I.　The book of Romans reveals the eight stages of the Christian life:

A.　We were born sinful and under the righteous judgment of God—1:18—3:20.

B.　We have been justified through the redemption of Christ and regenerated by the Spirit—3:24; cf. 5:16.

C.　We realize that we were born in Adam and thus inherited sin and death— vv. 12-21.

D.　We have been baptized into Christ and are now in Christ—6:3.

E.　In Romans 7 we see a person striving and struggling in himself to do good, to keep the law of God, and to please God—vv. 18-19, 21-22.

F.　In Romans 8:1-17 we see one who walks according to the Spirit in the regen-erated human spirit.

G.　The Lord arranges all things to work together for our conformation—vv. 28-30.

H.　According to the picture in Romans 12, the believers are living in the Body of Christ and are practicing the Body life.

II.　In Romans we can see that God became man so that, in God's complete salvation, sinners may be redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, renewed, transformed, conformed, and glorified to become the sons of God, who are the same as God in life and nature, to be the members of the organic Body of Christ—8:3; 1:3-4; 3:24; 5:10; 8:14, 29-30; 12:2, 4-5.

III.　The will of God is to obtain a Body for Christ to be His fullness, His expres-sion—Rev. 4:11; Eph. 1:5, 9, 22-23; 5:17:

A.　According to Romans 12, the will of God is for us mutually to be members one of another, coordinating to be the Body of Christ and living the Body life— vv. 2, 4-5.

B.　We coordinate and serve together in the Body of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ in order to accomplish God's New Testament economy— vv. 6-11; Eph. 4:16; 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4.

IV.　The focal point of the book of Romans is the Body of Christ—12:4-5:

A.　The Body is the channel on earth through which Christ continues His ministry from the heavens—Eph. 1:22-23.

B.　If we neglect the Body of Christ, we do not have the focus of the Christian life, and we do not have the proper goal, aim, and direction in our Christian life.

C.　Consecration is for the Body of Christ; the purpose of consecration is for us to realize the Body of Christ and to live the Body life—Rom. 12:1-2.

V.　The mingled spirit is the unique organ for God to bring forth and build up the Body of Christ—1:9; 7:6; 8:4, 14, 16; 12:4-5, 11:

A.　We must serve God in the regenerated spirit by the life-giving Spirit, not in the soul by the power and ability of the soul—1:9.

B.　In order to reign in life for the Body life, we must be in the mingled spirit— 5:17, 21.

C.　The mingled spirit is a source of newness in our service to God—7:6.

D.　The secret of God's organic salvation is the Spirit with our spirit—5:10; 8:16.

E.　The Body of Christ is an organism composed of a group of people who live, walk, and have their being according to the mingled spirit—vv. 4-6.

F.　The mingled spirit is the spirit of sonship; if we are led by the Spirit in our spirit, we are sons of God in reality—vv. 14-15.

G.　We need to pray in the mingled spirit—vv. 26-27.

H.　In the mingled spirit we live a life of the highest virtues for the Body of Christ— 12:9-21.

I.　In the mingled spirit we live to the Lord and not to ourselves—14:7-9.

J.　In the mingled spirit we live the kingdom life with righteousness, peace, and joy—v. 17.

K.　When we live in the mingled spirit, we can be of the same mind, and with one accord and one mouth we can glorify God—15:5-6.

VI.　Because Romans 12 is concerned with the function of the Body of Christ, it speaks of the Body from the angle of the organic union—vv. 4-5:

A.　If we do not see the organic union that we have with Christ, we cannot under-stand what the Body of Christ is—1 Cor. 1:30; 12:12-13, 27.

B.　In order to be in the reality of the Body of Christ, we need to fully experience the organic union in Christ, with a thorough realization that we are organi-cally one with Christ in life.

C.　As we remain in the organic union, abiding in Christ as branches in the vine, we are actually living in the Body of Christ—John 15:1, 4-5.

D.　The living of the Body life in the organic union with Christ involves our entire tripartite being—Rom. 12:1-2, 11:

1.　We need to present our body a living sacrifice to God—v. 1.

2.　We have to be renewed in the mind for the transformation of our soul— vv. 2-3.

3.　We need to be burning in spirit with God as the fire—v. 11; Heb. 12:29.

E.　If we do not live in the organic union and if we do not have our body offered, our soul transformed by the renewing of the mind, and our spirit burning, then, in a practical sense, we are outside of the Body and apart from the Body.

VII.　The Body of Christ is unique in the universe, but it needs to be expressed on earth—Rom. 12:4-5; 16:16b; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:12-13, 27; Col. 3:15; 4:15-16:

A.　The local churches are the expressions of the Body of Christ—Rom. 16:16b.

B.　The Body of Christ and the local churches are two sides of one entity; the local churches are the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ is the local churches.

C.　The Body of Christ is the organism of the Triune God, and the local churches are for the fellowship and communication of the Body of Christ—vv. 1-23.

D.　The local churches are the gathering point of our enjoyment of God's salvation in life—5:10; 16:16b.

E.　As we enjoy God's life in the church life, we are saved from our self-view and self-goal and we care for the building up of Body of Christ—12:3; 14:7-9, 17-19; 15:1-3.