As such a person, you surely are a son of God. You are no longer merely a son of Adam, but a son of God. To become a son of God having a life filled up with the Triune God who is wrapped up with our human spirit is a matter of sanctification or even transformation. By beholding and reflecting with an unveiled face as a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image (2 Cor. 3:18). This means into the image of the glory of the Son of God.
One thing I have to make clear: If you say that we could become a part of the Godhead as an object of worship, that is blasphemy. But if you say that we could be made like God in life and in nature, not as an object of people’s worship, this is altogether right. The Bible says that we will be like Him (1 John 3:2), and that we were born of Him (John 1:13). That surely means we have His life and His nature (2 Pet. 1:4). How then could you say that we are not the same as God? To say that believers of Christ could not be like God is like saying someone who is born of a man could not be like a man.
In Romans 12:2 Paul uses the word transformed, and in Romans 8:29 he uses the word conformed. God’s goal is to conform us, that is, to make us the same in form as His firstborn Son. His firstborn Son is the mold like a mold used for making cakes. Christ is our mold, and we are the pieces of dough. We have been put into Christ, and God is molding us. Today you are under God’s molding. God is conforming you to the image of His firstborn Son, making you the same as He is.
The genuine Christian life is one filled with the Triune God. Forget about trying to be victorious, or powerful, or dynamic, or full of impact. Take care of being filled with the Triune God. This Triune God is wrapped up with the believer’s regenerated spirit. If you take care of these two things—of having a life filled with the Triune God wrapped up with your regenerated spirit—this is the genuine and proper Christian life. If you live such a life, you will have peace in every place and with everyone. You will have peace, and you are a son of God. This is a thorough description of the meaning of the word leading in Romans 8:14.
There is no need to ask someone what style of haircut you should have or what style of clothing you should wear. The local church code is just the Triune God wrapped up with the regenerated spirit! Our style is according to this code. Our haircut is according to this code. Our clothing is according to this code. Everything we do is according to this code, and we live this code. This is our leading.
In Romans 8 the Triune God is involved as a law, as the Spirit, and as the life. He is also involved with our spirit and with the things of Himself. He is involved with so many things which are of Himself. He is involved even with our transformed, renewed mind, which becomes the mind of Christ. He is also involved with the Spirit in three aspects: with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of the One. The Christian life must be a life altogether and thoroughly involved by and with such a Triune God.
We have to spend so much time on this one thing because in the past we have picked up too many teachings of how to be holy, how to be humble, how to be loving, how to be victorious, and so many other “how tos.” But we haven’t realized that the genuine “how to” is simply the Triune God wrapped up with our human spirit. This is the real “how to.” This is the way to be holy. This is the way to be victorious. This is the way to be humble and kind. This is the way to love your wife and to submit yourself to your husband. This is the way to take care of your children and to honor your parents.
The Triune God in us, the believers, is the law that works spontaneously. He is the Spirit, and He is the very life. He is one with our spirit. He is the very source and foundation of all the things related to our human spirit. He becomes the very element of our mind. He is the Spirit in three aspects: He is the Spirit as the Father; He is the Spirit as the Son; He is the Spirit as the resurrecting One.
This is the way for everything in our Christian life. You don’t need to see some other way. There is only one unique way, the Triune God. This is the Triune God wrapped up with our very inner being. This is the leading by the Spirit of God, and this is also our living. This is the life that we live.
My burden is just to show you and to present you such a life. We all need to look unto Him for His mercy that He would grace us to see such a life. Just a little seeing of this life is adequate for you to live such a life.
By this kind of understanding or apprehension you can surely realize how wonderful is the Christian life. It is not a matter of learning some teachings. It is altogether a matter of the Triune God. Many Christians call God the living and true God. Yes, in the Bible Paul does call God the living and true God (1 Thes. 1:9). But today many believers who call God the living and true God do not realize this living and true God is involved in Romans 8 as the Triune God wrapped up with our spirit.
We must see that our Christian life is nothing but the Triune God mingled with our regenerated spirit. This is our life, this is our living, and this is our leading. This is a way without any struggle, without any strife. It is a way full of rest. It is without our own endeavor and without our doing. In this kind of life you will praise Him all the day long. You will be filled with praying, with singing, with praising. Even the Bible will be a new book to you. Every page will be new. Romans 8 will be so new to you every day. You will be under the leading by the Spirit. I surely hope that we all would see this.