In past chapters we have covered the first thirteen verses of Romans 8, and now we come to verse 14. In this verse two things are covered: one is the matter of leading, and the other is the matter of sonship. It says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Of course, both God and the Spirit of God are also in this verse, but the crucial points are the leading and the sonship. The little word for gives us a clear view that this verse is a conclusion of the preceding verses.
Even up to now, most of us have probably never had a proper realization of the matter of leading. Our way of realizing the matter of leading makes it so shallow, so general, and not so meaningful to our Christian life. But since the verse that concludes the first thirteen verses of chapter 8 includes the matter of leading, it must be crucial. This is the crucial mentioning of a crucial matter to conclude all the thirteen preceding verses. Although we may not understand those thirteen verses adequately, we cannot deny that there are too many crucial points revealed there.
For example, there is the law of the Spirit of life, there is the walking according to the spirit, there is the setting of the mind on the spirit, there is the residing of the Spirit of God, there is God’s life giving, and there is the putting to death the practices of our mortal body. All these items are crucial; they are not small things. Then after all these crucial and important things are revealed, there is a conclusion that uses the thought of leading. By this you can see that the matter of leading should not be a shallow and insignificant matter. It has to be a crucial matter.
In this chapter we would not get on the matter of sonship. Once we get on the sonship, it will take many weeks to complete it. Actually, verse 14 to the end of the chapter is on the sonship. Verse 29 says, “Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.” Firstborn among many brothers means Firstborn among many sons. Verse 14 says that these are sons of God. Verse 29 indicates that we have been predestinated to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. This is not the only begotten Son but the firstborn Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. By comparing these two verses you can see that the last part of this chapter is altogether on sonship.
Now we need to consider why in verse 14 this thought of being led by the Spirit of God is brought in. We need to discover what particular point or points indicate that this portion of the Word will bring us to the matter of the leading of the Spirit of God. It is not so easy. It is not a light matter; it is not a small matter or a shallow matter. Many Christians say they have the leading of the Lord to move here or to go there or to marry a certain person. This kind of concept concerning the leading of the Lord is somewhat religious and shallow. Some Christians would consider that the circumstances or the happenings in our life are always confirmations to God’s leading. In some cases it may be so, but a number of times it may not be.
For example, Paul went to a number of places where he experienced opposition (Acts 13:45, 50; 14:5, 19; 16:19-24; 18:12; 19:29; 21:30). This means that outwardly speaking, the circumstances were opposite to the inner leading. To say that the outward circumstances are always confirmations to the Lord’s leading is not so safe. We have to find the reason that the matter of leading is clearly revealed in Romans 8:14. It says that “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Sons of God is an expression that shows us the reason this matter of being led is brought in. Why do we need to be led by the Spirit of God, and why are we led by the Spirit of God? It is because we are sons of God.
Let me illustrate: A monkey behaves itself in a certain kind of way because it is under a kind of leading. It behaves like a monkey because it is born of a monkey. Both dogs and cats also have a certain kind of leading in their behavior. The leading of these animals is based upon the life that they have. Whatever life they have is expressed in the leading. Dogs are led this way or that way simply because they are born of dogs.
If you move somewhere simply because you are a son of God, this is right. If you move for some other reason, such as the weather, this is wrong. The matter of leading is brought up in this verse because Paul’s intention is to show us the proper sonship. He shows us what it is to be a genuine son of God. If you consider the previous verses, you can realize that walking according to the spirit is very close to the matter of leading. Walking needs some leading. You cannot just walk without any direction or destination or way. You do not walk blindly without any sense. When I intend to come into the meeting hall, I walk under a lead. Walking surely needs the leading. The leading is a kind of guide to our walking. So in verse 4 there is a hint in the matter of walking concerning the matter of leading. To walk according to the spirit needs a lead.
