Experiencing the Highest Life – Part 1 – Living by the Spirit, Not the Soul

Now, brothers and sisters, this afternoon we spent quite a bit of time looking at the soul, and we’ve got some place to go tonight that’s just wonderful. Before we get there, I want us to get acquainted with all three of these lives so that, brothers and sisters, when you recognize them, you see them coming, you know which way to go. Alright. Let’s go to Romans 7. If you look at Romans 7, you know, we ought to read this entire passage, but tonight, I believe, Romans 7 and 8 will open to you so that you will never again, as long as you live, be able to read it without fully, thoroughly, completely understanding its main intent. I hope so; if not, go back and review this.

Okay, Romans 7:17. Now, it is no more I that do it, but what sin that dwells in me. And if you look at that word, it is the same word that is used in Galatians 2.20. It is no longer I, but Christ that dwells in me. It is no longer I, but Christ that lives by abiding… a Life abiding within…a dwelling Life. It actually speaks of a Life dwelling within. Now, this verse says, It is no longer I, but Him that dwells in me. Does the satanic life dwell in you? Where is this dwelling? This is something alive. Where is this sin? It is sin that lives in us, and sin is nothing but the personification, the fallen expression, of Satan. Okay? The next verse makes it very clear. For I know that in me, that is, in my what? Flesh…dwells no good thing. For the will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I know not. For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not do, that I do. Now, if I do that, which I wouldn’t do, it is no more I, but it is sin that lives, dwells, even reigns in me. I find a law that when I will to do good, evil is present with me, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my what? Where? Members. What are your members? Alright. Warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into the captivity of the law of sin, which is in my body. Where does sin dwell in you? It dwells in your body, and it causes your body to be flesh. So, sin dwells in our flesh. Okay?

Now then, brothers and sisters, where is the throne of my own residence? Where do I reside? I reside in the soul. Let’s turn to 2 Timothy. I tell you what, just for fun, let’s go to Philemon, which is just down the road a little way. Alright, now, you know, we can take…oh, listen, brother…there are so many verses about this we couldn’t exhaust them, but I thought we’d take some new verses you might never have seen before with this. I believe that you know that we can find lots and lots and lots of verses that tell us where the Father resides, where the triune God resides in us. But in Philemon, the last verse says, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be…where? Say it…with your spirit. Now then, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ dwells with your spirit.

Now turn to the last verse in Timothy. By the way, this is possibly the last sentence Paul ever wrote, the last admonition he ever gave to a dear brother in Christ. I will never forget the last verse in 2 Timothy. The Lord Jesus Christ has become…and dwells within his spirit. Jesus Christ is with his spirit. You have a spirit, and Christ dwells in…where does He dwell? In your spirit. Amen. Hallelujah.

Now then, just a little bit, nobody will think we made this up. We also know that we have not only the Life, and not only the spirit in us, but we have a principle of Life. Now, let me see if I can make this clear. In Romans 8:2, please. May we read this? Somebody just read this. Romans 8:2. Alright, I tell you kids, we have three lives. What are they? The life of Adam, where is it? In the soul. The life of sin, and it’s in our flesh. And the Life of the triune God, and it is where? In our spirit.

Okay, now then, with every life on earth, there is also a way. A way. Every life has a characteristic. Every life has a certain power. Every life has a certain way of expressing itself; you might say it is regulated in a certain way. I know one well and its characteristics really well because every night at about midnight, I have to get up and let it into the house. That’s dog life. I am an expert on dog life. Do you know what the principle of dog life is?  The principle of dog life is to bark. The principle of cat life is to chase mice. That is its regulation.

Now, there is not only sin in you, but there is the law of sin. Go back to Romans 7, and we’ll see this. But I see another…it’s Romans 7.23…But I see another law in my…where? Members. Now then, what did we find out was in the members? Sin. And what is the sin? Is it what? It’s a law. Okay, there is a law. Now then, wait a minute, that’s just one principle with one law. Let’s see if there’s another principle with another law. In the next verse…or same verse, excuse me, in the same verse, warring against what? The law of my mind. Okay, now wait a minute. We’ve got a law of what? Sin. And we’ve got a law of what? The law of the mind.

Okay, now brothers, what is the mind? I think I told you this afternoon. What is the mind? The soul. Anytime you see mind, you know soul: anytime you see soul, you know mind. They are almost completely interchangeable in Scripture. But to make this very clear, and Paul made this so clear to us, in the verse before that, he said, I delight in the law of God after what…Inward man. There are two kinds of inward man mentioned in Scripture. One is the “inward” man, and one is the “inmost” man. One we see tied to the soul, and the other refers to the inmost man, which is the spirit.

So, we have an inward man. That’s the soul. There is a law in the soul; there’s a law in the mind. Now there’s a law in the flesh: the law of sin. There is a life in the flesh; it’s the life of sin. There is a law in my soul; it is the law of human life. There is a life in my soul: human life.

Now then, there is a third law with a third life. He just read it. For…Romans 8:2…for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free…okay, now wait a minute. A minute ago, it said the law of the mind delights in something. What does it delight in?  The law of what? Okay, it delights in the law of God. I’m going to start in reverse order, and I want to talk about the lowest of the three highest life forms. Did that get you? The three highest life forms are the life form of God, the life form of angels, and the life form of man, and of course, of these, I want to start with the first one.

Now, then, there is a law in you, a principle, a way. Now, what is that law? Now, you read it and tell me what it is. I’m not going any further until somebody tells me, “What is the principle of man?”  The principle of a dog is to bark. The principle of a cat chasing a mouse. What is the principle of man, the law of man? To be good. You, naturally…man…delight in doing good. That’s the characteristic of man, as he presently is.

(Continued in Part 2)