Not being Past Feeling but Living by the Sense of Life and Death in our Spirit

As those regenerated by the Lord with His divine life, we believers in Christ have a sense of life, the feeling of the divine life in us, which is both the feeling of death and the feeling of life; may we be saved from being past feeling and live according to the consciousness of the divine life in us. Amen!

We believers in Christ have been born of God by faith in Christ. This is an amazing fact, yet it is so normal and sweet.

We did not just adhere to a certain set of doctrines or sign somewhere to follow the rules of God in the Bible in order to be Christians; rather, genuine Christians are those born of God.

How about that: man can be born of God! If we read the Bible, we realize that some of the most amazing things that happened in human history is God becoming man through incarnation, then this Man dying for us on the cross and, in His resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit to dispense Himself into us. Hallelujah!

Another amazing fact that the New Testament reveals is that we human beings can be born of God.

The only way we can see, know, and enter into the kingdom of God is by being born into this kingdom.

No dog can be naturalized into the human kingdom, no matter how much the dog owner wants him to; you have to be born into the human kingdom so that you may be a man.

Similarly, no matter how much someone sympathizes with Christ and agrees with His teachings, unless he repents of his sins and believes into the Lord Jesus, he is still outside the kingdom of God.

There are many teachers today who seem to teach things that are according to the Bible, quoting many Bible verses and making sense in what they say; however, they are not in the kingdom of God, for they were not regenerated with God’s life.

Such a simple matter, being born of God, is so amazing yet so normal.

When someone receives the Lord’s shining and repents, confesses their sins, and believes into the Lord Jesus, he is regenerated in his spirit. Wow!

When we believe into the Lord Jesus, whether we feel it or not, the divine life of God comes into us to cause us to be born again, born of God, for us to be part of the kingdom of God. Hallelujah!

Of course, this is just the beginning of our Christian life; from now on we need to grow in life, develop in the Lord, and live in the reality of the kingdom of God so that we may live in the reality of the kingdom of God today.

May we be such ones who live by the divine life in us so that we may live in the reality of the kingdom of God today.

We have the Sense of Life: the Feeling, the Consciousness of the Divine Life in our Spirit

The phrase, the sense of life, is not found in the New Testament, but there are a few verses which indicate that each believer in Christ has a sense of life, the sense of the divine life in him.

In Rom. 8:2 we are told that the law of the Spirit of life has freed us in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.

The Spirit of life has a law, and this law is stronger than the law of sin and of death; when we’re in Christ by being in our spirit, we are spontaneously delivered from the law of sin and of death! Praise the Lord!

Rom. 8:6 speaks of setting our mind on our spirit; when we set our mind on the flesh, we have death, but when we set our mind on our spirit, we have life and peace.

This is a matter of sense; there’s a sense in the divine life in us, the feeling of the divine life, which is either death or life, depending on where our mind is set.

If we set our mind on our spirit, the consciousness of the divine life in us is life and peace; we enjoy life and peace.

But if we set our mind on the flesh and the things of the flesh, we sense death, for the feeling of the divine life in us is death.

Rom. 8:11 speaks of the Spirit who dwells in us; if we have Christ, we are of Him, and we have the Spirit in us.

Eph. 4:18 speaks of being alienated from the life of God when we were unbelievers, but now we have God’s life.

Within us there’s a life besides our human life – the divine life, the life of God in our spirit.

Verse 19 further says that the unbelievers are past feeling; we as believers in Christ are learning today to live according to the sense of life in our spirit. Amen!

Heb. 8:10 speaks of how God in the new covenant writes His laws into the believers; we believers in Christ have not only the Bible in our hand but even more, the laws and principles of God written within us. Praise the Lord!

When we read the Bible and contact the Lord in spirit, the Lord not only touches us with something in His word but even more, He writes His laws into our heart.

Then 1 John 2:27 says that we have an anointing from the Holy One, and each one of us knows; we don’t need anyone to teach us, for the anointing teaches us concerning all things.

Praise the Lord, the anointing is in us, and it teaches us all things! As God writes His laws into our heart, infusing us with what He is in His very being, there’s something in us, an anointing, that teaches us all things in a subjective way.

