Chapters 5 Through 8 of Romans—
The Kernel of the Bible
Message One
The Line of Life and the Line of Death in Chapters 5 through 8 of Romans
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Rom. 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
Rom. 5:21 In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Word of Appetizer
Why can chapters 5 through 8 of Romans be called the kernel of the Bible?
Chapters 5 through 8 of Romans can be called the kernel of the Bible, showing its entire theme in a concrete and detailed way; these two key words—life and death—are mentioned repeatedly in Romans 5 through 8; life and death form two contrasting lines through chapters 5—8, the line of life and the line of death, showing that man is in a triangular situation between God and Satan, life and death. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge (the tree of death) issue in two lines—the line of life and the line of death—that run through the entire Bible and end in the book of Revelation; life begins with the tree of life and ends with the New Jerusalem as the city of water of life with the tree of life, the light of life, and the glory of life; death begins with the tree of knowledge.
Spiritual Burden
Chapters 5 through 8 of Romans can be called the kernel of the Bible, showing its entire theme in a concrete and detailed way; life and death form two contrasting lines through chapters 5—8, the line of life and the line of death, showing that man is in a triangular situation between God and Satan, life and death.
In order for us to stay on the line of life, we must take the way of enjoying Christ as the tree of life; if we want to take the way of enjoying God, we must have a change of concept; we should consider our former way of pursuit. We must have a drastic change of concept. We need to have a controlling vision.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Chapters 5 through 8 of Romans can be called the kernel of the Bible, showing its entire theme in a concrete and detailed way.
Today the believer is a miniature garden of Eden—God as the tree of life is in his spirit, Satan as the tree of knowledge is in his flesh, and his mind is in between; we are either in the spirit or in the flesh; there is no third place for us to be; this is why we must set our mind on the spirit.
The Experience of Life
We believers in Christ have a practical and experiential transfer out of the flesh (the practical and experiential Adam) through our being crucified with Christ and into the Spirit (the practical and experiential Christ) through our organic union with Christ as the law of the Spirit of life.
Our hardships, defeats, failures, and disappointments force us to realize that there is no hope in the flesh; the flesh is good only to force us to turn to Christ in our spirit, to press us into the spirit, to make us desperate to get into the spirit, and to keep us watchful to stay in the spirit.
Practice and Application
To recover the first love is to consider the Lord Jesus as the first in everything; if we make Christ everything in our life, this means that we have overcome the loss of the first love.
The Lord does not care for whether or not we have a victory; the Lord cares for only one thing—that we gain Christ as the Spirit by setting our mind on the spirit.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Romans chapters 5 through 8 are the kernel of the Bible (Gen. 2:9, Rom. 5:17)
(Please illustrate that two key words are used repeatedly therein: life and death.)
T2 God’s economy is altogether a matter of life or death (Gen. 2:9, Rom. 5:17)
(Please illustrate that God’s economy is not a matter of good or evil, right or wrong, nor is it a matter of ethics.)
Day 2
T1 The content of the church life depends on the enjoyment of Christ (Rev. 2:4, 7)
(Please illustrate that eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life.)
T2 To recover the first love is to give Him the preeminence in great things as well as in small things (Rev. 2:4, 7)
(Please illustrate with examples that how we can give the Lord the first place in the way that we dress and the way that we style our hair, and how we talk to our wives.)
Day 3
T1 Every genuine Christian is a miniature of the garden of Eden (Rom. 8:5-6)
(Please illustrate that the two trees that were once in the garden outside of man are now within us, one in our flesh and the other in our spirit.)
T2 Sin, death, and Satan are all together in the flesh (Rom. 6:6)
(Please illustrate that the Scriptures show that the flesh is our polluted and transmuted body.)
Day 4
T1 The flesh is here helping us and forcing us to turn to the spirit (Phil. 3:3, Eph. 6:18)
(Please illustrate with experience the flesh helps us to turn to Christ in the spirit and have no more confidence in the flesh.)
T2 Our failures press us to the Lord and make us desperate to get into the spirit (Phil. 3:3, Eph. 6:18)
(Please illustrate why often the Lord has a greater opportunity to do [this] when our condition is pitiful.)
Day 5
T1 The flesh is the practical, experiential Adam, the Spirit is the practical and experiential Christ (Rom. 5:18)
(Please illustrate which two divine transfers and which one spiritual union are needed to accomplish God’s organic salvation. )
T2 only when we are in the Spirit are we in the reality of the divine transfer (Rom. 8:2)
(Please illustrate that the Spirit today is Christ in application, Christ coming to us for our
experience.)
Day 6
T1 What realm we are in depends on where we set our mind (Rom. 8:5-6)
(Please illustrate that Romans 8:5-6 shows us a miniature garden of Eden, with the flesh and death on one side, the spirit and life on the other side, and the mind in the middle.)
T2 Being a Christian is a living out of the life of God by walking according to the mingled spirit within (Rom. 8:4)
(Please illustrate that why if we try to be a Christian, we are in the flesh.)
