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.
