We need to Drink of the Spirit to be Saturated and Renewed in our Mind for the New Man

The best way for us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind is to drink of the Spirit, for the Spirit will saturate our mind and every part of our being for the one new man.

We all need to not only see the vision of the one new man and realize that this is what God is after, but also have a desire to enter into the practicality of the one new man, asking the Lord to renew our mind and transform our inner being (Rom. 12:2).

We need to have a thorough renewal of our mind for the practical existence of the one new man. The one new man is realized practically not by coming together and doing our best to accommodate each other in the church life, but by the renewal of our mind.

When our mind is renewed by the Lord through our drinking of the Spirit, we are in reality the one new man. We need to not only see the intrinsic significance of the one new man but also enter into the subjective experience of this new man in our daily living.

In many ways we human beings are like the porcupines – when we get together we “prick each other” with our spikes, and we are divided because of our peculiarities and background and culture.

What is the way for us as believers in Christ regenerated by God’s life to be one, even to be the one new man? It is not outward adjustment or correction, but by being renewed in the spirit of our mind as we drink of the Spirit.

It is a fact that we have been crucified with Christ, and through baptism we have testified to the whole universe that the old man has been buried, and now we live in resurrection as a new creation.

Our testimony is that it’s no longer I but Christ who lives (Gal. 2:20) for the one new man. Amen! Throughout our life, our national and racial mentality has been built up as we are raised up by our family, go to school to get educated, and live in a certain city, country, and continent.

While the world encourages us to treasure our racial and cultural background, we need to realize that this is the greatest hindrance to the existence of the one new man.

For the one new man to come into full existence, we as believers in Christ and as members of the Body of Christ need to experience a thorough renewal of our mind, so that everything that has been built up according to our nationality and culture would be washed away, and only Christ would remain.

In the new man Christ is all and in all; there’s no room in the new man for the American culture, the Chinese culture, or the British culture – we all need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind so that what is being expressed is Christ and not our culture, our background, or our education.

Praying and Desiring to Enter into the Practicality of the New Man in our Daily Living

If we look at one another from the human point of view, there’s no way for us to get rid of the differences between us; we all have different ordinances based on the race and background, and there are many things that differentiate and separate us.

Besides our national character, each one of us has a particular character and disposition, and we were raised in different environments and come from different backgrounds.

How can we all be one? It’s not by getting together and agreeing to drop our differences but by God’s grace and by the Spirit that we can be one. We may understand the doctrine of the one new man, but do we have the reality of the new man?

We may realize that God wants to gain the one new man in practical existence, and we may agree with Him, but do we have the practicality of the new man in our daily living? What about our practical living day-to-day – do we live in the reality of the new man?

Do we really open to the Lord day by day to be renewed in the spirit of our mind? When we travel, go to work, do our daily chores, and take care of so many things, are we under the continual and thorough renewal of the mind?

If we are really renewed in the spirit of our mind, this will be seen in our practical life daily. In our prayer to the Lord we need to desire to enter into the practicality of the one new man in our daily living.

Since we are saved ones, we are set apart from others to be unto the Lord; we together are the ekklesia, the gathering of the called out ones, and we all seek to be renewed in our mind so that our inward being may be transformed.

As those who love the Lord and pursue Him, we all need to pray daily to the Lord and desire to enter into the practicality of the new man in our daily living.

We need to even ask the Lord in an honest way to show us what is the problem in us to the practical existence of the one new man. We need to ask Him to show us what’s the practical problem in our daily living for our fellowship with all the saints, for our church life.

If we are honest with the Lord about this and open to Him, asking Him to shine on us in a particular way concerning the practicality of the one new man, He will be faithful to expose what is it in us that hinders us from entering in.

He will be show us many things in us that hinders Him from gaining the new man in practicality.

As we drink the Spirit daily, we are being saturated with Christ in our mind, and we become the new man in reality; then, as the Lord shines on us, we can see what the problem is, and we will pray more and desire to enter into the practicality of the new man in our daily living.