Verse 13 says, “If you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.” By reading this verse carefully you can see that leading is implied. It could also be expressed in this way: you put to death according to the leading of the Spirit. By the Spirit actually means according to the Spirit, according to the leading of the Spirit. Of course, it also includes the power and the strength of the Spirit.
In verses 9 and 11 God resides within us as the Triune God not only to give us life but also to lead us. He leads us in how to follow His residing and how to follow His life giving. This means if you get into the depths of the first thirteen verses, you could see that something of the leading of the Spirit is there. If you get into the depths of God’s residing in us and of God giving life to us and our putting to death, you could see that the leading of the Spirit is there. This is why I have said previously that the leading of the Spirit is just the totality of these three things: God’s residing, God’s life giving, plus our putting to death. The divine residing and the life giving by God and your putting to death the practices of the mortal body become the lead. Actually, the practices of the mortal body are just the flesh. It is another way to mention the flesh. This one expression, the practices of the mortal body, means the actual flesh. It is the flesh in your actual activity of your daily life. This is the practice of the flesh. Many times our talk concerning the flesh is too doctrinal; it is not practical.
The lead for you to make any kind of decision should not be based upon circumstances or some kind of reasoning. The lead must consist of these three things: the residing of the Spirit, the life giving of God, and the putting to death of your practical and actual flesh. When you are under this threefold lead, you are led by the Spirit. You will know where you have to go and what you have to do. You will know whom you have to marry and at which school you have to study. Many Christian teachers tell people to pray much and to wait upon God to know His leading. I do not oppose this kind of teaching, because there is a certain amount of truth in it.
Let me illustrate. Suppose you are a Christian who is not much under the lead of the residing of Christ, nor under the lead of the life giving, nor under the lead of putting to death. But when you spend some time to pray to God, your prayer will bring you to some extent into the experience of the residing, of the life giving, and of the putting to death. I am not opposing the matter of waiting on God, but this is not stressed in the New Testament. Some have spent time with the Lord talking with Him, and by this their inner sky became so clear. While this may be good, it is somewhat abnormal. The normal way is that every day, every hour, every minute, even every second, your sky must be clear. You must be under the clear sky all the time by being under the lead of the residing, by being all the time under the lead of the life giving, and by being all the time under the lead of putting to death. All the time a clear sky is above you and within you. When something comes up, in a sense you do not need to pray. Right away you know the lead. You know how the threefold lead will lead you and guide you. You are clear.
“As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” The sons of God have God’s life. When we speak of God’s life, we understand it in a very general way. We do not realize that God’s life given to us now becomes our life. And this life now implies God’s residing. And it implies God’s life giving. This life also implies a spontaneous putting to death. And these are not three things happening in three steps. These are three things happening at the same time. When God resides in you, He gives life. When He gives life, you put to death. When you put to death, God resides in you more. It is a spontaneous cycle. The experience of this cycle is the leading. We who are the sons of God must live, act, move, and behave ourselves under this lead. So we are led by the Spirit of God.
Who is this Spirit of God? We have to remember that He is the ultimate expression of the processed Triune God. We are sons of God having God’s life in us, and this life is just the residing God. That we are sons of God implies His residing, His life giving, and even our putting to death. If we live in this way, spontaneously we are under the leading of such a wonderful thing. We are led by God Himself. This means that we are led by the processed God Himself. The leading of our Christian life is not just circumstances or happenings or persons. The lead under which we Christians live is just the processed God indwelling within us, giving life to us so that we put to death all the things of the old creation.
Human language is not adequate to utter these kinds of things. I just do not have the way to express what I realize concerning these matters. Because we do not have the adequate experience of these things, and because we are short of the language to express it, it is easy for us to misunderstand the matter of leading. We usually understand that God’s leading is simply to tell us what to do. To know the Lord’s real leading, you must live in Romans 8:11-13. You must experience the residing of the Triune God, you must experience the life giving of this processed Triune God, and you must have adequate experience of the putting to death. Then you are under the lead.