As the anointing teaches us concerning all things, we abide in the Lord. In every believer in Christ, there’s the anointing that teaches us concerning all things.

There’s a sense of the divine life, the feeling of the divine life within us, which teaches us, guides us, speaks to us, and limits us in all things.

In John 15:4-5 we are told to abide in the Lord so that He may abide in us, and in Phil. 2:13 Paul tells us that God operates in us all things, both the willing and the working.

As we abide in the Lord and He abides in us, God operates in us both the willing and the working.

If we read all the above verses and pray over them we realize that there’s another life in us, the life of God, and this life has a sense – the sense of life, the consciousness of the divine life in our spirit.

When we walk and live by the sense of life, the feeling of the divine life within us, God does in us all things – He does the willing and the working, and He teaches us subjectively concerning Himself.

May we be those who live and walk by the sense of life in our spirit in all things!

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us as life to regenerate us with God’s life! Hallelujah, we believers in Christ have the life of God in our spirit, and this life has a feeling, a consciousness! Praise the Lord, the law of the Spirit of life has freed us in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death! Hallelujah, we have the life of God in our spirit, and we can live according to the sense of life today. Amen, Lord, we come to You in Your word. Write Your laws within us. Inscribe the tablet of our heart with what You are and infuse us with all the elements of Your being. Amen, Lord, we want to heed the anointing, the inner moving and operating of the Spirit, so that we may know God and abide in the Lord. Thank You for the anointing from the Holy One! Operate in us and teach us in all things so that we may abide in the Lord and walk according to the Spirit. Amen, Lord, we want to abide in You today. Operate in us both the willing and the working according to Your good pleasure!

Not being Past Feeling but Living by the Sense of Life and Death in our Spirit

In our human life, we have a sense of life; we develop, grow, move, act, do things, speak, and behave according to the sense of the human life, which each one of us has.

Similarly in the divine life there’s a sense of life. Before we were saved, we were past feeling; we did things in a reckless way, not paying attention to the inner feeling (Eph. 4:19).

Some unbelievers may be a bit more moral and ethical, taking care of their conscience and not going past feeling in what they do.

The most careless people in the world are those who do not care for their conscience; they do things without heeding the inner sense.

Then there are those who endeavour to be good persons, and they take care of the feeling of their conscience.

They are not governed just by the outward law, the police, or the rules of that country; they are ruled by their conscience.

Even with the unbelievers, the highest moral standard they have is according to the feeling of their conscience.

But we as believers in Christ do not live merely according to our conscience but even more, we live according to the sense of life in our spirit.

As seen in Rom. 8:6, the sense of life is twofold: on one hand, it is a sense of life, and on the other, it is a sense of death.

It is the same in the human life with the sense we have as humans.

When we sense danger, though we cannot explain it, we just stay away from it.

When we sense something is bitter, dark, or sharp, we stay away from it; no one needs to tell us, for there’s a sense within us about this.

The sense of life in our spirit, on the negative side, is the feeling of death; it is a negative feeling.

There’s a sensation in our spirit that certain things we read or watch are bringing in death into our being, so we stay away from them.

We may be talking to someone, and we’re about to say something, when we sense death in us, so we don’t say what we were about to say.

This is not just about right and wrong but about the sense of life and death in our spirit.

The sense of death in us is an inner feeling of weakness, emptiness, uneasiness, restlessness, depression, dryness, darkness, and pain. This is on the negative side.

Whenever we have such a sense in our being, we need to realize that our mind is set on the flesh, and we need to set it on our mingled spirit!

When we sense that we’re weak, empty, uneasy, restless, depressed, dried up, darkened, and in pain within, we need to realize that we’re in death, and we need to turn to the Lord.

The divine life within us gives us a sense of death so that we may run from there and set our mind on our mingled spirit.

To set our mind on the flesh is to simply open the gate of the flesh and walk the fleshly way; when we do this, we sense death.

It is good to have the sense of death, for it preserves us on the Lord’s way, causing us to turn to Him again.

