
Tim. 1:14; Titus 3:5
I. The spirit of the Body
A. The members of the Body being sealed with the Spirit as the pledge of their
inheritance (Eph. 1:13)
1. To being sealed means we are one with the divine element, just as the ink element
has become one with the paper and that the two elements are mingled as one.
2. Sealing something gives it a mark, it causes us to bear God’s image signified by
the seal, thus making us like God.
3. Sealing also denotes ownership. The Holy Spirit put the divine element into our
being as a seal to mark us out, indicating that we belong to God. The divine
element, the mark and the indication of the divine ownership, when added
together, become a pledge. It guarantees that God is our inheritance.
B. The members of the one Body having access through Christ in the one Spirit unto
the Father (Eph. 2:18), means for us to contact God for our enjoyment.
C. The Father strengthening the members of the Body through the Spirit for Christ to
mark His home in their heart (Eph. 3:4-9).
1. Christ may make His home in our hearts, that we may be strong to apprehend
with all the members the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ, that we may
be filled unto all the fullness of God.
2. The Father, the Spirit, Christ and God, this four titles do not refer to four different
persons but to the same One, the same complete Triune God.
3. To apprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth, the unlimited dimensions of
Christ, requires all the saints, not individually but corporately.
D. The members of the Body keeping the Oneness of the Spirit (Eph. 4:1), we are one
only when we are in the spirit. When we are outside the Spirit it is better not to talk
to keep the peace.
E. The members of the Body not grieving the Spirit (Eph. 4:30). Once the spirit gets
into us, He is always with us and will never leave us; we should not be those who
grieve the sealing Spirit.
F. The Spirit as the Word of God being the sword for the Body to fight the battle (Eph.
6:17).
II. The bountiful Spirit of Jesus Christ
A. The bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19) includes the Spirit of
Jesus (Acts 16:7) ─ Jesus’ incarnation, humanity, human living, suffering, and
crucifixion, and the Spirit of Christ (Tom. 8:9) ─ Christ’s divinity, victory over
death, resurrection, and power of resurrection. All these items added together issue
the Spirit of Jesus Christ, an all-inclusive compound Spirit. In Him there is a
1
bountiful supply.
B. The believers living Christ and magnifying Him (Phil. 1:20-21a). Nothing is as
hard as living Christ, no one can graduate from living Christ.
C. God operating in the believers both the willing and working (Phil. 2:12-16). We
have to work out such a present, daily, and practical salvation for ourselves but not
by our own strength.
D. The believers gaining Christ and being found in Him (Phil. 3:8-9). It means to gain
Christ dispositionally, experientially, having Christ as God’s righteousness
expressed from within us.
E. Empowering the believers to do all things in Christ (Phil. 4:13). In this Spirit, we
are empowered to do all things for expressing Christ.
III. The Spirit of the practical Christian life
A. The Spirit revealed in the seven books of the Bible from Colossians through
Philemon, the sum total subject of these seven books is “the Spirit of the practical
Christian life”.
B. The source and element of the believers love (Col. 1:4, 8), is the Spirit revealed in
Colossians
1. In ourselves we can never have a love which is toward all the saints. This love is
in the Spirit.
2. For new man the basic need is unique-His love, not human and natural love. This
love is a person, which is the all-inclusive Spirit.
C. Given by God to the believers for sanctification (1 Thes. 4:3-8)
1. Sanctification versus fornication; sanctification is to use the body absolutely for
God; fornication is to use the body for something other than God.
2. Every one of us has committed fornication because we do not use our being for
God but for something else. First Thessalonians 4:3-8 is a strong portion of the
Word telling us that to use our entire being for God is only possible by being in
the Spirit.
3. Before we were saved, we did not have any kind of feeling that someone was
moving in us. Since we have been saved, however, it seems that we have
someone-the Spirit-within us all the time, makes our spirit burning (Rom. 12:11)
and our gifts flaming (2 Tim. 1:6), so we should not quench the Spirit (1 Thes.
5:19) but need to go along with this Spirit.
D. Salvation in sanctification of the Spirit (2 Thes. 2:13-14)
1. We see salvation in sanctification of the spirit unto the obtaining of the glory of
Christ to express God. God has chosen us unto a particular kind of salvation, and
this salvation is in the sanctification of the Spirit.
2. When we are saved by the sanctifying Spirit, we are people under glory, and this
glory is for the expression of God.
E. Vindicating the manifestation of God in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16)
1. This transpired in Christ while He was on this earth; today the same principle
applies to us, the church. Only when we live in the all-inclusive Spirit, do we have
a kind of vindication that God is manifested in us.
2
2. The Spirit speaks to the believers, warning them of apostasy. We need to exercise
our spirit that it may become keen and clear to listen to the Spirit’s speaking and
be kept from the deceiving spirits and teachings of demons.
F. Dwelling in the believers through whom they guard the good deposit (2 Tim. 1:14).
Since we were saved we have received many things into us as a kind of deposit. If
we walk according to our mentality, there would be no safeguarding of the good
things deposited in our being. We need to safeguard the good deposit by the Spirit.
G. The renewing of the Spirit for our salvation (Titus 3:5). God saved us through the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit; He is renewing us
continuously every day and all day.
H. All the members of the Body of Christ are equal in God’s eternal life and the
divine love (Philemon), only in the Spirit this matter can be happened.
IV. The Spirit in Colossians through Philemon
A. The Spirit in Colossians through Philemon is the Spirit of the practical Christians
life. This is our practical Christians life every day.
B. The first item of the practical Christian life is the love in the Spirit toward all the
saints, and the last item is the daily renewing by the all-inclusive Spirit.
3