For us to be in the reality of the Body of Christ is to live in the mingled spirit, for the reality of the Body of Christ is in the mingled spirit, and for to live in the reality of the Body is to walk according to the mingled spirit. Hallelujah for our mingled spirit!
This week we have been prayerfully considering what it means to be and live in the reality of the Body of Christ, and we have seen many aspects or facets of the reality of the Body.
First of all, the highest peak of God’s economy is the reality of the Body of Christ; God’s economy is the central content of the Bible, and the highest peak in God’s economy is the reality of the Body of Christ.
The reality of the Body is the Spirit of reality wrought into us and constituted into our being; everything of God and of Christ and of the Body of Christ is made real to us in our experience by the Spirit of reality.
The reality of the Body is the reality in Jesus, the actual condition of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels; this reality is being duplicated in the many members of His Body on earth as the corporate living of the perfected God-men.
Even as Jesus lived on earth, so we as His members should live today, and our living in the reality of the Body of Christ should be Jesus living again in the members of His Body.
The reality of the Body of Christ is the union and mingling of God and man to live out a corporate God-man; Jesus was the first God-man, a mingling of God with man, and we are His reproduction and continuation, for we are also God-men, those who live a God-man life together with Christ.
The reality of the Body of Christ is a corporate living of the conformity to the death of Christ; we have been grafted into Christ, and we need to live a life of dying with Christ through the experience of the cross and by the power of His resurrection so that Christ may live in us.
As those who are the continuation of Christ on earth today, we need to live the same kind of life as He did, that is, we need to live a crucified life by taking Christ’s death as the mold of our life.
All these definitions of the reality of the Body of Christ are wonderful and very experiential, but how do we enter into their experience? How can we be conformed to the death of Christ? How can we live a God-man life? How can we be guided in all the reality? How can we have a corporate God-man living?
The secret is our mingled spirit; all these are possible in the mingled spirit.
To be in the Reality of the Body of Christ is to Live in the Mingled Spirit today
As believers in Christ we have a regenerated human spirit, for the consummated Spirit of God entered into our spirit and mingled as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
Through regeneration God as Spirit came and entered into our spirit to be mingled with our spirit as one spirit. Today God the Spirit is mingled with our spirit as one spirit within us so that we can live a God-man life, a life that is God yet man and man yet God.
Living a God-man life for the reality of the Body of Christ is a living of the two spirits, the Spirit of God and the spirit of man joined and mingled together as one.
Thank and praise the Lord for our mingled spirit. It is in the mingled spirit that we have the efficacy of the death of Christ and the power of His resurrection. When we live in the mingled spirit, we live in the reality of the Body of Christ.
The reality of the Body of Christ is in the mingled spirit. God’s unique purpose is to mingle Himself with us so that He becomes our life, our nature, and our content, and we become His expression (see John 14:20; 15:4-5; Eph. 3:16-21; 4:4-6).
In His economy, God comes to us as the Spirit to mingle Himself with us and become one entity with us; 1 Cor. 6:17 clearly tells us that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
Our concept may be that our union with the Lord is a matter of the spirit, but if we read the context of this chapter we realise that our union with the Lord is not only int he spirit but it is our entire being that is one with the Lord.
The joining with the Lord transpires in our spirit, but our union with God is the union of our entire being – spirit, soul, and body – with God.
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord dwells not only in our spirit but also in our soul and in our body, so that our entire being is joined to the Lord.
We may be saved to the extent that we and God are completely mingled as one – we have one life and one living (John 15:4-5; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21). The focus of God’s economy is the mingled spirit; everything of God’s economy is accomplished and made real in the mingled spirit.
Everything that intends to do or accomplished is related to the focus of His economy, our mingled spirit (see Eph. 3:9, 5; 1:17; 2:22; 4:23; 5:18; 6:18).
The mingled spirit is a spirit that is one spirit with God and that is the same as God in life and nature but not in the Godhead; in the mingled spirit we are regenerated of God, and our spirit is one with God, even becoming God in life and nature (1 John 5:11; 2 Pet. 1:4).
The divine Spirit and the human spirit are mingled as one within us so that we can live the life of a God-man, a life that is God yet man and man yet God.
The God-man living is the living of the two spirits – the Spirit of God and the spirit of man, joined and mingled together as one.
How can we live in the reality of the Body of Christ? It is by living in the mingled spirit. How can we live a God-man life? It is by living in the mingled spirit. How can we have the righteous requirement of God being fulfilled in us?
It is by living in the mingled spirit.
Thank You Lord for our mingled spirit! Hallelujah, the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God! Praise the Lord, we are joined to the Lord as one spirit, and our entire being is joined to the Lord! Thank You Lord for showing us the focus of God’s economy and the key to accomplishing God’s purpose: our mingled spirit. We want to live in the mingled spirit today so that we may live in the reality of the Body of Christ. Keep us turning to You, Lord, so that we may walk according to the mingled spirit today!
