Now that we’ve well established that facts and truth that we as beleivers are free from the Dominion of “Sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3) and its impulses... what then do we follow? We follow the Word, written and indwelling us. Many Christians spend time and effort trying to determine God’s will for them in a situation, often requiring a decision for what they face. They wait for instruction from the Lord as to what they should do in the matter at hand. They live as though it were still “time past” when men of God did not have the abiding indwelling presence of “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” So, they seek to live by outer guidance and confirmation of God’s will, but that’s not God’s way in this age… since He lives IN US.

Today we live in what Paul calls the “But Now.” “Now the Lord is that spirit” (2Cor 3:17); and He indwells every believer as “the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).  “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” (Col. 1:27)

I find that most often in my life He rarely guides me by impressing me with what He does want me to do. Being free to live in accord with the sense of Christ life within me I just do as I inwardly sense that I am free to do! He is always faithful to let me know what He does “not” want me to do. We have an example of this from our prior life when we served the Sin-nature. I formerly functioned as a sinner quite naturally, automatically, as a self-loving and self-seeking person, as a self-reliant self-getter. I just did what I reasoned and wanted to do. But now, my proper living and doing is as automatic and spontaneous as was my former fallen inclination; but now His life within me gives me an automatic innate sense that prompts or restrains me, guiding me without bells and whistles. Now we are free “to live, move and have our being in Christ” (Act 17:28) who is now our innermost “life” (Col 3:4a).

We as believers clearly know what we are NOT to do by the inward restraining sense that we have by Christ’s indwelling “spirit of life.” This I call His “NO”! We all hear Him. “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” (John 8:47). We over time must learn to hear, recognize, perceive, and to obey His “NO”! Such obedience will save us much pain.

This inward sense of “NO” is an inward restraint, an inner knowledge, by an intuitive sense. It’s most commonly known to us by the “conscience” of our spirit that speaks into our mind’s consciousness. His inward restraint is sensed as “NO.” We innately know when we should not do, pursue, or say this or that. We all at times have the automatic awareness of a sense of limitation, a heaviness, or restraining, as we consider “doing” or “saying” this or that. And this is without even praying for guidance.

Most often the sense of “no” is contrary to what we in ourselves may “want to do” in the matter. The word “conscience” in Greek is “sundenesis,” meaning “a co-perception.” Essentially all believers are of two minds; 1) “the mind of the flesh” (Rom 8:5) and 2) “the mind of the Spirit.” (1Cor. 2:16). The indwelling ‘mind of the spirit’ is a sense that is deeper than our mind, which entirely a function that we have in us by Christ’s innermost speaking to guide us according to His will.  “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

When we agree with the Lord’s restraining sense within us we are then “dying to self-rule.” That dying to self-rule permits His life to come forth and accomplish whatever He wants.

Yes, we may fail at times, but our failures don’t invalidate who we are as a blood bought and birthed child of God. We do have His life in this earthen vessel (2Cor 4:7), so yes, at times we fail by foolishly choosing to leave who we truly are “in Christ,” to seek our independent way. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov. 14:12). We forever have God as our Father and Christ as “our life” whether we succeed or fail at obeying His will. Humanly, my own physical sons have my life in them, be they good or bad sons. We at times turn away from the Lord in our spirit, but we will always remain a child of our Father by His life-seed within us. We’ve been “sealed with the Spirit” (Eph. 1:13), so our salvation and union with him is eternally secure. 

My being born physically was not dependent upon anything I did. It was the result of the procreative work of my earthly father, Joe Licursi, with my mother. Similarly, my heavenly Father birthed me spiritually to be who I am by Christ in me. All I did was “receive Him (Jesus)” (John 1:12) as the Father’s “only begotten Son” as His life-giving “Seed” (1Peter 1:23, Gal 3:16), into the womb of my human spirit. I’ve been regenerated with Christ’s “Spirit of life” now in my spirit…  “Not by works of righteousness which (I) have done, but according to his mercy he saved (me), by the washing of regeneration (in the blood of His Son), and renewing of (in our soul by) the Holy Ghost;” (Titus 3:5)

Sometimes we may turn away from the restraining sense of Christ within us, and then we bear the natural consequence of our independent choices. We should ultimately learn to not go against that sense of distress within us… saving us much pain. We should immediately turn back to Him, to abide our soul in “Christ who is our life” (Col 3:4a) at the first sign of inward distress. Recall the story of the prodigal son who ultimately “came to himself” and returned to his father. We should learn to return to the Lord in the face of our failures, knowing we can never be condemned by God Our Father (cf. Rom 8:1).

The life of Christ is now within our spirit and that’s where we are to abide, in a blessed union with Him. We must ultimately return to who we are at our core as the rebirthed “children of God.” In our spirit, we enjoy His one “Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2), as “our life” (Col. 1:27) with His cross’ power and His guidance.

Christ’s indwelling resurrected Spirit swallowed up our human spirit such that we are now “one spirit” (1Cor 6:17) with him. From the moment of our salvation we are “one spirit” with Christ’s “Spirit of life” Paul thus refers to this “one spirit” in us as simply “the spirit” (Rom. 1:9), the one eternally mingled spirit within us. Imagine, God dwelling in us, as the new us! Our spirit now is spontaneously and eternally alive by Christ in us. God’s life in us is spontaneous, innate, and intuitive by Christ’s “Spirit of life” and “nature” (2Pet. 1:4). Thus, we have His “unspoken yes” as we “live and move and have our being in Him.” We’re free to live and do, as “the spirit” permits us.

Life in nature always flows spontaneously. A tree lacking the life-flow of its sap is dead. Likewise, Christ as our life is always flowing within us, spontaneously. We’ll ultimately learn to know and not question the inner, intuitive sense that we have by His Spirit. What we sense may be contrary to the logic of our mind; after all, it’s of a life that’s deeper than our mind – it is Christ Alive Within Us. The life we have of Him within our spirit is spontaneous. We have the inner anointing of His Spirit within us, by which we “know all things” (1John 2:20) pertaining to our life. His indwelling Spirit and written word “teach us” and “is the truth.” (1John 2:27). We can simply abide by trusting in His “unspoken Yes” and our sense of His inwardly spoken “No” to guide us from moment to moment. Thus, we learn obedience to Him as He fulfills His righteousness in and through us (cf. Rom 8:4).

Allegorically, our awareness of His unspoken yes within is much the same as when we are physically healthy. When we are healthy physically and all is well we’re not aware of any restraint in our body, we simply move spontaneously until we recognize that we are ill or injured - then we feel the limiting sense of discomfort or restraint in body. It’s that way when we “walk in (by) the Spirit.” (Gal 5:16, 18, 25).

Likewise, ‘God’s unspoken Yes’ is most often without a conscious sense; but His “No” is known to us by a conscious perception within – that sense of distress in our gut is His restraint, whereby we just know that we should not do this or that.

Ours then, is always to obey this innermost living Word (sense), which is Christ speaking within us. We should yield to Him, knowing that His will is His eternal best for us, no matter how it appears to us. Now, in faith, we love God our Father and His Indwelling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are free to live in accord with our love relationship with Him.