The Spirit of Life

“The Churches are weak today because Christ the rock are not abiding in them in the manifestations of the power of God.” - Smith Wigglesworth

The Law of the Spirit of Life

Romans 8:1–14 ESV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The Outlook of the Spirit

Romans 8:5-7 NET

5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.

6 For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace,

7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

There are Three Laws

First, there is the law of the flesh.

Second, there is the law of death.

Third, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, (which) hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

The Spirit Defined

Pneuma - Spirit (Greek)

Spirit most essentially defines the life principle, especially in man—infused by deity

Zechariah 12:1 ESV

1 The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:

“The Spirit of God at work in a man goes thousands of miles beyond psychological influence.” - John G. Lake

The things of the Spirit must be caught not taught.

The highest evidence of the transcendence of spirit over the physical aspects of existence is in reference to God. “God is a spirit”

John 4:24 ESV

24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Spirit can also describe created beings other than human—good or evil angels (1 Sm 16:14); lying (1 Kgs 22:21–23) demonic beings.

Dissociation of spirit from flesh is scriptural.

Isaiah 31:3 describes the antithesis between flesh and spirit.

Isaiah 31:3 ESV

3 The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together.

The Law of Life and Law of Death: By John G. Lake

During that great plague that I mentioned, they sent government ship with supplies and a corps of doctors. One of the doctors sent for me, and said, “What have you been using to protect yourself? Our corps has this preventative and that, which we use as protection, but we concluded that if a man could stay on the ground as you have and keep ministering to the sick and burying the dead, you must have a secret. What is it?”

I answered, “Brother that is the ‘law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.’ I believe that just as long as I keep my soul in contact with the living god so that His Spirit is flowing into my soul and body, that no germ will ever attach itself to me, for the Spirit of God will kill it.” He asked, “Don’t you think that you had better use our preventative?” I replied, “No, but doctor I think that you would like to experiment with me. If you will go over to one of these dead people and take the foam that comes out of their lungs after death, then put it under the microscope you will see masses of living germs. You will find they are alive until a reasonable time after a man is dead. You can fill my hand with them and I will keep it under the microscope, and instead of these germs remaining alive, they will die instantly.” They tried it and found it was true. They questioned, “What is that?” I replied, “That is ‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.’ When a man’s spirit and a man’s body are filled with the blessed presence of God, it oozes out of the pores of your flesh and kills the germs.”

Suppose on the other hand, my soul had been under the law of death, and I were in fear and darkness? The very opposite would have been the result. The result would have been that my body would have absorbed the germs, these would have generated disease and I would have died.

You who are sick, put yourself in contact with God’s law of life. Read His Word with the view of enlightening your heart so that you will be able to look up with more confidence and believe Him. Pray that the Spirit of God will come into your soul, take possession of your body, and its power will make you well. That is the exercise of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Living A Spirit Filled Life

Galatians 5:16–25 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Variety of Gifts

When the gifts are in evidence, the whole church is built up, Christ being the head. “Jesus said, “I have come to do thy will, O my God!” and as we surrender in that way God will be delighted to hand us the gift which is necessary. - Smith Wigglesworth

1 Corinthians 12:4–11(ESV)

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Gifts of the Spirit (KJV)

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 (KJV)

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

9 Gifts of the Spirit

The gifts that help you think like God

The Word of Knowledge - Is a supernatural revelation of natural things from the physical world both past and present tense. It can also mean to understand and grasp great facts or utterances of spiritual illumination.

Discerning of Spirits - A supernatural revelation of the spirit world. The spirit of God, man and the devil.

The Word of Wisdom - How to apply or what to do in a given situation. What commandment to give, that will be linked to a miracle, if obeyed.

The Gifts that Help You Act Like God.

The Gift of Faith - Is God’s faith imparted to man. It is the confidence that God will come through with His promises. It also refers to genuine faith for a particular outcome to come to pass in the midst of great undertakings.

The Gift of Healing - Is gradual and progressive restoration mainly to the human body.

The Gift of Miracles - Is the instantaneous and immediate work of God that applies to all things. It is a supernatural intervention in the normal function of nature.

The Gifts that Help You Speak Like God.

The Gift of Tongues - Is an anointing given by the Holy Spirit that enables a person to speak in a language that the speaker has not learned or does not know, but it could also be a supernatural utterance and message to the church that requires an interpretation.

The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues - Is the theme of the message in tongues. The interpretation is given in the language of the hearers, by a revelation given by the Holy Spirit.

The Gift of Prophecy - is a supernaturally inspired utterance by the Holy Spirit in one’s own native language.

There are two levels of prophecy.

Low Level - Exhortation, uplifting and encouraging.

High Level - Is history written in advance and foretelling the future.

True Righteousness & Holiness

Ephesians 4:11–24 (ESV)

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.