We Live in the Reality of the Body of Christ by Walking according to the Mingled Spirit
![What, actually speaking, is the Body of Christ? What is the Body of Christ, practically speaking? It is the mingled spirit....May [the Lord] show us such a fact, such a practicality! If we would see this, we would say, “Lord, have mercy upon me. I am too far off. I have never entered into such a stage of the mingled spirit. I have never entered into a stage of the Body life. I still pray for this and for that, and I still wait for this and for that. I have never realized that the reality of the Body is right within me. The regenerated spirit and the indwelling Spirit are now one, mingled together right within me....Everything is within me. I just walk according to this mingled spirit. I just set my mind on the spirit. Life is here, and peace is here.” Witness Lee, Perfecting Training, ch. 30](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/What-actually-speaking-is-the-Body-of-Christ1-683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C674&ssl=1 "What, actually speaking, is the Body of Christ? What is the Body of Christ, practically speaking? It is the mingled spirit....May [the Lord] show us such a fact, such a practicality! If we would see this, we would say, “Lord, have mercy upon me. I am too far off. I have never entered into such a stage of the mingled spirit. I have never entered into a stage of the Body life. I still pray for this and for that, and I still wait for this and for that. I have never realized that the reality of the Body is right within me. The regenerated spirit and the indwelling Spirit are now one, mingled together right within me....Everything is within me. I just walk according to this mingled spirit. I just set my mind on the spirit. Life is here, and peace is here.” Witness Lee, Perfecting Training, ch. 30")
The lowest type of people on earth today are those who live according to the flesh and the lusts of the flesh; then, those who live according to the mind with their good concepts are somewhat higher.
Finally, those who live according to their conscience – which is a part of man’s spirit – may be considered the highest type of people, humanly speaking.
But we as believers in Christ should have a higher living than this – we need to live according to the mingled spirit; our living shouldn’t be only according to our conscience but according to the mingled spirit.
The highest life is the God-man life, the life lived according to the mingled spirit. On this level, on the level of living in the spirit and walking according to the spirit, is the highest life; here we should have our Christian life and our church life.
For us to live the Christian life and church life doesn’t mean that we need to be humble, meek, patient, loving, nice, and forbearing; the unique requirement and the unique qualification is living and walking according to the mingled spirit.
Similarly, for us to be in the reality of the Body of Christ doesn’t mean that we are being perfected in our humanity to be a better human being, a kinder, more patient, and more humble Christian, or being a knowledgeable Christian.
The Body of Christ is real and practical only in the mingled spirit. The Body of Christ, practically speaking, is the mingled spirit.
If we see this vision, if we realise that the Body of Christ is the mingled spirit, we will give up any thought of improving ourselves or being perfected in our self, and we will simply turn to the Lord in the mingled spirit.
If we realise that, practically speaking, the Body of Christ is in the mingled spirit, we will give up our trying, our struggling, and our improving, and we will ask the Lord for His mercy that we may be in the mingled spirit and walk according to the mingled spirit.
How can we be in the reality of the Body of Christ? It is by being in the mingled spirit and by walking according to the mingled spirit.
The regenerated spirit and the indwelling Spirit are in us, mingled together; everything we need to live in the reality of the Body of Christ is in us – we simply need to set our mind on the spirit and walk according to the spirit!
Those who are in spirit have crucified their lusts and their flesh; those who walk according to the spirit spontaneously fulfill all the righteous requirements of the law.
If we live, behave, act, and walk in the mingled spirit, we live in the Body; when we set our mind on the mingled spirit, we live Christ, and when we live Christ by walking according to the mingled spirit, we live in the reality of the Body of Christ.
Lord, we want to live and walk according to the mingled spirit so that we may be in the reality of the Body of Christ. Thank You, Lord, for giving us everything we need for us to be in the reality of the Body of Christ. Hallelujah for our mingled spirit! May we live and walk according to the mingled spirit so that we may practically be in the reality of the Body of Christ. Lord, we choose to set our mind on the mingled spirit. We choose to be in the mingled spirit. We exercise our spirit, and we want to do everything in and according to the mingled spirit!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 1, “Basic Training,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Body of Christ by Keeping the Principles of the Body (2019 ICSC), week 1, The Reality of the Body of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We are united with Christ in our spirit. / He dwells within us / and makes His home in our heart, / To our body giving life, / Purified to be a member of Christ; / Our every part is Christ! (Song on, He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit)
# Now within the Lord’s recov’ry, we’re so glad to find the way / To experience the Triune God and live by Him today— / Get into the mingled spirit, and within the spirit stay; / Yes, mingling is the way. (Hymns #1199)
# Every time I say “Amen” to His Spirit / And walk by my spirit, / The kingdom seed grows and develops / Deep inside of me. / On the outside, it may seem that there’s / No change in me— / But I’m not the same, / ’Cause as the seed grows in me, / Inside I’m becoming God! (Song on, I’m a God-man)
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