In John 16:13 we have the Spirit’s work in the believers to guide them into all the reality: “When He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” The Spirit of reality guides the believers into all the reality of the Triune God and of all divine matters. The Spirit of reality guides us into the reality of justification, holiness, love, and all other divine things. He leads us into, brings us into, the reality of these things.
According to the context, “the reality” in John 16:13 refers to what the Father has, what the Son has, and what the Spirit receives of the Son and of what the Father has. What the Father has is a reality, what the Son has is a reality, and what the Spirit receives is also reality. What the Father has becomes the Son’s, what the Son has is received by the Spirit, and what the Spirit receives is disclosed to us. The Father, the Son, the Spirit, and we, the believers, are all involved in this process.
The Father, who is the source, the origin, has many riches. All that the Father has becomes the Son’s. The Son has unsearchable riches (Eph. 3:8). Whatever the Father has is the Son’s, and what the Son has is received by the Spirit. Since what the Spirit receives is disclosed or transmitted to us, we become the destination. The Father is embodied in the Son, the Son is transfigured to be the Spirit, and the Spirit is the reaching of the divine Trinity to us. All the riches of the Triune God reach us in the Spirit. Therefore, we are the destination of the Triune God. All that the Triune God is and has has been disclosed, conveyed, transmitted, to us. Because we are organically united to the Spirit, that is, organically united to the processed Triune God, whatever He is and has now is our portion as our reality.
The reality into which the Spirit guides us is the reality of the divine Trinity. Actually, the reality of the divine Trinity is the indwelling Spirit. It is the Spirit who dwells within us, not the Spirit who rests upon us, who is this reality. The Spirit is the reality of all that the Father and the Son are. Without the Spirit, there is the essence of what the Father and the Son are, but there is no realization. The Spirit is the application of all that the Father and the Son are. If we would apply all that the Father and the Son are, we need the Spirit. Now the indwelling Spirit is guiding the believers not into the doctrine of the Triune God but into the reality of the Triune God.
Through the Spirit the reality of the divine Trinity is transmitted into us. Through this transmission all the riches of what the processed Triune God is and has are dispensed into us. Now whatever the processed Triune God is and has becomes our element. This makes the processed Triune God the very essence of our being. In this way the Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God becomes our portion. This is the Spirit as the reality of the Triune God for our experience and enjoyment.
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