Lord Jesus, we desire to enter into the practicality of the one new man in our daily living! We admit that, even though we see something of the one new man, we still lack in the experience of the new man in practicality. Oh Lord, have mercy on us and shine on us to show us what is it in our being that is a problem for the practical existence of the new man. Lord, renew our mind and transform our inward being for the one new man. We want to cooperate with You for You to gain what You are after today in practicality in all the local churches!

We need to Drink of the Spirit to be Saturated and Renewed in our Mind for the New Man

We need to daily put off the old man and put on the new man; for this, we need to drink the Spirit so that we may be renewed in the spirit of our mind in every area of our daily life (see 1 Cor. 12:13).

On the one hand, we all were baptised in the one Spirit at the time of our regeneration, and on the other, we all need to continually drink of the Spirit so that we may be inwardly constituted with the Spirit for the Body of Christ as the one new man.

When we drink of the Spirit, He saturates every part of our being – beginning with our mind, the leading part of our inner being (Rom. 12:2).

Whatever we drink refreshes us, saturates us, and renews our physical body; similarly, when we drink of the Spirit, He saturates very part of our inner being.

What we need is more of this inner saturation of the Spirit that comes about through our constant drinking of the Spirit. Our mind is the leading and central part of our inward being; when we drink the Spirit, He first saturates our mind.

Many times, however, there are things that frustrate our spiritual drinking, and we may fluctuate in our drinking of the Spirit. Sometimes we may drink a lot of the Spirit, while at other times we may take a break for a week from drinking of the Spirit.

If our drinking of the Spirit is inconsistent, it is hard to be healthy; but the more we drink of the Spirit, the more we will bring in the existence of the one new man.

When we pray, pray-read the word of God, fellowship with the Lord, and love Him, the element of God gets into our mentality; the result will be that we will think as He thinks, we will see things the way He does, and we will consider the situations as He does.

When we meet with others, we will see only Christ in them, and there will be no races, no social ranks, and no religious differences; when we drink of the Spirit and are saturated and renewed in our mind, we will truly have Christ as all and in all.

Today is moving to gain the one new man, and this is not by outward regulation or conformity, but by our constant daily drinking of the Spirit to be saturated and renewed in our mind for the one new man.

We first need to love the Lord, pursue Him, and seek after what He wants, what He loves, and what He wants to do. Then, we need to fellowship with the Lord, talking to Him in everything; we need to always remain in fellowship with the Lord, staying in communion with Him.

Finally, we need to pray; prayer causes us to exercise our spirit. When we pray and open to the Lord about all things, we contact Him through the exercise of our spirit, and He as the life-giving Spirit will be mingled not only with our spirit but will spread into our mind to become the spirit of our mind.

As those who love the Lord, pursue Him, and follow Him on earth today, we all must be renewed in the spirit of our mind to become the one new man, taking Christ as our person and living by Him, for Him to gain what He desires today.

Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to contact You again and again in Your word and through prayer, so that You as the Spirit would spread from our spirit into our mind to saturate our mind and renew it for the one new man. Amen, Lord, may nothing frustrate or interrupt our drinking of the Spirit. We want to drink more of the Spirit for the bringing in the existence of the one new man. May Your element get into our mentality so that we may think the way You think, see things the way You do, and consider the situation the way You do. Lord, may Christ be truly all and in all in the one new man!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 3, “The One New Man,” chs. 6-7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Goal of the Lord’s Recovery – to Bring Forth the One New Man (2018 ICSC), week 2, Being Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind for the Practical Existence of the One New Man.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # As the center, as the kernel, / Of God’s plan our spirit is; / Calling on the name of Jesus / Makes our spirit one with His. / From the center to circumference / God would saturate each part; / Feeling, mind, and will renewing, / Making home in all our heart. (Hymns #1325)
  # This Spirit shall transform our natural life, / Save us from self, build us in one new man, / Till we’re conformed to be like Jesus Christ, / Thus finishing our God’s eternal plan. (Hymns #1195)
  # For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord; / All the members self forsake, / And of the Body-Christ partake. / We in Christ as one new man / Now come forth to take this land. / For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord. (Hymns #1230)