Although we have become sons of God by having the sonship in us, we still do not look like the Son of God. Suppose I put a tea bag in a five-gallon jar of water. The tea may be in the center of the jar, but the water does not yet have the appearance of tea. The tea must spread into and saturate the water. Gradually, all the water will be teaified and become tea. In like manner, we have been born of God by having Christ come into our spirit. But after coming into us, He has not had much opportunity to spread Himself into our being. This is not a matter of outward behavior; it is a matter of inward saturation.
Hebrews tells us that the Only Begotten Son has become the Firstborn. This Firstborn Son has regenerated many sons and now He is the model in perfection, completion, and glorification. Although He is perfect and complete, we, the many sons with the sonship within us, have not yet been perfected, completed, and glorified in this sonship. Presently, we are in the process of perfection, completion, transformation, and glorification.
The book of Romans, especially chapter eight, speaks of the same thing. Many Christian leaders have written a great deal on Romans 8. However, they mainly emphasize the Spirit. They have more or less neglected the law of life and the conformation to the image of the Firstborn Son of God. It is difficult to find a Christian book which deals with the subject of conformation. Nevertheless, conformation is necessary for the completion of the sonship, for the completion of the many brothers of the Firstborn. Although we are brothers of God’s Firstborn Son, we do not resemble Him very much. We may not look much like Him today, but we are in the process of being conformed to His image. How much the sonship is completed in us depends on how willing we are to be conformed to the image of Christ. This is not a question of outward doing, but of whether or not we are willing to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn.
If we would know how to be conformed to Christ’s image, we must read Romans 8 again and again. This chapter is a treasure chest in a treasure store. All the riches are here. In this chapter we have the law of life, the sonship, and the conformation. Verses 14 through 16 speak clearly about sonship. Verse 14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Recovery Version), and verse 15 says that we have received “a spirit of sonship.” We know that we have received a spirit of sonship because the “Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God” (v. 16). Deep within, we have a strong witness, a strong testimony, that we are the children of God. Many of us can confidently say, “I know that I do not look like Christ, but I have the full assurance that I am a son of God. I don’t care how much you criticize or belittle me, I have no doubt that I have been born of God.”
We have this witness in our spirit, not in our mind. If you turn to your mind, you will begin to doubt, saying to yourself, “Probably I have not been born again. If I have been regenerated, why am I still the same? I need to say, ‘O Lord, be merciful to me. If I have not been born again, cause me to be born again right now.’ ” In the past, I did this very thing. But while we are doubting in our mind, we have the witness deep in our spirit that we have been born of God. This is not a teaching; it is our experience. Whoever has called on the name of the Lord Jesus has been regenerated, and the spirit of sonship, that is, Christ Himself, is in his spirit witnessing to the fact that he is one of God’s children. However bad we may be or however defeated we are in our Christian life, we still have the witness in our spirit that we are sons of God. This is a fact, and no one can argue with it. It is not a small thing to be born again.
However, we should not stop with the mere fact of being born again. Romans 8 mentions the Spirit of life in verse 2, sonship in verses 14 through 16, and conformation in verse 29. We are now in the process of being conformed to the image of God’s Firstborn Son. How can we be conformed? The way is found in Romans 8:6—by setting our mind on our spirit. The mind set on the spirit is life. In whatever we do and say, we must be sure that our mind is on our spirit. When our mind is off our spirit, we are like an electrical appliance which has been disconnected. If we sense that our mind is not on our spirit, we should stop and call on the name of the Lord Jesus. Many of us can testify that after simply calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, we had the sense deep within that, once again, our mind was on our spirit. Although this is a simple matter, it is very serious.
I would ask the sisters to consider their experience in shopping. Many times when you went shopping in a department store, you sensed that your mind was not on your spirit, but you still bought something. If you look back on that experience, you will realize that your mind was altogether off your spirit. If in going shopping you sense that your mind is on the spirit, you may go ahead. But if you sense that it is not on the spirit, you should stop. This is exactly what it means to walk, to have our being, according to the spirit.
Today the Spirit is not far away in the heavens; He is within our very being. Romans 8:6 implies that the Spirit in our spirit can be sensed. How do we know that setting our mind on the flesh is death? We know it by the inner sense. Deep within, we sense that we have been cut off and that we are dead. Whenever we have our mind set on the flesh, we have this sense within. We do not need anyone to tell us this; we can sense it ourselves. A married brother may say to his wife, “While I’m arguing with you, I’m in the spirit. Can’t you realize this?” While he is saying this with his mouth, deep within he can sense that his mind is not on his spirit. I understand this quite well because I have experienced so much of it myself. Although we may tell others that we are right, in our spirit we know that we are wrong, for the sense of life does not stand with us, nor does it justify what we are doing. According to our deep inner sense, we know that we have been cut off. This is a red light in our spiritual driving. Whenever we see a red light, we must stop. When we have the sense that the inner light is green, we may then proceed. This is what it means to follow the Spirit within and to live, walk, and have our being according to the inner sense of life.
The way to be conformed to the image of Christ is by keeping our mind on our spirit. The mind of a fallen person is the representative of his whole being, for such a person does everything according to his mind. It is the same with the believers who do not walk in spirit. Thus, when our mind is on our spirit, it means that our whole being is on our spirit. In our daily living, in all that we are and do, we must have the assurance that our mind is on the spirit. To have our mind, our whole being, on the spirit is life. This is according to the working of the law of life.