The negative function of the sense of life is that it gives us a sense of death.

When we have such a sense, we need to realize that we are living in the flesh, and our walk is in the flesh, so we need to turn to the Lord right away.

On the positive side, the sense of life gives us a consciousness of life with many positive things.

When we set our mind on our spirit, we sense strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, liveliness, watering, brightness, and comfort.

This is the sense we want to have in our spirit. Instead of being weak, we are strong, and instead of being empty, we’re satisfied.

Instead of having a sense of uneasiness and restlessness, we have peace and rest. Instead of feeling depressed, we have release and liveliness.

The source of the sense of life is the divine life, the law of life, the Holy Spirit, Christ abiding in us, and God operating in us (Rom. 8:2, 10-11; Phil. 2:13).

The sense of life involves both the feeling of death and the feeling of life and peace (Rom. 8:6; Isa. 26:3).

May we pay attention to the sense of life and death in our spirit and not be past feeling as those in the world are.

May we not neglect our spirit nor neglect the feeling in our spirit.

All of us as believers in Christ are in and out of our spirit; when we’re not in our spirit, the sense of life within us gives a feeling of death to indicate that we touch death and we need to turn to our spirit.

The Lord doesn’t judge us or criticize us: He simply wants us to return to our spirit and set our mind on our spirit.

Thank the Lord for the function of the sense of life making us aware when we touch death and when we’re in life!

Lord Jesus, thank You for the sense of life in the divine life in our spirit. Hallelujah, in the sense of life we have the sense of touching death or being in life. Amen, Lord, we choose to set our mind on our spirit. We choose to have life and peace and live in this sense of life. May we be reminded again and again to turn to our spirit. Amen, Lord, may the sense of being weak, empty, and uneasy remind us to turn to our spirit. Oh Lord Jesus, thank You for the function of the sense of life in our spirit making us aware when we touch death and when we’re in life! May we pay attention to the sense of life and death in our spirit. May we not be past feeling but rather, live according to the sense of life in our spirit. Operate in us, dear Lord, to let us know when do we need to turn to You. Save us from setting our mind on the flesh. Save us from opening the gate to the flesh and walking in the flesh. May we be reminded to turn to our spirit, live in our spirit, and remain in our mingled spirit!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” pp. 544-546, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God (2024 October ITERO), week 1, The Kingdom of God – the Realm of the Divine Life and of the Divine Species.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The function of the sense of life, a portion via, Basic Lessons on Life, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – Exercise our Spirit to Receive His Dispensing and Believe He’s working in us, via, 21st Century Nazarites.
  – The sense of life, a portion from, Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – I’m Learning to Obey the Sense of Life, via, Living to Him.
  – The key to experiencing Christ – the human spirit, a portion from, The Key to Experiencing Christ–the Human Spirit, Chapter 1.
  – What Should I Do When I Sin after I’m Saved? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Knowing, Experiencing and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians, outline of Southern Africa Blending Conference in September 2023.
  – Walk by the Spirit to Have the Spirit’s Flow of Life, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Message 4: “The Spirit Himself with Our Spirit” (1), a video message via, LSM youtube.
  – Discovering the Indwelling Christ as the Spirit by Calling on Him, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Living by the law of life, Nuggets and Gems from the Bible.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – We have the triune God indwelling us, / Living and acting, working all the time, / That by the inner sense we have of Him / God we may know in magnitude sublime. / This inner knowledge obviates the need / Of outward knowledge, human eloquence, / But in the spirit we must ever live / And walk according to the inner sense. (Hymns #739 stanzas 5-6)
  – Th’ anointing’s here! It teaches us in everything; / The sense of life we always have within. / Obey this sense, and you will know what you must do, / And live by Life—Yes, clear in everything. (Hymns #1118 stanza 3)
  – There is a certain sense of life / With life of every kind; / And in th’ eternal life in us / It is a sense divine. / The higher any life may be, / The better is its sense; / The life divine the highest is / And has the highest sense. / It is the sense of life in us, / It is the sense of God; / ’Tis in our spirit made alive, / And more than sense of good. (Hymns #738 stabzas 1-3)