You do not need to depend upon the outward circumstances to confirm whether or not you are under the leading of the Lord. To depend upon the outward circumstances does not necessarily mean that you are so one with the Lord. Rather, it may mean that you are not so one with the Lord. If you are so one with the Lord, you are under the lead, and you will know the leading. You will not seek after it. You will simply have it. You will be in it. When you talk with people, every sentence should be under the leading. Sometimes you realize you are going to say something that is not under the leading and not under a clear sky. So you have to refrain from that kind of talk.
When Paul describes all these things, he describes them in a clear way. But when you experience them, they are not so clearly separated. Rather, to set the mind on the spirit is simultaneously one with the walking according to the spirit. In description, you have to make these two items distinct. In description, to set the mind on the spirit is one thing, and to walk according to the spirit is another. But in experience these two things happen simultaneously with God’s residing, with God’s life giving, and with your putting to death. When you have all these things, you have the leading.
To illustrate once more, dogs and cats and other animals behave and act under their lead. If someone is teasing a dog, and the dog is running, you may think that the teasing of that person is the lead. Actually, it is not. Actually, the dog’s life is its lead. When a dog runs away from you, it is a little different from a cat running away. When a cat runs away from you, it is somewhat different from a chicken running away. And a chicken running away is somewhat different from a boy running away. All these living creatures run away in their own way because of the lead in their life. This illustrates that the outward circumstances are not the real leading. The real leading is within them according to their kind of life. A cat has a cat’s life, and that life is actually its lead. If you have a human life, this life is your lead.
We have the divine life, God’s life. The life mentioned in Romans 8 implies a lot. It implies residing; it implies life giving; it implies liberating. It also implies a kind of law with a spontaneous power and strength. It is really hard to define this divine life. Verse 14 indicates that the matter of leading is here just because we are sons of God living a life under such a lead. The matter of leading implies a lot. This has to be the leading that we experience. You have to follow such a leading concerning marriage, concerning school, concerning jobs, concerning where to go, where to stay, where to live, and so forth. If you are led by such a leading, you are living the life of a son of God. You are not living a dog life or a cat life or even an ordinary human life. You are living a super-resurrected human life.
If you check according to your experience, you will see that all these matters are present. The residing, the life giving, the putting to death, the setting of the mind on the spirit, and the walking according to the spirit were there even today in your experience. This is why in the morning you behaved yourself in a certain way, and this is why in the evening you talked to your folks in a certain way. You were under a kind of wonderful leading that even you could not understand. Yet you were under it. Perhaps even for the whole day you spontaneously lived a life that proves and testifies to the fact that you are a son of God. Even to read a chapter such as this eventually brings you, if not in full, at least to some extent under this leading. Your life would be changed. You had no intention to change your life, but it just changed. It is not just a matter of changing your behavior. Rather, something comes out unconsciously and spontaneously.
I hope that this matter of leading has been made very clear. You do not need to spend that much time asking the Lord to show you His leading. Just go to praise Him, to worship Him, to offer your best thanksgiving to Him. If you practice seeking His leading, that means you are not under the lead. If you are under the lead, you do not need to seek His lead anymore. You are simply under His lead. When you wake up in the morning, you are under the leading. You just praise Him; you just thank Him; you just have a well speaking with Him and bless Him. You just stay with Him to enjoy His blessing. You stay there to enjoy His burden in you to pray for certain things—for His Body, for His interest, for the church. You do not need to ask for His leading. You are just under a leading.
This is actually to walk according to the spirit. This also is to put to death the old creation, the practical flesh, the practices of the mortal body. This spontaneously is the enjoyment of the life giving of the residing Triune God. This is just the life of the Triune God residing in us. This is what is revealed in Romans 8. You have to realize that Romans 8 is so experiential, so practical, so deep. You cannot understand Romans 8 simply in a doctrinal way. It speaks of the experience of the Triune God in an experiential way.
